Horror game ideas · DIGIT-ARC

Lets gather up some ideas about horror elements necessary in a game.

Here are the constraints.
1. The area is enclosed. Like a square walkway in a building.
2. Not open world.
3. Avoid the jump scares.
4. There are no other human NPCs. Monsters are allowed.

Here are my suggestions:
1. A washer/dryer that rattles frantically in its place when the player approaches.
2. A bathroom door that when opened shows the universe/shows up gears and spurs running and blood dripping down.
3. A shadow appear sometimes from behind you in the direction of light source.
4. Apparition of children walking from a side door to another.
5. A whisper in player's ear.
6. Photo frames dropping down, sometimes floating before dropping down.
7. A picture that turns bloody with time.
8. A pool of blood appearing below the door gap and expanding
9. Cockroaches/insects coming out of door gaps.
10. A TV with static

11. Hearing someone else's footsteps when the player walks and when you turn back, they aren't audible.

12. Long dimly lit corridors
13. Flickering tube lights
14. glowing eyes in dark but nothing when light comes up
15. annoying sounds: continuous; water dropping from tap, a broken window/door continuously waving with wind, wind howling
16. Can do a dilapidated present and glorious past scene in the same room.

Not original but something in silent hill 1 and 2 that really really scared the crap out of me.. As you must know in Silent Hill, you get a radio that creates static noise whenever an enemy is nearby.. Once I was in a room with no enemies, nothing but the static noise kept on coming, and it was growing louder and louder.. After searching for a bit, I noticed a faint silhouette of a baby ghost wandering the room, the ghost wont do any damage or attack you, it was just there to scare the living crap out of people..

In one hospital level, there was an elevator with the topmost floor being the 3rd floor.. First I went to the first floor, cleared everything out, then went to the second floor cleared everything out.. nothing too scary.. when I went to the 3rd floor, expecting something really scary to turn up, to my surprise it was a dead end.. nothing was there at all.. Thinking I must have missed something on the first and second floor, when I got back to the elevator.. there was a 4th floor button on it !!!! That was scary :lol:

and the 4th floor itself was not like any other floor.. the walls were in decay covered in blood, entrails would be hanging out of the ceiling etc.. Also next time you go to the elevator, all the buttons would dissapear, leaving you stranded on the 4th floor !!

Another scary event was from an old game, many of you might not have heard of it.. It was Clive Barker's Undying.. There was this long dark corridor and whenever you enter it, you keep getting whispers like "look behind", or "behind you".. But when you turn around there would be nothing.. but randomly, an enemy did spawn behind you...

Nerevarine said:
Another scary event was from an old game, many of you might not have heard of it.. It was Clive Barker's Undying.. There was this long dark corridor and whenever you enter it, you keep getting whispers like "look behind", or "behind you".. But when you turn around there would be nothing.. but randomly, an enemy did spawn behind you...

Man Undying was scary!

I fell down from my chair while playing it. The blame goes to me for this for sure.

Time : night 1AM
Room: Lights out and using headphone for sound ( i was in hostel and roomies were sleeping)

I'm roaming in a castle for a long time finding none, not even a ghost. It was 15 mins already, cleared room after room, no treasure, no ghost nothing. Walking in an alley and all of a sudden a ghost falls from sky just infront of me. I was so shocked I made a sudden push backwards with my body.
The chair tripped, it was a wired headphone back then which got torn due this sudden pull. Hurt my head and with that loud noise my room-mates woke up.

I find the player's breathing sound effect pretty scary as well.. Like the breathing getting faster when you're in darker areas

wow. these are good.

Subscribed

Gibe Moar stuff pliase

17. The player's sense of direction getting lost at random intervals making him go around the same location more than once. Couple this with Faun's 2nd and 7th points.

18. Lights flickering only when you walk
19. Area sometimes changes when you blink eyes
20. A security phone ringing but when you pick up it gets disconnected.
21. Classical music sound coming from a room. Half broken and varies in pitch.
22. Door opening sound from one of the rooms behind you. It can be slow creak or a quick slam.
23. A flood of water gushing out when you open some door.
24. You can call lift and hear the slow elevator music as the lift approached but then it starts accelerating into free fall right when it's near your floor.
25. Every floor number is same. Doesn't matter whether you go descend the stairs or ascend.
26. There is a mirror behind one of the paintings. But you don't see your reflection once you remove the painting.

Start adding your ideas here. I can't be the only one thinking.

27. Random animal heads used for decoration getting turned into the animal itself and then chase you down until you are cornered only to disappear at the moment you think you are dead. Note: one of the animals will actually kill you so you can't know which will disappear and which won't. :twisted:

this is pretty dark but ..
28. Zombie baby coming at your leg from out of nowhere . (add in scary teeth and freaky cries )

29. A haunted painting.. The painting itself should be alive in someway.. The painting should display images of the person seeing it, getting brutally murdered by a horrifying figure ..
30. Basically the same idea as above, but with a mirror... Whenever the player looks at the mirror, it should display show a horrifying dark figure slowly approaching the player from behind, but as soon as the player turns around, there would be nothing.. When the player looks back at the mirror, the figure is gone !..
The mirror, should be located in an area where the player should pass through multiple times .. Add in a tinge of randomness to the mirror (mirror should act normal most of the times, but should display said scary event some times)
Also, the mirror itself should not harm the player in any way.. it's just there to scare the living crap out of people... Really good horror games implement something like this, things that are scary but dont damage the player in any way
31. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A GOOD SOUNDTRACK !

The mirror idea can be placed in a bathroom.

Player has no access to internet at home. Been living this nightmare for 5 days running.

^lol, please start some good ones

32. Player gets hallucinations of getting their heads swapped with groin region. :lol:

33. There is no savegame system.. If you die, you start over from the beginning like Dark souls or Diablo.. There could be something similar to waypoints/bonfores throughout levels but finding them is hard..
34. Game's main premises are dark hallways, to navigate around you will need a torch which operates on a limited amount of battery.. Without battery, you are screwed.. Battery WILL Not regenerate when you save.
35. Game should have certain sections cut off, for example.. until u find a shovel, you cannot proceed past a debris blocked door.. until you find a component of a generator, you cannot use the elevator..
36. Game should be focused around evading enemies, not shooting and killing them.. Ofcourse you can kill them with guns but the bullets must be super rare

Nerevarine said:
33. There is no savegame system.. If you die, you start over from the beginning like Dark souls or Diablo.. There could be something similar to waypoints/bonfores throughout levels but finding them is hard..
34. Game's main premises are dark hallways, to navigate around you will need a torch which operates on a limited amount of battery.. Without battery, you are screwed.. Battery WILL Not regenerate when you save.
35. Game should have certain sections cut off, for example.. until u find a shovel, you cannot proceed past a debris blocked door.. until you find a component of a generator, you cannot use the elevator..
36. Game should be focused around evading enemies, not shooting and killing them.. Ofcourse you can kill them with guns but the bullets must be super rare

this is a description of "rogue-like" games.

Roguelike - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

doomgiver said:
this is a description of "rogue-like" games.

Roguelike - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roguelikes are a subset of RPGs, from my POV, only point #33 belongs to roguelike genre and I think it deserves to be in a horror game as it will increase the amount of tension

-constant atmosphere with sounds - wind, rumbling, baby crying, rats scurrying
-illogical passageways, they open up where you started. One more is its a never ending passage in one direction, but you can exit if you switch directions.
-signs and markings from a previous adventurer (similar to the messages left in Portal)
-mobs of small, fast, flying swarms of easy to kill creeps (think pigeon-rat hybrids)
-partial loss of control, there are times when you can only aim and shoot, or you can only run and the weapon shoots by itself
-loading screen is pit and the pendulum setup - you are on a bed in the middle, the walls are closing in and a pendulum with a sword attached to the front is swinging and lowering towards you

I have seen most of the points posted here in Horror games I played.

Silent Hill
Evil within
Doom 3
The Thing
Outlast

what I have experienced is that if there is no Gun Fire/Ammo element in the game and only hide/run then the Scare Factor increases 10x

- Hiding under bed/Cupboards and peeping through it for looking the monsters and breathing heavily
- Torchlight power goes off suddenly and you are in the middle of danger area with lots of roaring sound.
- Roaming under the sewage waters with water sound on each step you take.
- Complete silence (no bg) and only water drop leaks sound (tip,tip,tip...)
- You are in Living room and suddenly a loud noise of vessels dropping...it could be a cat/mouse or anything (u just have to go there to find out)

Zangetsu said:
- You are in Living room and suddenly a loud noise of vessels dropping...it could be a cat/mouse or anything (u just have to go there to find out)

That one reminds me of Alien vs Predator when you play as the Colonial Marine. You have a motion detector and everytime I see a blip, my heart stops. Is it a Xenomorph or just some machine or a hanging hook?

R

I want a team a team with persons with different specialties and together we will make a good game I am good at animations how about others?

I am good at design, programming and finishing projects.
I want to make a horror game with elements from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday 13th with puzzle and tension elements for consoles but currently i don't have enough resources. Currently i am busy creating high quality games for mobile and probably steam depending on the game.

Guys, can we be on topic here ? This is not game development recruitment thread.

Start a Game Development thread in programming for all your aspirations. It will be more useful.

You can remove offtopic posts. You are the MOD! Moreover this is your thread.

rhitwick said:
You can remove offtopic posts. You are the MOD! Moreover this is your thread.

dont turn him into joffrey baratheon, bad rhitwick bad bad bad rhitwick

- You enter a silent room with low light which has lots of Dolls (some are broken some are good) and only 1 doll is alive...u don't know which one.
- Its time for a Monster fight in a enclosed room/area and u have Freaky psycho with big Chopper (only 10 bullets) and the Monster take exactly 10 bullets to die but the problem is light is switching on/off just like Camera flash light...its hard to Aim :mrgreen:

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rowdy said:
I want a team a team with persons with different specialties and together we will make a good game I am good at animations how about others?

This guy is a SPAMMER

Zangetsu said:
- You enter a silent room with low light which has lots of Dolls (some are broken some are good) and only 1 doll is alive...u don't know which one.
- Its time for a Monster fight in a enclosed room/area and u have Freaky psycho with big Chopper (only 10 bullets) and the Monster take exactly 10 bullets to die but the problem is light is switching on/off just like Camera flash light...its hard to Aim

That monster will be pwnd by Daredevil. :lol:

Idea: At some point, the room in which the player stand, starts to spin and a monster hand comes out of your ceiling.

R

Zangetsu said:
- - - Updated - - -

This guy is a SPAMMER

How do you know?

rowdy said:
How do you know?

Gotcha.....that means my assumption was right and I knew it

R

Zangetsu said:
Gotcha.....that means my assumption was right and I knew it

what have you got? & What do you know? Though I am not interested but since you have mentioned I am asking.

The SCP-foundation wiki is a goldmine for fanmade horror game ideas.. I love this SCP-173

Description: Moved to Site-19 1993. Origin is as of yet unknown. It is constructed from concrete and rebar with traces of Krylon brand spray paint. SCP-173 is animate and extremely hostile. The object cannot move while within a direct line of sight. Line of sight must not be broken at any time with SCP-173. Personnel assigned to enter container are instructed to alert one another before blinking. Object is reported to attack by snapping the neck at the base of the skull, or by strangulation. In the event of an attack, personnel are to observe Class 4 hazardous object containment procedures.

Personnel report sounds of scraping stone originating from within the container when no one is present inside. This is considered normal, and any change in this behaviour should be reported to the acting HMCL supervisor on duty.

The reddish brown substance on the floor is a combination of feces and blood. Origin of these materials is unknown. The enclosure must be cleaned on a bi-weekly basis.

The entire site is fanmade !

Nerevarine said:
The SCP-foundation wiki is a goldmine for fanmade horror game ideas.. I love this SCP-173

The entire site is fanmade !

I am a regular reader at that site.

SCP-106 is even more scary. Also SCP-895.

SCP-106:

Description: SCP-106 appears to be an elderly humanoid, with a general appearance of advanced decomposition. This appearance may vary, but the “rotting” quality is observed in all forms. SCP-106 is not exceptionally agile, and will remain motionless for days at a time, waiting for prey. SCP-106 is also capable of scaling any vertical surface and can remain suspended upside down indefinitely. When attacking, SCP-106 will attempt to incapacitate prey by damaging major organs, muscle groups, or tendons, then pull disabled prey into its pocket dimension. SCP-106 appears to prefer human prey items in the 10-25 years of age bracket.

SCP-106 causes a “corrosion” effect in all solid matter it touches, engaging a physical breakdown in materials several seconds after contact. This is observed as rusting, rotting, and cracking of materials, and the creation of a black, mucus-like substance similar to the material coating SCP-106. This effect is particularly detrimental to living tissues, and is assumed to be a “pre-digestion” action. Corrosion continues for six hours after contact, after which the effect appears to “burn out”.

SCP-106 is capable of passing through solid matter, leaving behind a large patch of its corrosive mucus. SCP-106 is able to “vanish” inside solid matter, entering what is assumed to be a form of “pocket dimension”. SCP-106 is then able to exit this dimension from any point connected to the initial entry point (examples: “entering” the inner wall of a room, and “exiting” the outer wall. Entering a wall, and exiting from the ceiling). It is unknown if this is the point of origin for SCP-106, or a simple “lair” created by SCP-106.