Jump scare games you'll never finish

Halloween is here, and what better way to celebrate than by scaring yourself senseless with a few choice horror games? With so many types of horror games to choose from, it can be hard to pick one that’s worth dedicating an afternoon to. If you’re looking for a challenge, or something entertaining to stream, “jump scare” style horror games are your best bet.

Looking for the scariest ones? Below, we’ve put together a list of jump scare games we guarantee you’ll never finish!

Jump scare games you’ll never finish

Five Nights at Freddy’s

We can’t have a list of jump scare games without including the iconic Five Nights at Freddy’s series. If you’ve been living under a rock and have no idea what FNAF is, it’s an indie game made by Scott Cawthon where you have to survive several nights in a pizzeria. The catch? The animatronics at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza come alive at night and have a deep, twisted desire to stuff humans into their mechanical suits.

To keep these creepy critters at bay, you need to carefully manage your resources. Check your cameras, turn the hallway light off and on, shut the door if you see anything standing a little too close for comfort, and repeat until morning arrives. Mistakes result in some absolutely terrifying “Game Over” moments with characters like Chica rushing towards your face with a loud shriek. RIP headphone users.

Overall, the scares in FNAF are ones you never quite get used to and will have you saying, “Nope. No thank you. I’m done.” Whether it fills you with fear or frustration, FNAF is a game that’s hard to beat.

Outlast

Outlast and its sequel have become known for their creative jump scares which play upon each game’s chilling atmosphere. In the first game, you play as Miles Upshur, a journalist looking to unravel the secrets of Mount Massive Asylum. While a respectable endeavour, Miles makes the mistake of going alone, at night, without a means of defending himself. Bad idea.

After getting trapped inside, you’ll have to guide Miles deeper and deeper into the mess of madness to find a way out. The farther you go, the scarier things become. If you’re spotted by an enemy, your only option is to run and hide. There’s no way to fight back. In the event your skull is crushed by Chris Walker, you’ll have to restart from the last checkpoint and try again.

Even if you grow accustomed to the terror, Outlast is a game that truly tests your sanity as you struggle to get past certain tricky areas. Meanwhile, Outlast 2 changes the setting around and places you outside in the country town of Temple Gate. In place of cramped corridors, you’re given more ground to cover, not that you’d want to. In Outlast 2, there are more places for enemies to lurk, waiting to pounce.

If you have a good pair of headphones, you’ll want to use them to listen for footsteps and approaching enemies in order to give yourself time to hide. Like the first game, if you’re caught, you’re killed and have to restart from the last checkpoint. Outlast and Outlast 2 are games that’ll have you screaming out obscenities late into the night, and if that’s not the best way to spend your Halloween, we don’t know what is.

The Evil Within

We know what you’re thinking, why would we follow Outlast with The Evil Within? After all, both offer similar concepts and gameplay styles. The reason is because where Outlast excels in atmosphere, The Evil Within and its sequel come through in things like story and character development. If you’re a die-hard horror fan, we recommend playing Outlast and The Evil Within as both have strong merits.

Based on our personal experience, we have to say… The Evil Within is an interesting game, which makes sense given that it was directed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. The Evil Within presents you with the illusion of safety and control as Sebastian is a police detective. You’d think he’d know his way around a gun.

However, guns are useless when it comes to the enemies in The Evil Within, and that adds to the level of fear you feel. You’ll also have to navigate a confusing, but thorough story that makes you question what’s real and what isn’t. In the sequel, the stakes are higher for Sebastian as his daughter Lily is pulled into the chaos.

The first game feels a bit like a Resident Evil game, while the second gives us Silent Hill vibes. As a whole, it’s an underrated series with jump scares that are effective as you’re never quite able to get your bearings. If you’re able to keep going after the chainsaw chase, The Evil Within is a heart-pounding good time.

Blair Witch

Blair Witch is a newcomer in comparison to other games on this list, having recently released at the end of August this year. If you’re looking for something you haven’t played yet, we highly recommend giving the Blair Witch game a try. Developed by Bloober Team (the mad geniuses behind Layers of Fear and Observer), Blair Witch fits well into a franchise born from the cult classic 1999 film, The Blair Witch Project.

While the connections to the cinematic universe are slim, the game does a phenomenal job differentiating itself from its source material while also conveying the core themes you’d expect from a Blair Witch property. The end result is a respectable, fun game that’s scary as all hell. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why exploring creepy woods at night is so effective (despite being done to death at this point), but the setting immediately makes you feel on edge.

You know something is watching you, and the audio convinces you that something is crunching along behind you, even if you turn and see nothing there. We recommend wearing decent headphones while playing Blair Witch to get the full, creepy experience. As far as jump scares go, we guarantee that the first jump scare will cause you to stand up, prepared to flee.

You’ll be tempted back in by the game’s story, only to be scared again, and again, and again. The jump scares make it hard to reach the game’s powerful conclusion, but trust us when we say the Blair Witch game is a roller coaster that’s well worth your time.

Until Dawn & Man of Medan

We had a hard time picking between Until Dawn and Man of Medan, as both are similar games with different, worthwhile stories. The jump scares in each title aren’t as prominent as ones found in Outlast, but are just as effective. Both Until Dawn and Man of Medan pull you in with their interesting concepts and deep relationship mechanics.

In each, there’s an element of mystery where you want to learn more, but you also want to be careful as you could wind up making permanent mistakes. It’s possible to kill the main characters, or save them all for a “happy” ending. Because of this, you get so sucked into what you’re doing that, when a jump scare happens, it forces you to pause and catch your breath.

We’ll admit that we had to take several breaks in order to complete Until Dawn as well as Man of Medan because the jump scares messed us up that badly. If you’re wondering whether these games are scary, they definitely are. We recommend playing them in order with Until Dawn first and Man of Medan second, but if we had to pick between the two, we’d say Man of Medan is slightly scarier.

Visage

We included Visage in our horror gaming marathon list, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also include it in our jump scare list. Make no mistake, Visage is designed to scare you, and it does this incredibly well. Maybe a little too well as we feel it’s the “scariest” jump scare game on this list. Visage builds on concepts introduced in P.T. and then dials them up to 11 as you explore a house that changes all around you.

You’re made to think you’re alone as you wander the empty house, but you’re not. Horrific, indescribable figures lurk, waiting for you to turn around and spot them behind you. Similar to Outlast, if they catch you they kill you. No exceptions. The audio in this game is also fantastic as you feel like you hear something, but are able to brush it off and think, “Nah, it was probably nothing.”

Except it was definitely something, and you’re probably screwed. Out of all the games on this list, Visage is the hardest one to beat, even though it’s the shortest. This isn’t because the gameplay itself is challenging per se, but because there are so many well-placed scares that you lose all sense of trust. Nothing is safe in Visage. Search through a drawer? Good time for something to appear behind you. Go down a hallway, now you’re trapped.

If you’re brave, or senseless enough, try Visage and see how far you get. We’re willing to bet you won’t get very far.

What do you think of the jump scare games on our list? Do you agree with how scary they are, or have you played scarier games? Comment below! If you’re looking for games on a beginner level, we also have a list of horror-themed games perfect for cowardly gamers.