Illustration by Pascal Santos
The horror genre of video games has become more popular over the years, but where did it all start? Which games influenced the genre? Horror has evolved a lot over the years, from text-based adventures to pixelated graphics, and to what we know as horror today. Horror has become such a popular genre in gaming, most likely due to the fact that they are the most exciting games to play. Instead of watching some character in a horror movie making terrible decisions, you’re put in their shoes as you have to make those same choices for yourself. Let’s take a look at how some of our favorite horror games came to be.
“Hunt the Wumpus” is a text-based horror game released in 1973 developed by Gregory Yob, and is thought to be the first survival horror game created. In “Hunt the Wumpus,” players would solve puzzles and hunt down the “Wumpus” through a randomly generated cave. Gregory Yob created Hunt the Wumpus 2 and 3 shortly after (1977). The game was credited with introducing several elements that influenced the horror genre as we know it today.
“Wolfenstein 3D” developed by id Software not only had an impact on horror, but also contributed majorly to the first person shooter genre, having popularized it. It established the standard of fast paced action, which we still see today. Wolfenstein was also developed by the same creators of the popular game series: “DOOM”.
Following these games were other notable ones, such as “Resident Evil” in 1996 by Capcom– a series which is still continuing to this day– and “Silent Hill” in 1999 by Team Silent. Later, this was followed by more independent developers getting involved in the scene, often referred to as “Indie developers”. “Cry of Fear” by Team Psykskallar was released in 2012 as a mod for “Half-life” and was later made into its own independent game. It has become a classic in terms of indie horror. Another notable developer would be Scott Cawthon who made the series, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” (FNAF), which recently got its own theatrical release in 2023.
One game I have not heard many talk about is “Spooky’s Jumpscare Mansion”, which was released in 2015 by Lag Studios. It went on to pioneer a genre that can be found in the most recent popular Roblox horror games, such as “Doors” by LSPLASH and “Pressure” from Urbanshade: Hadal Division. It’s amazing and interesting to see how video game creation has become more accessible to a wider audience over the years, with platforms such as Roblox aiding in that. Although, what happens once a market becomes too saturated?
Chapter 1 of “Bendy and the Ink Machine” was released in 2017 by Joey Drew Studios. This is when–I feel–there was a tonal shift in horror games. Many games became something used to sell merchandise by marketing to younger audiences who liked mascots. This is something that is now referred to as “mascot horror”. This game was followed by other mascot horrors aimed towards children, such as “Poppy Playtime” in 2021 by Mob Entertainment and not to mention “Garten of BanBan” in 2023 by the Euphoric brothers; a game with now 7 titles in its series (someone please put it to rest!). “Five Nights at Freddy’s” would follow this trend soon after in 2021 with its release of “Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach” by SteelWool Studios. Players who were used to the gritty nature of the “FNAF” series were quick to point out how things seemed to be smoothed down for younger audiences it seemed.
Amidst all these new games trying to cash in on the attention span of children, we still have ones that are absolutely wonderful, and really make you think about what you’ve played. “Little Nightmares” developed by Tarsier Studios in 2018 is a stunning game whose horror elements are elevated by the stylistic choices that were made by the developers. It uses the sense of scale, and the disfiguration of familiar things to really grab your attention, which tells a wonderful story without the use of dialogue.
It is interesting to compare modern horror games to the classics we all know and love. With the introduction of Virtual Reality, we can become even more immersed in games than ever before. Older games like “Silent Hill 2” and “Resident Evil 2” have both gotten remakes that breathe new life into a classic. As mentioned earlier, the “Resident Evil” series has been continuing to this day with their most recent title of “Resident Evil: Village”.
The horror game genre has come a long way since “Hunt the Wumpus”. It has evolved from something purely text-based to pixels on a screen, and now something that you feel like you are living in. Some games even go back to the nostalgic feel of older games such as “MouthWashing” by Wrong Organ in 2024, which embraces the old retro look of low polygon counts which doesn’t hinder its beautiful storytelling. The horror genre will continue to grow and evolve due to the increasing accessibility of game creation. There will be ups and downs, but won’t there be that with everything?
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