Horror Games Like Poppy Playtime

As new chapters release for Poppy Playtime, the hype train around this survival horror game continues to grow. This title is about a former toy company employee who returns to the factory years after everyone inside disappeared mysteriously, and it can be tricky to get started if someone isn’t used to the genre.

While Poppy Playtime is filled with scares and intrigue for fans, it still has a short runtime, even with the newly released chapters. For fans who aren’t sure where to turn for more of the same kinds of jump scares, the survival horror genre has fleshed out a great deal in the last few years and there are a lot of games like Poppy Playtime out there.

Updated March 4, 2024, by Ritwik Mitra: Poppy’s Playtime makes the most of a terrific monster to horrify players. It’s a simple game where players engage in the age-old gameplay loop of running away from the monsters. The puzzles in this title are as simple as can be. The biggest threat involves the toys, and how suddenly these beasts can appear to scare players to kingdom come. Players who want to check out more games like Poppy’s Playtime will be more than pleased with the options at their disposal.

14 Outlast 2

A Sequel That Ups The Ante

Outlast was a breakout hit in which players explored a mental asylum that was clearly run by people who had no business taking care of patients who needed serious help. It was only a matter of time before this game received a sequel, even if the ending was rather disappointing.

While some people agree that Outlast 2 didn’t live up to the heights of the first game, it’s still a fine horror experience. The game’s unbridled terror makes it a perfect fit for fans of jumpscare fiestas like Poppy’s Playtime.

13 Devotion

A Dark, Disturbing Psychological Horror

Poppy’s Playtime is far from a cerebral game, so some fans may find Devotion a bit too multi-layered. However, any fan of good horror games should give this title a shot because of how engaging this title is.

Devotion is a great game for fans of good psychological horror. It focuses on tough topics like child abuse and a disturbing obsession with cults, which is perhaps where the name of this title comes from.

12 Amnesia: The Bunker

A Procedurally Generated Horror Game Full Of Iconic Scares

The latest Amnesia game did something different to encourage replayability. It features aspects of roguelike design to ensure that no two playthroughs are the same. Fans of unique horror games would love this aspect.

Amnesia‘s patented gameplay is as fascinating as ever, and fans of good horror games will have a great time with this title. It’s easy to see why so many people have faith in Frictional Games as one of the best video game studios operating right now.

11 Slender: The Eight Pages

Find Pages In The Dark Wilderness While Being Chased By Slenderman

Slender: The Eight Pages is a classic horror game. The game took off in popularity after garnering a sizable audience through YouTube gaming channels. The gameplay loop of collecting eight pages and avoiding the Slenderman is simple but fun.

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The impending dread brought about by Slenderman’s arrival never ceases to be unnerving. Fans of Poppy Playtime will have a great time with Slender: The Eight Pages. The latter defines a generation of horror gaming, for better or for worse.

10 Layers Of Fear

A Remake Of The First Two Games That Looks And Feels Amazing

Layers of Fear uses its psychological horror setting to great effect, allowing players to experience a great tale about an artist spiraling into madness. The horror present in Layers of Fear is simple yet effective.

Fans of unique horror games should definitely check Layers of Fear out. It might seem like a walking simulator, but the true allure of Layers of Fear is how it slowly terrifies the player through its short yet rewarding runtime. The psychological horror present in this title is so effective that every sound will cause the player to jump out of their seat.

9 Outlast

Explore A Mental Hospital Where Something Is Going Wrong

Outlast is another classic horror title in which players must avoid heinous enemies as a journalist who gets caught in a sinister plot. The game is not for the faint of heart, as its horror elements are deeply unnerving.

Outlast uses the simple concept of chases and hide-and-seek gameplay to create a terrifying atmosphere that will chill players to their very bones. It might not be the most thought-provoking horror game around, but it gets the job done if the player’s aim was to get scared out of their wits with every step they take.

8 Five Nights At Freddy’s

The Quintessential Jumpscare Horror

Five Nights At Freddy’s was the game that helped propel the survival horror genre to the very top of the Let’s Play tree when it was initially released in 2014. Since then, there have been nine main installments and thirteen overall games in the franchise, most of them focusing on static survival horror.

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In the original, players take on the role of a security guard trying to hold back evil animatronics that are attempting to hunt him down. While the lore of the games and the style have evolved over time, fans have never grown tired of going back to the original to relive some of the scariest dolls in gaming.

7 Bendy And The Ink Machine

A First-Person Horror Game With A Haunting Aesthetic

Utilizing the same episodic release style as Poppy Playtime, Bendy And The Ink Machine initially came out in 2017 but was fully released with all five chapters in 2018. It features a retired animator coming back to his old workplace after being invited by a mysterious letter.

Once there, he finds paranormal occurrences have been going on, supposedly spurred by an ink machine. Similar to Poppy Playtime, the player works in first-person perspective, solving puzzles and battling to move onwards. Filled with atmosphere despite a bit of a strange ending, the game also has a lot of lore hidden within. There’s even a sequel for those who just can’t get enough.

6 Boogeyman

Play As A Child Trying To Avoid A Nightmarish Creature

If playing as an adult isn’t scary enough, Boogeyman gives a similar style of point-and-click horror as Five Nights At Freddy’s. However, it adds the extra terror of the player being a child trapped in their bedroom trying to use a flashlight to ward off a monstrous creature that wants to get inside.

The Boogeyman is terrifying, the setting of the childhood bedroom and the speed of the creature in later nights, building up to the seventh night which coincides with Halloween, is excellently paced. The danger feels incredibly real, and the gameplay is an interesting challenge for fans of the jump-scare-focused style of Poppy Playtime.

5 Phasmophobia

A Co-op Ghost Hunting Game That Isolates And Scares Players

While a little different, the eerie fear of the Poppy Playtime setting is reminiscent of starting out on a new adventure in a large-scale Phasmophobia map. The goal is that the player, either alone or with three friends, has to enter a location and hunt down the spirit inside to identify it without getting killed in the process.

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Phasmophobia might not be the same as Poppy Playtime, but for fans who have been concerned about the latter’s short runtime, the former is an excellent solution. Phasmophobia has great co-op features and a decent replay value that leads many to spend hundreds of hours on it, and experts like this can help get new players started.

4 Among The Sleep

Control A Toddler And Try To Avoid Their Fears

Returning to survival horror, if even playing as a young child isn’t bad enough how about playing as a toddler? Players of Among The Sleep take on the challenge of waddling or crawling their way through a series of puzzles guided by a teddy bear while being chased by a troll-like monster named Hyda.

Among The Sleep has a unique message for a survival horror game, focusing on a mother who won’t let her child see his father. This drives the story and helps make this a truly great game, if not the scariest of the many great games like Poppy Playtime.

3 Amnesia: The Dark Descent

A Legendary Survival Horror Game That Paces Scares Brilliantly

Amnesia is from 2010 and is an earlier example of the survival horror genre than many of the games recommended here. A young man awakens in a Prussian castle with no memories and only the knowledge that he is being chased by a shadow. That villain is a clear example of how this game uses darkness in an amazing way.

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With no way to fight the monsters, Daniel must run through the castle and uncover the mysteries before he is caught by the shadow. A terrifying experience all the way through, Amnesia: The Dark Descent inspired many others in the genre with its gameplay style and timeless feel to the quality.

2 At Dead Of Night

Avoid A Killer And Solve Puzzles In An Abandoned Location

A mixture of a horror film and a horror game, the live-action style of At Dead Of Night adds to the terror as the player knows that the character could run into the killer hunting her around any corner. Just like Poppy Playtime, the character has come to an abandoned place and finds one being there that chases them down while they uncover mysteries and solve puzzles.

At Dead Of Night is an intense, terrifying experience with a lot more runtime to it than Poppy Playtime. It also offers a unique visual style thanks to the live-action filming that stunned many fans on release. Jimmy may be one of the worst horror game killers, but he does know how to deliver a jump scare.

1 Hello Neighbor

Avoid A Violent Neighbor With A Dark, Disturbing Secret

A well-known stealthy horror game, Hello Neighbor is another unique experience known and praised for its difficult puzzle style and the fact the neighbor villain that tracks the young character down is a learning AI. The game is also relatively long, at least when compared to Poppy Playtime.

While it is a challenging experience to play through blind, Hello Neighbor is highly rewarding requires a lot more puzzle-solving than most games, and provides plenty for fans of Poppy Playtime. As does the sequel coming out officially this year.

Poppy Playtime

Released

October 12, 2021

Developer

Mob Entertainment, Mob Games Studios