Most Disturbing Psychological Horror Games on Steam

Key Takeaways

• These are six full-release psychological horror games on Steam, ranked by their share of positive reviews, and every one carries a content warning for disturbing or mature material.
• MiSide takes the top spot at 98% positive across about 144,000 reviews.
• Doki Doki Literature Club! is free, and Mouthwashing is the cheapest paid pick at $12.99. Silent Hill 2 is the most expensive at $69.99.
• The games span 2015 to 2024, so this isn’t a list of new releases.
• Themes include violence, gore, self-harm, suicide and mental illness. Read each warning before you play.

Quick answer: for the best-reviewed disturbing game, play MiSide. For a free one, try Doki Doki Literature Club!, and read its warning first.

Some horror games want you to jump. These ones want you to feel uneasy long after you’ve closed the game. A cute screen that turns wrong, a crew that stops being kind, a child who can’t trust what she sees.

This list is ordered by Steam players instead of someone’s taste, but “disturbing” needs a definition. We started from Steam’s Psychological Horror tag and kept full releases with at least 20,000 reviews. Then we kept only the games whose Steam page or developer warns about disturbing or mature content. We left out adult-only titles. Then we ranked them by the percentage of positive reviews.

How We Ranked Them

• Psychological horror: each game carries Steam’s Psychological Horror tag.
• Reviews: minimum 20,000 Steam reviews. Ranked by positive %, with review count as the tie-breaker.
• Content warning: the Steam page or the developer warns about disturbing, violent or mature content.
• Full releases only: no Early Access games and no adult-only titles.
• Disturbing level: our own rating from 1 (mildly unsettling) to 5 (extremely disturbing), not a Steam number.

1. MiSide: A Cute Game That Pulls You Inside

Released: December 10, 2024  |  Steam reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive, 98% of about 144,000  |  Price: $14.99  |  Disturbing level: 4/5

You care for a character in a game, until one day you find yourself inside it. The developers say they wanted a bright, colourful anime style to sit against the disturbing adventures of the main character.

It has the best score on this list, and it’s the one that most readers will recognise from clips. The store page warns that the game contains intense scenes and isn’t recommended for people with weak hearts. There’s a free demo, and a settings option to turn on censorship. Content note: murder scenes, blood, corpses and dismemberment.

View MiSide on Steam

2. OMORI: A Colourful RPG That Hurts

Released: December 25, 2020  |  Steam reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive, 97% of about 89,300  |  Price: $19.99  |  Disturbing level: 4/5

OMORI is a turn-based RPG in which you explore a strange world full of colourful friends and foes. The path you choose decides your fate, and perhaps the fate of others.

Its horror is emotional more than visual, and that’s why many players find it hard to shake. Content note: the developers warn that it depicts depression, anxiety and suicide, and that it contains bright flashing imagery. If those themes are close to home, skip it or play it with someone you trust.

View OMORI on Steam

3. Fran Bow: A Child, an Asylum, and a Lot of Trauma

Released: August 27, 2015  |  Steam reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive, 97% of about 23,400  |  Price: $14.99  |  Disturbing level: 5/5

Fran Bow is a creepy adventure game about a young girl struggling with a mental disorder. After a terrible loss, she wakes in an oppressive mental institution for children and sets out to escape and find her cat, Mr. Midnight.

It has the longest list of warnings of any game here. The developers say it contains disturbing images, explicit violence, gore, self-harm, sexual harassment, animal cruelty, body horror, mental illness, flashing images and drug use, all seen through the eyes of a child. Steam asks you to confirm your age before it will show the page. It’s a beautiful hand-drawn game, but it isn’t for everyone.

View Fran Bow on Steam

4. Doki Doki Literature Club!: Not the Game It Looks Like

Released: September 22, 2017  |  Steam reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive, 96% of about 229,900  |  Price: Free  |  Disturbing level: 4/5

This one looks like a cute school dating sim, and that’s the point. The store page itself warns that the game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.

It’s free and the most-reviewed game on this list by a wide margin, so it costs you nothing to see why so many people talk about it. We won’t spoil what happens, but go in knowing that the horror is psychological and the themes are heavy. (Note: Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is a separate, paid release. This entry is the free original.)

View Doki Doki Literature Club! on Steam

5. SILENT HILL 2: A Ghost Town and a Letter From the Dead

Released: October 7, 2024  |  Steam reviews: Very Positive, 95% of about 66,900  |  Price: $69.99  |  Disturbing level: 4/5

James receives a letter from his late wife and returns to Silent Hill, where they made so many memories. He finds a ghost town prowled by disturbing monsters and cloaked in deep fog, and he searches for traces of her.

This is a remake by Bloober Team and Konami, and it’s the only big-budget game on the list. Its horror comes from guilt and grief as much as monsters. It’s also the priciest pick, so wait for a sale if you’re unsure. Content note: frequent violence and gore, plus general mature content.

View SILENT HILL 2 on Steam

Which One Should You Play First?

• You want the best-reviewed pick: MiSide.
• You want it free: Doki Doki Literature Club! (read the warning first).
• You want something emotionally heavy: OMORI.
• You want a hand-drawn nightmare: Fran Bow.
• You want classic grief-driven horror: SILENT HILL 2.
• You want a short, brutal night: Mouthwashing.