Horror games come in many varieties, with most of them involving paranormal entities such asghosts or monsters. However, there’s a genre of horror that explores themes of robots going rogue. After all, a scenario where human creations turn against them is the stuff of nightmares, but it can also take many creative directions.
For instance, these games subvert the idea of robots being tools or helpers, often depicting stories where they are corrupted by someone or just following their crude, unfeeling logic. Sometimes, developers will use robots with near-human appearance, leveraging an idea called the “uncanny valley” to create unsettling experiences while exploring humanity’s misguided ideals to replicate humans.
In the year 2104, Simon Jarrett wakes up inside a mechanical body. The last thing he remembers is going for a brain scan a century earlier. Dazed with confusion, he sets out on a path to find answers, but there is no human in sight, no familiar face to approach—just robots pretending to be sentient.
The dystopian world of SOMA is one where humans are pretty much out of the picture—however, an underwater facility claims to have preserved consciousness by copying them onto computers. The central theme revolves around whether these human copies are authentic or just lines of code forming a convincing yet ultimately unfeeling algorithm.
7Alien: Isolation
Working Joes Turn Evil
A successful video game adaptation of an iconic movie, Alien: Isolation is a perfect example of balancing source material and introducing new things. To that end, the game adds Working Joes to the enemy arsenal. While not the main villain, these robots aboard the Sevastapol station are very creepy in their own right.
A Working Joe surprisingly resembles a crash test dummy, but don’t let their appearance fool you—they are remarkably resilient against melee attacks. Combine that with brutish strength, glowing red eyes, and a slow mechanical walk. You have a terrifying version of theTerminator, not that he isn’t scary, but at least the guy has some charm—a Joe, on the other hand, will menacingly hunt you down while saying, “I will find you, you know.”
Set in Cold War-era Berlin, Industria explores themes of AI dangers through the eyes of a scientist, Nora, whose quest to find her lost partner traps her in a strange world overrun by robots. Her motivation is to return to a familiar Berlin, or what it used to be 20 years ago when the wall came down, lifting the segregation that led to decades of inequity.
When we say Nora is a scientist, we also mean she knows how to handle a gun cause there’s plenty of shooting in this game. Players will encounter fast-moving hostile robots inside derelict buildings, sewers, and just about any unsettling place where your instinct should be to run, but the objective says otherwise.
5Input6
For Those Who Enjoy Jumpscares
Input6 takes massive inspiration fromsurvival horror gamesin terms of gameplay—the player gets a limited timespan to collect items to beat the game while being chased constantly by a hostile figure. You find yourself inside an abandoned facility that once created humanoid helper robots. Your objective is to find a series of remotes that control these robots before the time runs out or something gets you.
There is no combat, but the game bypasses the need for it by introducing a new mechanic. When you encounter an enemy, you have some time to switch inputs. Doing this takes you to another section of the facility, akin to switching camera inputs inside a security room.
The appeal for reimagined history where robots take over the world is not going anywhere soon, and Generation Zero’s take does not disappoint. While not a traditional horror game, it pits you against giant bloodthirsty machines in locations straight from a horror movie.
A small town in the 1980s Sweden serves as the backdrop for the game’s events, which involve a teenager returning to his home, only to find that robots roam the land, and they’re not planning to take any prisoners.
This game is the worst nightmare come to life(pun intended) for those scared of animatronics in childhood. The Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise has become iconic in pop culture, with many references in memes and a feature film series. The second installment of the games is notable because it perfected the formula.
The game features Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a fast-food joint for kids and home to several adorable(arguable) animatronics, including Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. The first game’s events lead you to take night guard duty. Your job is to watch security cameras, but if something unusual happens, you’re on your own.
Signalis presents a dystopian world where androids are nearly indistinguishable from humans. These “Replikas” are made to function in society as model workers, including our protagonist, Elster. After her ship crashes onto a faraway frozen planet, she begins a journey into a facility to look for her travel partner.
But danger looms around every corner in the facility corridors as she encounters many corrupted Replikas armed with anything from knives to mining lasers. The lack of ample weapon ammo to fight back raises tension, while the dark, empty rooms with retro-futuristic tech add existential dread, creating the perfect environment for ahorror game based in space.
Sir, You Are Being Hunted is not just a stealth survival game, it’s a cheeky downplay of British butler mannerisms. Find your way home while elegant robots hunt you in a procedurally generated countryside. Your only ally is a trusty robot butler who will offer you advice.
Scavenging for resources and stealth are essential for survival in this game. Hiding in thick shrubbery is best if you wish to avoid the cold, bloodthirsty gaze of robots. Your only objective is to find pieces of a teleporter scattered across the map and combine them to escape the horrors.
