Puzzlesare a staple in horror games, stemming back to the classicPS1horror titles that essentially created the genre.
These puzzles are crucial to progressing in these games, either by providing the key to where players have to go or revealing hidden secrets.
Horror fans anticipate what new puzzles they’ll be faced with every time they pick up a new game, ready to see how they can practice their problem-solving skills and be scared all at once.
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Some of these puzzles are horrifying, heightening the fearful experience while players have to brave the next step forward. Other puzzles are unique, requiring outside-the-box thinking and a keen eye for detail.
Some puzzles are a wonderful blend of all of these traits, boiling down to just being outright cool – to where they’re as fondly remembered as the game itself.
10Happy Birthday
Resident Evil 7
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Resident Evil 7is a wonderful return to horror for theResident Evilseries, especially after trying (and failing) to branch into the action genre. By sticking to its roots, it re-cemented itself as one of the pinnacles of survival horror.
One key aspect that the game does this is through theBaker Family, a grotesque nuclear family that serves as the primary antagonist toEthan Winters. Before Ethan, though, the family had imprisoned and tortured another,Clancy Jarvis.
Clancy’s story with the Bakers unfolds throughout the game, including in one of the puzzles, notablythe Happy Birthday Puzzle. This puzzle details Clancy’s final moments, starting with the VHS tape that serves as the foundation for the whole encounter.
This puzzle adds to the grotesque tension that Resident Evil 7 nails so well, a ticking time bomb where the playersknowthat something terrible awaits them at the end.
It’s genuinely horrific, amplifying the threat of Lucas Baker as Ethan will have to retrace those steps and hope that his fate will be different.
9Vodka Distillery
Half-Life Alyx
Half-Life: Alyx
Half-Life: Alyxis a beloved VR horror game in theHalf-Lifeseries, and itdoesn’t even have to be played on a VR headset. It followsAlyx Vance, rescuing her fatherEliand then retrieving1 the contents hidden away in theVault.
This puzzle is later on in the game, specifically inChapter 7: Jeff. On her way to the Vault, Alyx cuts through the long abandonedGolden Lion Vodka Distillery, which is far better than her facing her chances with theCombineoutside.
The Chapter’s titular character, Jeff, is actually an unkillable monster — a terrifying inconvenience. Plus, the would-have-been quick and easy route through the tunnels is sealed, leaving players to find out how to unlock it in a tense and cryptic distillery.
The entire distillery is essentially a puzzle, with components scattered all throughout the map and with timed moments that keep you on edge. Plus, with horror games constantly having levels in hospitals, mansions, and schools, a vodka distillery is a fun change of pace.
8Skeleton Statue
Tormented Souls
Tormented Soulsis aPS1-style horror gamedraped in modern graphics, a love letter to the classics that started it all. Full of cryptic puzzles, horrifying monsters, and a stylistic, moody atmosphere, it’s an absolute nostalgia trip for fans of survival horror.
There are many puzzles in this game, 17 to be exact, each uniquely tedious and entertaining. One such puzzle is the skeleton statue, found in the Experiment Room of the past.
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This statue is a skeleton with buttons on key body parts, and a poem lying right beside it. It’s a simplistic love poem, with each line containing a clue on which button needs to be pressed in order.
This is just Golden Age of Survival Horror stuff, similar in vibe to the piano puzzle has fromMidwich Elementary Schoolin the firstSilent Hillgame.
7Dollhouse
Song of Horror
Song of Horroris a refreshing horror experience, full of great ideas and unique mechanics. The game follows a literal cursed song, dooming anyone who listens to it to a grim fate.
This game adds another challenge byincorporating permadeath, but not entirely — with eleven total characters to play, if players die, the character is permanently dead. Afterwards, they will restart the chapter again as one of the other surviving characters.
One puzzle that Song of Horror tackles is a horror staple: adollhouse. The dolls need to be put back in their proper rooms, and it’s up to the players to determine where each of them will go.
Each doll has multiple hints attached to it: the character’s remarks when picking up the doll, the starting location of each doll, andSaul’snotes. It’s a unique way to utilise context and creepy imagery, making the overall experience linger long after it’s solved.
6Shadow Puppet
Chiyois aterrifying Japanese horror gamewith an even more horrifying puzzle for those with a fear of mannequins.
TheShadow Puppetpuzzle is cryptic, but simple enough to catch on. Playing as the paranormal investigatorChiyo Idate, for this puzzle they are in a room of geisha puppets. And horrifyingly, not all of them are inanimate.
One of the geisha will follow Chiyo around, and be sure to actually glance back, because if the puppet gets too close, they’ll get you. The room is also full of dolls in various poses — one of which being the same pose the puppet chasing you is in.
Using hersupernatural powers, Chiyo lights the candle in front of these dolls to cast a shadow, the puppet changes its pose, and the hunt for the next doll is on.
This puzzle is horrifying, especially in regard to sound design. Hearing the puppets creak closer while frantically looking for the matching doll is heart-racing.
It may just be that I might just have a devastating fear of mannequins, but so would many other players, especially after this level.
5Room of Sacrifice
The Evil Within
The Evil Within, created byShinji Mikami, remains one of thescariest horror games for the PS3. It’s full of classic survival horror staples, pulling inspiration from many other games in the genre while telling its own unique story.
Chapter 6: Losing Grip on Ourselvesis packed with these staples, including a vague puzzle that isn’t too hard to learn. While progressing through the hospital and escaping with your partner, players will find themselves in a decrepit cave, locked from progressing.
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This puzzle is just outright macabre, requiring players to organize bodies with levers, moving them to the correct altar based on the numbers on the wall and the riddle the partner reads aloud.
If the bodies are incorrect, the player will be impaled with spikes — a gruesome end, no doubt. It’s a neat gimmick for a puzzle, taking standard horror but putting its own spin on the work.
We’re also sending prayers for players attempting this puzzle while pursuing theinfamously difficult None More Dark achievement; it’ll increase the chances of a spiky surprise.
4Find the Demon
The Mortuary Assistant
The Mortuary Assistantis absolutely horrifying — for lack of a better term, it’s a raw, sadistic, demonic possession. Playing asRebecca, players have to fight off the possession by finding out the demon’s name, creating a mark, and then burning the hosting body.
Finding the right body is half the battle, as players also have to pay attention for hauntings, scribble on paper, keep embalming in order to find the right corpse and learn the demon’s name, and deal with outright terrifying scares and visuals.
This game has multiple endingsdepending on how well the players are able to expel the demon. It’s a large puzzle that’s incorporated into the entire game, with even more dire consequences for failure.
It’s one of the coolest puzzles in a horror game to date, making an entire mechanic out of it and inducing fear unlike any other.
3RPD Goddess Statue
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2is widely regarded as one of the best games in the Resident Evil series, introducing the fan favouritesLeon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield.
The Resident Evil 2 Remake is awonderfully faithful remakeof the classic PS1 horror title, a near 1-to-1 recreation of the original story while expanding on the story and providing additional details. This includes the iconicRaccoon City Police Department (RPD).
That station used to be a museum, and it shows in the various puzzles that are inside — the most well known being that of the goddess statue in theMain Hall. This statue has three missing medallions, and finding all three will open a passageway into theUnderground Facility.
This puzzle, honestly, is just plain fun, in both the original and in the remake. It’s satisfying to find each medallion and rewarding to return them to the statue, especially after surviving countless undead — andMr. X.
2The Gallows
Silent Hill 2
TheSilent Hillseries is infamous for its puzzles, especially for their difficulty. It’s actually recommended to play the games with both the combat and puzzle difficulties being set toHard.
Silent Hill 2is home to one of the most infamous puzzles in the franchise (and, of course, this was recreated in theSilent Hill 2 Remake), which isThe Gallows PuzzleinToluca Prison.
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This puzzle is available after collecting all the necessary weights throughout the prison, leading up to the gallows. Players are presented with different incomplete confessions of individuals to be hanged, and they have to first pair the confessions to get the full picture.
After, they must select who is the sole innocent of them all, and must go pull the noose that corresponds with the confession.
Silent Hill 2 is full of themes of guilt and punishment, especially for protagonistJames Sunderland— so a puzzle where he has to literally be judge, jury and executioner is ironically fitting.
It’s freaky, it’s morbid, and absolutely unforgettable, making players excited for who the next innocent might be in their next playthrough.
1Du Family Home
Devotionis a game that players will have a tough time getting their hands on, unless they go toRed Candle Gamesdirectly. Due to past controversies, it wouldn’t be surprising if players hadn’t heard of it.
The entire game takes place in theDu Family Home, which is an apartment in Taiwain during the 1980s. This home is how the heartbreaking story will be told, but it must be solved first — yes, the entire apartment is a multilayered puzzle.
This puzzle (and by extension, the game) is masterfully done, giving players just enough crumbs to continue through the horrors but also allowing them insight into the family, their history, and their dynamics. By the end, when the full picture is revealed, it’s just harrowing.
Without a doubt, the Du Family Home is one of the coolest puzzles in all horror games, intertwining story and characters being woven together through hauntings and depression.
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