There is something very atmospheric about nighttime, which makes it the perfect setting for many video games. A lot of these are horror-themed games, where the player must come face to face with things that go bump in the night, while others are merely set at night to highlight the inherent bleakness of the situation the player is caught in.
Sometimes it is as simple as the darkened hallways of an unfamiliar old house, or the misty fog that drifts above the ground in a moonlit forest. Such things can work to create a feeling of dread. And it is that heightened sense of dread, mixed with a fear of the unknown, that captures our imagination and keeps us coming back to these games over and over again. Here are just a few shining examples of the very best ones out there.
7 Until Dawn
Released exclusively for the PlayStation 4 in 2015, Until Dawn is an interactive horror game modeled after classic slasher films. Players jump between eight young adults who reunite at a lodge in the Blackwood Mountain, one year after a tragedy had occurred there.
But things once again take a turn for the sinister when a killer starts picking them off one by one. The whole thing unfolds over the course of a single night, with the player's actions determining who is left alive by sunrise.
6 Gone Home
Gone Home is a first-person exploration game released in 2013 by indie developer, The Fullbright Company. It takes place in 1995 when a young woman named Katie returns to her family home one night, after an extended time away, only to find the place deserted.
The bulk of the game is spent investigating the house for clues about the whereabouts of her family members, while also uncovering different memories that shed more light on Katie's past. It mixes in elements of horror but should still appeal to anyone just looking for a decent walking sim where they can gradually peel back story layers.
5 Little Nightmares 2
Little Nightmares 2 is another prime example of a game brimming with nocturnal horrors. Unlike the first game in the series, where all the action was confined to the bowels of a massive underwater resort known as the Maw, most of the action in the second game takes place inside a dystopian city known as the Pale City.
This time around, players control a paper bag-wearing boy named Mono, with Six (the protagonist from the first game) taking more of a supporting role as they visit locations that include a creepy boarding school and an abandoned hospital.
4 Blade Runner
Blade Runner is one of the most atmospheric science fiction films of the 1980s. Its depiction of LA in 2019 was one of perpetual nightfall and near-constant rain, starkly lit by the bright lights of giant neon signs.
So when a video game adaptation by Westwood Studios was released in 1997, most gamers were wowed by how well that atmosphere translated to the PCs of the day. An Enhanced Edition of the game is currently in development at Nightdive Studios, which would help open the doors of its film noir-inspired dystopia to even more players.
3 Batman: Arkham City
The Caped Crusader has made appearances in many video games over the years. But none are as expansive and fully realized as his adventure in Batman: Arkham City.
Coming right off the heels of the excellent Arkham Asylum, the game tasks Batman with cleaning up the streets of Gotham after a massive breakout of criminals and villains forces a city-wide curfew to be put in place. Except he must do so over the course of a single night, before the whole place devolves any further into chaos.
2 Luigi's Mansion 3
Luigi once again gets to step out of Mario's shadow in Luigi's Mansion 3. Released for the Nintendo Switch in 2019, the game finds the Italian plumber exploring the many rooms and hallways of yet another haunted mansion.
Only this time around, the mansion in question is actually a multi-story luxury hotel, taken over by a band of mischievous ghosts. And as the light of the moon continues to flood in through nearby windows, bathing everything within its reach in its ominous glow, it's evident that the game remains one of the best-looking ones on the Nintendo Switch.
1 Resident Evil
The Resident Evil games are pioneers of the survival horror genre, even though recent entries have veered closer towards action-adventure. We need to look no further than the very first game in the series to find one that takes place exclusively at nighttime.
From the moment Jill, Chris, and the remaining members of the Bravo team arrive at Spencer Mansion under the cover of darkness, it was clear that they were all in for a night of terror. So whether you choose to play the original 1996 version of the game or its 2002 GameCube remake, nothing beats the thrill of watching it all unfold for the very first time.