The 21 Best Horror Games On Switch

• Developer: Creative Assembly
• Publisher: Sega

Taking a classic franchise back to its roots is Alien: Isolation, credited with not just being a good horror game of the bunch that have made their way to the Switch, but genuinely one of the better ones ever made. Set on a space station, this one is all about stealth and survival, which only makes those inevitable bigger horror moments all the more fear-inducing. In the first-person perspective, you play as Amanda Ripley, and along with the main obvious enemy are hostile humans and androids, bringing variety. Taking on this game's relentless Xenomorph provides an unforgettable experience as one of the best horror games on Switch.

• Developer: Frictional Games
• Publisher: Frictional Games

The Amnesia Collection contains three games: The Dark Descent, A Machine For Pigs, and Justine. The first of those is widely regarded as the best, but the entire thing is worth playing since you have it anyway. The first game sees you in the classic horror scenario of waking up somewhere with no memory of anything. Your job is to figure things out, all the while maneuvering through a castle and defending yourself against The Gatherers.

• Developer: Kindly Beast (Joey Drew Studios Inc.)
• Publisher: Rooster Teeth Games

Bendy And The Ink Machine is a great one because of the context of the horror. Characters are being drawn in an animation studio by an animator who has come out of retirement, but the ink is supernatural, which means it brings them to life. In first-person, you play Henry Stein, the animator. The game is split up into a few chapters and players must play through puzzles and challenges and defeat enemies.

• Developer: Bloober Team
• Publisher: Lionsgate Games

Released on the Nintendo Switch in 2020, as the name suggests, this Bloober Team game is based on the Blair Witch films, a well-respected horror franchise. This game is set in 1996, two years after The Blair Witch Project takes place. It follows Ellis Lynch while he searches for a missing boy in Black Hills Forest. Being alone in the woods will really always be a great setting for any kind of horror content and arguably, the plot devices work better here than in the movies. Either way, if you’ve consumed and been a fan of the movies, this is a must-play game.

• Developer: Behaviour Interactive
• Publisher: Behaviour Interactive

This is probably the most popular title on this list, largely because of how it got picked up by streamers. Tens of thousands of streamers have streamed it and at any given time, it’s one of the top fifteen most streamed games out. In a group of five, one of you is the killer who must catch the others before they can repair the seven generators and exit the area. The survivors can also fight back with special perks and items that are scattered throughout the maps. With different perks, load-outs, and tactics possible, you can get hours of fun from this game. Running away with the killer behind you is suspense like no other.

• Developer: Access Games
• Publisher: Aksys Games

Developed and published by TOYBOX, Deadly Premonition is an open-world survival horror game. Greenvale, Washington is a fictional town in which numerous murders have taken place and you, in the shoes of FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan, must solve the cases and find the identity of the Raincoat Killer. It’s very easy to get lost in this world, which is all you want from a horror, really.

• Developer: Red Candle Games
• Publisher: Red Candle Games

Detention is a special game because of how nuanced it is. It’s set during the White Terror period in Taiwan and inspired by Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Wei and Ray are students at Greenwood High School but they find themselves trapped there when a typhoon is about to hit. Now, it’s haunted by evil creatures called the Lingered. The characters are layered and their backstories do a great job of putting the player in their shoes, which only makes the horror even scarier. The soundtrack here is especially eerie too.

• Developer: Scott Cawthon
• Publisher: Clickteam

The first Five Nights At Freddy’s game from 2014 spawned an entire series of popular horror games. The premise is simple. You are put in the role of a security guard who has the night shift at a pizza place. You sit in the office with access to a bunch of cameras. The only problem is, the cameras show that the animatronics are trying to kill you. They mainly move when you have an eye on them, so juggling them is key. The objective of the game is to survive five nights there, which gets harder and harder to do every night.

• Developer: IllFonic, Black Tower Studios
• Publisher: Gun Media

If you know anything about the legendary Friday The 13^th movies, then you already know most of what to expect here, but that won’t take away from the horror of things. The game, developed by Illfonic and published by Gun Media, offers both a campaign mode and arena-style gameplay. The latter is exactly what you’d imagine a Friday The 13th game to be. It sees you with a group of people trying to escape Jason Vorhees. The campaign, however, gives you a chance to be the killer, a rare spin on horror games. The more great news is that the Switch edition comes with all released content that console players had to wait for.

• Developer: Playdead
• Publisher: Playdead

While INSIDE doesn’t actively try to scare you for most of the game, it’s the entire aura of the puzzle-platformer that really does the trick. Both developed and published by Playdead, players control a boy in a dystopian world as he figures his way through the gloomy, 2.5D environment. If you’re familiar with Limbo, this is made by the same people and runs on the same engine. Many consider this to be one of the greatest games ever made, largely because of its ending that will flip your world upside down and because there are multiple theories about it.

• Developer: Bloober Team
• Publisher: Aspyr

Developed by Bloober Team (the same team that made Blair Witch), published by Aspyr, and released on the Switch in 2018, Layers Of Fear is a unique offering in the horror genre. That’s because there’s no main antagonist in the game and it doesn’t rely on jump scares to scare its players, not that there’d be anything wrong with that. Instead, the game plays on your own mind and will have you questioning your sanity. Environments change around you as you traverse the Victorian-era house and try to finish a masterpiece. The defenselessness you'll feel in this terrifying romp certainly quantifies it as one of the best horror games on Switch.

• Developer: Tarsier Studios
• Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment

Little Nightmares II is mostly considered a stronger game than its predecessor, but both are great pick-ups. Released in February of this year, this sequel is actually set before the first game. Making another appearance is Six, who works with the player, Mono, to discover Pale City’s scariest secrets. There are puzzles to get past and while you can fight against smaller enemies, bigger ones require stealth to get past, a healthy mechanic in a horror game that gives the enemies reverence.

• Developer: Red Barrels
• Publisher: Red Barrels

Outlast puts you in the shoes of a journalist who is tasked with investigating a psychiatric hospital called Mount Massive Asylum. Once you get in, the gate shuts behind you and the scary reality of what has happened is obvious once you see a mutilated officer warning you to get out with his last breath. Making your way through the hospital trying to unpack its dark secrets is an incredibly fun adventure and there’s no way you can get through this game without getting spooked at least a few times. The great thing about the Bundle Of Terror version made for the Switch is that you get the Whistleblower DLC along with it. Panic will set in regularly within this one, which makes it perfect for this list of the best horror games on Switch.

• Developer: Night School Studio
• Publisher: Night School Studio

In OXENFREE, you play as a teenage girl named Alex, who is partying with her stepbrother and their friends before supernatural events occur and they’re tasked with figuring out how to stop it. Despite being a story-driven game here, Night School Studio wanted to make a point of having no cutscenes in the game and it works pretty well. 

• Developer: Capcom
• Publisher: Capcom

The Resident Evil games have been a staple in survival horror for a long time, so it’s only fitting that one of their Switch offerings got a spot on our list. As the name suggests, this collection bundles the two Revelations games together. The sequel is excellent if you want to try some co-op. If you’re a fan of these, you can also try the Origins Collection. We'd be crazy to create a list of the best horror games on Switch and NOT acknowledge any of the Resident Evil games available on the console.

• Developer: Next Level Games
• Publisher: Nintendo

Luigi just can't catch a break, can he? The man can't even relax at a hotel simply because it's filled with all manner of spooky spirits. Across 17 floors, you'll come across all sorts of stage themes, struggle to suck up mischievous ghosts, and get caught up in wild boss fights with much more intimidating paranormal threats. The single-player experience proves a ton of fun, plus the eight-player multiplayer component allows for fun co-op action that involves clearing our randomized floors of ghosts.

• Developer: Bloober Team
• Publisher: Aspyr

Bloober Team has managed to make their way onto this list once again! And this time, we feel it's right to celebrate this one as the best game from that development studio. Observer mainly deals in producing unforgettable psychological horror thrills. You'll play from a first-person perspective as you play as a detective that can hack into people's minds for interrogation purposes. And during your many investigations, you'll be treated to some deeply affecting moments within the game's cyberpunk-infused world.

• Developer: Playdead
• Publisher: Playdead

Once you've gotten over the mindblowing ending for INSIDE, you'll wanna make sure you hop into developer Playdead's first indie gaming hit. LIMBO takes place within a monochrome world filled with all sorts of living dangers that can wipe out your young avatar in the most brutal ways possible. The eerieness and mysterious nature of it all will suck you in and push you to help the game's young boy survive until he reaches his journey's end. LIMBO's a must-play as one of the best horror games on Switch.

• Developer: Experience
• Publisher: Aksys Games

If visual novel adventure games are your bag, then this next selection should satisfy you. Spirit Hunter: Death Mark tasks you with investigating haunting locales from a first-person viewpoint. And all the while, you'll find yourself solving puzzles, collecting essential items, and making crucial decisions that have a major impact on your "Spirit Power" meter (which acts as your health). You're also gonna run into some evil spirits that can only be taken down via turn-based battles, which gives this game plenty of variety to enjoy.

• Developer: Acid Wizard Studio
• Publisher: Crunching Koalas

Darkwood deals in the genre of survival games within a world that certainly has it out for you. As you go exploring and scavenge for goods in the daytime, you'll be able to craft the weapons and traps needed to keep you and your safehouse intact. The horror truly sets in once nighttime falls - the corrupted woods and its terrifying locals will do everything in their power to make you regret wandering around in the dark. Darkwood is quite a challenging game, so consider yourself warned!

• Developer: Phobia Game Studio
• Publisher: Devolver Digital

No one knows how the horrifying amorphous creature at the center of this game came to be. All everyone knows is that they should get the hell out of its way once it starts rampaging around a massive facility. Carrion lets you command that strange creature's destructive power through its ability to crawl through vents and massacre humans in the most brutal ways possible. Making sure your killer blob gets bigger even faster makes Carrion such a perverse joy.