Gaming’s indie horror scene has hit it off strong in 2024 with the likes of Crow Country and Withering Rooms making a great impression among critics and players alike. But the second half of the year is stacked with even more excellent looking horror games on the horizon from smaller publishers and independent development teams.
The following games have been lurking in the shadows for long enough. Here’s a spotlight on what’s to come for indie horror fans during the rest of 2024.
CONSCRIPT
Developer: Catchweight Studio
Publisher: Team 17
Platforms: PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XB1, Switch, PC (Steam, EGS, GOG)
Release: July 23, 2024
Unlike any of the other games listed here today, CONSCRIPT does not feature supernatural entities or undead ghouls. Instead, it focuses on the atrocities of war, and the toll it takes on the soldiers ordered to conduct it. The game is played from the perspective of a French soldier during World War I attempting to survive in the trenches over the course of the years-long conflict.
Inspired by the likes of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, CONSCRIPT adapts the combat and puzzle mechanics from classic survival-horror games in its portrayal of the historical horrors. After seven years in the making, CONSCRIPT is finally available now as of July 23, 2024, as well as a demo currently available on Steam.
Zoochosis
Developer: Clapperheads
Publisher: Playworks
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release: September 23, 2024
Anybody yet unfamiliar with Zoochosis would have thus been unable to draw obvious comparisons, so now is as good a time as any to head that off at the pass: if John Carpenter’s The Thing was set in a zoo, you would have Zoochosis.
With that established, this first-person simulation game casts players as a night-shift zookeeper while an infectious disease spreads among the animal residents, causing them to undergo a macabre metamorphosis into hostile, disfigured abominations. Job responsibilities involve socializing with the animals, feeding them, cleaning up their spaces, and monitoring them to ensure they don’t grow an excess of limbs and scale the walls of their enclosure. Standard procedure.
In order to prevent further loss of life – be it the animals or their own – the protagonist must develop vaccines to spare the animals from transforming. The player’s decisions will affect whether or not they can be saved in time, as well as which ending they receive.
Prepare to capture all the grisly body horror through the body camera lens when Zoochosis is freed from its cage on September 23, 2024.
Post Trauma
Developer: RED SOUL GAMES
Publisher: Raw Fury
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release: Fall 2024
With its unsettling designs and focus on psychological horror, Post Trauma is shaping up to be a very promising debut title from Red Soul Games.
Our protagonist, Roman, is a heavy-set train conductor in his late 50s, who finds himself trapped in a warped subway system inhabited by disturbed creatures and infested with malignant tendrils, lining the dismal tunnels the deeper he explores.
The cryptic puzzles and fixed-camera angles are inspired by classic horror franchises, with the setting in particular evoking the opening hours of Silent Hill 4: The Room. Post Trauma is on schedule for a fall 2024 arrival, but for those eager to get on board, a demo for the game is available on itch.io.
Clock Tower: Rewind
Developer: Human Entertainment – WayForward
Publisher: Limited Run Games – Sunsoft – Capcom
Platforms: PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XBO, Switch, PC (Steam)
Release: Fall 2024
The Clock Tower series has a storied history as one of the original gaming horror franchises that ended up fading into obscurity. The premier game in the series, Clock Tower, was released for the Super Famicom in 1995 by Human Entertainment, but now WayForward is debuting it outside of Japan for the first time with Clock Tower: Rewind, an enhanced port for modern platforms.
This point-and-click adventure horror title puts players in the role of a young girl named Jennifer, who is among a group of orphans that have recently been adopted and sent away to an old Norwegian mansion. However, shortly after their arrival, the children find themselves pursued by a half-pint killer wielding a set of scissors twice his stature. With the aptly named Scissorman stalking the manor halls, Jennifer must locate the rest of her adoptive siblings while evading the murderous prowler.
Get your oversized scissors ready, the ribbon cutting for the game’s release is set for October 31 in Japan, with other regions listing a October 11 – November 11 shipping window.
Bye Sweet Carole
Developer: Little Sewing Machine – Meangrip Studios
Publisher: Maximum Entertainment
Platforms: PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XBO, Switch, PC (Steam)
Release: 2024
On the subject of Clock Tower, this twisted take on a classic Disney animation blends the run-and-hide gameplay and side-scrolling perspective of the former with the aesthetic of Snow White or Alice in Wonderland. From the creator of the Remothered series, Bye Sweet Carole’s authentic hand-drawn presentation appears pleasant and inviting, starkly juxtaposing its dark themes and violent imagery.
When a young girl named Carole goes missing from an orphanage, her fellow resident and friend Lana goes searching for her, and in the process finds another world unlike her own full of strange creatures and homicidal hares that will hunt Lana throughout the game.
Be prepared to get lost going down this rabbit hole when the game releases later in 2024.
Hollowbody
Developer: Headware Games
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release: “Coming Soon”
At first glance, Hollowbody presents itself as a sci-fi noir story, starring an illegal smuggler named Mica in search of their partner Sasha, who went missing on a dangerous job in a restricted area alone. Mica attempts to follow after her, but upon entering the restricted airspace, her flying vehicle malfunctions and crash lands amid a dilapidated suburb hidden beneath the clouds. With the futuristic-cyberscape veneer stripped away, Mica is left stranded in a morose town full of plague-ridden monsters.
Emulating the aesthetic of a PS2-era horror title, Hollowbody features a mix of dynamic- and fixed-camera angles along with traditional survival-horror combat and puzzle solving.
Hollowbody will only be roughly three hours long, aiming to be a short-story, but players that are on the fence can try out a newly updated demo on Steam before the game releases later this year.
Sorry We’re Closed
Developer: à la mode games
Publisher: Akupara Games
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release: 2024
A vibrant standout from the pack, Sorry We’re Closed is no less rife with macabre creatures, rustic environments and unholy imagery.
A curse has been placed on our protagonist, Michelle, that threatens to cut her life short in a manner of days; however, the demon that inflicted the curse barters an opportunity to lift it if Michelle ventures into the dangers of the demon world to fulfill their bidding. Sorry We’re Closed is played from a fixed-camera perspective and, with the use of a Third Eye granted to her, Michelle can peer into the parallel reality of the demon world. This vision can also expose weak points on enemies, allowing her to dispose of enemies in first-person combat.
With numerous diverse characters to engage with and influence, player’s choices will lead to multiple outcomes in determining the fate of Michelle’s story.
A demo is available on Steam now, with the full release expected for some time in 2024.
Echoes of the Living
Developer: MoonGlint
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release: 2024
Perfectly encapsulating the visuals and atmosphere of the Resident Evil (2002) remake, Echoes of the Living is a love letter to the classic franchise, with two playable characters, zombie filled streets, fixed camera angles, and elaborate puzzles.
The plot is a direct homage to Resident Evil 2, right down to the dual protagonists of a young lady looking for her brother father and a new guy in town looking for a fresh start right before a zombie outbreak sweeps through a small town, all set in the late ’90s.
While it may not be an original idea, it is certainly a welcome one if it can pull off the same level of tension and design as its inspirations. A playable demo was previously available during the October 2023 Steam Next Fest, so hopefully the game will receive another demo prior to launch, which is listed for release in 2024.
Tormented Souls 2
Developer: Dual Effect
Publisher: PQube
Platforms: PS5, XSX|S, PC (Steam & EGS)
Release: 2024
Keeping in theme with Resident-Evil-like games, the original Tormented Souls from 2021 garnered attention for its traditional approach to survival horror, including restrictive fixed-camera exploration and combat paired with perplexing puzzles, all set in a detailed and claustrophobic hospital.
Tormented Souls 2 retains these core elements as it furthers the story of protagonist Caroline Walker, who now must seek out a cure for a supernatural illness that plagues her younger sister, Anna. Her search brings her to the South American town of Puerto Miller that harbors a deranged cult with a dark and storied history.
Although details are still scarce, this up-and-coming horror franchise is set to arrive later this year.
Fear the Spotlight
Developer: Cozy Game Pals
Publisher: Blumhouse Games
Platforms: PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XBO, PC (Steam)
Release: 2024
As part of the Blumhouse Games publishing initiative for smaller horror projects, Fear the Spotlight leads the pack with an impressive start. This polygonal adventure garbs itself with a retro aesthetic, but features a modern third-person perspective with a fully voice-acted narrative.
The story follows a young girl named Vivian, who has been convinced by her friend Amy to break into their school after dark in order to perform a hokey séance for fun; that is, until actual spirits are summoned forth, and Amy’s demeanor changes from thrill-seeking teen to an indoctrinated acolyte of dark forces. Now pursued by a spotlight-head monster, Vivian must hide from its gaze to survive, all the while solving puzzles, uncovering mysteries, and trying to find Amy to escape the school with their lives.
Although Fear the Spotlight was originally released in 2023, the developers removed this version in order to undergo a major overhaul of features and content before re-releasing in 2024.
