Darkwood

This game crafts a menacing atmosphere filled with hair-tingling chills and a healthy dose of paranoia that terrifies on a deeply psychological level. Darkwood brings enough material to fuel your nightmares long after the game ends … and it’s all the better for it. At first glance, its top-down view and smaller scale might not seem too imposing. But it’s not long before that fallen tree you didn’t give a second thought to looks strangely like a decomposing arm waiting to snare you in its clutches. Or the loud snap of a twig shatters the silence and you’re left to wonder if that came from you or from some “thing” just outside of your field of view. The tension and terror builds to the point that can almost feel yourself choking on the fear.

Darkwood’s take on survival horror isn’t exactly unique. But it does have just enough twists to the formula to stand out. You’re constantly trying to use the daylight hours to explore further, sometimes foregoing essential resources to seek out key items or clues that might get you closer to escaping. You may find yourself far from your home base and have to hole up for the night in an abandoned house you discovered along the way as a temporary haven from the dark. It’s during these nighttime encounters that your nerves are really put to the test, as there’s little you can do but hope you’ve barricaded yourself in well enough to survive ‘til dawn. This is also where the game can get a little frustrating, since there’s a lot of idle time just waiting for all hell to break loose. And when it does, if your traps and barriers fail you, that’s when you learn that combat isn't your friend. Fighting is awkward and unresponsive. Even if you manage to get in a few good whacks before your weapons fall apart, you’re usually overwhelmed by swarms too big to fend off. It’s all the more incentive to avoid a fight whenever possible. With its randomly generated maps and branching plot paths, even if you escape Darkwood once, you likely find your way back in its clutches again.