Key takeaways
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Horror games with turn-based combat emphasize strategy over typical shocks, enhancing the effectiveness of the genre.
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Games like Aliens: Dark Descent and World of Horror offer unique and disturbing experiences with strategic turn-based gameplay.
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Titles like Othercide and They Are Billions offer intense survival challenges combined with tactical combat in the horror genre.
The horror genre is often limited to games where the player survives against an evil threat with limited supplies or uses a large number of weapons to blast countless bullets into demonic entities. Sometimes developers choose to do things differently and use strategy as a way to implement all those things that go bump in the night.
Some of the best uses of horror come from games that require patience and tactics to overcome abominations from the depths of the worst possible nightmare, and it’s in these strategic cases where the genre can thrive in a way it couldn’t with more standard games. and obvious. Formula that people are used to.
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Aliens: Dark Descent
Strategic survival in space
From the original Foreign The movie came out in 1979, the Xenomorphs have captured the imagination of people around the world, and developer Tindalos Interactive decided to use them as a way for players to survive against them in their turn-based strategy. Aliens: Dark Descent.
It captures the atmospheric horror felt throughout the film series, but instead of jump scares, it requires the player to make use of the abilities of each member of their team to survive, and the more noise the players make, the more aliens They will have to kill. intensifying the horror that only Stan Winston’s creations could instill.
8
horror world
Sinister Creatures and Ability Checks
Highly inspired by renowned manga artist Junji Ito, horror world ticks all the boxes when it comes to horror. It delves into traditional Japanese folklore with shades of HP Lovecraft, providing a haunting and eerie story in which nothing is as it seems.
Turn-based combat and stat management are two key elements of its gameplay, and while players solve the different cases, it’s the interesting choose-your-own adventure story that keeps the flow going, fighting creepy enemies like the Obsessed Man and the Headless Mannequin. the path
7
darkest dungeon 2
A tough apocalyptic journey
Building on what made the original so disturbing, darkest dungeon 2 manages to suffocate the player with its misery and claustrophobic atmosphere, largely launching a brutal turn-based combat. Stopping the impending apocalypse is difficult, but it can also be rewarding.
Strategy comes from discovering synergy between party members and using skills wisely, learning what works and what doesn’t, and making sure the next run is easier than the last. From standard enemy soldiers to undead abominations, it’s always disturbing at first.
While XCOM: Enemy Unknown It may not look particularly horrible from the outside, the turn-based strategy makes you feel vulnerable all the time as you fight a threat the player doesn’t understand. It’s not always aliens that are scary, but the fear of the unknown.
The abandoned streets where aliens might be lurking leave an unsettling and uncertain feeling, and when the fight begins, your team members will soon be killed by an alien that shoots out of them if the players don’t stop this from happening.
5
Anothercide
Breaking the cycle of suffering
Supported by an excellent soundtrack and exciting tactical combat, Anothercide It’s about fighting dark entities in an effort to stop the end of the world. Suffering is part of the game as players control The Daughters, humanity’s last hope in a world slowly succumbing to darkness.
Combat takes place in a turn-based style, where heroes face a variety of creatures, from scavengers that attack quickly to hulking bosses that will do everything in their power to kill you. It’s frenetic but satisfying and has a simple art style that helps elevate the horror.
4
Baldur’s Gate 3
Mindflayers, monsters and Malus Thorm
Dungeons and Dragons It is known for its many horrible bosses, and Baldur’s Gate 3 features some encounters with the underworld and hell itself. There are many horrible moments, specifically in Act 2, where the group ends up in the creepy Cursed Shadowlands.
One of the most terrifying and downright disturbing encounters in the entire game occurs when the group encounters Doctor Malus Thorm, an undead surgeon at the House of Healing. His penchant for mutilation and pain plays out in disturbing dialogue, but it’s his nurses who make players feel most uncomfortable.
3
Solium hell
Command armies and conquer hell
There is nothing that shares an association with horror like hell itself, and the attempt to become the next dark lord in Solium hell through brain over strength is an intriguing concept. Command armies, betray other leaders, and do whatever it takes to rule hell.
What makes it so fun is the way betrayal is a kind of mechanic, wielding the power of words to sow doubt in the minds of others. It features typical tropes of the RTS genre, but where it leaves its mark is in how intelligence is the best weapon, despite being in the most horrible place imaginable.
2
They are billions
Survival of the least
Zombies are one of the staples of the horror genre, and when humanity is on the brink of collapse in They are billionsThe undead come in masses to wipe out civilization without letting the player breathe. It features intense combat and survival, where every step of progress can be undone in seconds.
For every improvement made to the colony, an encounter with zombies can bring everything down. With an engaging story and old-school graphics, this horror strategy pushes players to the limit every step of the way.
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Marvel Midnight Suns
Fighting the forces of evil
Marvel has always struggled to release good video games and even though they did well, Marvel’s Spider-Man on PlayStation, Marvel Midnight Suns is one of the few that understands the comics well and at the same time offers an excellent tactical role-playing game.
Not normally associated with horror in the mainstream, this sees you fighting everything from the supernatural to Mephisto and Lilith, two of Hell’s most dangerous inhabitants. The turn-based battles are intense and the story is full of spooky, demonic goodness for even the biggest horror fans.