Thrilling Indie Horror Games to Play This Halloween Season
Halloween is here, and there's no better way to celebrate than diving into the terrifying world of indie horror games. This year has been exceptional for the genre, with talented independent developers pushing the boundaries of what's possible in horror gaming. At Unity, we're incredibly proud to see so many innovative and spine-chilling experiences built with our engine.
From psychological thrillers that mess with your mind to survival horror that keeps you on edge, Unity has become the go-to engine for indie developers who want to bring their nightmares to life. These games prove that you don't need AAA budgets to deliver genuinely terrifying experiences—just creativity, passion, and the right tools.
Here are some of the best Unity-powered indie horror games that you absolutely must play this Halloween season.
1. Phasmophobia
Developer: Kinetic Games
Release Year: 2020 (Early Access), 2024 (Full Release)
Engine: Unity
The undisputed king of co-op horror, Phasmophobia has sold over 22 million copies worldwide and completely changed what multiplayer horror games can be. This 4-player co-op psychological horror masterpiece puts you in the role of paranormal investigators armed with authentic ghost-hunting equipment like EMF readers, spirit boxes, thermometers, and UV lights.
What makes Phasmophobia truly revolutionary is its voice recognition system—built entirely in Unity—that allows ghosts to actually hear you through your microphone. Every whisper, every panicked scream, every nervous laugh can alert the entities you're investigating. With over 24 unique ghost types, each exhibiting distinct behaviors and tells, every investigation feels genuinely unpredictable. The game's minimal UI and realistic sound design create an immersive atmosphere that has spawned countless viral streaming moments. Phasmophobia is proof that Unity empowers small teams to create phenomena that rival big-budget productions.
Watch the trailer: Phasmophobia - Official Early Access Trailer
Download on Steam: Phasmophobia
2. Sorry We're Closed
Developer: à la mode games
Publisher: Akupara Games
Release Year: 2024
Engine: Unity
A stunning example of what a two-person team can achieve with Unity, Sorry We're Closed is an eccentric indie horror game that blends punk aesthetics with PlayStation-era survival horror nostalgia. This single-player experience follows Michelle, a heartbroken twenty-something who becomes cursed by The Duchess, a powerful archdemon. With only three days to break the curse, Michelle must navigate between the demon world and her London neighborhood.
The game brilliantly fuses nostalgic fixed-camera exploration with innovative first-person arcade-style shooting. Players use Michelle's "Third Eye" ability—a clever Unity-powered mechanic—to see between worlds, revealing secrets and solving puzzles. The low-poly 3D graphics, shifting perspectives, original soundtrack, and LGBTQ+ inclusive narrative have earned it a 98% Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam. With multiple endings determined by RPG-style dialogue choices and optional tank controls for purists, Sorry We're Closed is a love letter to survival horror that proves Unity enables tiny teams to create deeply atmospheric experiences that compete with major studio productions.
Watch the trailer: Sorry We're Closed - Launch Trailer
Download on Steam: Sorry We’re Closed
3. Who's Lila
Developer: Garage Heathen
Release Year: 2022
Engine: Unity
One of the most innovative and underrated indie horror games ever created, Who's Lila? introduces a revolutionary gameplay mechanic that could only work in an interactive medium. This reverse-detective point-and-click adventure, built entirely in Unity by a solo developer, lets you manually control your character's facial expressions using your mouse instead of choosing dialogue options.
The surrealist psychological horror follows William Clarke, a young man who struggles to show proper emotions and must consciously manipulate his facial muscles during conversations. As the last person to see missing girl Tanya Kennedy alive, your expressions determine how others perceive William and which of 15 different endings you'll discover. The ditherpunk visual style, David Lynch-inspired surrealism, and deep ARG (Alternate Reality Game) elements create an experience that's equal parts unsettling mystery and psychological horror. With over 50 unique soundtrack pieces and themes exploring consciousness, identity, and mental health, Who's Lila? showcases Unity's versatility for creating deeply experimental experiences that push genre boundaries.
Watch the trailer: Who's Lila? - Official Trailer
Download on Steam: Who’s Lila?
4. No I'm Not a Human
Developer: Trioskaz
Publisher: Critical Reflex
Release Year: 2025
Engine: Unity
The latest viral sensation in indie horror games, No, I'm Not a Human has taken the gaming world by storm with its anxiety-inducing premise and innovative gameplay. This first-person horror visual novel, built with Unity, drops you into an apocalyptic scenario where catastrophic solar activity has made daytime lethal and unleashed mysterious "Visitors" who disguise themselves as humans.
Each night, desperate people knock on your door begging for shelter from the scorching sun. Your job? Determine who's human and who's a deadly imposter. During the day, you can examine your guests for telltale signs revealed through television broadcasts—checking everything from their teeth to body hair to subtle behavioral cues. The game's 2D and 3D hybrid graphics create an unsettling aesthetic, while the branching narrative offers multiple endings based on your paranoid decisions. No, I'm Not a Human has earned 88% Very Positive reviews on Steam and demonstrates Unity's power for creating tense, choice-driven horror experiences. The full game expands significantly on the original demo, with randomized characters and scenarios ensuring high replayability.
Watch the trailer: No, I'm Not a Human - Launch Trailer
Download on Steam: No, I’m Not a Human
5. Eclipsium
Developer: Housefire
Publisher: Critical Reflex
Release Year: 2025
Engine: Unity
Eclipsium is a "psyche-melting" cosmic horror experience that pushes Unity's rendering capabilities to create one of the most visually striking indie horror games of the year. This first-person walking simulator hurls you through a breathing hellscape where reality itself seems to be collapsing. Surrounded by ravenous darkness, you must follow a pale light through surreal, nightmarish landscapes.
The game features a deliberately harsh lo-fi, dreamlike art style with heavy pixelation that creates an "eye-bursting" aesthetic unlike anything else. You'll traverse haunting locations—dark forests, murky mines, abandoned facilities, industrial hellscapes with swaying meat hooks, and flesh tunnels that pulse with otherworldly life. The Unity-powered visuals blend 3D environments with pixel-art filters to create impressionistic sights that communicate the incorporeality of this collapsing world. With over 20 custom-written tracks creating an oppressive atmosphere, Eclipsium delivers body horror and emotional weight through approximately 4 hours of gameplay. While some puzzles can feel tedious, the game's commitment to cosmic horror and existential dread makes it a must-play for fans of surreal, atmospheric horror.
Watch the trailer: Eclipsium - Official Launch Trailer
Download on Steam: Eclipsium
6. Drowned Lake
Developer: Monumental Collab
Publisher: Critical Reflex
Release Year: Coming Soon
Engine: Unity
An upcoming Unity-powered gem that blends horror with an unlikely mechanic: fishing. Drowned Lake is a story-driven survival horror game inspired by Brazilian folklore that puts you in control of a boat as you navigate the ominous waters of a cursed lake. When amateur documentarian Bento vanishes, three strangers—a firefighter, a journalist, and an elderly fisherman—are drawn to the Drowned Lake to find him.
This innovative indie horror game features a non-linear narrative told from three unique perspectives, blending top-down boat exploration with first-person investigation segments. You'll use your fishing rod to collect evidence, solve puzzles inspired by escape rooms, and uncover the dark secrets hidden beneath the water's surface. The game's retro VHS aesthetic and Brazilian folklore inspiration create a unique horror experience that explores themes of religious syncretism and social discontent. Every choice matters as you manage noise levels—making too much sound can attract the horrors lurking in the forest. With its found-footage documentary style and choice-driven outcomes leading to multiple endings, Drowned Lake represents Unity's power for creating atmospheric, culturally rich horror experiences.
Watch the trailer: Drowned Lake - Extended Trailer
Download on Steam: Drowned Lake
7. Lethal Company
Developer: Zeekerss
Release Year: 2023 (Early Access)
Engine: Unity
One of 2023's biggest viral sensations, Lethal Company is a solo-developed phenomenon that has sold over 10 million copies and proves what a single talented creator can achieve with Unity. This cooperative survival horror game for up to 4 players combines sci-fi scavenging with genuine terror as you work as contracted employees of "The Company," collecting scrap from abandoned, industrialized moons while avoiding deadly creatures, environmental hazards, and hostile fauna.
What makes Lethal Company special is its perfect balance of comedy and horror. The game features proximity voice chat and text chat, meaning players can communicate—but monsters can also hear you. Set in a retro-futuristic aesthetic with cel-shaded graphics, the game's procedurally-generated facilities ensure every expedition feels fresh and unpredictable. You'll encounter creatures like the Thumper (a two-legged beast that reaches high speeds), the Bracken (a humanoid that stalks prey before striking), and many more nightmarish entities. The tension of racing back to your ship before midnight while carrying valuable scrap—knowing if nobody survives, you lose everything—creates unforgettable moments of panic and laughter. As a Unity success story, Lethal Company demonstrates the engine's power for enabling solo developers to create viral multiplayer hits.
Watch the trailer: Lethal Company - Official Trailer
Download on Steam: Lethal Company
8. Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
Developer: Team Salvato
Publisher: Serenity Forge
Release Year: 2021 (Plus version)
Engine: Unity (ported from Ren'Py)
A cultural phenomenon that transcends the horror genre, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is the Unity-powered enhanced edition of the original visual novel that shocked players worldwide. What begins as a seemingly innocent anime-style dating sim set in a high school literature club quickly transforms into a fourth-wall-breaking psychological horror experience that will leave you disturbed and questioning reality itself.
The Plus version was "faithfully and painstakingly recreated" in Unity from the original Ren'Py engine, enabling console ports and adding significant new content. This enhanced edition includes 6 new side stories exploring how the club members became friends, 100+ unlockable images, 26 music tracks (13 brand new), HD visuals, and an in-game file management system that recreates the meta-horror of the original across all platforms. The game features mature content warnings and content that deliberately subverts visual novel conventions in deeply unsettling ways. With its innovative narrative techniques, self-aware horror, and memorable characters (especially the infamous Monika), Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! showcases Unity's versatility for creating narrative-driven experiences that push boundaries and become cultural touchstones. This is essential Halloween playing for anyone who hasn't experienced its mind-bending story.
Watch the trailer: Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! - Announcement Trailer
Download on Steam: Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
9. My Friendly Neighborhood
Developer: John & Evan Szymanski
Publisher: DreadXP
Release Year: 2023
Engine: Unity
A delightfully unique twist on survival horror, My Friendly Neighborhood asks: what if Sesame Street met Resident Evil? This Unity-powered game follows Gordon O'Brian, a cynical handyman and war veteran sent to shut down an abandoned TV studio that has mysteriously started broadcasting again. What he discovers is that the puppets from the canceled children's show "My Friendly Neighborhood" have come to life—and they're not exactly friendly anymore.
Developed by brothers John and Evan Szymanski using Unity, this indie horror game brilliantly subverts expectations by combining colorful puppet characters with genuine survival horror mechanics. Players must fend off hostile felt creatures using improvised weapons like the "Rolodexer" (a shotgun that fires letters of the alphabet), solve puzzles reminiscent of classic survival horror games, and manage resources through a grid-based inventory system. What sets it apart is its lack of gore—puppets don't stay down unless you duct tape them—creating tension through persistence rather than violence. With multiple endings determined by your choices, an engaging narrative about Gordon's redemption, and a post-game "Neighborhorde" mode, My Friendly Neighborhood earned a 96% Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam. It's proof that Unity enables small indie teams to create fresh takes on established genres while delivering genuine scares wrapped in nostalgia.
Watch the trailer: My Friendly Neighborhood - Launch Trailer
Download on Steam: My Friendly Neighborhood
Why Indie Horror Games Continue to Thrive
The success of indie horror games demonstrates that innovation trumps budget when it comes to delivering memorable scares. These games show that small teams with focused visions can create equally impactful experiences.
Indie developers benefit from creative freedom that allows them to take risks, explore unconventional gameplay mechanics, tackle mature psychological themes, and experiment with art styles that major publishers might consider too niche. The result is a thriving horror gaming landscape with something for every type of scare enthusiast.
From the viral co-op thrills of Phasmophobia to the psychological depths of Who's Lila?, independent developers continue pushing the genre forward in exciting directions.
Final Thoughts
Halloween only comes once a year, but the scares don't have to stop when November arrives. These games are perfect for cozy horror nights year-round, whether you're streaming for friends, hosting game nights, or just want to feel your heart race from the safety of your couch.
So grab your controller, turn off the lights, dim the monitor brightness, and dive into the darkness.