Video games and horror have long been closely related, frightening millions of gamers worldwide with tight settings, grotesque characters, and the knowledge that a monster may be lurking around any corner. Modern horror games have undergone an interesting change during the last ten years, despite the fact that they were originally mostly assumed to be created for adults. Children have overrun the medium, which has led to the release of several games of a similar kind that appeal to that group. This shift in the genre of contemporary horror games is weird and interesting, yet neither is necessarily good or negative.
Horror video games have long existed and have generally enjoyed some kind of popularity. With their ominous settings and assortment of spooky creatures, classic games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill helped define the genre. Amnesia: The Dark Descent's 2010 debut marked one of the genre's first significant changes. It received appreciation for both its atmosphere and its restraint. Encounters with opponents were rare, as opposed to continually barraging the player with creatures and chases. Rather than a monster actually appearing and chasing the player, the game frequently frightened them with the prospect of one.
Most significantly, Amnesia demonstrated that niche horror games may be very popular. This was made possible in great part by the rise in popularity of YouTube video game playthroughs. At the time, a lot of YouTubers delighted their audiences with Amnesia-related videos, giving viewers a chance to enjoy the game without having to play it themselves. Due of this, Amnesia was a big hit and served as an inspiration for several subsequent contemporary horror games. Its popularity may have even served as the impetus for Five Nights at Freddy's, the video game that would come to epitomize the contemporary horror subgenre.
How Five Nights at Freddy's Was Made
Five Nights at Freddy's, a game developed independently in 2014 by Scott Cawthon, went from having a modest cult following to being an online success practically overnight. Its gameplay was inspired by Amnesia and had the user watch violent animatronics a la Chuck E. Cheese through surveillance cameras. Although its scares were few and far between, the anxiety of always being on edge made them all the more terrifying.
Similar to Amnesia, YouTubers helped five nights at freddy's gain a sizable fanbase. This is perhaps the most significant reason why kids make up the majority of Five Nights at Freddy's audience. YouTubers often used dramatic thumbnails and exaggerated responses to draw in younger viewers with their videos. The game was unsettling, yet there was nothing horrifying that little children couldn't gaze at it. It took inspiration from an innocent concept—animated restaurant characters—but gave them a sinister spin.
Five Nights at Freddy's was a huge success due to all of these factors, and there are now plenty of official sequel games, novels, spin-offs, toys, and other products. It wouldn't be far-fetched to suggest that the game single-handedly reinvented horror because of how widely influential it was and how many imitative and fan games it inspired. A few peculiar characteristics that were initially exclusive to Five Nights at Freddy's become so commonplace in horror games as a result of these imitations that they may now be regarded as standards for the genre.
Trend chasing in horror games is on the rise
Children find the most evident peculiarity intriguing. The same concept and subject can be found in several horror games that borrow from Five Nights at Freddy's, such as Bendy and the Ink Machine, Poppy Playtime, and Tattletail. They generally avoid portraying anything too graphic for youngsters and instead concentrate on outdated kiddie attractions and violent toys in an effort to appeal to the same groups. The stories often deal with adult themes like murder, yet they seldom ever show anything that would frighten away their target demographic.
