Horror games are definitely one of the most popular genres of video games in the current day and age, with multiple high profile titles with impressive budgets, churning out sequels and new titles every year. Even earning nominations in prestigious video game awards shows.
But historically, the genre has also been severely reprimanded, for sometimes going overboard with its contents. The most censored of these games has either faded into obscurity or has a nurturing cult following.
In the list below we will be taking a look at a bunch of rare horror games that were either straight up banned or heavily censored for their contents.
Lesser-known controversial horror games
7) Phantasmagoria
The 90s were a time in the video game scene when a lot of point and click computer games were getting popular. These types of games spanned through multiple genres, from adventure games to horror titles.
In 1995, game designer Roberta Williams, who is well known for designing the cult classic adventure game King’s Quest, released a horror game for the MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows platforms named ‘Phantasmagoria’.
The game follows a young author named Adrienne Delaney and her husband moving to a remote and mysterious mansion, where they soon start experiencing unusual events that terrorize them.
Phantasmagoria was attacked by the concerned for its depiction of violence and supernatural horror. It was outright banned in Australia due to its censorship laws, with retailers elsewhere outright refusing to sell the game.
6) Sad Satan
In June of 2015 a game popped up on everyone’s radar titled ‘Sad Satan’. It originally appeared on a youtube channel named ‘Obscure Horror Corner’, the owner of which claimed that the game was created by an anonymous person with the user name ‘ZK’.
Contents of the game were fairly disturbing, with no proper goals to follow but just a first-person view camera-controlled player walking down blurry monochromatic corridors depicting haunting images, blood-curdling screams, and reversed audio.
The youtube video gained enough traction to get its own clone game that followed the same game language, except it took things a few notches further by showcasing graphic and gory images, as well as depictions of child pornography.
Even though the game was never deliberately boycotted or banned because it never saw an official release on any platform, it is definitely avoided by every form of horror media audience.
5) Rule of Rose
The PlayStation 2 was a great era for Japanese horror games that saw the birth of cult classics like Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil 4, and The Fatal Frame series. Among them was a game developed by Punchline Studio, called Rule of Rose.
Published by Atlus in the US and 505 Games for Europe, Rule of Rose was a different kind of horror game that wanted to separate itself from the general survival horror titles of the time, by exploring themes of moral decision making, inspired by classic fairy tales.
Rule of Rose explored the reversal of roles of adults and children, giving power to the latter over the former. The game’s plot follows a 19-year-old player character named Jennifer, who has found herself in a place that is controlled by sadistic and violent children.
Through word of mouth, rumors about the game’s alleged depiction of immoral themes reached authorities in Europe, which led to the game being cancelled in the UK.
4) Hotel 626
Before the boom of regular indie games, browser games were the point of attention for people seeking out small, free games to play. But due to the death of Flash media player, these games are mostly lost media these days, since they were never released as acquirable titles.
In the vast ocean of obscure browser games, a certain title was released by a fictional studio from Doritos in 2008 called ‘Hotel 626’, a browser horror game that was said to be way ahead of its time.
The title was an immersive game where you take control of a player character trying to safely navigate a haunted hotel. Confronting various supernatural entities that ranged from demonic babies and other entities.
The game was praised for innovating new things for the horror video game genre, like using a microphone to pacify the demonic baby and taking instructions via phone call. Also, the game was only playable from 6 PM to 6 AM.
The game was never outright banned, but the sequel titled ‘Asylum 626’ got Doritos into trouble with authorities for making use of players’ hardware equipment like webcams and microphones, technically breaching privacy without permission.
The game was eventually taken down and can only be found in YouTube videos now.
3) I have no mouth, and I must scream
Released in 1995, I have no mouth, and i must scream is a game that was directly based on author Harlan Ellison’s post–apocalyptic story that appeared in the ‘If’ science fiction magazine. The game was a point-and-click science fiction horror adventure title.
This mouthful of a game was designed by the author himself, along with the developers at Cyberdreams Interactive. Based directly off the original short story, the story followed an artificial intelligence named ‘AM’ that has been torturing a group of people for over a hundred years.
Set in a post-apocalyptic universe, where all of humanity is gone. The game is divided into chapters, with each following a different story. Gameplay involves players interacting with objects to construct sentences and make decisions.
This title is probably the least horror focused out of the rest of the games on this list, but it was heavily restricted and censored in certain regions due the depiction of Nazi imagery.
‘I have no mouth, and i must scream’ was awarded the ‘Best Game Adapted from Linear Media’ award from the GDC conference. Even though the game was not too commercially successful and was legally unavailable for a long time, it saw a re-release thanks to Nightdive Studios in 2013
2) Martha is Dead
Martha is Dead is a psychological horror title notorious for being censored by Sony on the PlayStation systems. Developed by studio LKA, the game was released for almost every major console, including even Amazon Luna.
The title is a story-based horror game that naturally progresses through a first-person perspective. Following a psychological horror story about war and superstitions, set around 1944 in Italy.
Twin sisters, Martha and Giulia, are separated from each other when one suddenly dies and the other is forced to assume the deceased’s identity, in the middle of an ongoing war. Innate aspects of the game were deemed uncomfortable for younger audiences and required Sony to opt for a censored release.
In February of 2022, the official social media account of the game released a statement regarding the decision to censor certain graphic aspects of the game, including scenes like ripping off the skin of a face, and even removing references to masturbation.
1) Mariam
A mobile horror game by a developer from the UAE named Salman Al Harbi hit the app stores in 2017, The game follows the player trying to help a little girl named Mariam by answering various in-game questions.
The questions in the game may range from anything like ‘Where do you live ?’ to something like ‘Are you the real one ?’, triggering a sense of privacy invasion. Coupled with the game’s horror atmosphere, things slowly evolve from helping the little girl to trying to survive.
Mariam gained a cult following among the younger players, leading concerned parents and adults to complain about the game’s arbitrary nature of asking personal questions, and allegedly gathering surveillance data through the in-game questions.
Due to the very nature of the game, and it being popular among younger age groups, people even accused it of being a harmful influence, citing alleged similarities to the Blue Whale game.
Authorities in Saudi Arabia had to take quick action, removing the game from mobile app stores, even though the developers denied misusing personal data asked in the game.
