There are plenty of horror games that want to be Resident Evil or Silent Hill, and while that's no bad thing, it does get a bit familiar after a while. Fortunately, there's a lot of smaller games on the way in 2024 that feature leftfield twists, unexpected ideas and more – which is exactly what you want in a horror game.
And this year, it looks like a bumper crop of weird and twisted releases are on the way. Renting from a witch? Cleaning away bodies? The best thing about the more unusual end of the horror spectrum is that it leaves you on the backfoot, unsure of what's to come – things get extra creepy when you can't be sure what's going to happen next, and every one of these games builds its tension on something unusual, to say the least.
Janet DeMornay is a Slumlord and a Witch
Release date: 2024
With a title like that you know this is going to be… interesting? Let's go with interesting. Described as a 'horror comedy escape room' this sees you navigating the perils of renting, which can already be terrifying, but adding the twist that your landlord is a full on witch. It's a weird and wonderful idea but it's the performances that really sell it. Check out the Steam page, watch the trailer and see if you can go the rest of the day without repeating the line 'Was it my hat Andrew? at least once. The mix of home invasion and puzzle solving has an interesting claustrophobia too, as Janet nips and pokes at the boundaries of your home.
Sorry we're Closed
Release date: 2024
This is an absolute fever dream love letter to a really specific era of PS2 horror games. Namely Killer7 meeting Silent Hill, via a neon filter, to create a sort of sexy, fixed camera survival horror game full of clever ideas and that just absolutely serves… style. It's all about dealing with curses and demons using a third person view to explore, while switching to first person to fight back with a range of extravagant supernatural guns. Using your third eye you're also able to see a world beyond, exposing enemies' weak points and revealing unseen solutions to puzzles. There is a demo you can play right now if you want to experience it for yourself.
Militsioner
Release date: TBA
Think Deus Ex or Dishonored in terms of open world exploration, puzzle solving and multiple solutions and endings, but in a more real world setting. Oh and there's a giant policeman watching you from the clouds. There are probably layers of meaning to unravel about a Russian developed game that has you trying to avoid the ire of an all seeing authority figure towering over you. But at a gameplay level Militsioner looks as clever as it is bizarre, as you try to escape the town, in a game of cat and mouse to avoid the near orbital eye of the law. Commit any wrong doing and you'll be scooped up by giganto–cop, leaving you to try anything and everything to avoid getting caught. You can even turn a radio on to keep him up at night so he naps during the day, giving you free reign to do crimes and get free.
Zero Losses
Release date: Coming soon
There's something very dark and wrong about Zero Losses. An under–your–skin creep of things just not feeling right. How that atmosphere will develop in this war set story isn't clear yet but there's so much unsettling foreboding already from things like all the soldiers' faces being pixelated out, or what appears to be a furnace with a conveyor belt channelling an endless line of corpses to a fiery end. As an "open–world horror driving game inspired by the events of the Russian invasion of Ukraine" the symbolism of a faceless body count and that title is hard to miss, with one of your main tasks involving picking up bodies so the conflict has 'zero losses'. It's developed by Marevo Collective who also made 2020's No One Live Under the Lighthouse, an atmospheric study of isolation and eldritch horrors.
Full Fathom
Release date: Q3 2024
The vibe I'm getting from Full Fathom is 'what if someone made the excellent Iron Lung into a bigger game'. It has the same underwater claustrophobia of being trapped in a submarine, adrift in an endless ocean, just with freedom to leave the sub and explore as you try to get home. Your fragile sub needs maintenance and repairs to get you back safely though, so this is about using sonar and a navigation console to chart a route through flooded cities. The sea and the creatures in it aren't your friends obviously, making this all about decision making and survival as you find and explore locations to get what you need.
Silkbulb Test
Release date: Coming soon
This is probably one of the most unsettling games on this list thanks to its mix of the mundane and offkey. There's a heavy SCP influence here (the crowdsourced new weird fiction that inspired Control) as you just.. sit in a chair and answer questions. But they're weird questions, and the pictures are all wrong, and what else is in the room exactly – just out eye line and breathing weirdly. You can play a demo of Silkbulb Test to get a better idea of how this otherworldly focus testing plays out, and then you too can dread where it's all going in the final game.
Mouthwashing
Release date: Q1 2024
I'll be honest, Mouthwashing is the game I know least about here but the developer's last game was a weird and enjoyable existential story about a fish in a pipe, so I'm game for whatever's next. The setup sees you following the story of a spaceship crew marooned in space, adrift with the horrifically mutilated captain that doomed you all. The trailers hint at a surreal sci-fi adventure with sinister dream-like overtones as the crew deal with the time they have left, lost in the depths of space.
Loveland
Release date: Coming soon
You can play a demo of Loveland as well as wishlist it on Steam right now while you wait for the full release to get an idea of what's going on. You're a detective sent to investigate a zealous frog worshipping cult in a trippy, explore–em–up sort of things. More spooky than scary so far as you poke around, but that could all change. It feels like a slightly darker, more fantastical Sagebrush, but that might just be because both see you exploring trailers and empty buildings to find out more about a cult. Whatever's going on, it does a good job with the atmosphere because while you start off thinking the whole frog thing is a bit funny, you soon start to feel unsure about what's going on.
Trip
Release date: Coming soon
There's a strong dream emulator feel to Trip which describes itself as a 'walking simulator'. Set on a train, you have to explore and solve a few puzzles to push the weirdness on which seems to oscillate wildly between things like tentacles one minute, dolphins swimming alongside the train the next. It's the variation of tones that is the most disturbing – bright happy neon colours one minute, biblical angels and carriages on fire the next. Then there's the masked passengers, silently watching pass by but never (so far) interacting in any way.
Retrospace
Release date: TBA
If you're going to have any sales pitch then you can't do much better than 'immersive sim disco–punk space horror'. This is basically a System/BioShock/Prey style game where you fight to escape a space station sucked into a 'sentient black hole'. You can freely explore the station, unlocking paths and progressing however you want in a Metroidvania–like setting; whether that's via stealth, combat or other means, using 'Metamods' to give you powers to help, balanced by various side effects. Retrospace's pulpy mutant enemies, gloriously retro style design, and open gameplay, all look great.
My Work Here is Not Yet Done
Release date: TBA
There's a clear nod to World of Horror's 1–bit art style in My Work is Not Yet Done, but there's a very different prospect here to this 'narrative–driven investigative horror game'. It's promising a non–linear plot, as you explore and investigate a wilderness as the last surviving member of a scientific expedition. I have to say I found the demo you can play on the Steam page a little too slow, but I'm in love with the art style and the idea of freely investigating the space around you. With elements of survival and simulation, as you search out radio signals, explore the wilderness, there's an interesting idea here.
While We Wait Here
Release date: 2024
The demo you can play over on While We Wait Here's Steam page starts off ordinarily enough, as you work the counter of a remote dinner. But it's clear something isn't right. As you serve, a crew of forensic suited men appear – that you only seem able to see – and start cataloguing and recording a crime scene while everyone carries on oblivious. That's sinister enough but the official story is even worse – you're flipping burgers and serving drinks while you wait for the world to end. Talking to customers and making dialogue choices to influence events in your collective final moments for a range of different endings. Something about how the demo ends makes me think everyone's already dead and this is just a loop playing out forever, but we'll have to wait for the full game to see if I'm right…
Regular Home Renovation Simulator
Release date: Coming soon
Okay, Regular Home Renovation Simulator is sort of the least weird game here just because it's the easiest to understand concept – what if House Flipper was about cursed homes? That's the whole pitch. Renovate properties that used to be sites of ritualistic sacrifice, serial killer lairs and demonic possession. It's not entirely clear how the game is going to run with that ball but I'm really looking forward to finding out.
