The 10 Best Scary Virtual Reality Games

HordeZ

HordeZ, by Zenz VR, is an on-rails, zombie-filled first-person wave shooter. The atmosphere in this game is well beyond creepy, with a bit of a Doom vibe, evoking the eeriness of the id Software classic (although this title was not developed by them).

HordeZ can be played in both single mode and multiplayer (which is a lot less scary since you have a friend to help you). The game is full speed all the time, without giving you any breaks to catch your breath the way other VR zombie games do.

In HordeZ, zombies constantly sneak up on you, which can be extremely unnerving. You have a lot of weapons to work with, but the sheer numbers of undead steadily coming at you, along with worries about ammo, induces panic and makes this game both scary and exhausting.

Raw Data

We're not sure Raw Data’s developers at Survios set out to make this a terrifying game, but with its creepy robots, dimly lit levels, and glowing robot eyes, it can be quite frightening and jarring (in a good way).

Raw Data, at its heart, is a VR wave shooter. The robots that assault you are eerie, with glowing eyes and emotionless facial expressions. Their slow, deliberate, and unflinching attacks are incredibly unnerving.

From the glass-shattering first encounter where a robot smashes its head into safety glass to attack you, to the spider-like torso robots in the darkly lit level 2, this game is right on the line between sci-fi and horror.

Ghost Town Mine Ride & Shootin' Gallery

This title, developed by Spectral Illusion, came out of nowhere and ended up scaring a lot of people. Even the lobby menu area of this game is creepy.

Ghost Town is part on-rails shooter and part limited exploration. It takes place in an abandoned tourist attraction, which raises the creepy factor immensely. Mix in weird malfunctioning animatronic characters and a darkly lit abandoned mine, and you've got yourself a nightmare factory.

Arizona Sunshine

Unlike other zombie shooters that rely on darkness to make things scary, Arizona Sunshine, by Vertigo Games, puts all the horror on display in the bright desert sun (except for some cave and evening levels).

In this game, you're a lone-wolf type just trying to find other zombie apocalypse survivors. You must scavenge to find food (health), ammunition, and weapons while you make your way through many different environments, fending off hordes of the undead during your quest.

The feeling of being totally alone in a terrible apocalyptic world makes it a pretty scary experience. Getting surprised by a hungry zombie horde is no picnic either.

The Brookhaven Experiment

The Brookhaven Experiment, by Phosphor Games, was one of the first wave shooters available in VR. The pre-release single-level demo was also one of the first polished virtual reality experiences that many early adopters played when they first got their VR headsets.

This game was also many people's first VR horror experience (mainly because early adopters wanted to show off to their friends how scary and real it seemed). This game has truly scared the pants off many players.

Brookhaven is a straight-up zombie/monster wave shooter, where the creepy antagonists come at you from all sides. The relentless waves of monsters coming at you, sometimes almost silently from all directions, can cause paranoia.

Resource conservation is key, which makes shooting accuracy very important. There's nothing worse than running out of ammo when there's a horde of zombies coming at you.

Emily Wants to Play

Emily Wants to Play, by Shawn Hitchcock, is a traditional horror game that was converted to VR format. This game is all about jump scares. Its graphics aren't AAA caliber, but they still manage to get the job done.

In the game, you're making your last pizza delivery of the night, and the residence is beyond creepy. It's raining and the door is open, so you step in. Big mistake.

With creepy dolls and clowns, unexpected jump scares, and other horror classics, this game is scary good fun.

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, by Supermassive Games and available only on PlayStation VR, is a horror ride of roller coasters, shooting galleries, and hordes of enemies.

Rush of Blood is from the team behind the PS4 horror classic Until Dawn and is set in the same universe. It's an on-rails shooter (literally!) where you are placed on several scary roller coasters with different horror themes. You're provided with various weapons to shoot killer clowns, scary dolls, and more creepy antagonists.

The rides are full of jump scares and you'll find yourself bracing for the next one. It's exhausting to play the first few times until you learn where to expect the scares.

The sound design, lighting, and atmosphere make for a terrifyingly fun ride.

A Chair in a Room: Greenwater

A Chair in a Room: Greenwater, by Wolf & Wood Interactive, is much more than its name. In fact, you're not stuck in a chair in this game. It's a great room-scale experience that takes advantage of your VR space.

You start out as a patient in what appears to be a mental hospital, and you're trying to get your memory back and figure out what's going on.

This is more of a puzzle-solving, escape-room type of game, but it slowly builds tension and gets scarier as the game progresses.

The game doesn't rely on cheap jump scares. Instead, it provides a very creepy unsettling atmosphere that creates a sense of immersion and a feeling of truly being trapped.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Back in 1996, Resident Evil, by Capcom, came out of nowhere and basically started the survival horror genre. It went on to spawn sequels and spinoffs, with varying degrees of quality.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard's use of VR is groundbreaking, making it a scary good experience. It's a well-done survival horror game, carrying on the series traditions of fights, puzzle-solving quests, relentless bosses, and filthy locations, but now it's all packaged in a hellish first-person world.

This game will stay with you long after you quit playing it.