Does anyone know of any kid-friendly "horror" games out there for children ~7 years old?

My son loves the adrenaline rush of getting scared, particularly with jump scares, however, I have a lot of difficulty finding a game or show which is appropriate for him. He is prone to nightmares, and more adult-oriented “kid horror” is too much (Poppy’s Playtime, Cartoon Cat?) And others like Siren Head. His peers exposed him to those things and made my own nights pretty sleepless for a while.

It’s a tough plate to fill, but surely there’s gotta be something. He’s played Luigi’s Mansion and got a kick out of that. That game would be a good example I suppose.

Thanks for any suggestions!

luciole,
@luciole@beehaw.org avatar

OK hear me out: Minecraft in survival. For real. Nothing jump scares like a creeper going “psshht” in your back, telegraphing that you’re about to die in a destructive explosion. As you walk a narrow path over a chasm of lava in the Nether, the wail of the Ghast might make you fall out of sheer panic before it even shoots at you. The Warden is a special kind of scary too, as it’s nearly unkillable and will detect you by the noise you make. It sounds kind of silly but there’s plenty of players making the remark that Minecraft survival is basically horror.

And it’s all in a child friendly, non gory, voxel style.

tias,

Yeah that shit scared me when I played it at 40 years old. It kind of wears you down when you walk around in dark caves for hours on end.

Another alternative might be Subnautica. It has some jump scares but mostly it’s just the Deep Unknown that gives you chills. Few things in that game are actually dangerous.

BubblyMango,

+1 for minecraft.

You can try mineclone2 if you dont wanna pay.

nunchuk,
@nunchuk@lemmy.bigsecretwebsite.net avatar

+1 to this, when I was like 11-12 playing Minecraft, it took me a solid year or so to overcome my fear of going into caves.

sincle354,

Aw man, preparing for the nether and writing down my coordinates, terrified of ghasts and facing blazes for as long as I could stand it. I still prepare for any excursion from my base like a packrat.

Abnorc,

While we’re at it with non-horror games: the level that introduced the flood in Halo CE really gave me a scare. I don’t know what it says about me, but I invited a friend over to play that level with me, lol. It’s a bit of a reach not being a horror game, but a great game with some tension here and there.

beefcat,
@beefcat@beehaw.org avatar

Might still be a little too intense if Luigi’s Mansion is your starting point, but Bendy and the Ink Machine is basically a mix of Bioshock and Amnesia but for kids. It has a great 1930s cartoon aesthetic.

C4d,

It’s on the tip of my tongue; there was a whole series of ghost pirate themed “hidden object” point and click puzzle games. I’ll update the post when it comes back.

Edit: Nightmares of the Deep

storksforlegs,
@storksforlegs@beehaw.org avatar

Dont Starve is pretty dark… i wouldnt call it horror exactly but it has a spooky vibe. Its officially 12+ but I think a horror-loving kid would probably be fine with it.

yip-bonk,
@yip-bonk@kbin.social avatar

Yes how can we horrify children

Mickey,

Take a look at Dredge! It’s a creepy horror-ish game where you play as a fishing boat. There are some creepy elements at night but it’s fairly causal overall. I really loved the atmosphere and light story elements as well as the fun fishing games that is the majority of the gameplay.

Lowbird,

If he’s a precocious reader, Sunless Sea is a horror game with a similar sort of theme. The content is much weirder and more horrifying than Dredge, but it’s 99.9% delivered via text, so the impact may feel more tolerable regardless.

But again it’s very text-heavy, possibly too much so depending on the kid. Probably too difficult, too.

Great game though.

Nioxic,

My kid enjoyed that game where youre a lil kid in a yellow rain coat. Little nightmares

StarkillerX42,

Limbo and the other one by the same devs

Ansis,

Inside

BubblyMango,

Lego rock raiders.

Not horror, but can be scary and when monsters arrive it sometimes gave me a jumpscare.

Onihikage,
@Onihikage@beehaw.org avatar

More specifically, Manic Miners, the unofficially endorsed and completely free remake/remaster of Lego Rock Raiders 😉

Phroon,

Maybe add the old LucasArts adventure game Grim Fandango to the list, it’s more comical than ‘scary’. It has a relatively recent remaster with modern controls. Some would say the original tank controls are a horror into themselves. Though looking at the ESRB rating it is T for teen.

Smoke,

A Hat in Time has quite a spooky level in a swamp with a Deal with the Devil involved: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIrPsJMRJmoI also suggest Little Nightmares if the little guy’s tougher than he looks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ6Jcftf-c4

Player2,

FNaF is a classic, there’s no gore or anything like that and a lot of jump scares

bjoern_tantau,
@bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de avatar

Maybe the 7th Guest. I played that as a kid.

WagesOf,

I think thats rated NC17 or something for nudity. I'm not worried about that for kids but many are.

inverimus,

7th Guest was rated T. You are probably thinking of Phantasmagoria which had a controversial rape scene and got an M rating.

LoamImprovement,

Shivers is also a very good example from this era. Excellent atmosphere in a spooky museum.

BuboScandiacus,
@BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz avatar

Has he played the other Luigi’s mansion games ?

Sepix,
@Sepix@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Luigi’s Mansion on the Switch!

TheBest,

Such a good answer and game

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • uselessserver093
  • Food
  • aaaaaaacccccccce
  • [email protected]
  • test
  • CafeMeta
  • testmag
  • MUD
  • RhythmGameZone
  • RSS
  • dabs
  • Socialism
  • KbinCafe
  • TheResearchGuardian
  • Ask_kbincafe
  • oklahoma
  • feritale
  • SuperSentai
  • KamenRider
  • All magazines
    •