Great "white hat" horror games by genre

Recommendations by MathBrush

This list does not include games intended to disgust or to make you personally feel evil. The focus is on games where good overcomes evil, or that just make you think. That is what I mean by "white hat" games. Games like Vespers or Cyberqueen are not included.

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1. Shade
by Andrew Plotkin
(2000)
Average member rating: (407 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Psychological horror. Your world crumbles.

2. Divis Mortis
by Lynnea Dally
(2010)
Average member rating: (42 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Survival horror. Puzzle-filled zombie game.

3. Anchorhead
by Michael Gentry
(1998)
Average member rating: (380 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Lovecraftian horror. One of the best interactive fiction games of all time.

4. creak, creak
by chandler groover
(2015)
Average member rating: (33 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Ultra-short horror. Part of a Twine competition that involved restrictions on total words used. Makes great use of a small space.

5. With Those We Love Alive
by Porpentine and Brenda Neotenomie
(2014)
Average member rating: (101 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Surreal horror. I don't enjoy the subject matter of most of Porpentine's games, but this one really stuck with me, and avoids the nastiness of some of their other titles.

6. Scary House Amulet!, by Ricardo Dague (2002)
Average member rating: (10 ratings)
MathBrush says:

Purposely awful horror. This game has a purposely overwrought style and "bad" puzzle solutions, but provided a surprisingly enjoyable and solid playing experience.

7. Eidolon, by A.D. Jansen (2014)
Average member rating: (32 ratings)
MathBrush says:

Dreamlike horror. This game really affected me. It gets less linear the longer you play. Some of the imagery (like a throne full of eyes or the whole moth motif) is so beautiful. I may have been affected more by this insomnia game because I played it while staying up late one night.

8. Theatre, by Brendon Wyber (1995)
Average member rating: (87 ratings)
MathBrush says:

Guilty pleasure. I know I shouldn't include another Lovecraftian game, and the writing is less solid and the game seems hurriedly finished. But I couldn't stop playing this game. I loved the atmosphere and the backstory.

9. my father's long, long legs
by michael lutz
(2013)
Average member rating: (135 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Campfire horror. Twine game with effective use of the medium. Same kind of feel as a campfire story, to me.

10. You are Standing at a Crossroads
by Astrid Dalmady
(2014)
Average member rating: (28 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Trap horror. A game about escaping. Mid-length Twine game that made my heart race.

11. Lydia's Heart
by Jim Aikin
(2007)
Average member rating: (30 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Puzzle-fest horror. A giant game like Curses! where you explore a mysterious cult in a southern motel at the edge of a swamp.

12. The Lurking Horror
by Dave Lebling
(1987)
Average member rating: (89 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Creature-feature. Explore a campus with a Lovecraftian past while dealing with numerous hideous beings. The oldest IF horror game of all.

13. Kaged
by Ian Finley
(2000)
Average member rating: (51 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Mindbender. In a dystopian world, try to discover what is reality and what is not. Mid length game.

14. The King of Shreds and Patches
by Jimmy Maher
(2009)
Average member rating: (76 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Shakespearean horror. Massive game, also featuring Lovecraftian horror.

15. the uncle who works for nintendo
by michael lutz
(2014)
Average member rating: (101 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Sleepover horror. No gore or quick, very creepy, but in the end very uplifting. Includes great notes by the author and multiple endings.

16. Lime Ergot
by Caleb Wilson (as Rust Blight)
(2014)
Average member rating: (81 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Hallucinatory horror. A speed-IF game written in 3 hours. Explore a bizarre landscape from a single position by examining, then examining, etc.

17. Chemistry and Physics
by Caelyn Sandel (as Colin Sandel) and Carolyn VanEseltine
(2013)
Average member rating: (21 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Puzzly Twine horror. Escape from a psycho who is chasing you through a laboratory. A well-written and very puzzlly Twine game.

18. Mariel
by Michael Baltes
(2010)
Average member rating: (5 ratings)

MathBrush says:

German horror. A brief game about escaping an abandoned castle/hospital.

19. Invasion
by Cat Manning
(2015)
Average member rating: (24 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Identity horror. You fleeing from creatures that take more from you than just flesh and blood.

20. Snatches, by Gregory Weir (2005)
Average member rating: (13 ratings)
MathBrush says:

Play as almost a dozen different PCS with unique viewpoints as a alien figure stalks you one by one.

21. Transparent
by Hanon Ondricek
(2014)
Average member rating: (19 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Open ended paranormal horror: This mid-to-long game has you wandering around an abandoned mansion as the photographer in a TV crew. There are many possible objectives, and a lot of slow-burn horror.

22. Fingertips: I Hear the Wind Blow
by Jacqueline A. Lott
(2012)
Average member rating: (22 ratings)

MathBrush says:

One move horror. You wake up in the dark and hear the wind blowing.

23. Draculaland
by Robin Johnson
(2016)
Average member rating: (26 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A parser-choice hybrid where you click parser commands off a menu. A humorous, not too hard old-school game about Dracula.

24. Six Gray Rats Crawl Up The Pillow
by Caleb Wilson (as Boswell Cain)
(2015)
Average member rating: (19 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A short, medieval-era light horror game about spending the night in the house of a deceased noble. Innovative inventory system.

25. Candlesmoke
by Caelyn Sandel and Carolyn VanEseltine
(2014)
Average member rating: (23 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A shortish twine game about a police officer investigating the disappearance of a shut-in.

26. An Evening at the Ransom Woodingdean Museum House
by Ryan Veeder
(2016)
Average member rating: (24 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A shortish ghost story, a linear parser game set at a museum.

27. Tales from Castle Balderstone
by Ryan Veeder
(2018)
Average member rating: (16 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A fun collection of short horror stories by Ryan Veeder. Some are pretty creepy.

28. Restless
by Emily Short
(2018)
Average member rating: (4 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A complex conversational horror game featuring some of Spirit AI's work.

29. Death By Powerpoint
by Jack Welch
(2018)
Average member rating: (11 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A hilarious horror comedy game.

30. The good people
by Pseudavid
(2019)
Average member rating: (13 ratings)

MathBrush says:

An old village holds haunted memories for a visitor returning after years away.

31. Heart of the House
by Nissa Campbell
(2017)
Average member rating: (15 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Gothic horror. Long, very well written, has met with almost universal acclaim. Like Stoker meets Blackwood.

32. Vampire: The Masquerade — Night Road
by Kyle Marquis
(2020)
Average member rating: (12 ratings)

MathBrush says:

You can choose to be 'white hat' in this. It's an epically long Choicescript game with tons of options. I loved it! Especially how you can create a 'ghoul' who will help you in every scene from then on.

33. The Weight of a Soul
by Chin Kee Yong
(2021)
Average member rating: (23 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Steampunk gothic horror. Very big, excellently polished game.

34. The Lookout
by Paul Michael Winters
(2021)
Average member rating: (14 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Short creepy game about spending time in a lonely lookout tower, when something starts killing things around you.

35. The Prairie House
by Chris Hay (a.k.a. Eldritch Renaissance Cake)
(2022)
Average member rating: (12 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A well-researched, illustrated Adventuron game set in Manitoba. Deals with Ukrainians in Canada. Has a jumpscare.

36. Carpathian Vampire
by Garry Francis
(2022)
Average member rating: (9 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A well-made tutorial game about fighting Dracula. Meant as a tutorial for newcomers.


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