8 Best Stealth Horror Games

Key Takeaways

• Stealth-focused horror games offer unique gaming experiences that involve hiding from enemies instead of direct combat.
• Titles like Hello Neighbor, Alien Isolation, and Dead by Daylight showcase the importance of stealth in surviving terrifying encounters.
• From monstrous foes to eerie asylums, these games provide suspenseful gameplay and keep players on edge from start to finish.

Nothing is scarier in gaming than a foe you cannot beat in combat.

If you can’t fight, you must hide instead, and great horror games make the most of these undesirable situations.

Here’s a list of titles that do it the best and where you can’t rely on a gun to do your dirty work.

8

Hello Neighbor

Curiosity Has Consequences

Hello Neighbor has a superb premise and offers a refreshing change from monsters and serial killers.

You play as a child who’s convinced your neighbor is up to no good. You take it upon yourself to investigate, and much of the gameplay involves staying away from your neighbor who patrols the house.

While the game occurs during the day, the basement sections are pretty unnerving and triumphantly stroll into Stealth Horror territory.

My only issue with Hello Neighbor is the muddled puzzles. It’s often tough to tell what the game expects you to do to progress. Many solutions are so random you can’t figure them out with logic.

If you don’t mind a few confusing sections, the title is unique enough that it’s worth checking out.

7

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead

Silence Is Survival

A Quiet Place is one of my favorite horror movie franchises, so imagine my excitement when a game comes out based on it.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is a story-driven first-person adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic future. Humans are no longer the dominant species, and monsters that hunt by sound roam the earth.

Everyone talks in whispers, and I love how the survivors have constructed walkways out of dirt to mask their footsteps.

Encounters with the creatures are wonderfully tense, and you can even enable your microphone so a sneeze or rustling bag can get you killed.

The narrative is a big part of the game, which may disappoint players who try the game purely for Stealth Horror thrills. I enjoy the story, but it may not be for everyone.

6

Five Nights At Freddy’s

The King Of Jump Scares

The Five Nights At Freddy’s (FNAF) games have become an industry phenomenon with a passionate fan base.

Gameplay is relatively simple in the older titles, at least. You man a security booth with animatronic creatures roaming the nearby rooms.

The animatronics will try to get you, but you can survive the night with smart use of tools like timed doors as you frantically scan the security feeds.

FNAF isn’t a traditional stealth horror game, but the premise fits the bill, and you know you’ll meet an unfortunate end if you’re caught.

5

Dead By Daylight

Stealth Horror Meets Multiplayer

Dead by Daylight is an incredible 4v1 multiplayer horror title where one of you plays as the monster.

The remaining players are survivors and must try to escape. If you’re a survivor, your greatest weapon is stealth and cunning, as you’re incapable of winning a 1v1.

My favorite part of Dead by Daylight is trying to outwit a human opponent. Even the scariest games on this list have AI adversaries with predictable patterns.

There’s no such thing in Dead by Daylight. You’re not safe because you found a convenient box to hide behind, and a good killer can and will bait you if you don’t stay one step ahead.

4

Alien Isolation

One Of The Finest Movie Adaptations

Alien Isolation is a top-tier horror game and a shining example of what can be accomplished with stealth as the primary focus.

For the uninitiated, Alien Isolation is a sci-fi first-person adventure with dozens of nods to the movies.

The Xenomorph hunts you for most of the game and is a terrifying adversary because you never know when it will appear. If you’re clumsy and alert the alien, you best find a hiding place if you don’t want to end up on the menu.

Alien Isolation does a fantastic job of ramping up the tension and letting you know your place in the food chain. The game is built around stealth mechanics, and while it sometimes feels like the Xenomorph has ESP, it’s a legendary title and arguably the best Aliens game to date.

If you’re a fan, you’ll be pleased to learn that a sequel is in early development.

3

Outlast

Alone In The Dark

Outlast is a classic horror game set in a horrific asylum where the freaks run the show.

You play as Miles, an investigative journalist, and it doesn’t take long for you to realize you’re in way over your head.

You’re not a fighter and must run and use stealth to survive. Hiding places range from lockers to gaps underneath hospital beds, and you’re in for a shock if you’re spotted running to your precious, safe space.

Another terrifying feature of Outlast is the lights, or lack thereof. You must rely on your night vision camcorder to navigate pitch-black hallways, and it’s unbearably tense when your camera batteries begin to fade!

2

Phasmophobia

You Might Want To Mute Your Mic

Phasmophobia is a fantastic horror experience, as there’s really nothing quite like it.

You’re not playing to capture or “defeat” a ghost. Instead, you’re out to identify it using the most high-tech equipment you can afford.

You can’t attack entities, but that relationship doesn’t work both ways. Ghosts can trigger a “hunt” where they assault the team. At that point, you must turn off any equipment, stop talking, and hide.

You can often hear the ghost stomping near your hiding places, and it’s unbelievably unsettling.

Phasmophobia is great with friends, and while scary, it’s suitable for horror novices with the right group.

1

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

A Genre-Defining Horror Game

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is an early example of Stealth Horror and is still one of the best thanks to its unique setting and monster.

Amnesia is set in a creepy castle, and most events and story elements are left to you to figure out. As you probably guessed by the title, you have amnesia and have no recollection of how you got here or what you’re doing.

Monsters can’t be fought, so you must sneak around and hide if you want to survive. Amnesia also introduces “Sanity,” which depletes when you look at enemies or stay in the dark for too long. The mechanic makes light a precious commodity, and you’re always frantically searching for torches.

There are plenty of puzzles, but most are surprisingly intuitive, and you shouldn’t get stuck anywhere for long.

The Dark Descent is the first game in the series and easily the best, in my opinion. I’ve not played every sequel, but the ones I have are still worth checking out, even if they don’t reach the lofty highs of the original.