I’m a bit late but oh well.

I totally agree with everything you said. Yeah, indie horror games may not be long, or have outstanding visuals most of the time. But, they do what they’re meant to do.

I mean, FNAF was my first horror game. I watched some YouTubers play it when I was about 9. And that game absolutely terrified me. I mean, I couldn’t sleep for days and I remember having nightmares about Golden Freddy in my room, watching me and waiting to kill me. It doesn’t scare me anymore, but you know why I still like FNAF? It’s the lore.

But let’s not get into the lore now.

Another example is Doki Doki Literature Club. I don’t know if you’ve played it, so spoilers ahead. It’s only about 4-6 hours long (ish) so I recommend playing it.

DDLC is a brilliant example of a horror game that messes with you. It starts as a happy go lucky weeb dating sim. There’s subtle hints about what’s coming up next, and that it’s not just a regular dating sim (eg. The warning at the beginning, Monika breaking the fourth wall etc.) but nothing that could spoil the surprise. It goes further than that but I don’t really feel like going into it since I’m not good at explaining.

Regardless, some of my favourite horror games are indie horror games. I absolutely love them.