Summary
Female protagonistsin horror games may not always be action heroes. Still, they’re definitely survivors, being placed in dangerous or horrifying circumstances but facing them with determination and bravery, and using their wits instead of their fists to get out of them. These days, protagonists in indie horror games are more likely to be female than male.
There is an array ofchilling indie horror gameswith brave, smart, or just plain interesting female protagonists. These leading ladies may have a distinct personality, or serve as a self-insert for the player, trying their best to stay alive in their respective worlds.
Created by the same studio behindFran Bow,Little Misfortuneis an interactive ‘choices matter’ game with similar themes about the loss of innocence and childish curiosity. Misfortune Ramirez Hernandez lives in Sweden with her abusive parents. She is guided by a voice in her head she has nicknamed ‘Mr. Voice.’
Mr. Voice tempts Misfortune to play a game to win ‘Eternal Happiness’ for her mom, and they both venture out into the woods. Despiteall the horrific things Misfortune seesand goes through, she has a dark sense of humor about it all and never fails to pick herself back up.
Children of Silentownis a point-and-click, hand-drawn adventure game about a girl named Lucy. She lives in a mysterious town where people speak in whispers to avoid attracting the monsters in the forest nearby. Being a curious child, Lucy decides to investigate the mysteries of both the forest and Silentown.
The game involves learning three-note songs to progress. The player can control Lucy to collect musical notes and solve puzzles. Along with multiple endings, a gorgeous soundtrack, and a beautiful, Tim Burton-inspired hand-drawn art style,Children of Silentownis a fun, spooky adventure that manages to be cute and creepy at the same time.
8Tales Of The Black Forest
Steam Score: 10/10
Tales of the Black Forestis anadventure horror game with pixel graphics. The heroine is a high school student named Kihara Kashin, and she can see spirits. The game starts when she wakes up on a bench in a forest, and she gains the power to rewind time after touching an old loudspeaker.
The story is separated into three chapters, and they all focus on a different person, meaning the game’s narration is non-linear. Like a lot of pixel adventure games, the gameplay ofTales of the Black Forestinvolves talking to people and solving puzzles, and its narrative style is perfect for fans of visual novels.
Othercideis aturn-based role-playing gamewhere players control a group of female warriors called The Daughters. In a dimension known as the Inner Void, The Daughters are summoned to battle the Suffering, a monstrous entity.
As a tactical strategy game, there are no healing items and no ‘Game Over’ in combat. When all the Daughters in a run die, the player gets to start over with new items called ‘Remembrances.’ Failure is an essential part of the gameplay.Othercideis pretty challenging to master, and impatient players may not like the roguelike combat system.
Fran Bowis a point-and-click adventure game that delves intothe psychological horror genre. After witnessing the murder of her parents, a ten-year-old girl named Fran gets admitted to an asylum. She is administered a drug named Duotine, which opens up a more twisted version of the normal world. With these pills in hand, Fran aims to find her cat, Mr. Midnight, and her only living relative, Aunt Grace.
The game has a gorgeous hand-drawn art style and can easily be viewed as a more twisted version ofAlice in Wonderland. Most of the gameplay involves using the Duotine pills to switch back and forth between the normal world and the horrific parallel world to solve puzzles.
Inspired by 80s teen films,Oxenfreeis a 2.5D adventure game following a group of friends who travel to an island for a party. After exploring some mysterious caves, the protagonist, a teenage girl named Alex, accidentally opens a ghostly rift. The player controls Alex as she and her friends uncoverthe mysteries of Edwards Island.
The game is dialog-heavy, and players can choose Alex’s dialog options, which will impact the story and her relationships.Oxenfreehas been nominated for several awards and even has a TV series adaptation in the works.
Little Nightmaresis a puzzle platformer set in a mysterious vessel full of monstrous beings looking for their next meal. Playersguide a nine-year-old girl named Sixas she tries to escape the Maw and avoid being eaten by its creatures.
The game has similar puzzle mechanics to its spiritual predecessorsLimboandInside,where the protagonist must use their environment to proceed. Six never speaks or shows her face, but her actions speak for themselves.Little Nightmareshas inspired a sequel, comic books, and a TV series in the works.
3Ib
Ibis a 2D adventure game where players control the titular girl, Ib. During a visit to an art gallery,Ib loses her parentsand finds herself trapped and alone. Using her surroundings, she must navigate the gallery and find her way out.
Ibis considered a cult classic in the indie horror game world, being influential on other hit RPGMaker games likeThe Witch’s House MV. The game was remade with better graphics and mechanics in 2022 for Windows, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch, and 2024 for PlayStation 4 and 5.
2The Witch’s House MV
Steam Score: 9/10
The Witch’s House MVis a Japanese puzzle RPG created usingthe RPGMaker MV engine. A young girl named Viola enters a house possessed by the spirit of a witch and is trapped inside. The house is filled with traps and puzzles and the player must guide Viola to escape the witch’s house.
A black cat often appears as the save point throughout the game. Much like any other RPG, the player is expected to explore and open everything they can to find clues, hints, and anything else they can use to escape. The game even inspired a two-volume manga series.
Detentionis a Taiwanese point-and-click horror game set during the White Terror period in Taiwan. The player initially guides a male student named Wei Chung-ting but the focus shifts to a female student named Fang Ray-Xin soon enough. Fang has to navigate her cursed high school crawling with monsters known as ‘The Lingered.’
As players progress through the game’s puzzles and avoid the Lingered, they discover more about the school as well as Fang’s backstory.Detentionheavilyreferences Chinese, Taoist, and Buddhist mythologyand was adapted into a film in 2019 and a Netflix series in 2020.
