A hearty greetings to fright fans looking for PS5 indie horror games to play this season. With Halloween coming up next month, we feel like games need matching for the appropriate season. Here’s the twist, though: instead of picking the big AAA big-budget adventures, we’re showing some love to the indie scene.
Don’t worry; today’s short and sweet list has enough spice and variety to tickle your fancy. No two indie titles on the PS5 are the same, and that’s the charm of these relatively smaller games. The devs don’t gotta put up with any form of creative restrictions, corporate mandates, and deadlines. They can put all the time, effort, and care into realizing their vision.
Which PS5 Indie Horror Games Are Worth Playing In 2023?
The horror games on PS5, whether AAA or indie, are always great when they’re on song. However, since the spotlight for today’s list is on the smaller devs, we’re gonna focus on those. Here are a couple of rules to remember before we begin listing the games.
- The indie horror games we’re picking must be fun to play and not a buggy mess full of glitches and technical issues.
- Secondly, the PS5 indie horror games must be available on the PS5. No, duh! Right? Well, with indie devs, you never really know if they’ll release their game on a particular platform, as PC is the go-to choice for most of them.
- Lastly, our picks are mostly gonna have newer releases, except for one or two relatively older titles to mix things up. Don’t panic; our choices aren’t gonna be from the retro era like the classic video games that we wanna see come back.
Alright, that about covers it. Now let’s get this party started, and see which PS5 indie horror games make the cut. Here we go!
6. In Sound Mind
We’re not messing around with the first choice on our list of fantastic indie horror games on the PS5. In Sound Mind is a bizarre, twisted adventure where psychological horror reigns supreme. The story isn’t straightforward; rather, you gotta solve puzzles and piece together the nuggets of information as you progress in the game. The level designs of In Sound Mind are seriously praiseworthy.
You’ll feel a sense of disorientation during every stage transition as the world itself warps and morphs around you. What is reality and what’s your imagination are key themes in In Sound Mind. The gameplay has you utilizing quick thinking during tense situations because you can’t remain idle. The bosses give chase and hunt the protagonist down, adding to the pressure. This all happens while you try to find a workaround solution for surviving the boss encounters.
In Sound Mind wears its inspiration on its sleeve and unapologetically borrows from the terrifying classic horror games. Honestly, the presentation, the whole atmosphere, and even the soundtrack itself of In Sound Mind feels completely engrossing. Plus, there’s a feline companion that talks to the player, and yes, you can pet it. If that’s not gonna win you over, we don’t know what will. For us, In Sound Mind more than delivers on its premise and is a must-play for horror enthusiasts.
5. HORROR Tales: The Wine
Alright, moving on, we’ve got one of the really intriguing indie horror games on the PS5, HORROR Tales: The Wine. Yeah, not the most impactful name, we know, but the game’s ambiance and spooky vibes more than make up for the way-too-hard naming choice. In HORROR Tales: The Wine, the players wake up all alone on an island, and there’s nobody there… well, aside from a creepy colossal man with a shotgun coming after you. It’s a nice blend of action and horror games.
You explore the archipelago, uncover the truth about what’s happening, and map out the environments to traverse the diverse terrain. It’s not a simple walking sim experience; you gotta think fast and outmaneuver your pursuer while also trying to find ways to open up blocked pathways. HORROR Tales: The Wine has another unique element to its story, which is a plague, the Devil’s Fever, going around. You gotta find the recipe and make the cure for it.
Oh, and there are other hostile elements, too, in HORROR Tales: The Wine. We were kidding when we said the island’s deserted. All the good folks have left, and only the evil entities are around. If the puzzle-solving mechanics are getting too complex, don’t worry; there’s an accessibility mode in HORROR Tales: The Wine. The experience becomes much more streamlined, and you don’t gotta put too much pressure on your noggin to enjoy the game’s narrative.
4. Dredge
For our next foray on the list of awesome PS5 indie horror games, we’ve got Dredge. Don’t let the bland name fool you; this game’s a brilliant take on HP Lovecraftian psychological horror. The adorable aesthetic may give the impression that Dredge fits right in with the cutest PC games ever, but we assure you that that’s not the case. Players take control of a fisherman sailing his trawler across perilous seas.
Seemingly only venturing to fish, the players will see the supernatural and otherworldly slowly taking over the fisherman’s catches. It gets to the point where humungous abominations start to rattle against the teensy vehicle, and you gotta struggle to escape and survive. The scope of Dredge isn’t grand, but its presentation style only hammers home the idea of horror on a cosmic scale.
You get upgrades for the trawler and also acquire more than a few supernatural powers to combat hostile enemies. However, it’s the narrative where Dredge truly shines. You play interactive fishing mini-games to progress the story. Each new bit of plot detail will hook you, pun intended. There are over 120 unique species you’ll encounter in Dredge if you’re going for the completionist playthrough, which is what we recommend, by the way.
3. Ravenous Devils
We’ve got Ravenous Devils at the halfway mark of our list of spectacularly enchanting PS5 indie horror games. This charming little game is all about the macabre and sinister happenings that the players will carry out. Controlling a married couple, both characters perform duties to keep up appearances while capturing victims. Said victims are then cut up and carved into slabs of meat to be used as cooking ingredients for the customers who visit.
Yep, if games like Overcooked! were too cheery, upbeat, and chaotic for you, perhaps Ravenous Devils’s methodical, gory, and dark traits will be more your cup of tea. You also run a clothing shop and procure the clothing articles from the victims you slaughter after carving their flesh and removing the blood and entrails. Talk about grim and gruesome, yeah? Well, here’s the catch: you gotta do all those things under a time constraint.
That’s not all, as there are some upgrades that’ll save time and make life a lot easier for the fearsome couple. There’s great intrigue and build-up in the story, with unique NPCs that are almost as vile as the protagonists themselves. Though, we will say, playing as the villains, is certainly a lot more satisfying and a nice change of pace. After all, it’s better to be the hunter than the hunted, right? That’s what Ravenous Devils offers to players. It’s not so much scary as it’s disturbing.
2. Scorn
For the runner-up spot on our list of exciting indie horror games for the PS5, it’s Scorn. If body horror and grossing out is the flavor you want in your horror fix, then Scorn will gladly provide it in spades. Scorn may not be a big-budget release, but the polish of the game will give the impression that it is. Seriously, everything about the game does a tremendous job of making players on edge and feel uncomfortable.
There are no words or grand narrations to explain the nature of the world; you gotta surmise everything from exploration. You don’t receive any help, dialogue, or even text to understand the context, but that makes Scorn feel special. There aren’t any NPCs around either, and the sense of dread and isolation, always looking over your shoulder as a feeling of being watched, that makes Scorn such a standout game.
Players will receive weapons and encounter hostiles, but you gotta conserve the special ammo for bigger threats. The bulk of the gameplay is all about stealth, puzzle-solving, and finding your bearings around the game’s strange environments. Scorn has an immersive ambiance that’ll rouse curiosity, and with its gameplay loop, there’s enough variety for player engagement. It’s an absolute must-play for all horror buffs.
1. Darkwood
Alright, the top dog of indie horror games on PS5 is none other than Darkwood. This game ticks all the boxes to be among the elite of the horror adventure games genre. Sure, the top-down perspective may be off-putting to some, but the atmospheric vibes, the build-up of terror, and completely bonkers enemies are gonna take many by surprise. Darkwood brilliantly thrusts players into the thick of things, leaving them to fend for themselves.
The game teaches players the ropes but doesn’t hold their hands, and if you fumble up, it’s your funeral. Darkwood also has plenty of game mechanics to master, and they’re evenly paced so that it’s not overwhelming for the players. Basically, you manage time by exploring and scavenging for supplies during the day to prepare for the night. When the sun goes down, things really turn sinister as vicious and terrifying creatures come out to hunt.
In Darkwood, players must find shelter, fuel, and weapon parts to craft the essentials for fending off enemies. There are also NPCs with quirky personalities and mortifying body horror mutations that you can interact with. They’ll give you quests, and you can get rewards for completing them. The main story revolves around escaping the ever-growing forest. The protagonist is trapped and has no memory of how the world changed and who he is. We told y’all, Darkwood’s special, this is why.
Final Thoughts on the Best Indie Horror Games On PS5
Well, that took a while, but we’re finally across the finish line! So, then, what’s the verdict, folks? Think our list of amazing indie horror games on the PS5 has got enough juicy selections to whet your appetite? Or is the horror buff within you too tough to find them scary enough? Fire away in the comments section below, and don’t forget to tell us about your favorite indie horror titles on the PS5.
If you’re still hankering for more horror gaming suggestions, we have more than enough. Take a gander at our favorite selection of the scariest PS2 games of all time for a throwback classic era of horror in Sony’s wheelhouse. Alright, that’s about it for today; we’re gonna sign off for now, so we’ll see y’all in the next one. Take care, everyone, and happy gaming!
