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The 10 Best Games Like Until Dawn

Published

2 years ago

June 18, 2023

What are the best games like Until Dawn?

Until Dawn is a magnificently terrifying game where players are forced to try and survive in a living nightmare, and every death is permanent.

While these high stakes have helped make this game one of the most successful in the horror genre, it isn’t necessarily unique.

In fact, we managed to find a couple of similar games that are perfect to play once you’ve unlocked all of the secrets in Until Dawn.

The 10 Best Games Like Until Dawn

We considered many games while creating this list, and our choices are based on gameplay mechanics, popularity, and sales.

This has allowed us to not only find comparable games but to round up the ones that are worth playing.

So dim the lights and get ready for our list of the 10 best games like Until Dawn:

10. Vampyr

Kicking off our list is Vampyr, an action RPG that follows the story of doctor-turned-vampire Johnathan Reid.

As Reid, players will have to choose between the Hippocratic Oath and the doctor’s new bloodthirsty tendencies.

While there are some required boss battles, it is possible to complete the game without killing any innocents, though at the cost of leveling up.

Set during an outbreak of the Spanish flu in London, the map is a semi-open world with four districts to explore.

Since Reid is a vampire, he can infect others with the curse and mesmerize weak targets for information, but he can’t enter a house without being invited.

Oh, and there is only one save slot, so you can’t just reload a previous save if you make a choice that you later regret!

There are four potential endings to get, and we would strongly suggest trying to unlock them all!

9. Little Hope

Little Hope stands out as one of the best PS5 horror games of all time, and it is the second game in The Dark Pictures Anthology.

Released in 2020, this game is set in an abandoned fictional Massachusetts town where five characters become stranded.

Now trapped by an impenetrable fog, which has major Silent Hill game vibes, players have to think quickly to keep everyone alive.

There are many points in this game where players will have to make decisions that determine everything from character relationships to who dies.

Any of the five characters can be killed permanently, and quick time events are used to decide who survives until the end.

Because there are so many decisions to make, Little Hope has a ton of replayability, as there are a ton of endings you can end up with.

8. House of Ashes

Sticking with the same series, we have House of Ashes, the third game in The Dark Pictures Anthology.

Continuing the series theme, this game features five protagonists that players control at various points.

At numerous times during the game, players will have to either make split-second decisions or complete quick-time events to progress the story.

Every QTE and decision will impact the multilinear narrative, impacting the relationships between characters or who lives or dies.

The plot revolves around four American members of the Armed Forces and an Iraqi Republican Guard who become trapped in a subterranean temple.

This temple is infested with vampiric creatures that players will have to act fast against in order to outmatch.

Along with the spectacular story, House of Ashes is an unforgiving game that includes numerous endings and over 60 death scenes.

There are also two multiplayer modes, Movie Night and Shared Story, with Shared Story being for two players and Movie Night accommodating over three.

We’d say this is definitely one of the best online games to play with friends, especially since you can share the burden of making so many difficult choices!

7. Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain is an action-adventure game that was released in 2010, and it features four protagonists wrapped up in the mystery of the Origami Killer.

This serial killer is known to use heavy rain to drown his victims, but his methods of messing with people are a bit like Jigsaw from the SAW franchise.

The game itself is split into multiple scenes, each of which focuses on one of the playable characters.

Depending on the player’s actions, any or all of these characters may die, creating a branching storyline with many different endings.

There are a lot of split-second decisions to make in Heavy Rain and tons of QTEs, so you’ll need fast reflexes to keep characters alive!

Widely considered one of the greatest video games ever made, Heavy Rain holds nothing back and will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

If you’re a fan of Until Dawn, we highly recommend that you give this game a try if you haven’t already.

6. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood

Okay, so Rush of Blood is a rail shooter spin-off of Until Dawn, but we have to include it because it is amazing to play.

Released in 2016 for the PS4 VR headset, this game thrusts players onto a horrifying rollercoaster ride (literally), and things get more terrifying as you progress.

The goal is to take out as many enemies as you can while hunting down Dan T., the ride operator, who set the whole game into motion.

There is also a neat tie-in to Until Dawn if you finish the game on Psychotic difficulty, which explains who the player character actually is.

Everything you see in this game and everything you choose to do could be the difference between life and death.

Playing it in VR also really ups the horror factor, as everything will be up close and personal in horrifying detail.

If you haven’t yet played this spin-off, you’re really missing out because this game is both incredibly fun and absolutely scream-inducing.

5. Detroit: Become Human

Now, Detroit: Become Human isn’t a horror game, though it does have moments where it will make you feel uneasy.

Released in 2018, this game follows three very different Android characters as they navigate a world filled with increasing hostility and outright bigotry.

Many characters can die throughout this game, and its branching narrative leaves a ton for players to explore and find.

Along with dialogue options that can change circumstances, there are also loads of QTEs and timed choices that require quick action.

All of the characters’ stories also tie together in different ways based on the player’s choices, some of which can bring them into conflict.

There are even relationships with NPCs to manage, such as the one between Connor and Hank, which can drastically impact the game’s ending.

Detroit: Become Human is very much a game where even the smallest details matter, and you’ll want to take note of everything.

Plus, it features one of the best female video game characters, Kara, and the way her story plays out can be either wholesome or devastatingly nightmarish!

4. Telltale’s The Walking Dead

Released as an episodic adventure game in 2012, Telltale’s The Walking Dead is one of the saddest video games of all time, but we absolutely love it.

This game follows Lee, a convicted criminal who ends up becoming the protector of a young girl named Clementine.

Now, Clementine is an absolute star, and she’s so cute it’s really hard not to go above and beyond to try and protect her.

As Lee, players will have to make a wide variety of choices that will impact how the game’s story plays out/

There are also QTEs that players will have to complete in order to stay alive, though these often reload just before they start if you fail them.

Unlike Until Dawn, this game is much more forgiving, with a rewind feature to undo a past choice and the allowance of multiple saves.

At the end of each episode, you can also see what percentage of players made certain choices and how yours stacks up.

However, there are some unavoidable sad moments that you can’t change no matter how hard you try.

If you’ve already played this game, then you’ll know full well what we’re talking about, but if you haven’t yet, you’re missing out on one hell of an adventure.

3. Oxenfree

Released in 2016, Oxenfree is a graphic adventure game that gives players control of Alex, a girl trapped on an island with her friends.

Played from a 2.5D perspective, Oxenfree revolves around Alex and her friends trying to stop a malevolent paranormal force that they’ve unleashed.

Throughout the game, players are free to wander around the island, and there are no loss conditions, only choices that determine relationships and endings.

One of the themes of this game is time loops, and it is handled remarkably well and in a way that keeps you wanting to know more about what’s going on.

The only way to truly break this loop is by finishing a New Game Plus playthrough, which comes with a new possible ending.

We also have to praise the art style, which has a watercolor-like design that really makes it stand out from other games on this list.

Additionally, the fact that there are no cutscenes for dialogue helps keep the game flowing in a walk-and-talk sort of way.

There is also a sequel, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, slated for release sometime in 2023, making this the perfect time to play this game!

It may not be as horrifying as Until Dawn, but it has plenty of spooky elements to make fans of the game feel right at home.

2. Man of Medan

Up next, we have the first game in The Dark Pictures Anthology, which was released in 2019 as a paranormal horror survival game.

Man of Medan follows five playable characters on a diving trip who are attacked by modern pirates and forced aboard a ghost ship to look for Manchurian Gold.

However, once on the ship, phantom creatures begin tormenting both the characters and their captors, leaving players with a ton of split-second decisions to make!

Players are forced to make decisions based on either their character’s head or heart, each of which leads to a different outcome.

Of course, you can also choose to do nothing, which will result in another outcome altogether that can be beneficial or negative.

While you can keep all of the characters alive, it is possible that some or even all of them could die by the end.

There are also many different endings depending on the choices you make, which provides plenty of incentive to replay it.

Fans of Until Dawn will definitely enjoy Man of Medan as it has a lot of the same mechanics and themes.

If you haven’t played this one yet, we’d strongly recommend giving it a try, along with the other games in The Dark Pictures Anthology series!

1. The Inpatient

Taking our number one spot is the prequel to Until Dawn, The Inpatient, which was released in 2018 for the PS4 and PlayStation VR.

Set 63 years before Until Dawn, this game gives players control of a patient suffering from amnesia inside the Blackwood Sanatorium.

Unfortunately, as the player character’s sanity decreases, chaos erupts as the Wendigo uprising begins, throwing the asylum into madness.

Players will have to try to escape while making some significantly tough decisions along the way.

It is possible for either the player character or their roommate to become a Wendigo based on specific choices, so you’ll want to tread carefully.

Like Rush of Blood, The Inpatient is the perfect game to play after finishing Until Dawn, especially since one of its endings ties it to the game directly.

This is easily one of the best horror games of all time, and if you play it in VR, be prepared to sleep with your lights on for at least a week!

Summary

We hope you’ve enjoyed our list of the 10 best games like Until Dawn, and that you’ve found some new games to try out!

If you haven’t yet, you should totally check out The Inpatient, as well as The Dark Pictures Anthology, if you want some solid horror games with branching stories.

That said, you really can’t go wrong with any of these incredible games; even a few of them may give you nightmares!

Here’s a quick recap of the 10 best games like Until Dawn: