My son loves the adrenaline rush of getting scared, particularly with jump scares, however, I have a lot of difficulty finding a game or show which is appropriate for him. He is prone to nightmares, and more adult-oriented “kid horror” is too much (Poppy’s Playtime, Cartoon Cat?) And others like Siren Head. His peers exposed him to those things and made my own nights pretty sleepless for a while.
It’s a tough plate to fill, but surely there’s gotta be something. He’s played Luigi’s Mansion and got a kick out of that. That game would be a good example I suppose.
Thanks for any suggestions!
OK hear me out: Minecraft in survival. For real. Nothing jump scares like a creeper going “psshht” in your back, telegraphing that you’re about to die in a destructive explosion. As you walk a narrow path over a chasm of lava in the Nether, the wail of the Ghast might make you fall out of sheer panic before it even shoots at you. The Warden is a special kind of scary too, as it’s nearly unkillable and will detect you by the noise you make. It sounds kind of silly but there’s plenty of players making the remark that Minecraft survival is basically horror.
And it’s all in a child friendly, non gory, voxel style.
Yeah that shit scared me when I played it at 40 years old. It kind of wears you down when you walk around in dark caves for hours on end.
Another alternative might be Subnautica. It has some jump scares but mostly it’s just the Deep Unknown that gives you chills. Few things in that game are actually dangerous.
+1 to this, when I was like 11-12 playing Minecraft, it took me a solid year or so to overcome my fear of going into caves.
Aw man, preparing for the nether and writing down my coordinates, terrified of ghasts and facing blazes for as long as I could stand it. I still prepare for any excursion from my base like a packrat.
+1 for minecraft.
You can try mineclone2 if you dont wanna pay.
While we’re at it with non-horror games: the level that introduced the flood in Halo CE really gave me a scare. I don’t know what it says about me, but I invited a friend over to play that level with me, lol. It’s a bit of a reach not being a horror game, but a great game with some tension here and there.
Might still be a little too intense if Luigi’s Mansion is your starting point, but Bendy and the Ink Machine is basically a mix of Bioshock and Amnesia but for kids. It has a great 1930s cartoon aesthetic.
It’s on the tip of my tongue; there was a whole series of ghost pirate themed “hidden object” point and click puzzle games. I’ll update the post when it comes back.
Edit: Nightmares of the Deep
Dont Starve is pretty dark… i wouldnt call it horror exactly but it has a spooky vibe. Its officially 12+ but I think a horror-loving kid would probably be fine with it.
Take a look at Dredge! It’s a creepy horror-ish game where you play as a fishing boat. There are some creepy elements at night but it’s fairly causal overall. I really loved the atmosphere and light story elements as well as the fun fishing games that is the majority of the gameplay.
If he’s a precocious reader, Sunless Sea is a horror game with a similar sort of theme. The content is much weirder and more horrifying than Dredge, but it’s 99.9% delivered via text, so the impact may feel more tolerable regardless.
But again it’s very text-heavy, possibly too much so depending on the kid. Probably too difficult, too.
Great game though.
Yes how can we horrify children
Limbo and the other one by the same devs
Inside
My kid enjoyed that game where youre a lil kid in a yellow rain coat. Little nightmares
Maybe add the old LucasArts adventure game Grim Fandango to the list, it’s more comical than ‘scary’. It has a relatively recent remaster with modern controls. Some would say the original tank controls are a horror into themselves. Though looking at the ESRB rating it is T for teen.
Lego rock raiders.
Not horror, but can be scary and when monsters arrive it sometimes gave me a jumpscare.
More specifically, Manic Miners, the unofficially endorsed and completely free remake/remaster of Lego Rock Raiders 😉
FNaF is a classic, there’s no gore or anything like that and a lot of jump scares
That game is deep into the uncanny valley, it will be TERRIFYING for a child.
that kid would never ever look at a corner of the wall. what if fredy faz bear is there
I think the animatronics look way to scary for a kid
Yeah but after that he will be immune to a lot of petty jumpscares
My Friendly Neighbor hood is mascot horror, but played entirely straight. It’s resident evil 4, but with all of the zombies replaced with puppets.
Maybe the 7th Guest. I played that as a kid.
Shivers is also a very good example from this era. Excellent atmosphere in a spooky museum.
I think thats rated NC17 or something for nudity. I’m not worried about that for kids but many are.
7th Guest was rated T. You are probably thinking of Phantasmagoria which had a controversial rape scene and got an M rating.
A Hat in Time has quite a spooky level in a swamp with a Deal with the Devil involved: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIrPsJMRJmo I also suggest Little Nightmares if the little guy’s tougher than he looks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ6Jcftf-c4
I’ve had success with playing scary games while they watch and when it gets too much I have the characters react in silly ways. Courage the Cowardly Dog, Are you Afraid of the Dark, Goosebumps, etc. You could also try meta horror like Cabin in the Woods, Tucker and Dale. Or something with laugh breaks to defuse the tension like Army of Darkness or Monster Squad.
tucker and dale is a horrible choice for a luigi’s mansion kid
