15 Best Horror Games You Can Buy For Under $20
Steam and various console stores are awash with cheap horror games so, if you’re strapped for cash but fancy getting scared, you’ll rarely have to fork out more than a fiver. However, this feature ups the budget to a maximum of $20 and, in doing so, becomes a list of who’s who in semi-modern horror games; seminal titles most of which you’ve likely heard of already but might’ve avoided playing for one reason or another. To be clear, the 15 highlighted here isn’t exhaustive, there’re tons of awesome, timeless single player horror games out there going for less than you’d expect.
Clock Tower: Rewind
Experience the prodigious 1995 survival horror Clock Tower in English outside of Japan for the first time. The original is intact, outdated gameplay like soft locked progress and overly obtuse puzzles included, but alongside is the quality-of-life-enhanced Rewind version providing ability to backtrack save states rather than forcibly starting over. Included too are animated introductions, motion comics, creator interviews, artwork, and a dedicated music player to enjoy the game’s phenomenal soundtrack. However, a word of caution: don’t expect a modern experience. Clock Tower: Rewind, despite the extra content, is very much a relic of its time. Available on PlayStation Store for $19.99.
Choo-Choo Charles
Those of us who grew up watching British kids TV show Thomas & Friends can look back at its cast of oddly human faced sentient locomotives and realise just how creepy that show could be. Taking inspiration from this, plus Stephen King novella Charlie the Choo-Choo, is Choo-Choo Charles, a decidedly bizarre survival game whereby your weapon-equipped train is tracked by the titular bloodthirsty spider-locomotive hybrid. Another one that can be yours for $19.99 via PlayStation Store.
What Remains of Edith Finch
The unease in playing through What Remains of Edith Finch comes in reliving the life-ending tragedies which befell the Finch family. Exploring the ramshackle Finch family home as last surviving family member Edith, you’ll be transported back to each of her ancestors’ demises, but the experience’s magical realism aesthetic makes piecing together the exact circumstances cumbersome. Ultimately, What Remains of Edith Finch is a well-realised story about familial tradition, accountability, and paranoia, and you absolutely must play it if you haven’t. It’s currently priced at $19.99 on PlayStation Store.
Tormented Souls
Drenched in vintage Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil atmosphere, Tormented Souls follows investigator Caroline Walker as she creeps by candlelight through the hallways of a petrifying mansion-turned-asylum, her sleuthing against the torment of shadowy evil and twisted monsters an attempt to discover the happenstance surrounding the disappearance of two young girls. Modernised with updated controls and dynamically shifting camera perspectives, the horror Tormented Souls uncovers is fiendish. At the time of this feature’s creation Tormented Souls is on sale at $4.99 on the PlayStation Store. It’s usually priced at $19.99.
Layers of Fear 2
Divisive is Layers of Fear 2 with numerous detractors lamenting a lack of focus in favour of grander scale for this sequel. Sure, the game’s story rambles at times but inarguable is Bloober Team’s ability to craft atmosphere. Layers of Fear 2 toyed with haunted house tropes more successfully than its predecessor, thriving on the experience of a player character exploring a world which never truly makes sense. Another one that can be yours for $19.99 via PlayStation Store.
The Forest
Nights are dark in The Forest. Daytimes are spent gathering resources, fortifying defences, and consuming sustenance to keep those all-important energy levels up because this survival-tinged horror ramps up the fear when darkness falls. Those not-always murderous cannibals become downright hostile under the night sky, and the unease at spotting lights through trees or hearing distant bloodcurdling screams elevates The Forest to one of the most memorable horror games in recent memory. Steam users can snag The Forest for $19.99.
Dead Island Definitive Edition
Including the genre-smashing original and story extension Dead Island: Riptide, Dead Island Definitive Edition brings all the fun soaked, skull cracking viscera bang up to date with a hi-resolution remaster, delivering crisp HD graphics alongside improved light and shading. Despite changes elsewhere being few and far between, the game’s ever-excellent melee combat together with the hi-res touch ups means this package earns it’s ‘Definitive Edition’ moniker. Usually priced at $19.99 on PlayStation Store, although Dead Island Definitive Collection is currently on sale for $4.99.
Dying Light
Merging freewheeling parkour with flesh ripping melee, Dying Light is in many ways Techland’s magnum opus, taking all that was great about Dead Island and embellishing into a zombie horror all-timer. A surprisingly heartfelt story underpins the rampant killing, but it’s the game’s post-apocalyptic open world that steals the show, a city with well laid out paths for free running ensure sprinting from A to B is an exercise in maximising flow state. Dying Light is ten years old now but thanks to years of post-launch support the experience still feels fresh, exciting, and works well on modern hardware – a bargain for $19.99 via PlayStation Store. Like others on this list though, Dying Light is currently on sale – $5.99 on PlayStation.
Outlast
Remote Mount Massive Asylum is the target of investigative journalist Miles Upshur’s suicidal infiltration and research mission in Outlast, as despite a whistle blower tipping off that the psychiatric hospital’s patients are being subjected to inhumane experiments nothing can prepare Miles for the evil that’s lurking within. A horrific demonstration in show don’t tell, the sickly green glow of Miles’ camcorder night vision is a genius mechanic in which to view the grisly goings on. One of the scariest games on this rundown, for sure. Xbox players can grab Outlast for $19.99.
The Evil Within
Releasing back in 2017, The Evil Within is easily one of the best horror games out there. The various boss encounters and tense combat help it usher in a new breed of survival horror: intricate stories and complex characters exist in a brutally dark world featuring exceptionally crafted, anxiety inducing environments. Such is The Evil Within’s pedigree that it arguably inspired Resident Evil’s modern renaissance originating with Resident Evil 7. Usually $19.99 via Xbox, although Game Pass subscribers can currently grab it for $4.00 less.
Alan Wake
The long-awaited sequel to 2010’s Alan Wake shifted focus closer to an out-and-out survival horror, but whilst Alan Wake II’s predecessor wasn’t inherently scary it harboured enough horror elements to lay the foundation for 2023’s follow-up. An ominous presence stalks Bright Falls as the titular writer searches for his missing wife whilst enacting the pages of a thriller novel he doesn’t remember writing. The remastered version is arguably inessential as the original holds up well, plus it’s less than $20 as per this feature’s requirement at $19.99 on Xbox.
Resident Evil
The game which defined survival horror returned in 2015 with a remastered HD version of its 2002 GameCube remake, and the sharpened face lift hasn’t dulled the shuffling terror whatsoever. In fact, whilst graphics aren’t always the be-all-and-end-all, Resident Evil functions much more effectively with denser shadow detail, the Spencer Mansion’s claustrophobic dread excruciatingly dialled up, made even more tangible by the game’s classic tank controls and wayward aiming. Regularly popping up in sales, Resident Evil is usually $19.99 on Xbox.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
A game to be avoided if you’re faint of heart, Amnesia: The Dark Descent begins stereotypically enough with player-character experiencing, yep, amnesia, but the experience evolves beyond Daniel rediscovering his memories against the backdrop of a foreboding castle. As you progress, you’ll become trapped within the macabre recesses of Daniel’s mind, experiencing psychological torment first-hand via his sanity meter, itself a fear of the dark mechanic which was novel at the time. Another game that’s ordinarily on sale, Amnesia: The Dark Descent’s normal price is $19.99 as per its listing on Steam.
Little Nightmares
Rarely does a horror game make the player feel as helpless as Little Nightmares. In command of yellow-coated character named Six, a little girl with no combat ability whatsoever, players must tiptoe through the darkest corners of a grim world to avoid the gaze of nightmarish monsters. Viewing terror through the character’s eyes is disturbing enough, but it’s the game’s grounded reality making all this horror seem as though it could be real – like an embodiment of someone’s imagination, perhaps – is how Little Nightmares sticks with you. Currently $19.99 via Xbox.
Limbo
A modern classic, dark ambient side-scroller Limbo plunges you into a twisted world of haunted forests, dangerous foundries, and stagnant swamps as a small boy in search of your sister who, depending on your interpretation, could be dead or alive. Mechanically shallow sure, but in conjuring mystery through a combination of grainy black and white with superb sound design Limbo is an essential play, plus its available on practically any platform for like $9.99 on Xbox.
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