STOP Doing This!!! - The 7 Horror Game Developing Sins

1. Jumpscare were never scary. Jumpscare are just that. Jumping. Jumpscare only make you jumping, but after so many time it get annoying, and get old very faster. Jumpscare relied too much on surprising the player, but it gets old faster when it's the only thing the game have to "SCARE" the player, and it's just a lazy mechanic. Of course what make someone scary it is Subjective no everyone has the same Fear Subject. I can get more fear factor in games like Metroid Prime and Subnautica that FNAF, or Poppy Playtime.

2. I honestly don't like the Silent Protagonists cliches in games, and Indie Games are very guilty of that. They have almost no personality. And as a result, I can't really stick to any of them. I know some people will make the lame excuse that SIlent Protagonist makes you feel more involved in the story, but it really doesn't. Games like Mass Effect make me more involved in the story, not only can I create my character, but the Protagonist can fully engage with the characters in the game and have a greater impact on the world or the people around him.

3. Idiot Ball! Indie Games Biggest Sin! Where the Protagonist does something stupid just to fuel the story. Why in FNAF does the player keep coming back despite how dangerous the job is? Why at Slender do we collect pages? Why don't we have something to defend ourselves with? The World May Never Know!

Did I forget anything?

One of the worst things in horror games imo is how adzmant devs are that it can't be scary if it has any form of combat.
In truth, I'd say a good balance of stealth and combat is what can add to the fear.

If there's no combat, and your only option is flee and hide, you know it's gonna be effective. If you have to choose between fight or flight, you're always unsure which option is better for the situation.

I slightly disagree with your first point, and think people have more of a problem with "inconsequential" jump scares. For example if the player is walking towards a door at the end of a hallway and gets jump scared, only for nothing in the game to have actually changed for it and they continue on through the door. I would call that an inconsequential jumpscare.

But now consider the player is walking down the hallway to a door but right before they reach it an enemy violently bursts through the door and charges the player, forcing them to either run, hide, or fight. The game has changed from progress to survival due to a jump scare, and due to the fact the enemy is still there the tension does not go away until the player either makes it go away or escapes themselves.

If you've done a good job building tension in the hallway leading up to the door, then the release comes from actions the player takes themselves.

Tension and release are key aspects of all horror, and yes you do not want it to become formulaic, but to say you should only use more than one jumpscare in a game that's 4+ hours is just a little too much of an overcorrection, in my opinion. There's more than one way to implement tension and release in the form of jump scares, and it's up to the dev to determine when and which method is appropriate for any given situation as well as implement it in forms OTHER than jump scares

Though as a disclaimer, I am a horror writer, and not so much a horror game dev (yet.)

Just my two cents, peace and love y'all ✌️

i have an idea for a horror game thats more of a job type style. its about trains not you as a passenger but as the driver doing normal day freight hauls but it kinda takes a turn im 16 so i don't really have good writing skills nor never tried to do a game suggestion though im a huge train fan but ive never seen a true train horror game that isnt some fiction choo choo Charles is great just wish there was more of a irl perspective of a train mechanic/driver with no goofy aah monster. i love choo choo charles btw the dev put a lot of work and game is pretty fun

Very interesting!

I know this is an old video, but I have a question, if I don't want to add jumpscares, for when the player die from a monster, how should i make the death, becuase, if I just make a normal death, players could not see what killed them and mainly, destroy the ambiance, but the same thing happens with the jumpscares, they are just boring, so, what should I do?

I am not a huge fan of the jump scare. I also don't like not being able to fight back. Would be cool to see more of a middle ground like in Resident Evil the Regenerators. You could fight them they where not fast but they would never go away.

For me, I want to use as little jumpscares as possible while still having them. I'd prefer horror from its atmosphere any day, but jumpscares are still nice to have. What I'd do is to not contain many jumpscares, but as the dude in the video so-called "doses", I'd go in between small and medium doses for a jumpscare. Then wait a while for another one to build the player's immersion and build up their fear factor. Not the best strategy I use, but it's also not that bad. I usually try and follow along with this and stay away from all 7 sins naturally.

Actually I think most people should avoid the horror genre when taking breaks from developing their games. Hell, maybe just take a break from media altogether and just focus on chilling so that by the time you go back to developing the game you feel refreshed and motivated. Really it's about avoiding burnout more than anything, especially burning yourself out by horror games/movies/books.

1) this information is good unless your trying to make a haunted house type experience. in which a lot of jumpscares is actually desired. so bad information
2) this is also wrong, like really bad advice. fan games are for fans. if you don't like them, don't play them. cliche can be just fine, but do try to add your own soul into it.
3) I agree with this one. some things need cut out/shortened/changed but don't be lazy. and sometimes you need something from a different genre to get that inspiration. Go play some animal crossing
4) I also agree with this. puzzles too hard ruin immersion. puzzles too easy are... boring.
5) I disagree with this one as well. Clearly the person who's made this video never heard of a slasher flick. Sometimes people like dark, gruesome, and edgy. you don't have to have them, but they don't have to have a reason either. its a fun thing and a sub genre. do not be afraid to go bloody.
6) bad gameplay mechanics is certainly an issue. but the issue is some gameplay styles are genre required, tank controls are fun to some of us but bad to others.
7) don't be afraid you'll be too predictable. and overly research can sometimes lead to accidentally doing the same things. the best way to avoid this imho, is make it personal, you can use the same cheesy scareas endlessly if you make it personal people will care.

all in all, bad video. its a bunch of 'rules' that are just personal preferences to the creator. not taking into account other styles of horror, or other fandoms. Seriously, don't be afraid of gore, yeeesh, just don't let the anatomy of fear discover puppet combo, they'll label it as bad immidiately

im working on my first horror game, and these videos are really helping me! thank you so very much!

I am making a game with a good friend and I am making The art for The game. And it doesn’t have alot of Gore expect one certain place: The kitchen, which I personaly Think gives alot of sence.
And with combat. There really isn’t any combat

Most of these were right. but one. Just one.

Scrapping any FNAF Inspired Game... No... Just no

I've seen so many FNAF Copies that keep horror amazing, from doing so little. That rule is complete bullshit.

In the game I'm making right now I'm trying to avoid jump scares and focus on creating an unsettling experience with very little, though I don't have nearly a large enough testing group to actually tell if what I'm doing is working 🙃

I miss the ability to defend yourself in horror games instead of running like a Bitch all the time

Not enough sin

I'm glad I found this video, as I am working on a horror game myself(Inpired by FNaF, no im not going to change that), and I wanted to know what I should try to minimize(I know that with the nature of it, minimizing jumpscares in my game would take a rocket scientist, but I will try).

On 5), replace it with weird, surrealist symbolism, horrific scenes espousing fear, bleak darkness etc

this is really helpful if you're 14 years old and have no common sense

I'm a fan of a passive horror game or at least with very low amounts danger. The fact that you are not sure if and when something hostile or dangerous might occur is more creepy than an enviroment where every odd thing character or anomaly is (possibly) hostile.

I'm actually in the process of making a horror game. theese tips are useful 👍🏽

Honestly there are so many different horror games at this point that
Yeah most are unique(and then there are games that seem cute but are actually terrifying and just wow)

could you do a video on thinking of good lore and a setting for a game, like, stuff the player wont nesecarily be told but can figure out on their own(sometimes)

I always wanted to make a fully original game but could never get a spark out of it, I just got it and this video helped, thanks.

Just make the game that you want to play

i feel like Outlast did an amazing work when it comes to horror factor, they had exactly what you are talking about. Especially they dont have constant jumpscares, they do have some, but the creepy ambience is just as good as jumpscares would have been in many scenarios. Accurate video.

What players ive had enjoyed was puzzles that get harder overtime. Specifically a "Counting" system. For example, it might start with less things to do, so less counting, but gets harder overtime, whether it's more monsters, or more counting. Also make sure that all monsters have absences, you can use monsters with similar mechanics, but not the same thing.

Jump scares are the fucking reason why most people play horror games?




Also sin? Ur pfp is a sin.

Hi guys Im making my own mascot horror game about a swimschool but im lacking on ideas got any?

Puzzles honestly take away any sense of tension for me they slow the game down and frustrate me to the point where i dont even want to keep playing

why do u sound like a robot 😭

Save and exit. This is my biggest problem, i just develop until i burn out and then i never try again. This is such an important advice yet you're the only one I've gotten this advice from (except also from my bf)

Your profile pic is a sin

a scare tactic i didnt come up with but that ive rarely seen and really like is when its just sound at a reasonable volume played at an unexpected time instead of a big and often overstimulating jumpscare
like the player is startled by a radio turning on unexplainably instead of freddy har har eating their face

number 8: low quality

How many horror games have you made?

clunky gameplay isn't bad outright it's just that it can go to far
case and point silent hill 2
in the game combat is clunky and a bit stiff but this actually helps the game
because it's not impossible to fight creatures
infact you have to and can

and as shown in the video

how to avoid the sin

it's not just as simple as avoid combat or make it reasonable
if you want to find the right balance of clunky to usability
you need to try and avoid making the combat too "slow"
if the weapons have long cooldowns and drawn out animations then you are taking away from the experience and it starts to feel like the character you play is just a robot
you need to have marginally fast attacking weapons so combat feels manageable in situations where you miss the monster which doesn't happen with what I mentioned previousely

you need to lock animations in place for balance by making animations lock your character in place you can make it more stressful for the player after missing an attack especially with other monsters in the vicinity
but BE CAREFUL with this if you lock the player for too long and get them killed to often it becomes frustrating so AVOID THIS
and at the very least limit this to attacks with larger weapons or charged attacks to make them prefer smaller weaker weapons
so they mess up on their own if they choose the better weapon
and it doesn't feel like the games fault

make weapons weak
if you want them to fight the creatures make it tolerable
but set the damage and attack speed so that it takes an uncomfortable amount of hits to kill and possibly stuns the enemy each hit
the reason is invoke the feeling of
"why won't you just die already" in the player
so that when there are multiple monsters the player will have difficulty deciding if they should try to kill them or not
and on that topic if you decide to make the combat less "convenient" make it so they won't have to fight several monsters at once or limit it to chapter endings and or a limited number of times in the game and atleast only send them several of a weaker or even the weakest monster to make it tolerable

because if you don't do that you risk making it extremely difficult to beat that section
making it frustrating and desensitizing the player to it

another prime example of this is amnesia the bunker and how the "Gun" you get is extremely ineffective and dangerous to use when not needed
forcing you to be sparing in it's usage and use other methods for deterring the monster or the rats.

I hope this more indepth comment into clunky gameplay and why it can be done
and how helps you on yoru horror game journey.

I have one problem with this
He said not to make games too disturbing or gross, but that’s literally one of the best ways to make a horror game scary. They need to make the player uncomfortable, make it so they don’t want to play anymore, but they feel the need to finish it.

how to make a good horror game: dont make iron lung!!

This helps me as a writer and the editing is so cute and cool.

One big one for me is batteries that drain dry in minutes. Most well charged or powered light sources are supposed to have hundreds of hours of use, not five minutes worth.

. . .Bumped into this video because I had always wondered this now I love horror but. . .puzzles in it of itself are a cliche it was started by RE and I have to ask. . .why puzzles? For a game like Amnesia it makes sense but for some...why? Like if you can't even get the right balance why even put them in? Why do horror games NEED puzzles? A lot of times to me it feels like padding.

Another sin you could have added btw for maybe 6 was insta-kill mechanics which are usually terrible but are constantly littered in horror games and depending on it's execution can just ruin it and I refer to a game like Daymare on this because what if the area is too small what if they commando pro to you and insta-kill you? Not only did it make my item management of health items utterly redundant but you added a whole new layer of frustration that will more than likely make the player quit.

Another idea and you might hate me for this but "the fear of the unknown". This has been so missed used imo and it's a cliche within it of itself because it's just Cthulhu it's always just Cthulhu like come on...after awhile cool nice but...really? Cthulhu again? Cool. . .couldn't do the fear of trusting strangers or anything else? Just Cthulhu. . .again. . .honestly I think horror now just needs subversion.

About puzzles. I disagree. Make a harder, fewer puzzles. Everyone can look up a puzzle if it's too difficult. But lots of easy puzzles are just busywork, and does not make for fun gameplay. Besides, puzzles doesn't have to be object manipulation, but can be part of understanding what's going on or where to go.

Fear does the jumpscare thing really well, because you don't get screamed at and your whole screen doesn't fill up with bright light and some annoying image. I remember one jumpscare still after 10 years and so and I loved this, as I was in the offices exploring stuff, went behind a counter thing, turned around and Alma stood a few meters ahead of me, didn't say anything, there was no loud noise, she was just there and then vanished. Amazing.

I wanted to make a horror game since forever, like 5 years now, but I gave up on it, now that I know more English, and just more overall, I'm more into it than before, I will sketch out and note everything down while my laptop is getting fixed,

Awesome video dude, definitely gave me a lot to think about and give into consideration.

If anything, blood and guts in movies have made a huge comeback. We've been getting the most bloody and goriest movies in the recent years and most of them are actually good movies. Recently saw terrifier 3 and I really enjoyed it. Yes it's brutal, but it's also very well executed and doesn't forget to have fun. And in games, if well executed. It can easily enhance your experience.

If anything, the biggest sin in horror is the fact that so many people try to write a psychological horror. While trying way too hard to be "deep" while completely forgetting it's a horror.

I know I'm in the minority on this one, but a prime example is Flanagan's midnight mass. Sure it's well written. But it's also promoted as a horror show that tries way too hard to be deep, proven by it's over long monologues that loop around the same subject at least twice while not having an actual point before they stop talking.

Your definition of horror being "only scary and story" is cutting the word's meaning and the games in its genre in half. I have played many titles that focused more on shock and being disgusting and have found them more terrifying.

Definition of horror:
Oxford: a feeling of great shock or fear
Cambridge: an extremely strong feeling of fear and shock, or the frightening and shocking character of something
The Philosophy of Horror by Noël Carroll: Art-horror requires evaluation both in terms of threat and disgust