Can 2D games be scary?

[Wampus]

There have been many great horror 3D games but could a 2D game ever be considered scary?

What ways could a 2D game be made to be spooky, unnerving or tense?

[XanthorXIII]

Kings Quest 4 was pretty spooky at times. The unexpected happening at times with the Ogre and the Ghouls etc...

[Hatonastick]

Well... The original Diablo was purely 2D.  That was scary.  The original X-Com games (the first two) were 2D and quite scary.  Those darn aliens would make you jump.  Had a bad habit of appearing out of nowhere and wiping out your team.  The original Dungeon Master game was scary at the time.  Not now of course but it was 2D despite the pseudo 3D appearance (so was Captive and a number of other similar games but none of those were scary).  Still, if I put my mind to it I'm sure I could come up with more.

[Kitty Hello]

Anyone remember "Friday 13th" on C64? With the screaming and horror images when Jason killed?

[Crivens]

Aliens on the ZX spectrum (the one where you rotated around the room) scared the hell out of me as a kid. It right made you nervous and was pretty close to scary.

With a similar feel was The great escape where you were a POW and had to escape. If you stopped doing anything then the bloke would carry on with what he was supposed to do (go to lunch, excersise etc) but it was *really* stressful to break from the routine and run off to do something crucial (snoop through offices for example). At one point I was so nervous that I probably waited a good half an hour before grabbing the controls and going for it. A real feeling of cowardice there, and really scary when you were afraid of being caught. Came very very close to feeling like you do as a kid when you are doing something you know is wrong and would get punished if caught. Brilliant

Cheers

[ampos]

I stoped playing the old alien vs predarto (not so chlid) because I was scary all the time, and I said myslef "you are not playing to get a heart attack!" 

[Kitty Hello]

I remember when we were like.. 20 we played Resident Evil on PSone before we went to Disco (whcih was before 1:00), and we shat our pants at the scene where you once left the house at the back and there was this scary background noise...

Since I have kids, I'm too weak for all this.

[Ian Price]

I love the Resi games. Can't wait to see a 3D zombie on the 3DS!

Personally, I don't think any games (2D or 3D) are "scary." I've been brought up on a diet of horror movies and books and they are both scarier than any game I've played. Many do a very good job of creating tension and atmosphere, but for real scares, none suffice. Even the supposedly most terrifying of recent times, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, bored me silly. 

However, one of the best horror game series is Project Zero/Fatal Frame - much more effective than Resi, Silent Hill etc. Wonderfully atmospheric. Weird as hell, but brilliantly done.

[Marmor]

iam really like resident evil and all , but scary ....lol
diablo 2 scary  ... no   its a great hack and slay  i like the butcher ....

real life is scary or ?

[erico]

2d can perfectly be scary. haunted house on atari 2600 was a little.
Something not terror themed can be scary too, let's say POWDER the rogue like is quite scary too.

There was recently also a game , 2d platformer, where you wander around a house opening doors and burning monsters with a flashlight. It is indie and free, can't remember the name.

You can also separate the 'scary' into a more specific emotion, some games can scare you by surprise, others can mount tension and so on. 

[Wampus]

Its strange what can be creepy. I remember a friend of 16 saying that he found the Ghost House levels of Super Mario World made him feel like his SNES was haunted. He didn't like playing them alone. Heheh.

I've thought up a little list of potential ways a 2D game could be scary:-

• Mounting and maintaining tension in general seems a key factor.
• Being chased by something horrible against which there is no obvious defence always unnerves a lot of players.
• Being crept up on from a blind spot and surprised works well.
• Hidden or activated areas that will randomly contain something nasty once in a while helps nervous tension.
• Atmospheric music and frightening sound is a must.
• Well crafted creepy story.
• Very occasional "overloading" either with loud noise and/or sudden dramatic visuals and changes to the gamestate.
• Surreal or alien setting that seems hostile yet desolate/lonely.

A lot of the games mentioned have at least once of the elements above.

[Kitty Hello]

Do you know http://www.limbogame.org/

[Wampus]

Do you know http://www.limbogame.org/

Now that is a good looking game. Watched an IGN review of it just now. Real gruesome  in a good way 

[ampos]

Just place a text that says:

"we have taken your phone number and sent a tax inspector to your home. Thank you."

Yes, even the simpler game can be scaaaary as hell.

[Hark0]

Just place a text that says:

"we have taken your phone number and sent a tax inspector to your home. Thank you."

Yes, even the simpler game can be scaaaary as hell.

LOL