10 Horror Games That Are Surprisingly Adorable

Spooky games don’t need to be all that spooky – some are even a little cute.

You Are Reading :10 Horror Games That Are Surprisingly Adorable

Cute and creepy? It sounds like it should be a paradox, but there are many horror games that thread this very strange line. There are of course plenty of horror titles that mask their disturbing interiors under a cutesy facade – Doki Doki Literature Club, in particular, comes to mind – but others seem to coexist in a perfect limbo between the two aesthetics.

So whether you are a fan of good original horror, or looking for some spooky games to play that will not tip you over into a panic attack, here are some adorable games that might just keep you up at night.

10 Penko Park

If you have always dreamed of becoming a cryptid hunter, but do not quite have the stamina to track down Mothman, Penko Park is sure to be your cup of tea. A fresh take on the Pokemon Snap style of gameplay, in Penko Park you get to explore an abandoned wildlife park that is just teeming with strange and often subtly disturbing critters.

Fill up your scrapbook with photos of adorable creatures that are often just a little bit… off. If not downright disturbing. Or perhaps they simply are not a fan of flash photography. With overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam, and some players acclaiming the gameplay as an innovation on photography games, Penko Park really nails the “spoopy” vibe.

9 Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion

Most fans of horror games can agree… jumpscares? A little stale, if still effective, as far as scare factors go. While on its surface, Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion appears to be just another campy indie horror “walking simulator”, with literal cardboard cutouts jumping out from the walls to spook you, a deeper look reveals 1000 rooms of “cute terror” which quickly becomes reminiscent of the classic SCP Containment Breach game.

Combing all the apprehension of creepypasta lore with an ever-present panic of being constantly pursued, Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion is the ideal free-to-play experience if you are looking to be eased into a horror game.

8 Cozy Grove

Cozy Grove might not technically be a horror game, but this social simulator game sure does give you the creeps once you really get into it. In Cozy Grove, you play as a shipwrecked Spirit Scout somewhere between a Girl Scout and a Ghostbuster – sent to a haunted island to obtain your final badge. The catch is, this island you are stuck on is haunted… by bears.

At its heart, Cozy Grove brings all the tear-jerking wholesomeness of Spiritfarer, with a large dollop of Animal Crossing life-sim gameplay for good measure. As you start to peel back the ghost bears’ backstories, however, a darker undertone is slowly revealed, especially through item descriptions. Perhaps not everything is so cozy on Cozy Grove after all.

7 Little Nightmares

There is nothing cute or cozy about The Maw, an eerily massive and decrepit world filled with abominable corrupted souls hungry for a fleshy morsel. Little Six, however, in their bright yellow raincoat, covering the entirety of their face, is just too precious.

It is incredibly easy to become attached to Six for this reason, as you guide them to a hopeful sanctuary somewhere outside The Maw and the reaches of the long-limbed Janitor. Plus, how can you forget the little pointy-headed “Nomes” skittering about the game? In a world so big and scary, these little creatures are an adorable reprieve.

6 Monster Loves You

An Adventure RPG with a choose-your-adventure twist, although Monster Loves You is absolutely chock-full of adorable little monsters, it shows its dark roots from the very start. You play as a little orphaned monster, whose parents were slain by humans that wear your mom and dad as pelts. Yikes.

Deceptively simple and occasionally rather grim, Monster Loves You lets you live out your monster dreams, presenting you with a myriad of choices that will impact your monster future… and the future of monster-kind. Do you save the little girl from three angry bears? Or do you gobble the three little pigs up before the Big Bad Wolf gets a chance to blow their house down? Each choice informs the unique monster you can become.

5 Omori

Based on a webcomic series of the same name, Omori is an Action RPG that invokes Earthbound vibes set in a vibrant, pastel world. At first, Omori plays like a classic JRPG, with turn-based battles played through Omori and their party of friends. Yet nothing is quite as it seems.

Flipping between the vibrant dream world and a frighteningly dark “real” world, Omori delves into psychological horror, building on themes of depression and anxiety. Despite its cute dream world, Omori is known to be a deeply unsettling player experience.

4 Lost In Random

What if you could play through a Tim Burton movie? Well, Lost In Random brings all the aesthetics of a Tim Burton masterpiece into an action-packed Adventure RPG, complete with a unique mashup of third-person combat and a card-based strategy system.

Set in the bleak world of Random, where the citizens are divvied up by the roll of a dice to live in squalor or luxury based on their numbers (think Hunger Games districts). When her sister Odd is enlisted to become a “One” in service to the evil Queen, Even sets off on an epic adventure across Random to get her sister back. Wholesome and quirky characters form the backdrop for this pleasantly cute but creepy game.

3 Little Misfortune

The creators of Fran Bow have blessed us with a game that flips from hilariously funny, disarmingly sweet, and jaw-droppingly dark so quickly it will give you whiplash. Little Misfortune is a gem of an interactive story where you play as the little lady Misfortune herself, fueled by glitter, sass, and often sadly misguided positivity.

When a dark-voiced “Narrator” convinces Misfortune to join them on a quest to find “Eternal Happiness”, she embarks through perilous events and questionable scenarios so that she can bring the legendary happiness back to her Mommy. But your choices have dire consequences, and the Narrator is not all that they say to be.

2 Yomawari: Night Alone

At night, our neighborhoods seem to become entirely different places. Yomawari: Night Alone preys on our fear of the dark, even in familiar places. You play as a little girl whose sister goes missing after she sets out to look for the family dog.

Like any brave little girl, you strike out into the night to go find her. Only to find that your quaint little town is transformed into a haunted hellscape under the cover of night. This cute little girl hides a panic-inducing nightmare of a game, not to be trifled with after dark.

1 Eggfriend

Never underestimate itch.io horror games. This short but impactful experience draws you in with all the colorful 90s nostalgia of playing with your Tamagotchi but with a dark twist.

Created for the Summer Slow Jams in August 2020 hosted by Portland Indie Game Squad, Eggfriend truly nails the slow descent from cutesy into unsettling. What happens when your little Eggfriend is never satisfied? Can you satiate its endless hunger? Subtly creepy, Eggfriend is a great quick play if you are timid about playing horror for the first time.

Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/cute-horror-games-mild-not-scary-unsettling/