Summary
Enjoying horror games without any sound is difficult, but not impossible, and while spooky atmospheres rely on ambiance to build tension, there are plenty of stories that can still be told even without impeccable sound design to set the scene. It’s a common belief that a lack of sound can make horror games less immersive — which is true to an extent — but it entirely depends on the sub-genre and the context, as certain games rely more on visuals to craft a narrative and not strictly soundtracks or SFX.
In particular, horror is a genre that utilizes sound more than any other, ascommon tropes such as jump scarestend to be the climactic component of syncopation, but that isn’t to say that art style and scripted dialogue don’t also play important roles in building characters and environments to achieve the same effect. Here are some of thebest horror games that can be rewarding experiences even without any audio.
Dan Salvato’s cutesy visual novel disguised itself as a harmless dating simulator, only to go down in history as one of the greatest psychological horror games ever made. Its point-and-click approach makes it unimposing, butDoki Doki Literature Club!isn’t as innocent as it appears. The MC, a high-school student, finds himself becoming the object of fascination for four girls — Sayori, Yuri, Natsuki, and Monika — who allcompete for his affection during their extracurricular activities.
Although the soundtrack forDoki Doki Literature Club!enhances the visuals greatly and provides some characterization to Monika especially, the majority of the game revolves around reading dialogue and partaking in simple mini-games. Audio isn’t necessary to understand the story or its key elements; it’s just a nice bonus to hear some upbeat tunes while pursuing a potential love interest.
Limbois a side-scroller, puzzle-platformer witha monochrome art stylethat follows a young boy in search of his sister, who passes through treacherous environments and must escape the monstrosities hunting him down. Playdead calledLimbo’s puzzle-solving aspect a “trial and death” experiment, in which players are expected to fail — numerous times — in order to discover the correct solutions.
Limbo’s “soundtrack” consists of ambient, diegetic sounds, such as footsteps, the creaks of buildings, and construction equipment like cranes and saws. There is no dialogue inLimbo, and most of the sound effects act as environmental clues to help the player progress in the story. Without audio, puzzles might require a little more patience, but for those partial to a challenge, that shouldn’t be too disorienting.
Minimalism is already an integral part of storytelling forFaith: The Unholy Trinity, so while audio amps up the creep factor considerably, the “less is more” mentality applies here. Its 8-bit pixel-art style resembles games likeSuper MarioandPac-Man, while its execution falls more closely in line with modern examples likeUndertale. The game alsodraws inspiration from the “Satanic Panic” eraof the 1980s, which saw a surge in claims of demonic possession, particularly after the release ofThe Exorcist. In line with that theme,Faith: The Unholy Trinity follows a young priest fending off demons and cultists while questioning his own faith.
Most ofFaith’s dialogue is read in a cryptic voiceover that sounds like a dying robot, so maybe it’s worthwhile muting it as a preference, not just as a necessity. Otherwise, a lot of the game’s context is cleared up in notes found by the priest, and the labyrinthine surroundings can be navigated without sound, so it’s only really the priest’s creepy voice and the demon’s menacing cries that players will hear, which are really just 8-bit gibberish.
LikeDoki Doki Literature Club!, the psychological horrorMouthwashingfeatures only written dialogue and no voice actors, so anyone who can’t — for whatever reason — enjoy the game with sound won’t miss out on any distinctive accents or pitches in tone that could distinguishMouthwashing’s many peculiar characters.
Similar toLimbo, much of the sound design caters to subtleties in the environment that serve as hints toaid progression across a non-linear narrative. Much of the gameplay involves exploring a spaceship known as the Tulpar, engaging in conversation with crew members, and utilizing items to solve puzzles, so none of these actions require audio to complete. It’sMouthwashing’s disturbing and picturesque imagery that truly sells its complex and fascinating story.
World of Horroris a 1-bit roguelite with turn-based combat and no dialogue. It does boast a unique and volatile soundtrack that adds to the game’s unpredictability, but otherwise, there are no sound cues that are entirely necessary. In fact,World of Horror’s jarring music (a chiptune soundtrack) can get a bit overbearing at times, so it would encourage exploration and attentiveness to turn it off altogether. Imagine theStranger Thingsopening theme playing over a black-and-white version ofDoki Doki Literature Club!, and that’s a fairly accurate example of whatWorld of Horroris all about.
World of Horrorleans heavily into its art style, as it serves as one of the game’s biggest selling points. It was designed by a single developer (Paweł Kozminski) in Microsoft Paint, so the visuals are a more crucial aspect of plot design than the audio, which certainly helps fill the space but doesn’t add anything groundbreaking to a story that can be understood just fine without it.
AlthoughThe Mortuary Assistant’s many jump scares undoubtedly rely on audio to be effective, the design of the demons alone is enough to unnerve players beyond what mere sound cues can achieve. As Rebecca, the morgue’s newest assistant, players must embalm corpses while using their wits to identify any possessed bodies, all while avoiding the hostile entities that threaten to possess Rebecca herself. By identifying signs of demonic possession, players can save Rebecca from an untimely death.
They do this by correctly identifying possessed bodies, learning the demon’s names and habits to prevent hauntings, and burning the possessed bodies to rid the morgue of the demonic presence. None of these tasks require audio to complete, as bodies can be examined, records can be read, and corpses are subsequently burned by interacting with the environment. Since jump scares themselves don’t render a “game over,” there’s no need to play with the sound on.
2I’m On Observation Duty
Gameplay Relies On Visual Cues First And Foremost
TheI’m on Observation Dutyseries revolves around a newly hired employee tasked with monitoring live surveillance feeds and reporting anomalies to a mysterious organization. These anomalies can include ghosts, camera malfunctions, intruders, distortion, and more. If too many anomalies go unreported from midnight to 6AM, the game ends, soI’m on Observation Dutyseems todraw inspiration from the gameplay style ofFive Nights at Freddy’s.
There is no sound in the game besides the mumbling of ghosts, the static of the cameras, and the clicking that accompanies the action of switching feeds. There’s also a distorted static sound when anomalies are fixed, but otherwise,I’m on Observation Dutyrewards players with a keen eye, not perceptive hearing. The game’s premise essentially takes “spot the difference” to a new level. In fact, the absence of sound could even sharpen the focus of the sight sense, making the game’s objective easier to complete.
1Deep Sleep Trilogy
A Point-And-Click Adventure That Features Trial And Error
The point-and-click adventure games in theDeep Sleepseries come straight from the mind behindDon’t Escape: 4 Days to Surviveand follows a protagonist who finds themselves trapped in a nightmarish dream sequence after attempting to self-induce a state of lucid dreaming. As the dreamscape becomes more threatening, the protagonist must solve a series of puzzles to successfully escape the realm.
The only sound effects come from interacting with certain objects, such as jammed dresser drawers or locked doors, and the aim of the game is to simply click on objects until key items are discovered, such as keys and skeleton arms. Occasionally, rather than completely silent rooms, there will be areas with ominous music playing, butit only really adds to the creepy atmosphereand doesn’t affect gameplay.
