Being able to induce fear with a simple pile of pixels and a well-timed soundtrack is an art form.
Horror games come in all shapes and sizes, with varying levels of gore, ghosts, and gruesome details. While the Switch is home to incredibly realistic horror, the most influential scary games on the console are undoubtedly those made in RPG Maker.
Originating in Japan, RPG Maker refers to a series of simple yet powerful RPG development tools. Iterations like RPG Maker 2003 (and similar tools, like Wolf RPG editor) have been highly praised over the years for making story-driven game development more accessible and easier to crack.
These tools form an important part of gaming history, giving people the opportunity to share their stories without having to invest in prohibitively expensive equipment or spend years training. They’re not overly user-friendly, but they remove many of the typical barriers to entry into game creation.
RPG Maker games tend to focus on narrative with a heavy emphasis on puzzles and dialogue. Their aesthetic is often simple, giving the overarching story a chance to shine. While not strictly horror games, the tool has found a comfortable home in the horror community, especially in survival horror and scary visual novels.
Here are five RPG Maker horror classics available on Switch and three more we’d love to see ported to the platform.
Please note that some of these games cover disturbing themes and contain graphic images. It’s worth checking the content warnings before playing.
If you’ve never played an RPG Maker horror game, start with the Ib remake. Created by kouri and first released in 2012, this unsettling experience manages to induce genuine fear with limited resources.
The story follows a young girl named Ib as she visits an art gallery with her parents, before suddenly finding herself alone. From there, she must unravel a confusing and nightmarish alternate reality, facing abstract enemies and solving puzzles to stay alive.
Ib is dark and ominous, with plenty of endings that encourage you to get lost in the gallery again and again.
The best thing about The Witch’s House is its story, which is accompanied by puzzles. This is a Switch port of a game that originally came out in 2012 – a year that many fans of the RPG Maker subgenre hail as the ‘golden age’ of the medium.
The story follows Viola who wakes up alone in the forest. The only place in front of her is a creepy mansion – and as soon as she enters asking for help, the entrance disappears. As she explores the halls, she learns more about the castle, its secrets, and who awaits her inside.
With countless tricky puzzles, disturbing deaths, and multiple endings to unlock, this gem has great replay value.
If you were a fan of watching horror Let’s Play videos on YouTube a decade ago, chances are you’ve seen Ao Oni in action. With an extremely iconic monster that is terrifyingly fast, developer noprops created a legacy when it released the original in 2008.
It’s a classic premise. A group of children go to an abandoned mansion that is supposedly haunted by spirits, some of whom are believers and others are skeptics. Typical monster-based horror shenanigans ensue, with plenty of chase scenes and puzzles to sink your teeth into.
It’s one of the most famous RPG Maker horror titles, with an unforgettable story that has gained a cult following over the years, and the remake feels comfortable on the Switch.
While Mad Father is often lumped together with RPG Maker games (as it is lumped here), it’s important to note that technical title Wolf RPG Editor. That said, it’s a stellar example of this niche horror flavor, and worth including nonetheless. It perfectly blends survival and horror, with unforgettable characters, a creepy setting and a premise that makes the skin crawl. It’s probably the most disturbing game on this list.
The story revolves around a girl named Aya. Her mother died when she was young, so she lives with her scientist father and their maid Maria. Aya ends up getting a lot more than she bargained for when she tries to investigate her father’s secret experiments in the basem*nt.
With vengeful ghosts, tricky puzzles, and a disturbing story, the Mad Father Switch remake is a masterclass in unsettling horror. The original game came out in 2012 and the remake started in 2020 and still feels incredibly fresh to this day.
Based on a webcomic and developing a cult following over the years, OMORI is one of the most interesting RPG Maker titles on Switch. It is one of the newer entries on this list, created by Omocat in 2020.
Omori is a psychological horror with a unique aesthetic and story that explores a number of dark themes. It follows a boy named Sunny and his dream alter-ego self named Omori, who jump between two different worlds and uncover secrets. There are multiple endings to discover, along with some punchy turn-based battles.
While Omori can be criticized for feeling a bit clunky in places, it is well written and will keep you hooked. It doesn’t follow the typical RPG formula and will hold your attention until the finale.
Those are five of the best RPG Maker horror games already available on Switch, but here’s a trio of non-Switch titles — all available on PC — that we’d really love to see come to Nintendo’s console…
Yume Nikki
Yume Nikki – The Dream Diary – is on the Switch, but the original 2004 title is more impressive. Of all the RPG Maker horror titles that have yet to receive a Switch port, this is probably the most glaring omission.
Yume Nikki is a strange experience with heavy themes. Unlike most RPG Maker horror games, it doesn’t have a set story or specific tasks to complete. It follows a girl named Madotsuki, trapped in her apartment with only her dream journal for company. The goal is to explore and discover 24 unique effects that affect Madotsuki, the game world, and other characters.
It’s a prime example of a ‘walking simulator’, but don’t let that put you off. Yume Nikki is a very influential horror title and a port of the classic game would feel right at home on the Switch.
Guilty man
The fact that Guilty man it’s not on Switch is amazing. Much like Mad Father, this game is actually a Wolf RPG Editor title, but this list would feel completely incomplete without it. It’s part of the golden age of pixel horror games and still packs plenty of scares for modern gamers — it’s one of RPG Maker’s most complete and gruesome horror titles, originally promising “hardcore expressions of violence.”
The Crooked Man follows the story of David, a depressed man who has just moved into a new apartment. Eventually, he comes across a series of notes that lead him through various creepy locations and leave him with more questions than answers.
OFF
I’m calling OFF the horror game may be a bit far-fetched, but it’s a disturbing and uncomfortable experience. This title was originally released in 2008 and to this day fans still can’t decide what the story means.
With a strange overworld, mysterious puzzles, and an incredibly fast-paced combat system, OFF plays with some RPG tropes while deftly avoiding others. It follows Batter, a strange humanoid who set out to “clean up” the game world. There are several zones throughout the world of OFF, filled with memorable characters and challenging puzzles, and the entire game is wide open to interpretation.
RPG Maker horror may seem dated to some, but these games will leave a lasting impression on you if you give them a chance. Horror is a genre where ‘less is more’ is perfectly valid – sometimes not showing monsters is the scariest thing a game can do.
Let us know below which of the above you’ve played (or might play in the future), as well as other RPG Maker games — horror or otherwise — you’ve played and loved.
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