Summary
It’s not unusual for a horror game to take a location that would otherwise be mundane and distort it withan unsettling twist. Ordinary locations can help ease players into a false sense of security before revealing some form of hidden darkness.
The horrific creatures, unsettling atmospheres,and supernatural imageryof horror games blend perfectly with mundane locations, as they generally offer more grounded experiences than sci-fi horror games, such asDead Space. That’s not to disparageDead Space; it’s to point out how effective the ordinary can be in horror. As a result, average workspaces such as offices, convenience stores, and even pizza parlors have managed to provide ample backdrops for a variety of horror games.
7The Shadow Over Route 80
Bite-Sized Horror At A Gas Station
AlthoughThe Shadow Over Route 80is an incredibly bite-sized experience, it provides plenty of unsettling thrills with its lo-fi aesthetic and slow-burning sense of dread. InThe Shadow Over Route 80, players are placed in the shoes of a gas station attendant in the middle of a night shift.
This simple workplace is thick with unsettling atmosphere, and things soon ramp up as the game progresses. The less said aboutThe Shadow Over Route 80, the better, as its short length makes it relatively easy to spoil, but it’s an easy recommendation for fans of low-budget horror games.
6Happy’s Humble Burger Farm
A Twisted & Atmospheric Low-Budget Horror With Cooking Mechanics
Happy’s Humble Burger Farmcombinesunsettling, atmospheric horrorwith first-person cooking mechanics to provide a frequently unnerving and surprisingly engaging experience. The game’s visuals may be low-budget in appearance, but the attention to detail in its environments more than makes up for this.
Happy’s Humble Burger Farmis a consistently creepy experience, though it’s not the most frightening horror game out there. However, the strange plot, unsettling character designs, and audio logs peppered throughout make its workplace horror all the more unnerving.
5No Delivery
A Pixel-Art Horror Set In A Rundown Pizza Parlor
Combining elements of RPGs, survival-horror, procedural generation, and even rogue-like elements,No Deliveryis a remarkably uniqueand underrated horror game. The game puts players in the shoes of an employee at a rundown pizza parlor working the night shift.
No Deliveryfeatures traditional turn-based combat in the style of old-school RPGs, along with the resource scavenging and management that comes with such a system. This may seem an odd choice for a horror game, butNo Deliverymakes it work with its consistently creepy pixel-art visuals. It isn’t the scariest of games, but it’s certainly unique, and its workplace setting is well-realized.
4Rewind Or Die
An Unsettling Horror In A Nostalgic VHS Store
Thislow-poly, PSX-style indiehorror game features a 90s VHS store setting.Rewind Or Diealso features multiple character perspectives, one of which works at the aforementioned VHS store. This workplace ties into the game’s narrative and provides a nostalgic backdrop for the game’s unsettling tone.
The game does feature other locations, but fans of workplace horror should enjoy the opening sections ofRewind Or Diein particular. For those who have been enjoying the recent wave of retro-styled indie horror games,Rewind Or Dieis certainly worth checking out.
3Employee Of The Month
A Retro-Styled Horror Comedy Set In A Convenience Store
Thisretro-styled horror gametakes after many of the incredibly lo-fi, PSX-inspired horror games to have been released over the last few years.Employee Of The Monthfocuses heavily on creating a dense and unsettling atmosphere, relying on sound design, writing, and attention to detail to provide players with an immersive experience.
Employee Of The Monthputs players in the shoes of an unfortunate employee at a convenience store. The game takes place during a suspicious night shift, and tasks players with completing a variety of mundane objectives.Employee Of The Monthalso blends its low-poly horror with a charming sense of humor, allowing it to further stand out from its contemporaries.
This story-driven, cinematic horror game takes place on an oil rig out at sea. Players who enjoy more gameplay-focused experiences, such as survival-horror games, will likely be somewhat disappointed byStill Wakes The Deep, but for fans of narrative horror games and immersive graphics, it’s worth more than a passing glance.
Still Wakes The Deeprevolves around its workaday oil rig as it falls under attack from eldritch horrors. While its workplace setting is mundane, the horror elements and well-crafted narrative make fantastic use ofthe immersive environments.
This first-person action-horror game is best known for its dynamic AI adversaries and high-octane FPS action.F.E.A.R.isn’t the scariest of games, putting a much stronger focus on itsbullet-time-fueled gunfights, but it does feature elements of horror that can occasionally provide a good scare.
These scares predominantly take place betweenF.E.A.R.’s spurts of action, providing players with an unsettling palette cleanse between combat encounters. This helps to keep the pace, offering a healthy balance of action and horror that prevents the experience from becoming stale. The environments ofF.E.A.R.contradict its high-concept action, taking place primarily in a variety of office corridors and rooms.
