Halloween is nearly here and what better way to prepare for it than to look at the more underrated sub-genre of horror: point-and-click. There have been a variety of point-and-click horror games from FMV to RPG to the classic side scroller. All are brilliantly unique with an emphasis on great storytelling and dialogue. This list includes both the older, iconic point-and-click games and the more recent innovative and intriguing installments. Here are the 10 Best Point-and-Click Horror Games, without including the more obvious picks such as Five Nights at Freddy’s.
10 Best Point-and-Click Horror Games
Unusual Findings
Released October 12th, 2022, the newest addition on Steam for the point-and-click horror genre. Following a trio of friends, join Vinny, Nick, and Tony in uncovering murder mysteries. All aboard the 80s train of hypnotizing, nostalgic synthesizing music, rental VHS stores, and teenagers on bikes. In this point-and-click adventure horror game choices matter.
With three endings and eighteen optional puzzles depending on the choices you make throughout; the trio is shaped by your decisions. With great voice acting and writing, this is perhaps one of the best horrors of 2022. Can you uncover this mystery?
Midnight Scenes: The Highway
The Highway, a bite-sized horror experience, the perfect toe-dipping in the pool of point-and-click horror. Follow Claire Barnes in the first episode of Midnight Scenes, a Twilight Zone-style horror game. Driving in the dark, a flat tire and a fallen telegraph pole blocking the road forces Claire to traverse the darkness and see what lies within.
Greeted by a missing poster sign of a child with its mouth and eyes smudged by blood, what could have happened here? Claire braves visiting the nearby residency where she must complete short puzzles and tasks to get to her destination. There is only one way to go and that is forward.
Midnight Scenes: The Nanny
On tonight’s episode, two children will face their fears in Midnight Scenes: The Nanny. The second episode of the Midnight Scenes. Set in the 1980s, we follow Oliver and Tina, a brother and sister having a casual day out in the forest across the lake with their nanny. But something is wrong. In this seemingly endless forest, Oliver stumbles onto something.
Something ancient and powerful, something he should not have found but felt pulled towards. Something unspeakable and unfathomable. But it is not just Oliver that gets pulled in. Compared to The Highway, The Nanny sits at a longer game time of 40 minutes. The Nanny is a great short horror game, with fantastic dialogue, story writing, and imagery. But why did Tina suggest the forest and how did Oliver lose his toy truck there?
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
Based on Harlan Ellison’s short story, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream follows five protagonists: Gorrister, Benny, Ellen, Nimdok, and Ted. The oldest installment on this list and released in 1996 by Cyberdreams, I Have No Mouth takes place in a dystopian world run by a sentient artificial intelligence called Allied Mastercomputer (“AM”) who has been torturing the remaining five humans for 109 years after annihilating the rest of humanity.
AM’s torture takes on the worst fears of the protagonists, where we as the player must overcome our flaws and make tough decisions based on the twisted and corrupted ethical situations AM has put us in. After 109 years of torture, can you beat AM?
INSCRYPTION
Ever played a deck-building horror game? You can now with Inscryption. Traverse in a complex world split into three Acts with different game genres; from first-person to RPG. The card game remains the same but the scenarios around our protagonist transform as you play.
Inscryption follows Luke “The Lucky Carder”, a vlogger enraptured by the world of Inscryption. Play to escape the cabin and Leshy’s grasp, a deadly card dealer and the master of beasts. Think carefully and you may succeed, fail in Act 1 and you will be transported back to the beginning. Will you Continue forever? Or will you start a New Game?
The Cat Lady
One of the oldest installments on this list but it is and will always be golden in the point-and-click horror genre. Released in 2012 by Harvester Games, The Cat Lady follows Susan Ashworth, a lonely, chronically depressed woman who has little to no hope for her future. This game has themes of suicide and self-harm.
Susan wakes in an alternate world where she is granted immortality by the Queen of Maggots and tasked with the killing the ‘Parasites’, five psychopaths who roam the Earth. It’s dark and disturbing. Some of your choices matter but you will not know which. So, play carefully and pick well. It’s an important game for the conversation on mental health and should not be overlooked in the horror genre.
IMMORTALITY
Whatever happened to Marissa Marcel? Uncover the mystery of the disappearance of the up-and-coming actress and shift through her filmography scattered into movie moments. Piece the scenes together and uncover the truth. Immortality is possibly the most unique point-and-click horror game to come out in recent years.
Created by Ben Harlow, with prior work of Telling Lies and Her Story, Immortality is a one-of-a-kind experience that will leave you perplexed, concerned, and at times on the edge of your seat. Sit back and indulge in some brilliant acting accompanied by a simplistic gameplay mechanics that are easy to grasp. The truth is hidden, can you see it in black and white?
World of Horror
If you are a fan of the master of Horror, Junji Ito then this one is for you. Whilst this game is still in early access, a new update may be on the horizon. A Lovecraftian cosmic horror in a turn-based combat RPG adventure game set in Shiokawa Japan, 1984. Banish evil spirits and evade deities in this world of incomprehensible phenomena.
Created by one developer, Panstasz, it is a challenging game that has you traversing the endlessly hostile environment with one goal in mind: try to survive as long as possible. The game contains references to Japanese urban legends and folklore such as Kuchisake-onna. Repent, residents of Shiokawa, the end is nigh. How long will you survive?
At Dead of Night
Part film, part horror game, At Dead of Night follows Maya, a young woman alone in a remote hotel run by a psychopathic killer called Jimmy Hall. The purpose of the game is simple: escape. But its means of doing so is what makes this game so unique. Following live-action gameplay, Maya must use ghost hunting technology to communicate with Jimmy’s victims and find out his secrets.
Seek refuge in the floors of the hotel which are safe whilst you can. When you are ready, find the ghosts whilst evading Jimmy’s endless hunt to make you his next victim. Temporarily trap him in rooms, hide in closets and find the secrets scattered around the hotel. Watch those corners though for Jimmy could be anywhere.
Detention
Set in 1960s Taiwan under martial law, Detention follows two students, Wei and Ray who are trapped in Greenwood High School due to a typhoon. But the school is not what it seems for it has been transformed into a cursed version of itself, haunted by the “lingered” and “lantern specters” (spirits who roam the school halls). How did Ray get here?
Solve the puzzles, follow the clues, and evade the cursed spirits of the school. Uncover the dark truth behind Greenwood High School in this isolating, dark, and disturbing installment. Detention draws upon Taoism, Buddism, and Chinese mythology in this atmospheric, fictitious side-scrolling cursed world.
And that is it for our list. See more of our horror video game coverage on related articles: Top 10 Best horror visual novels to help you get ready for Halloween
