Although our discussions in this blog have focused mainly on theory, creating a great horror game is more than that, it’s an art form that requires careful balance between atmosphere, game mechanics, and creative narrative. For game designers, there are many potential traps that can undermine a game’s potential to be truly terrifying. There are a lot of potential traps that can range from poorly executed scares to inconsistent pacing, so it’s easy to make mistakes that prevent a potentially great game from achieving its full psychological impact. Here, I’ll share some common horror game mistakes that you might encounter and provide some insights on how to avoid them, so you can start your game design journey with a stronger foundation.
Over Reliance on Jump Scares: Why Less is More
For those first venturing into horror game design, it can be very tempting to rely too heavily on jump scares. It’s tempting because jump scares are the easiest way to get a visceral reaction from players. Something happens, players jump, winner right? But, overusing jump scares can diminish their effectiveness. You run the very real risk of players becoming desensitized, leading to a loss of tension and immersion (Terkildsen, Engelst & Clasen, 2023).
The Pitfall: Shallow Scares Without Lasting Impact
Jump scares provide an immediate sensation but they lack any real depth and long-lasting impact. According to Terkildsen et al. (2023), they function like “junk food for horror”. They provide an immediate shock but quickly lose their effectiveness when overused leaving the player hungry for something more substantial almost immediately. Instead of filling players up with a suspenseful atmosphere, excessive use of jump scares creates a feeling of predictability, which ultimately undermines the horror.
How to Avoid It: Focus on Psychological Tension
To labor the metaphor a little, tension is the hearty meal of horror, true horror lingers in the mind, evoking deeper emotions through the atmosphere, unsettling sounds, and subtle environmental cues. Research shows that thematic cohesion, where audio and visuals align perfectly, can sustain fear more effectively than jump scares alone (Ribeiro et al., 2020). Think of it as a high fiber meal (I’ll stop with the metaphor now) but, for example, an empty hallway with flickering lights and distant whispers can build tension without resorting to sudden shocks, keeping players on edge with the potential of a instant hit payoff which may, or may not, ever materialize.
Poor Pacing: Balancing Tension and Release
Continuing from the above I suppose, one of the hardest lessons for a beginner is mastering the pacing of a horror game. As I’ve already mentioned, It’s easy to throw scares at the player without considering how they fit into the broader experience. According to Spokes (2020), pacing is key to maintaining a balance between tension and release, preventing players from either becoming too overwhelmed or too disengaged.
The Pitfall: Constant High Intensity or Too Much Calm
Without proper pacing, horror risks losing its edge. If the game is too intense, players might experience anxiety rather than fear, this is a feeling that can, potentially, lead to frustration. Conversely, too much downtime can cause players to disengage or, worse, get bored, breaking immersion and reducing the game’s overall impact (Spokes, 2020).
How to Avoid It: Use Peaks and Valleys of Fear
Pacing is a rollercoaster ride, there should be moments of high tension and brief periods of calm. Giving players time to recover makes the next scare more effective. Boonen and Mieritz (2018) describe a well paced horror game as a game that uses “Agency Parameters” to modulate control and unpredictability, this works to maintain a rhythm that continually surprises players without mentally exhausting them.
Inconsistent Themes and Atmosphere: Finding Your Game’s Voice
As with many genres, a consistent aesthetics is crucial in horror game design. A mistake that is all too easy to make, especially with the vast array of tempting asset packs available out there, is mixing visual and thematic elements that didn’t belong together. Research by Ribeiro et al. (2020) demonstrates that inconsistent thematic elements break immersion and make it difficult for players to suspend disbelief enough to feel fully immersed in the gaming experience.
The Pitfall: A Confusing or Disjointed Experience
Players need a consistent atmosphere to feel immersed. If the game’s themes and visuals feel disjointed, it becomes difficult for players, and designers, to maintain a sense of tension and fear. Inconsistency dilutes the horror and makes it hard for players to feel truly scared.
How to Avoid It: Establish a Clear Theme Early
Sticking to a central theme and mood is essential for players to feel fully engaged in the experience you are designing. Whether it’s psychological horror, survival horror, or supernatural horror, every aspect of the game, from the environment design to the sound and lighting, needs to align with your theme. Tools like mood boards can help you maintain your thematic cohesion and prevent disjointed experiences (Ribeiro et al., 2020).
Unengaging Gameplay Mechanics: Scaring Through More Than Just Story
Great stories are a cornerstone of great horror games, but with just a great story you would be better off writing a book or making a film right? Great horror games need to engage players through the defining feature of games, gameplay mechanics, which should be artfully crafted to enhance the fear. One of the biggest missteps is getting too excited over your awesome storyline and relying too much on narrative elements to drive the game alone without integrating the horror into the mechanics themselves. Habel & Kooyman’s (2014) research suggests that player agency, which can be defined as a players capacity to make meaningful choices, is critical to fostering a deep, engaging, horror experience.
The Pitfall: Boring Gameplay with No Stakes
We all love a great story, and I don’t mean to undermine the immense value of a great story in horror game design. But, if gameplay mechanics don’t contribute to the horror, the player’s potential for emotional engagement will be limited. Cutscenes or scripted events don’t do the same job and result in making the game feel more passive than interactive (Boonen & Mieritz, 2018).
How to Avoid It: Make Every Action Meaningful
As the designer of a horror game, you need to take time to think about the narrative AND how the mechanics can reinforce the themes expressed in that narrative. For example, you could implement a mechanic where players need to manage a flickering flashlight. This might work to create a sense of vulnerability which could make even simple tasks like navigating a room feel tense.
Lack of Player Agency: Making the Horror Feel Personal
Creating scenarios where players have little to no control over the outcome is another trap that is easy for early career designers to fall into. Habel & Kooyman (2014) has shown that lack of player agency, particularly in the horror games genre has the potential to lead to frustration rather than fear.
The Pitfall: Railroading Players with No Choices
It’s very similar to the pitfall of relying too much on narrative, if players feel they are simply being led along a predefined path they disengage emotionally. Games that constantly take control away from the player quickly become tedious as players feel that they are no longer active participants in their own experience (Boonen & Mieritz, 2018).
How to Avoid It: Incorporate Meaningful Choices
Always aim to find opportunities to give players some control, even if it’s limited. For example, introducing branching paths that can lead to different scares based on the players decisions helps to make players feel that they have a say in their fate. This increases the emotional stakes and makes each playthrough feel unique (Habel & Kooyman, 2014).
Conclusion
Simply by being careful to avoid common pitfalls, you can elevate your horror game from ok to genuinely terrifying. Focusing on pacing, atmosphere, and meaningful mechanics, will help you craft experiences that haunt players long after they have put down their controller. However, ultimately, you need to make mistakes, but learn from these mistakes and keep refining your approach to create horror games that stand out in a crowded genre.
Reference List
Boonen, C. S., & Mieritz, D. (2018). Paralysing Fear: Player Agency Parameters in Horror Games. In Proceedings of Nordic DiGRA 2018. Retrieved from DiGRA Digital Library(fulltext (1)).
Habel, C., & Kooyman, B. (2014). Agency mechanics: gameplay design in survival horror video games. Digital Creativity, 25(1), 1-14. DOI: 10.1080/14626268.2013.776971(146262682E20132E776971).
Ribeiro, G., Rogers, K., Altmeyer, M., Terkildsen, T., & Nacke, L. E. (2020). Game Atmosphere: Effects of Audiovisual Thematic Cohesion on Player Experience and Psychophysiology. In Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY ’20). ACM, New York, NY, USA. DOI: 10.1145/3410404.3414245(3410404.3414245).
Spokes, M. (2020). Gaming and the Virtual Sublime: Rhetoric, Awe, Fear, and Death in Contemporary Video Games. Bingley: Emerald Publishing(GATVS – Chapter 7 – Fear).
Terkildsen, T., Engelst, L., & Clasen, M. (2023). Work Hard, Scare Hard? An Investigation of How Mental Workload Impacts Jump Scare Intensity. Proceedings of ACM Human-Computer Interaction, 7 (CHI PLAY), Article 375. DOI: 10.1145/3611021(3611021).