Children of Silentownis a point-and-click adventure about a small village with a lot of mysterious disappearances. The protagonist, Lucy, is a child who has gotten old enough to get curious about what’s really going on and sets out to discover the secrets for herself.
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The game is a classic-style point-and-click adventure with a spooky Tim Burton-style aesthetic. It’s the latest in a thriving market of indie point-and-click adventures that adopt dark horror aesthetics for their story. With so many out there, however, it can be hard to know what else is worth picking up, but these games are a good start for anyone looking to solve some tough inventory puzzles while avoiding monsters.
9Roki
Children of Silentown’s message of “don’t go into the forest” is alive and well inRoki. This 2020 release may not appear to be a particularly dark game, but its story drawsheavy inspiration from Norwegian folk taleswith their monsters and trickster magic present throughout.
Rokiis the story of Tove, a young Scandinavian girl whose brother is captured by dark forces, so she sets out into the magical woods to find him. Along the way, she encounters countless creatures threatening to eat her and faces off against a dark queen. It’s a dark fairy tale about familial love and the fears of growing up.
8Gibbous: A Cthulhu Adventure
More in line withthe classic LucasArts point-and-clicksdue to its emphasis on comedy,Gibbousis still a game featuring a lot of dark themes and horror elements. The plot revolves around a librarian named Buzz Kerwan who stumbles on the Necronomicon and accidentally casts a spell that causes his cat to start talking, and the cat is absolutely not happy with this development.
Featuring cults, a stereotypical detective, and unspeakable horrors far beyond our understanding,Gibbouswalks the line between spooky and hilarious at every turn. It’s a great option for those looking for something with dark themes that isn’t too scary.
7Blackwell Series
Blackwellis a series of five mystery games about a medium named Rosa and her spirit guide Joey seeking out ghosts around New York and figuring out what’s preventing them from moving onto the afterlife. It’s a fun series that heavily relies on the banter between its two leads for a great deal of humor.
However, due to its central subject, it’s also a series that gets dark quickly. There are a lot of questions about the nature of death and the afterlife, and an ongoing story arc presents a greater supernatural threat than merely a few lost souls wandering around, one that threatens the fabric of the universe itself. It’s also a great additional choice foranyone intrigued byChildren of Silentown’s mystery aspect.
6The Excavation Of Hob’s Barrow
Much likeSilentown’s emphasis on a spooky village,The Excavation of Hob’s Barrowis a folk horror game with an emphasis on uncovering the dark secrets of a mysterious English village. While writing a book on the barrows of England, researcher Thomasina Bateman finds herself in the village of Bewlay, where her assistant and the man who invited her have disappeared, while the locals show disdain for her presence.
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Clearly inspired by movies likeThe Wicker Man,The Excavation of Hob’s Barrowis a game full of mystery and dread, where folklore and myth mix with small-town values. There are also a few spooky cats thrown into the mix too.
5Fran Bow
On the much darker side of the genre,Fran Bowis a game about a girl suffering from a mental disorder caused by trauma. After witnessing the murder of her parents, she ends up locked in an asylum while her cat, Mr. Midnight, is nowhere to be found. She makes the decision to escape and find her cat and her aunt.
A dark horror point-and-click,Fran Bowfeatures strange visuals and puzzles, and scenarios that examine trauma from a child’s perspective. The game is full of hallucinations, surreal situations, and scares while offering upcritiques of early mental health treatmentin the process.
4Sally Face
Released in five episodes,Sally Faceis a strange point-and-click adventure where a boy named Sal with a prosthetic face teams up with his friends to solve murders in a creepy apartment building, using a handheld gaming system to communicate with the dead. Each episode focuses on a different investigation, where the team encounters ghosts, cult activity, and demons across their adventures.
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It’s been well received by critics and players alike, thanks to its oppressive atmosphere and unique art style. It was all made by a solo developer as well.
3The Cat Lady
The Cat Ladyis the second of a trilogy of point-and-click games from Polish developer Harvester Games, but this title has gained the most attention online. It tells the story of a middle-aged woman named Susan with a miserable life, whose only joys lie in her piano and the neighborhood cats.
After an attempt on her own life, Susan encounters a cast of bizarre characters, all of whom have dark or mysterious motives. It’s a spooky tale, but one rooted in themes of mental health and mortality, meaning it’s just as likely to move the player as much as it scares them.
2Detention
Detentionis a harrowing game. While it is firmly in the point-and-click genre, it’s easy to see it as a pure survival horror due to its tense atmosphere, monsters that can only be evaded using stealth, and the grim fates that can be met in certain circumstances.
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Set in 1960s Taiwan when the population was under martial law, the player takes the role of a student named Ray as she wanders a nightmarish version of her school. The rest of the game sees her solving grim puzzles, avoiding murderous spirits, and seeing visions of her classmates and teachers being oppressed and killed by the cruel regime they live under.Detentionis a dark tale of the abuse of political power and the effects it can have on the population.
1Oxenfree
InOxenfree, a group of teenagers heads out to an island for a beach party, but it soon turns into a nightmare when they wander into a cave and encounter a dimensional rift that responds to radio frequencies. This results in the teens passing out and getting separated across different parts of the island.
Players control Alex, one of the teens, as she tries to reunite with her friends. However, the voices in the radio frequencies are still tormenting them, and the game becomes a mission to solve the mystery of the radio signals and find a way to escape the island. With its tense atmosphere, time-jumping weirdness, and great dialogue among its principal cast,Oxenfreeis one of the best dark point-and-click gamesout there.
