Highlights

• Space horror games offer a spooky and terrifying experience, taking advantage of the fear of the unknown in the vast universe.
• Titles like Signalis, Observation, and Axiom Verge provide horror-filled scenarios set in space.
• Many of these games feature elements like mutated monstrosities, creepy alien creatures, and oppressive atmospheres that create a chilling and immersive sci-fi horror experience.

Let's face it, space is terrifying. If you're not dealing with aliens, you're navigating through vast emptiness, isolation from society, and being cramped in spaceships — creating the perfect recipe for a nightmare. So, it's no surprise that sci-fi horror is a pretty common genre.

While there are plenty of films, such as Alien and Event Horizon, that take advantage of this sub-genre, video games have been no stranger to it either. In fact, you could spend a good couple of months just playing sci-fi horror video games alone. But which of these spooky sci-fi experiences are most worth your time?

Updated January 4, 2024 by Calvin Townsend: Once again, welcome to the spooky universe of space horror games! Our handpicked selection of the most terrifying encounters among the stars evolves along with the interstellar gaming scene. With a galaxy of updates since our last exploration, we're thrilled to share more cosmic nightmares.

Have your spacesuits ready, as new contenders have joined the ranks of frightful interstellar encounters. This update is your ticket to the pulse-pounding fear that only the vastness of space can offer. Join us as we dive into the void, be prepared for the updated horrors that await in the ever-expanding universe of space-themed terror.

Event[0]

Conversations With AI Gone Awry

Embark on a harrowing solo expedition through the desolate corridors of an abandoned spacecraft in Event[0]. As you traverse the bone-chilling silence, the ship's enigmatic AI, Kaizen, emerges as your only companion, its motives veiled in secrecy, adding an element of uncertainty to your journey.

What sets this game apart is its groundbreaking communication system that allows you to interact with Kaizen using natural language, immersing you in a unique and engaging experience. The unfolding story intensifies psychological horror, creating an engrossing and suspenseful atmosphere within the eerie confines of the forsaken spaceship, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

The Persistence

Roguelike Horror In Deep Space

Gear up for an unrelenting struggle for survival as a clone of security officer Zimri Elder aboard The Persistence, a deep space colony ship besieged by mutated crew members. This survival horror odyssey seamlessly blends roguelike dynamics with an ever-evolving environment thanks to a malfunction in the ship's macrostructure, ensuring each playthrough is a singular test of resilience.

As you traverse the procedurally generated levels, the pervasive darkness and the perpetual menace of undead adversaries forge a tension-laden journey through the frigid expanses of space, immersing you in a chilling and adrenaline-pumping experience that promises to keep you on the edge of your seat with every encounter.

Moons Of Madness

Lovecraftian Horror On Mars

Moons of Madness will send you to Mars, melding Lovecraftian horror with the isolating vastness of the red planet. Step into the shoes of Shane Newehart, a technician stationed at Mars' inaugural research base, grappling with cosmic secrets and confronting eldritch horrors.

The game's atmospheric tension blurs the boundary between reality and nightmare, delivering a uniquely chilling space horror encounter that will leave you questioning what is real and what is imagined. Unravel the concealed mysteries lurking beneath the Martian surface in this gripping and immersive expedition into the unknown, where every discovery brings both wonder and terror.

Signalis

Even Androids Experience Fear

There have been many stories about the future and about the creation of androids who are almost indistinguishable from humans. Isaac Asimov posed many provocative ideas on the subject, some of which are being explored in the sci-fi nightmare that is Signalis.

The game follows Elster, a synthetic human known as a replika. Following a pretty rough landing, she's summoned to a vast and complex facility stretching deep into the underground of what appears to be a barren planet. Although she could be considered an android, Elster is just as vulnerable as any human especially since she was designed for maintenance, not combat. This quickly becomes apparent when she's forced to take up arms from the various corpses to fight against disturbing mutated monstrosities that seem to phase in and out of reality.

Deep Sky Derelicts

A Doomed Salvage Crew

From all the stories that take place in space, many of them follow freelancers and folks trying to make a living from salvaging and running errands. You'll be doing both and more but at your own risk and the risk of anyone willing to travel with you in Deep Sky Derelicts.

The atmosphere captures the all-too-real feeling of space being cold and harsh. Everyone you come across looks like they're barely clinging to life based on the dangers they've survived and the horrors that have scarred them. This is why you and your crew see an opportunity to make money by going to places most would dare not return to investigate abandoned ships and space stations. Well, you'll be greeted by mutated corpses, rogue robots, and creepy alien creatures waiting in the dark as you try to find what little is worth saving.

Rain World

An Adorable Creature Surrounded By Predator Horrors

The laws of nature dictate that the strong will be at the top while the weak will be at the bottom. This idea is summed up in the straightforward structure of the food chain which is why intelligence and adaptability are absolutely necessary for survival as you'll see in Rain World.

Welcome to an alien planet that is filled with constant rain, weird plant life, and hostile animals. You take on the role of a cat slug, which is exactly what it sounds like, albeit much more adorable. The problem is that this makes the little creature a prime target for pretty much everything else on the planet. There's always a predator lurking nearby and a deadly environment hoping to wear you down. The cat slug has its wits to defend itself, but there's no shame in running, hiding, and hoping that the monsters will just go away.

Axiom Verge

A Harsh Journey Through An Infected Alien World

The games that gave birth to the Metroidvania genre had their mix of scary and not-scary moments, but the fear that something more dangerous was always just up ahead was real. This is just one of the fears that you'll experience while progressing through the world of Axiom Verge.

You play as a scientist named Trace who wakes up in a world that could've been taken out of the H.R. Geiger playbook. However, it's a lot less moist and a lot more dead. You get the sense that the world is in a state of constant decay as every creature you come across is fighting to cling to life. It doesn't help that giant robotic serpent creatures are your only allies and look just as unsettling as everything else. Throw that in with grotesque machine hallucinations, and you've got yourself a sci-fi recipe for terror.

Space Beast Terror Fright

A Space Horror Game Hybrid

If there's one genre that's seen even more of a boom in recent years than survival horror, it's the roguelike. Roguelikes emphasize death as a natural part of their gameplay loop: you'll start with few skills and little knowledge of the enemies you'll encounter, and battle through randomized levels in the hope of making it through the game in one piece. Each time you die, you'll carry over some skills and weaponry, allowing you to go further on each run.

It's an ideal setup for a horror game, and Space Beast Terror Fright combines a roguelike structure with terrifying first-person alien battling, making for one of the tensest and most challenging experiences in this universe.

We Went Back

A Slow-Paced Sci-Fi Haunt

P.T. was one of the biggest — and most infamous — horror hits of the last decade, despite only being a short game that was intended as a playable teaser for a canceled Silent Hill title. The game's looping structure and creeping sense of dread have influenced many others in the years since its launch, and We Went Back is one of its most interesting descendants.

Rather than taking place in a corrupted domestic atmosphere, We Went Back casts you as an astronaut on a space station where something has gone horribly wrong. You need to explore the station to find your way out, but you'll notice that the rooms eventually start to repeat, while empty space suits turn to stare at you as pass. We Went Back uses the vastness of space to emphasize its tense atmosphere.

Deliver Us The Moon

An Eerie, Contemplative Thriller

While many space horror games will focus on combat with aliens, Deliver Us The Moon tells a decidedly more grounded story. The game casts you as an intrepid astronaut who's sent to a defunct mining colony on the moon, tasked with figuring out what happened to the colonists. You'll have to solve puzzles and explore the deteriorating settlement to bring it back online and save humanity.

Though its slow pace lacks the sheer terror of other games on this list, Deliver Us The Moon emphasizes a sense of existential loneliness that invokes a different kind of creeping dread.

Observation

A cybernetic space horror game

It's easy to create cosmic terror by casting players as lone explorers navigating an inhospitable universe. It's harder to do so when you're playing as a non-human character, but Observation proves that it's still possible. In this spooky adventure, you'll play as S.A.M., an A.I. aboard the space station Observation.

The station has been knocked out of its orbit and only one of the human crew is still alive; you'll have to team up with her to figure out what went wrong, and the two of you will slowly uncover an unsettling plot revolving around the very nature of humanity.

Solipsis

Short, Sweet, And Spooky

Part of the second Dread X Collection of horror games by indie developers, Solipsis overcomes its short length with a surreal, spooky atmosphere and incredible sound design. You play as an astronaut sent to the moon to take gravity readings. Shortly after the game begins, you find yourself trapped, with no choice but to explore the strange and inhuman landscape.

The game uses a top-down view and a unique 'Rationalization' mechanic — where you try to fit the strange things you're experiencing into the astronaut's preconceptions about the world — to create an unsettling, oppressive vibe.

Pollen

Space Horror On Saturn

The scariest element in Pollen is its ever-present sense of mystery. It’s more of an exploration game than straight-up horror, but the feeling that something is lurking around the corner is enough to get your heart racing.

Pollen is set on a research station on Saturn’s moon, Titan; you'll have to interact with objects and solve puzzles to figure out ways to escape tight situations. It's a slow-burning style of horror that helps its intriguing story stand out.

Caffeine

Oddball, Jittery Sci-Fi Scares

Though its premise is a little strange — involving the mining of caffeine — this indie horror title is still spooky as heck, since you play as a boy who finds himself on a seemingly abandoned mining ship. The gameplay consists entirely of roaming empty halls and figuring out where the rest of the crew went.

Caffeine’s level design is its greatest accomplishment, as it communicates an eerie sense of foreboding to the player. It’s definitely repetitive in many places, but the overall mystery of the situation remains gripping to the very end.

Hellpoint

Space Horror Meets Soulslike

Taking place on a space station filled with vicious monsters, Hellpoint’s gameplay is comparable to the Dark Souls series. There’s no real subtlety to be found here, as the aim is to slash at the numerous enemies coming your way.

Still, there’s a sense of satisfaction at being empowered in a horror game, especially since most other games in the subgenre strip you of your power. For this reason alone, Hellpoint is worth a go.

Dispatcher

Sneaking Around In Space

In Dispatcher, you're trapped on a space station that's been infiltrated by mysterious, deadly monsters. The game makes ample use of divisive jump-scare tactics, which might not be for everyone, but it definitely leads to an atmosphere soaked in tension and terror.

Dispatcher's greatest strength is its stealthy gameplay; it disempowers you, so you'll have to be quiet in order to survive the creatures and escape the station.

The White Chamber

A Chilling Point-And-Click Adventure

Point-and-click games were all the rage at one point, and this was around the same time that The White Chamber was released. For a freeware title, it was genuinely impressive to see just how much work and effort were put into developing this title.

You control a mysterious woman who wakes up in a coffin, only to realize that she's trapped in a space station. You'll need to solve puzzles and uncover the mysteries of this game before heading to the titular white chamber and discovering what lies within.

The Nightjar

In Space, No One Can See You Escape

The Nightjar is a unique game on this list thanks to its simple, ingenious premise: you're trapped on the spaceship, the Nightjar, with no visual feedback to help you survive. Instead, you'll have to follow a guiding voice — Benedict Cumberbatch's, specifically — as you escape to safety.

Gameplay is based fully on trusting the voice’s guidance, with the screen only showing the voice’s signals. It’s an original concept that keeps you on your toes.

Syndrome

Uncover Secrets And Stay Alive

In this spooky psychological horror game, you play as Chief Technician Galen, who wakes up from cryo-sleep on the spaceship, Valkenburg to discover that their entire crew is dead. Whoever or whatever killed them is still on the ship, and it's your job to find out what happened... and to survive.

In true survival-horror fashion, you'll be able to find weapons, but ammo is always in short supply. So you'll have to sneak around and avoid enemy encounters in order to make it through.

Martian Gothic: Unification

Retro Space Horror

Martian Gothic: Unification is a bit of an oldie, having launched in 2000 for the PS1 and Windows. It's been compared to the Resident Evil series in terms of feel and mechanics.

The game features an interesting, spooky story — you follow three astronauts as they explore what appears to be a totally abandoned human settlement on Mars. But soon, you'll discover that the settlement has been overrun by the undead.