Summary
If you’re looking for excitement and adrenaline in games, then you’ve got great taste in horror titles.Horror gamesdon’t just challenge your skills; they challenge you psychologically. On the flip side, you get to experience a ‘safe’ kind of fear since it’s all just a game.
Of course, checking reviews before buying games helps you avoid blindly picking up duds, protecting you from bad choices. But sometimes, reviews unfairly slam games, leaving players with doubt. This is especially true for horror games. So here’s a list of games that got bad reviews but aren’t really as terrible as they’re made out to be.
The survival games featured in this list were selected based on having a score of 60 or below onOpenCritic.
10Rise Of Insanity
OpenCritic Score: 53/100
If you’re looking for apsychological horror gameinspired by films of the same genre, Rise of Insanity might just be your twisted cup of tea. Set in the 1970s, you play as Dr. Stephen Dowell, a psychologist with some serious baggage—his wife and child are dead, and his latest patient seems to make things… worse.
Delusions, trauma, and a whole lot of ‘what the heck is going on?’ will follow. The game’s biggest sins? It’s short and a bit too linear. But hey, the hallucination scenes are so trippy they could make Freud sweat. Pick it up on sale, and enjoy a quick descent into madness.
If you love horror games and want to mix in some pulse-pounding parkour, Finding Frankie might be your jam. It starts all sweet and silly—you’re in a colorful play zone with a cute cartoon mascot… until it all goes full nightmare. Suddenly, you’re racing against two unlucky contestants, dodging deadly obstacles, and getting hunted by terrifying enemies.
Critics have bashed the game for its punishing design and clunky difficulty spikes, and yes, the scares can feel a bit copy-paste. But surprise! Nearly 90 percent of Steam players actually liked it—especially those who expected trash and got a snackable, streamer-friendly chaos-fest instead. Fast, flashy, and mildly unhinged? Could be your next guilty pleasure.
OpenCritic Score: 57/100
Dead Effect 2blends sci-fi and horrorin the most “zombies-in-space” way possible. Set in 2083 aboard a giant spaceship, you play as a super soldier dealing with the aftermath of a very bad science experiment. Think mutants, zombies, and whatever else you don’t want crawling out of a lab.
While surviving the madness, you’re also trying to uncover the dark secrets behind the virus outbreak. Originally a mobile game, its transition to PC and consoles drew criticism for repetitive gameplay, weak AI, and a clunky mobile-style UI. Still, if your expectations are low and your wallet light, this budget-friendly shooter has decent RPG elements, fun mini-games, and more upgrades than a sci-fi vending machine.
If you’re a fan of old-schoolResident Evil-style gamesfrom the PS1 era, Daymare: 1998 might just scratch that retro horror itch. After a bio-weapon is accidentally unleashed, people start turning into bloodthirsty monsters, and you’ll get to experience the chaos from three different characters’ perspectives.
The gameplay is slow-paced, the controls are clunky, and the camera angles scream “1998” — and that’s exactly the point. It’s a love letter to survival horror’s awkward golden age. If you’re after fast action and slick modern design, you’ll probably bounce off this one. But for retro horror fans? It’s cheesy, creaky, and oddly charming.
If you’re into moody, post-apocalyptic road trips through abandoned Russian towns, 35MM might be your cup of irradiated tea. The game follows two travelers making their way through a world gutted by a global pandemic. It’s slow, quiet, and combat is… well, barely there.
Think of it more as an emotional walking simulator with a hint of survival horror than a run-and-gun thriller. If you’re patient, love heavy atmosphere, and don’t mind a little existential dread between train tracks and moldy buildings, this could be a hauntingly good time. But if you’re craving explosions every five minutes, you’ll probably fall asleep at the wheel.
If you’re a fan of The Ring and have a soft spot for creepy Asian folklore, then this supernatural horror game is your eerie cup of tea. In DreadOut, you play as Linda, a high schooler who gets stuck in an abandoned Indonesian town that’s basically haunted real estate.
Expect ghostly encounters, puzzle-solving marathons, and lots of screaming—some from you, some from the ghosts. The game’s clunky camera, challenging puzzles, and occasionally dull gameplay drew some criticism. But if you’re curious about Indonesian folklore and enjoy indie horror games with a unique vibe, it might just charm you (while scaring the life out of you).
If Slenderman had a resume, “terrifying internet legend” would be at the top. First creeping into our lives with a spooky page-collecting indie game in 2012, he returns in Slender: The Arrival—and guess what? He’s still not a fan of personal space. You play as someone searching for a missing friend with nothing but a flashlight and poor life choices.
The game’s biggest criticisms are its repetitive gameplay, super short length, and barely-there plot. But if being stalked by a faceless horror sounds like a good time, and you’re cool with cheap jumpscares and simple mechanics, give this creepy classic a whirl—you might even sleep with the lights on.
If Lucius were just another ordinary kid, his story would be boring—but thankfully, he’s Satan’s favorite little guy! On his sixth birthday, Lucius gets gifted with supernatural powers and decides it’s time to turn his family estate, Dante Manor, into a horror show. Your goal? Take out the household one “accidental death” at a time.
It’s the perfect game for anyone tired of hiding from monsters and ready to be the monster. With stealth and puzzle-solving baked into your deadly missions, things get creatively creepy. Still, some players found the gameplay repetitive and the storytelling a bit shallow. But hey, if you liked The Omen and ever wondered what it’s like to be Damien, here’s your chance.
If you’re into creepy trains but prefer a demonic spider variety instead of a friendly Thomas, Choo-Choo Charles might be your nightmare come true. In this game, you face off against Charles, a bloodthirsty, monstrous train, while your goal is to destroy this spider-train terror. You’ll be constantly paranoid with your old, trusty train, because Charles might be lurking behind you at any moment.
But don’t worry, you can turn your train into a battle machine. The game may be repetitive and short, but it’s definitely unique. If you’re expecting a deep story, look elsewhere. But if you love the idea of fighting a giant, creepy train with a terrifying vibe, this might be your ride.
You’ve probably heard of Hello Neighbor – it’s a horror game with surprisingly cute graphics, but don’t let that fool you. In this game, you sneak into your neighbor’s house and try to uncover his secrets. One of the coolest parts is how the neighbor learns your every move and sets traps or takes countermeasures accordingly.
Although the game is quite popular with 86 percent positive ratings from over 14,000 Steam users, critics weren’t as kind at launch, citing technical issues and the neighbor’s inconsistent, confusing behavior. The puzzles were also criticized for being nonsensical. But hey, people criticize everything, and Hello Neighbor is overhated – its unique gameplay and impressive graphics can make you overlook those pesky bugs!
