I’m starting with my favorite: Ib is magical and frightening and delightful and sad, sometimes all at once.
Some bullet points have multiple games include within them, by the way, so all in all, there are a total of 21 options here.
Those are the games you’ll find here - games that have been passed around by word of mouth for years, many of which are only now receiving wider releases thanks to platforms like Steam and Playism.Ī few notes: I’ve played many of these games, and if I haven’t, I’ve either watched other people play them, or I’ve heard them recommended enough times and in glowing enough terms that I think they’re worth including. I’m also fudging the name “RPG Maker” a bit although many of the games I’ve included here were actually made with some version of RPG Maker or another, some of them were made with an engine called WOLF RPG Editor, a free alternative to RPG Maker.Įither way, though, they’re all worth checking out - and as a bonus, many of them are cheap or free. Now, more than 25 years on, there’s a wealth of creepy games made with various versions of RPG Maker floating around out there - many of which have had lasting influence on the world of horror gaming in particular, as well as the world of gameplay development more generally. A burgeoning community of developers making games intended to unsettle, frighten, and terrify players emerged shortly thereafter, each using the engine in unique ways that pushed and pulled at their players - at the things that scare us the most. The very first version of RPG Maker as we know it today was released in 1992 - and although it was geared towards making turn-based RPG games rendered in pixelated graphics, developers quickly realized its potential for other genres and styles when used in a way that thought outside the proverbial box.
The paired-down graphics of the engine make good writing an absolute necessity for a successful game, so when developers get RPG Maker horror games right, they really get them right. But when it comes to horror games, I will always, always think that less is more - which is why I am so frequently taken by creepy games made with RPG Maker. Previously: The Best Horror Video Games, March 2016.ĭon’t get me wrong: I enjoy a big budget video game title with crisp, realistically rendered graphics as much as the next gal.