7 Of The Best... Horror Games in Dreams
Do you get a kick out of jumpscares? Can’t sleep without the night terrors keeping you company? Then you might just be a horror game enthusiast. (Or you’re just a bit odd.)
Fans of the strange, unsettling and downright terrifying - rejoice! Our creation-game Dreams is full of horror games, thanks to a creative community of game-makers who delight in giving their players, well, nightmares.
If you’re looking for some genuinely scary stuff to play on PlayStation, then why not start with our top recommendations for horror games in Dreams? Whether you’re after bizarre liminal spaces, monster chases, psychological spooks - even comedy-horror that’ll make you laugh and scream - you’ll find it all below.
From the player's first-person view through a camera, a person in a haz-mat suit staring at a yellow wall covered in ominous graffiti can be seen.
The Backrooms (Episodes 1-7)#
Estimated playtime: 10 mins per episode, 1+ hour for the series so far
There are lots of games in Dreams that riff on the popular internet folk tale The Backrooms - you can read more about those here - but this episodic series is one of the very best. In this first-person horror game, you play as one member of a three-person team, donning a hazard suit to enter the infinite, dimly-lit yellow corridors of The Backrooms - and investigate how dangerous this phenomenon really is. What follows is a terrifying journey through mysterious voids and abandoned Poolrooms that populate the many levels of the Backrooms - and some sweaty chase sequences involving the entity stalking this place. The sheer quality of the level design, worldbuilding, narrative and even voice acting is what makes this interpretation of the internet’s favourite surreal office a standout: if you want to truly feel like you’re exploring a space that simply shouldn’t exist, this one’s for you.
(Requires that you own Dreams)
On the ground floor of a dingy yellow house decorated with candles, disembodied hands reach out of the wall.
THE INVOCATION#
by TheBlightBeast, PieceOfCraft and Typhus667
Estimated playtime: 15 mins
For some of us, there’s only one thing that’s scarier than all the monsters, ghouls and ghosts in the entire Dreamiverse: having to actually use our brain. THE INVOCATION will be a real favourite for fans of the Resident Evil games, featuring thoughtfully-designed physical puzzles that have you tuning into radio stations, turning combination lock contraptions and more - the hints, codes and solutions for which are cleverly hidden around this dilapidated family home. It’s not just you and your noggin in here, though; your handheld camera lets you see through a new lens, casting the nightmare-inducing decor in eerie green night vision and revealing all. Oh, and then there are the residents, of course. Believe us when we say you won’t soon forget their faces - or any of their many limbs - in a hurry, with some of the Dreams coMmunity’s most malevolent creature design on full display. Still, for all the immediate surface-level terror you feel in this house, this is a game that sits so much deeper in the mind; uncover the story of who these people really are, and you may even shed a tear despite your shredded nerves.
(Requires that you own Dreams)
Many grinning robot faces stare at the player, who's sitting at a table covered in plates of sausages and fried eggs.
Friend_Request#
by Frostadoodle
Estimated playtime: 4+ hours
FriendBot really wants to be your friend. And friends don’t let friends escape their infinite chamber of giant mushrooms and cosy friend-containment units. Accept FriendBot’s request, and you’ll find yourself catapulted into a bizarre series of friendship rituals, including terrifying rounds of hide and seek, cricket bat-based boss fights, big red buttons capable of eradicating entire civilisations, stealthy mini-games, romantic candlelit dinners (featuring playful poisoning attempts from cheeky FriendBot) and much more. Bolt-rattlingly funny jokes bump up against unsettling showdowns as Frostadoodle flips between a variety of genres and punchlines. Although the tone is often flippant and fun, the structure of this game is seriously involved. There are 25 different endings to see, with the world and story progressing as you uncover new surprises - you’ll have to fight to change the course of history and unfriend FriendBot once and for all. One for Undertale fans who are looking for a good laugh in addition to a good dose of creeping dread.
(Requires that you own Dreams)
Giant windows look out on an orange and pink sunset filled with clouds above a city skyline. Office furniture is scattered about.
Liminal#
by Rammstein53452, Tapio_X, DrinkWater200, mattizzle1, GrimPinata136 and Typhus667
Estimated playtime: 4 hours
A masterclass in building suspense, this psychological horror FPS is one of Dreams’ most fully-featured, well-paced and downright terrifying horror games. With shades of Silent Hill, it’s set across a series of uncanny, dream-like environments. In a game where you’re never quite sure what is real and what’s a trick of the mind, a firearm and your will to survive are the things that keep you grounded. Ammo is a precious limited resource, your only defense against the darkness. And whether you’re exploring threatening, fluorescent-lit office blocks, or shadowy tunnels dripping with menace, best-in-class art, level design, lighting and audio means your resolve - and nerve - will be thoroughly tested. Even before you come face-to-face with what’s really hunting you.
(Requires that you own Dreams)
A CRT monitor in a messy bedroom displays green descriptive text from a text adventure game.
Scelerophobia#
by Grothraw
Estimated playtime: 10 mins
Fear is all in the mind - and Scelerophobia proves it, a twisty text adventure that employs some evil tricks to inspire true terror. The presentation is pure nostalgia: blinking in the light of your CRT monitor in your tiny bedroom, you’re playing a classic text adventure, creeping through a virtual house on Halloween night as an intruder stalks you. A haunting soundtrack and wonderfully descriptive, atmospheric writing draws you deeply into this pixelated world - but everywhere, there are clever hints that all might not be as it seems. If you love games that go meta like Pony Island, toying with your expectations by blurring the boundaries between digital and real, then this one’s right up your street. (With an axe. And it’s coming towards you.)
(Requires that you own Dreams)
A shiny metal humanoid shape with unearthly long fingers hovers near the ceiling of a grand building. Red lighting is shining off of the creature-like art sculpture.
HAUS of BEVIS#
by Bevis2
Estimated playtime: 15 mins
Okay, so maybe you’ve been around the block a few times when it comes to horror games. Maybe you think you’ve seen all there is to see. But have you ever found yourself trapped inside of an art museum in which the grotesque sculptures come to life, then scream-sing at you about your terrible life decisions while the building itself turns against you? We’d wager you haven’t. It mixes surreality with the horror of the mundane to great effect - you’re playing as a ‘deluded housewife’ filled with regret, this place seeming to embody everything that’s gone wrong with your life. And while at first, you’re in control of how you explore the museum, Bevis2 makes excellent use of audiovisual cues and clever level design to send you spinning right out of it, ensuring HAUS of BEVIS builds to a fiery, unforgettable, and weirdly cathartic crescendo. A true original.
(Requires that you own Dreams)
A first-person view of a person peering into a large metal chamber with some mysterious scientific apparatus at its centre. The player's hand is resting on the glass window.
PRESSURE (Chapters One and Two)#
Estimated playtime: 2 hours
The ocean is a sinister thing, its depths home to some of the worst stuff you’ve ever seen in your life. (Ever seen what a gulper eel looks like? Or a stareater? Or a Black Swallower? Or a monkfish? Absolutely cursed.) What better location, then, for a sci-horror game. Following in the shadowy footsteps of Alien: Isolation and System Shock is PRESSURE, an episodic tale of terror set in a robot-run facility buried deep underwater. Detailed environment design - all gleaming pipes and glistening fluids - goes a long way to immersing you in the atmosphere of this place. But the intentional restraint of the weapon and encounter design really helps to set this apart as one of Dreams’ best horror games; you’re not blessed with deadly weapons to complete your quests unharmed, but tools such as a noisemaker, a force glove and a crafting system. Your (and others’) survival depends on how you use them to progress - and repel the horrors lurking in the darkest corners of this place. Everything’s scarier, after all, when your real enemy can’t be killed in any meaningful way. How do you hold back nature itself?
(Requires that you own Dreams)
Can’t get enough abject terror in your life? Then have a peek (through your fingers, natch) at our Horror playlists in Dreams. Select Dreams By Genre on the front page of DreamSurfing, then go to Horror for even more hellish selections, curated by us.
.jpg "The Dreams By Genre page in Dreams, featuring a custom-designed button for the 12 main genres, each containing their own sub-playlists.")
The Dreams By Genre page in Dreams, featuring a custom-designed button for the 12 main genres, each containing their own sub-playlists.
Want to make it even easier? We’ve put all our Horror playlists in one simple collection for you - hit the buttons below to launch it on your PlayStation immediately, or file it in your Play Later queue to save it for a late-night sesh.
(Requires that you own Dreams)
Is 'enjoy' the right word for this stuff? Er... have fun? Being terrified. Have fun being terrified.
The Dreams User Guide is a work-in-progress. Keep an eye out for updates as we add more learning resources and articles over time.