Horrorgames with day and night cycles can be quite terrifying. These games make you feel safe during the day but with the looming fear that the sun will eventually go down. Once the sun sets, you had better be somewhere safe, or you’ll have to face the monsters when there’s no light to guide the way.
Horror games often get creative as to how they use the day and night cycle. Some games use this to separate two different gameplay loops, while others offer more rewards if you’re willing to brave the darkness. Always keeping you on the edge, here are some games that utilize this well.
State of Decay 2
WHERE TO PLAY
State of Decay 2 pits players against hordes of zombies in an open-world survival game. It has extensive resource management mechanics, as well as co-op gameplay for up to four players.
State of Decay 2 splits the gameplay in two by having players go out and scavenge for items during the day. You can play it safe and loot nearby areas so that you always make it back by sundown, or risk it all by exploring further. This is always tempting.
The night cycle is when zombies are at their most aggressive. While you might feel brave taking on the hoard, no matter the time of day,characters dying permanentlycan make exploring the dark a risky move. However, as supplies dwindle near your base, the game will force you to move out further.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster challenges you to manage your time wisely. Daytime has slower zombies, and you can manage your survivors easily when you can see where you’re sending them. The most dangerous time of all is when the sun sets and the lights go out.
Willamette Mall’s electricity will turn off at 10PM. So, until it comes back on, you’ll need to stumble around in the darkness. Zombies will also become more aggressive and hoards thicker, making the task of escorting lost survivors all the more difficult.
While some zombie games make their zombies more aggressive at night, Dying Light 2 has special variants that only appear during that time. These Volatiles are so powerful that the nighttime segments of the game force you to play stealthily.
So, while you may be able to hack and slash your way through the various infected during the day, doing so at night could attract the Volatile’s attention. If this does happen, you end up running across the streets in a panic as they chase you without stopping.
The main goal of 7 Days To Die is tosurvive as long as possiblewhile evading the zombie threats and battling the elements of nature. Zombies will mostly shamble during the day but will start running at night. This makes them trickier to evade if you choose to explore the darkness.
7 Days To Die also gives players the ability to customize their day and night cycles. So you can change how long each one lasts. This can be a good way to practice your gardening and base-building skills during the day and make the night seem less daunting.
In Sons of the Forest, you have to fend off the various cannibals andmutantsthat roam the wilderness. While you can sleep to avoid the night, you can also take advantage of the dark to further your own goals.
Cannibals have more patrols out at night. They will also be attracted to any source of light you produce in the dark, such as bonfires and lighters. While enemies are more likely to attack you under the cover of night, they also can’t see you very well either. This gives you an opportunity to sneak around.
Darkwood already makes the day cycle terrifying by only showing you what’s in your character’s line of sight. So, unless you hear something creeping up on you, or you’re facing something directly, you won’t know it’s there until it’s too late.
Your days should be spent finding traps to fortify your base, making deals with the trader, and collecting fuel to keep the lights on at night. Once the dark creeps in, your visibility is almost non-existent, more monsters roam the woods, and your day’s work will be put to the test.
4Project Zomboid
A Realistic Zombie Game
Project Zomboid isa realistic depiction of a zombie apocalypse. The daytime gives you time to find loot, scavenge for food, and find a place to hunker down. Nighttime, on the other hand, increases the chances that you’ll stumble across a hoard in the dark.
Hoards are incredibly powerful due to their numbers and ability to pursue the player without losing stamina. The further you run, the larger the hoard becomes. While the day might see you well-rested, fed, and ready for anything, nighttime is when you’re most vulnerable.
Pathologic 2’s entire gameplay style revolves around time in a disease-ridden town. Quests can last one day or several with the only way to know is through trial and error. By midnight, some quests will expire and the citizens who gave you them will succumb to disease.
At night, child characters will go indoors as bandits take their place. There are other active facilities that are not open during the day. These include the theater and the dead item shop. It’s a cycle where every minute counts.
During the day, Grounded feels like a fun adventure you have after your scientist parents shrink you down by accident. Bugs are larger than life, and you can spend the day cutting down blades of grass to create a cool new home.
When the sun goes down, you realize that you’re not in a family-friendly flick, but a horror story. Spiders that normally dwell inside cave systems will emerge from the depths to hunt you down. Days and nights have their exclusive insects with their own pool of resources.
Don’t Starve has you mastering three distinct time slots. These are the day, dusk, and night cycles. Each one has an effect on what enemies are active, what crops grow, and what you can forage from the surrounding forests.
This is made even more complex through the changing seasons. Some cold nights will yield rare mushrooms, while hot days might release certain mobs from the frozen ponds. Days are also when you’ll be able to find more animals out and about instead of sleeping or hiding.
