Summary
Though Halloween may be past, the scary season has just begun for many horror enthusiasts. As the dark winter months draw near, a snowbound scary story can be just the thing to enjoy from the comfort of a cozy couch. There is something inherently enticing about the contrast of blood on snow or the homely glow of a fire-lit cabin isolated against a dark winter night, which is why the images are so often invoked in horror tales.
Certainly, if nothing else, it allows for the appreciation of such a landscape without the need to freeze to death to see it. Then again, horrors can lurk in any refuge from the cold. Although freezing may seem preferable once inside, the trapdoor shuts and the deathly silence of the dark cavern is all that can be heard, or some misshapen shadow from a corner of that homely cabin suddenly rears up from the dark. For anyone looking to scare their way to the winter holidays,these horror games should do the trick.
Based on the true events of the Dyatlov Pass incident, where ten Russian students perished under mysterious circumstances,Kholatputs its own supernatural spin on the tale and has the player follow in the footsteps of the unfortunate students to find out what occurred.
With compelling and highly comforting narration performed by Sean Bean, the player must navigate the mountain pass with only their map and a set of coordinates to find their way forward. The environment is fantastically realized with an endlessly dread-inducing soundscape.
Survival Horror, First-Person, Stealth
Stealth Horror, First-Person
Before Frictional Games scored their massive hit withAmnesia: Dark Descent, there was thePenumbraseries. The structure of the laterAmnesiagames can easily be spotted throughout this first-person, narrative-driven stealth horror experience. However, there are some notable deviations, such as a bare-bonesphysics-based combat system.
Penumbrais a lonesome experience with most of the game taking place in dark tunnels under the snowy landscape above and only the voice of the crazed survivor, Red, for support. Despite not seeing much snow,Penumbramaintains an abysmally cold, dead atmosphere that is sure to keep anyone playing thankful for the warmth of their own home.
A Small Town Murder Mystery
Platforms
PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X & S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, macOS, Linux, Stadia
Genre
Puzzle, Survival Horror, Adventure
A Canadian-set winter murder mystery where, after a dramatic car crash, the player finds themselves alone in the town of Atamipek Lake. Snowbound and with nothing more than their car, detective intuition, and the cosy narration of an older Canadian man, a murder must be solved and a snowstorm survived.
Konadoes a great job switching between the atmosphere of being comfortably alone and alarmingly isolated. Driving the car over snow-covered back roads and checking through the rooms of a fire-lit abode in the wilderness can put the player right at ease, then a sudden bang from downstairs when it seemed so certain no one was home offsets all that comfort in a second.
The first of Supermassive Games forays into what has now become their niche genre of horror game,Until Dawnis set in a cabin in the mountains populated by a group of late teens with a propensity towards being stupid and dying horribly. Classic stuff.
It’s a well-put-togetherchoice-based narrativethat plays around with the tropes of the genre and player expectations to keep them on their toes. The snowy mountain setting is often stunning to look at; all the more so in the recent remake.
Set on a huge shipwrecked icebreaker, theNorth Wind, the player must investigate and find outwhat befell the crew of the shipand its cause. A game with a unique little narrative where players are challenged with not only finding the dead crew but also going into their last memories and, one by one, changing the outcome.
Few games capture the atmosphere of absolute bone-aching cold thatCryostasisdoes. Everything is frozen over; every surface, every corpse. Stalactites droop from the ceilings and the ship quickly feels more like exploring an ancient icy tomb. Even the player’s health meter is measured in heat, as finding sources of warmth is the only way to heal.
Survival Horror, Adventure
A rareWii-exclusive horror titlewith the unique setting of the mountain Chomolonzo in Tibet,Cursed Mountainfollows Eric Simmons' search for his brother as he treks up the mountain. It’s a bit of a slow burn and takes its time getting to the good stuff, but there is an interesting story and plenty of atmosphere to be found within.
While overly long, the early sections in the isolated mountainside villages make for a good setup for the wilderness of perpetual winter that follows and to establish just how far from any living people Eric is.
Games based on filmsseem to largely be a thing of the past, probably because, more often than not, these games turned out to be a hurried low low-effort mess to capitalize on the attention the film release was getting. Not so with Computer Artworks' 2002 gameThe Thing,based on John Carpenter’s classic 80s remake.
This game is by no means perfect, but it’s certainly a game with lots of effort put into it and is a good attempt to convey the tension of the film in video game format. With a multitude of characters who can join the player’s team, each with their own varying levels of trust, fear, and possible infection, it makes the player feel isolated even in company. With the remake scheduled to come out soon, it might be the perfect horror game to pick up this winter.
While most of the playtime ofMetro 2033is understandably set in the metro tunnels of Moscow, the excursions up to the snowy surface make for some of the most memorable moments. The dramatic change in setting from the dark, cramped tunnels to suddenly open skies and desolate shells of abandoned buildings all blanketed in snow creates a stunning contrast.
Inspired by both theMetronovelsby Dimitry Glukhovsky and theS.T.A.L.K.E.R.franchise (itself based onRoadside Picnicby Arkady and Boris Strugatsky) the snow-covered surface is no nice place to be inMetro 2033, with anomalies and mutated animals abound.
Mundaunis a folk horror gameset in a tiny village hidden in the Alps. Taking control of Curdin, who has returned home for his grandfather’s funeral, the player must investigate the death of their grandfather—which gets more bizarre by the minute—by talking with the scant few residents and venturing into the locales further up the mountain.
The atmosphere lies somewhere between a Grimm Brothers' fairy tale andThe Wicker Man, makingMunduana dark delight to explore and, with its hand-drawn textures, the game provides a distinctive aesthetic to match its ambiance.
