Publisher: Frictional Games
Developer: Frictional Games
Year: 2015
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series

Rating: 8

The older I get the less I can tolerate the horror genre. Perhaps it’s the state of the world right now, or maybe I’m just getting old, but my nerves are already wound up enough without artificially tightening them further. For example, Frictional Games is most famous for their Amnesia series. I’ve attempted that, and despite enjoying it, have not been able to get through it due to my anxiety.

Yet they catered to me with Soma, adding an optional setting that more or less prevents you from dying at all. At first I worried that the horror would be dampened by eliminating the risk, but then I remembered that I still enjoy reading a Stephen King book even though I know I’m not going to die then either. Soma’s atmosphere is incredibly intense, risk or not, and the story is strong enough that it’s easily one of the best horror games I’ve played.

Publisher: Postmodern Adventures
Developer: Postmodern Adventures
Year: 2024
Platform: Windows

Rating: 5

As I sit down to write this review just a week after finishing An English Haunting, I realize that I cannot call to mind the name of the protagonist or even how the game ends. My rapidly aging brain surely shoulders much of the blame, though I suspect it also cuts to my feelings about my experience. The second pixel art adventure by Spanish developer Postmodern Adventures, a ghost-hunting yarn set in early twentieth-century London, is certainly a pleasant enough experience buoyed by above-average production values and a satisfying level of gameplay challenge. Yet an unmemorable cast of characters—replete with enough exposition to make a Bond villain blush—make it difficult to give it an enthusiastic recommendation.

Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Supermassive Games
Year: 2022
Platform: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series

Rating: 8

As one camp counselor drags her boyfriend into a storm shelter in the middle of the night to investigate some movement she saw, he half-nervously and half-sarcastically says, “Have you seen Evil Dead?” While there is no fourth wall breaking in The Quarry, the characters are definitely aware they are experiencing a horror movie. The forthcoming honest depiction of how nine teenagers might cope with near constant terror is one of the reasons this is one of the best scary games I’ve played.

Publisher: Infogrames
Developer: Infogrames
Year: 1993
Platform: DOS, Windows, Mac, Linux

Rating: 3

I really wanted to like this game. While I’m not a fan of Lovecraft’s stories, the mythos fascinates me. I would not expect it to, since it more or less boils down to cult worshiping of tentacled gods. But the appeal to me, I think, comes from the notion that humans can be driven mad if they dare to know too much about the universe’s power. It certainly helps that Anchorhead, one of the best games I’ve ever played, taps into these insecurities so well. Shadow of the Comet certainly does a fine job in this arena as well. Sadly, the ghastly user interface along with some intractable puzzle design left me mostly cold.