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Best Indie Horror Games of 2023

What are the best indie horror games of 2023? Find out here, including Lethal Company, Slay the Princess, Dredge, Barotrauma, and more.

Looking for the spookiest gameplay to come out of 2023? Our list of the best indie horror games of 2023 lists the titles that we’re almost too scared to name (almost).

Indie horror games skew heavily towards PC, but our picks span across all major consoles, so regardless of where you want to get creeped out – PC, PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch – living room or bedroom or indeed, anywhere else, we’ve got the scare for you.

If there’s a horror game that came out this year and you think it deserves a spot on this list, let us know!

Lethal Company

Platforms: PC (Early Access)

Lethal Company is a co-op scavenging game in which you explore abandoned industrial moons to retrieve scrap and meet “The Company’s” profit quota. Apart from accompanying your teammates on these expeditions, you can also instead guide them from your ship.

Lethal Company has become a viral hit this month and has amassed massive popularity even in its Early Access form.

Amnesia: The Bunker

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Amnesia: The Bunker takes you to a bunker in the middle of World War I, where you play as a French soldier who must survive against a horrific monster.

Although you get an old-fashioned flashlight and a revolver, you quickly find that ammo is scarce and fuel for electric generators is scarcer. Survival depends entirely on how you navigate the semi-open world of the bunker and manage your dwindling resources.

Demonologist

Platforms: PC

Demonologist is a 1-4 player co-op horror game, in which you explore cursed locales to identify supernatural spirits and then exorcise them with your demon-busting equipment.

Every game features randomized events and spirits, so you’ll never be certain of what to expect. You’ll also have to be careful of what you say, as the cursed places you visit might react to your words.

My Friendly Neighborhood

Platforms: PC

My Friendly Neighborhood is a survival horror adventure where you play as a repairman trying to get to the bottom of a mystery involving ‘everyone’s favorite Saturday morning show’.

My Friendly Neighborhood may not go heavy on the blood and gore, but its puppets will nonetheless startle and unsettle you as you run around in the production studio. Althought its non-linear survival horror and puzzle gameplay are inspired by genre forebears, My Friendly Neighborhood offers an unusual, but just as scary direction for its horror.

Slay the Princess

Platforms: PC

Slay the Princess wears its premise on its title, but there’s more to this visual novel than meets the eye. As you play through its branching narrative, you’ll find that things are not as as simple as they seem, and that horror is afoot.

Slay the Princess is fully voice-acted and featured hand-penciled art, spinning a dark, horror-drenched tale that reacts to your choices.

Killer Frequency

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Meta Quest 2

Killer Frequency takes a puzzle spin on the horror genre, set in the radio broadcasting station. You play as a late-night talk show host who must guide his callers to safety as they as stalked by a mysterious killer.

To help them survive, you’ll have to gather clues, solve riddles, and make critical decisions, all over phone. The game is described as a horror comedy, so expect laughs alongside those screams.

Dredge

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch

Dredge is a fishing adventure game with a distinctly dark tinge, both in style and theme. You captain a fishing trawler, catching deep-sea creatures, selling fish to the many characters across the game’s islands, completing quests, and collecting secrets.

Surviving your trips after dark won’t be as easy as it sounds, though, and what horrors lurk in the waters may challenge both your sanity and your abilities.

Barotrauma

Platforms: PC

Barotrauma is a 2D co-op submarine simulator that blends survival horror with RPG elements, in which you can work with – or against – your submarine crew in the depths of the ocean of Jupiter’s moon Europa.

You can play with 16 players on one submarine, which features complex wiring, crafting, and medical systems. As you complete missions and improve your character’s talents, you’ll also have to survive the horrors that lurk Europa and threaten you and your crew. The game also features very extensive editing and modding capabilities, so that you can build your own scenarios and beyond.

World of Horror

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch

The long-awaited World of Horror is a 1-bit-styled adventure RPG set in Japan, where you’ll confront the Old Gods and undergo nightmarish phenomena and investigate horrific mysteries.

World of Horror is very visibly inspired by the works of Junji Ito as well as H.P. Lovecraft, and its random encounters and roguelite elements promise fresh new reasons to scream at every turn.

The Outlast Trials

Platforms: PC (Early Access)

The Outlast Trials may be in Early Access, but it has already gained quite the fan following. In this latest entry in the Outlast series, you will be taken to a Cold War bunker where you must complete tasks while avoiding monstrous enemies.

The game can be played either solo or in up to 4-player co-op, and you can it has been described as a “TV series” by its developers. Playing as one of the game’s four classes, you’ll have to use the tools at your disposal, such as night-vision goggles and lockpicks – but you can only hold three objects at a time, so you’ll have to choose carefully.

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Thanks for reading our article on the Best Indie Horror Games of 2023! For other interesting articles on Into Indie Games, be sure to check the links below!

• Into Indie Games Homepage
• Best Indie Adventure Games of 2023
• The Last Worker Review
• Return to Monkey Island Guide – Prelude (Scurvydogs)
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