Developers, what are good strategies to make a horror game unique?

Help and Feedback Game Design Support
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#1

Hello, developers!

I am currently making a horror game as a solo project, and I am unaware on what makes a horror game unique and addicting.

So, I thought to myself, what are some good strategies to make a horror game unique? Any opinions?

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#2

Hey there,

1- Make something that’ll make me fall off my chair or scream like 5 years old girl.
2-Make something unique, whether it’s the map, or the UI, or tools and stuff.

3-Make sure you dont use free models.

#3

Also, I think it’s the wrong category.

Move it to #help-and-feedback:creations-feedback

They’ve sent me messages about it before

#4

Don’t use jumpscares.

Jumpscares are a cheat code and if you force yourself to not use jumpscares you will come up with something a better than most

@Valkyrop it goes in #help-and-feedback:game-design-support

#5

My bad, I got confused by something similar.

#6

Three things.

Relating to Fear

The player should be able to relate to a well-known event in the game that’s meant to cause said fear, such as unexpected death/incapacities or being lost. Revolving around someone’s despair over their favorite unfortunately-trimmed-garden-hedge isn’t going to get anywhere. A tragic car crash would play better. Histories do apply, as every story needs a past. The best backstories are the ones players can connect to. This tactic overall helps the chances that someone will come back for more.

Vulnerable Player

The player shouldn’t have the entire map/direction they are going in instantly revealed to them. They have to decide to discover things for themselves, and that creates a sense of unwillingness. What’s in here? What’s behind me? Mazes and first-person games are two prime examples. Any Subnautica fans out there? It’s both about where the player is and what’s in the places that the player is not. They can’t see everything.

Sense of Wrong

The player should feel that something’s off and the consequences of said mishaps are out there. When I say “off”, I mean both figuratively and literally. Both have a force of wrong. Oh no, I have to get out of this room immediately; the lights just turned off and that signifies normaln’t. On the figurative side, the player’s designated loved ones start to behave erratically and end up doing something terrible that the game then dives into. When irregularity doesn’t revolve around a character, it is within said character’s life or motives. On the literal side, you could be talking about a disfigured, unhuman creature that makes your blood chill with its unearthliness. For example, SCP’s Shy Guy. (Shy Guy also applies to #1. He has a history.)

I typed way too much for this, but hey, I love horror. Sorry.

6 Likes
#7

Definitely a good way to figure out new things and unique things for your games are checking out the other ROBLOX games, like the mimic, etc. Find better ideas by doing that and expand you game.

#8

MOTIFS.
When creating a horror game it’s always a good idea to come up with some motifs first. (Motifs are reoccurring idea’s within a creation)

You can use a motif however you want and motifs could be anything at all. Things you could use as motifs could be fire being protecting or bright lights signalling danger.

For example I had created a concept for a horror game which had the motifs of, “music” meaning safety and darkness being threatening.
The game itself would be an openworld survival horror in which you must collect fragments from around the world to open a spell which would take you to a deeper realm. You’d have to escape your current world before it would be consumed by darkness.
For the first realms there would a breeze that blew across the land at the start of each day causing windchimes to tinkle.
Gradually through the realms the amount of music that you would get to hear would decrease and the amount of darkness in the worlds would increase.

CHILD HOOD FEARS
an extremely common and extremely effective motif

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