Top 10 Scariest Video Games Ever

November 7, 2022

Last Updated Date: November 7, 2022

The Science of Scare Project, started by Broadband Choices in 2020, has been trying to figure out scientifically which video games are the scariest.

With new horror video games coming out every year from both big publishers and small, independent studios, the study tracked the heart rates to study the science of fear and find what could be called the scariest video game of all time.

The study says that 2022’s MADiSON is the most scientifically scary video game ever made. It is scarier than Resident Evil and Silent Hill, which have been around for a long time.

In Bloodious Games’ first-person physiological horror game, the player takes control of Luca, a 16-year-old boy who is linked to a serial killer by a demonic chamber and a scary ritual.

With constant tension and a lot of jumps scares, MADiSON made the heart rates of players who let their heart rates be measured go up by 31 BPM above the average resting heart rate. The average heart rate was 97 BPM, which is the same as a moderate trot.

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The game, which can be played on PS5, Xbox One, and PC, won first place and beat out all of the movies that were also in the study, including Host, the most scientifically scary movie of all time.

What are the Scariest Video Games According to Science?

MADiSON, one of the best games of 2022 so far, won the award for the scariest game of all time, but it was up against some tough competition. The top five games were all very scary, and MADiSON just barely beat them out.

Alien Isolation was a close second, with its ground-breaking AI averaging 95 LPM over the course of the game. This made the game’s scary sci-fi horror based on the movie even scarier.

Also in the top five are the paranormal horror game Visage (93LPM), the scary sequel Outlast 2 (90LPM), and, surprisingly, Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 (91LPM).

Most of the top 25 games were first-person horror games, while about a third of the games on the comparison list were third-person games.

Both the Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchises, which are currently in limbo, have multiple games on the list. Resident Evil VII: Biohazard and Silent Hill 4: The Room is the scariest games in their respective series, coming in at sixth and fourteenth place, respectively. Silent Hill was also the oldest game on the list, with Silent Hill 2 following closely behind.

Here is the complete list:

MADiSON – (97 BPM)
Alien Isolation – (96 BPM)
Visage – (95 LPM)
Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 – (92 BPM)
Outlast 2 – (91 BPM)
Resident Evil VII – (90 BPM)
Bloodborne – (89 BPM)
Amnesia Dark Descent – (88 LPM)
The Forest – (86 BPM)
Dead Space – (85 BPM)

What Happened to PT?

Because Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro’s game PT is more like a playable trailer and isn’t available through official channels, it wasn’t allowed to be part of the full Science of Scare studio.

Even though he couldn’t take part in the whole study, he probably would have won if he could have. The average heart rate during the game was 99 BPM, which is 34 BPM higher than the average heart rate at rest.

There’s no way to know where Hideo Kojima’s full vision would have ranked if more people could have played it, but Science of Scare Project 2022’s Honorable Mention is just another “what if” to add to his legacy.