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[Muz]

And so there are two tenets to good horror and nothing else is needed:

SUBVERT EXPECTATIONS
and
PACE THE TENSION

I’ll use examples to illustrate stuff, but focus on the points rather than the examples, they’re just illustrations.

---

Most people expect horror to be like a heartbeat. Drop, spike, even, drop, spike, even. In other words, jump scares. The problem with this, is it tires people out far faster. They do it automatically: they have to either get used to it, or they get weary and quit.

Most horror is actually like a sinewave. Pacing smoothly between high and low tension, with occasional subversion. This is less likely to tire people out as it gives them downtime and comfort to offset the surges of tension, but many people are very accustomed to it, as it gets predictable and it’s...what’s long been done, basically.

What you want to aim for is an arrhythmic pattern, still keeping both above in mind. Shock is necessary, pacing is necessary, but everything in moderation. Let your player rest, but never let them sleep, so to speak.

A random pattern can work in this regard, but it’s much better to plan it out yourself. Random patterns may let you down and artificially kill the tension and you’ll never know why because everyone’s experience will be different.

So: What you need to do is subvert expectations, and then let them get comfortable with the new subversion, subvert that, and so on down. Your aim is to reach BREAKDOWN before they grow too weary or bored to continue.

Breakdown is the state where their expectations have fallen apart completely. You could do anything at this point, and they won’t know how to react. This is where you can do random patterns, within reason. You still don’t want them to get too weary or comfortable.

Now in any given game, there might be multiple overlaid patterns going on. But they tend to be clearly separated from each other when you look at the systems.

Reminds me of X-Com, which was procedurally generated horror at its best. The game would automatically insert the mood, the death threats, the silent times before the shock (or sometimes just shock you with plasma flying all over the place as soon as you get on the scene). There were slow missions mixed with quick missions. You'd calm down when you try to find that last alien, then you'd get to the "oh shit" point, when you find that it's a huge creature trapped inside what you can consider a closet.

I think the main problem with X-Com is that the game lasted too long, to the point where you unlocked all the enemies and many missions were just filler. Also the turn based thing got annoying faster than it got creepy.

[Jackson31]

play this game, http://slendergame.com/download.php
it's free and scary, it uses some really simple yet effective techniques and if you play the game enough you eventually learn how everything works and how to add those ideas into your own game

[d]

play this game, http://slendergame.com/download.php
it's free and scary, it uses some really simple yet effective techniques and if you play the game enough you eventually learn how everything works and how to add those ideas into your own game

I think Slender is an excellent example of the importance of hiding the underlying mechanics in a horror game. Once your realize his appearance is triggered by rapidly turning around it becomes much less effective.

[ThePortalGuru]

Breaking the fourth wall every once in a while.  I love to cite a little game called Irisu Syndrome, which used it in a horrifying, horrifying way.

[JMStark]

For some reason I found Dear Esther (the original mod) pretty terrifying. I think it might have been the contrast between the total isolation and the quick glimpses at what seemed to be other beings, hiding in the shadows.

I don't know though, computer monitors suck at representing darkness (some are better than others, but they all fall short) and this lowers the quality of the experience. Immersion is overemphasized in some game design circles, but for games trying to evoke horror, it really is important.

[disparat]

Be actually innovative and make up creative situations and settings. Zombies aren't fucking scary, they're zombies. Some creepypasta meme? Psh. People are scared of the unknown. Things are most frightening when they're unfamiliar, when you can't put a known fictional face on.

[Medevenx]

Element of Surprise and

Bad Controls

seriously, it adds to the helplessness

[golemshaper]

Element of Surprise and

Bad Controls

seriously, it adds to the helplessness

Yes. the inability to control yourself / move faster/ turn quicker is what makes many horror games scary. Tomb Raider 2 on the PS1 used to scare me when I would hear something coming and
Laura would take about 10 min. to turn around, then I would die, or turn off the game and walk away...

[Blodyavenger]

I guess everyone was scarred in Amnesia - you feel vulnurable
Bioshock, when lights turn off unexpectedly and you start to hear some metal draging around and sparks flying around - limited vision, fear of unknown

Keep player with an uneasy feeling for sometime and when he starts getting used to it, hit him with something scarry, right in the face.

Don't repeat tricks and patterns over and over or it will be obvious and not scarry.

[Medevenx]

Element of Surprise and

Bad Controls

seriously, it adds to the helplessness

Yes. the inability to control yourself / move faster/ turn quicker is what makes many horror games scary. Tomb Raider 2 on the PS1 used to scare me when I would hear something coming and
Laura would take about 10 min. to turn around, then I would die, or turn off the game and walk away...

I think it's similar to how horror movie characters take forever to open the door when the enemy is near enough to sickle them anyway. However, in similar fashion, you'd want to balance this by making enemies in the game slow as well. Clock Tower anyone?

[Houndninja]

I really think sound is an important factor, along with something that's mentioned here alot: The unknown. Take the game slender for example, a lot of us probably know the slenderman mythos, but for those that didn't finding more and more of these notes you get the feeling something is there with you, who knows what, its the unknown and it adds to the creepiness. When I played I knew who the slenderman was but turning around and seeing him there gave me a good fright because I wasn't really expecting, I knew he'd be in the game, but I didn't know when. The first time you pick up a note this loud booming sound starts playing, I hated that noise and so did a lot of other people, you want the sounds to stop, but they don't. Kinda adds to that helplessness feeling because there's nothing you can do about it.

[Oskuro]

I'll repost this post I made at the Java-Gaming.org forums:

A simple idea: Silence.

If you have music or ambient sounds just fade them all out when the player approaches the creepy area. The player's own footsteps can be very unnerving ( Unless they sound like an army of crabs is following you around. See Diablo 1 )

And a bonus about going silent is that jump scares work better then 


Rythmic sounds, like heartbeats or breathing, can be very unnerving too, as well as low barely audible sounds, like soft moans or whispering. Track down Quake 1's soundtrack and give a listen.

Visually you can tint the screen a different color, reduce the ambient light levels, or add subtle flickers.


It really is the subtle stuff that creeps people out.

[d]

A surprisingly effective one: before the player encounters any enemies, lock a door that the player has previously used.

[iffi]

Element of Surprise and

Bad Controls

seriously, it adds to the helplessness

In Dead Space, the mouse sensitivity gets decreased a lot while you're moving, especially when you're sprinting, so if you're running from something you can't really turn much, and if you want to actually aim at something, you're pretty much required to stand still. It feels weird at first but it ultimately adds to the feeling of vulnerability.

[Muz]

Be actually innovative and make up creative situations and settings. Zombies aren't fucking scary, they're zombies. Some creepypasta meme? Psh. People are scared of the unknown. Things are most frightening when they're unfamiliar, when you can't put a known fictional face on.

Zombies can be really scary if done right. These days, they're played off for comedy or used like a generic orc. Left 4 Dead gets a little scary played in a focused situation. If someone really fleshed out a zombie by showing that zombie's past, their thoughts, family, etc, and how fucked up they are post-death, it creates a darker image. If that zombie was your friend, it's even darker/sadder.

If the zombie can actually do real damage to you, then it becomes scary too. The X-Com Chrysalids were some of the scariest monsters in any game, because they raped and instakilled your long-term soldiers, turning them into zombies, and when you killed those zombies, they popped into more Chrysalids. There are deadlier creatures in X-Com, but the Zombie/Chrysalid combo was probably the scariest, because of the instakill and having your friends turn against you.

Vampires work for a similar reason as well. AD&D made them scary as hell because they fricking drained your hard earned levels before turning you into one. And they were really tough to actually kill for good.

They're a great horror tool because they're familiar - you knew exactly what they could do or could at least guess. It's a similar tool to having a room filled with blood.