Looking at Procedurally Generated Horror Games

Procedurally Generated horror games might seem pretty rare, but there's actually quite a few of them. Weirdly, most of the big ones are... actually pretty good.
Support me on Patreon if you hate having money: / painticus
Subscribe if you have no standards: / @painticus
Twitter: / painticusyt
Twitch: / painticus
Discord: discordapp.com...
For the uninitiated, 'procedurally generated' means that parts of the game are generated upon the player starting a new game. For example, in a game such as The Binding of Isaac, no two playthroughs will be the same. This works pretty well in horror because much of standard horror is based on the careful buildup towards scares, whereas procedural generation allows for a much less predictable - and therefore more potentially frightening - experience.
Patrons:
Archon - Manwards84, IhazID
Arbiter - Bobby Musto, Untrustedlife
Zealot - Avatar-of-Chaos, C O S, ProjectArk, Untrustedlife, Nekromorg, BigOrseTV
Cultist - Egil Sæther, Jay, Lily Atari, Milo Andotis, Philippe "Robifouche", Christopher Kittrell
Music used:
Scratches OST
STALKER: Clear Sky/Call of Pripyat OST
Prey OST
Alone in the Dark OST
Sam & Max Season 1 OST
Myuu - Bad Encounter
Video sources:
Monstrum - store.steampow...
Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi - store.steampow...
Unloved - store.steampow...
Golden Light - store.steampow...
Prey: Mooncrash - store.steampow...
The Binding of Isaac - store.steampow...
Eldritch - store.steampow...
Lovecraft's Untold Stories - store.steampow...
Sunless Sea - store.steampow...
This War of Mine - store.steampow...

[@MysteryHandle76]

"Horror is scary" aye awright mate

[@reliantvox5370]

very few videos get a reaction out of me, but your fucking human face ocean noises. perfection, i literally screamed and laughed at the "fish noises" just appearing. love it. you earn my subscription for that alone lol

[@halfcarnage6259]

Uh… I am VERY surprised that SCP containment breach didn’t make the list.

[@claymoregwen1276]

look at that "claymore" individual dying all the time in the unloved footage what an absolute gamer

[@automaticbobcat9166]

The Sam & Max music in the background pleases me so.

[@LunarAngel01]

Im surprised containment breach wasn't mentioned. That game terrifies me

[@pupis35789]

Dude, I don't know how I came across this video, but hopefully KZbin's algorithm will do you justice. Cause this was hilarious, keep doing your thing hah

[@IjiModo]

*fish noises* It's like I'm already there.

[@adriartilol]

Heya, I'm a contributor to Golden Light, just FYI, the big eyeballed monsters are called the Eye Takers, the game also has a discord and other things. Yeah just wanted to say that, pretty good video btw I'll probably try out Nosferatu out

[@AlphaGarg]

furry

[@orchid9]

Unloved is spooky in how ugly it is. It's like "look ma, my first 3D model in Blender" kinda bad. Also the dev abandoned it half-baked. Could have been something, but it's... a concept and that's it.

[@Pietreszcz]

Have you ever tried Darkwood? Parts of it are procedurally generated, and it is absolutely scary as heck, so it might be right up your alley

[@Painticus]

I have indeed! I made a video about it a while ago. It's an absolute gem and is one of the scariest games I have ever played

[@SadTown99]

@@PainticusYou need to play ‘Fear & Hunger 2: Termina’

[@InvalidationX145]

Is that STALKER music I hear for the PREY: Mooncrasher segment? Very nice choice of audio for each of the games. Also, highly recommend Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi to anyone reading this. It's rough around the edges but one hell of a game. And Eldritch.

[@Painticus]

It is STALKER music! It's so damn versatile.

[@arthurjeannin3357]

I found your channel thanks to your PAGAN review/analysis and I'm grateful. You're criminally underrated! Your content is good and covers stuff that doesn't get much love otherwise. It's been a while since I found a channel whose next video i was eagerly waiting for!

[@keinname1896]

Damn, i stumbled across this channel while I was looking for Pagan vids after I found that game in the BLM-bundle on itch and what you have been buildung here is absolutly glorious. Your bird calls made me spill my coke and now I'm going to binge this channel.

[@dropedan]

Loving your channel. Horror and great sense of humor.

[@aloptuleamagnificanton4983]

Nosferatu Wrath of Malachi is a really fun game, also 1 of the first true horror themed fps game, and you can complete it in 30 minutes or less even on nightmare with all the family members still alive and the dog too.

[@orchid9]

Nosferatu is a cult classic, one of the most scary horror games ever created. It's spooky af, creepy as all hell. The stakes are high, the visuals are disturbing, the sound is top tier, what more to ask from a horror game? A machine gun. Yeah.

[@SamanthaSaunderz]

This was pure gold, I do have the oceans that are full of James Cameron....... Im a big fan of VR and DreadHalls is one of the scariest horror experiences i have had in a while, Its unpredictable and in VR to scale a whole lot of NO. P.S The flow of the Music was incredible in this, I could tell you choose each track and timed it wisely!

[@alexlinaras7102]

FUN FACT If youre in the middle of the ocean way far from land, and the ship is not moving and there is no wind, the ocean is indeed silent. Best part? If its night and the ships lights are off, its so dark you cant see shit. Even better fun fact? The only ambient noise a vessel has in such a state is cracking metal. Oh, yeah, also the further you are, the less chances of any birds flying over you. Its scarier than it sounds trust me.

[@moresnqp]

5:40 this feels inspired by the Left 4 Dead Director system

[@praetor47]

can't believe you forgot the grandaddy of all of these procgen horror(-themed) games: Diablo (the first, of course). and congrats on the 1k subs!

[@Maggerama]

Thank you for filling this cursed platform's ambiance with your human face.

[@buddy6507]

No. As someone who has been in the ocean in many boats and at least one submarine, especially if the boat is very big, it will often be quiet while you’re below deck

[@MrNope-dv8do]

Is golden light created by akuma kira? Its kinda in the same style of lost in vivo

[@rotisseriepossum]

10:41 ayyyy eraserhead baby!

[@foxtrotkof]

Painticus (: On the topic of games with an aquatic or nautical theme, I’m surprised at a relative lack of them. There are some examples of aquatic games with a horror focus or some horror elements like Subnautica and any of the Cthulhu games, but they’re far outnumbered by terrestrial ones. I just find that strange with how little of the ocean we know and the mystery surrounding it. Isn’t it a perfect setting for a game? Hell, I’d say it could be a good setting for a Lovecraftian game. Alone in the middle of the ocean or on some isolated vessel deep in the ocean. If I remember correctly, you did say the ocean is a good Lovecraftian setting in an older video, but it seems like such a woefully underused environment ):

[@Cyfrik]

I don't think it had begun by the time this comment was written, but it's a bit funny in retrospect to read this a couple of years after a tumblr post turned fishing horror into an entire genre.

[@ankaroza3630]

as one of the very few gamers playing unloved (I'm Venus in the unloved clips in the video!) i must inform all of you that it is like only a bit over a buck on sales and it's a really good, challenging, and tense multiplayer coop roguelite OG doom-style fps (gameplay wise, not graphics/technical stuff wise) and i think its well worth trying if you don't mind some jank and some grinding, as despite its rather limited amount of content and technical flaws (easily forgivable imo, being a single dev project) it has imo very solid core gameplay, unique character progression, is very skill based despite random elements and it plays quite different compared to other popular coop horror shooters like l4d or kf. I have personally sunk only about a hundred hours into the game, but I know there are veteran players with actual thousands of hours (im not joking) and while i think i might be overhyping the game a tiny bit as it is obviously a small indie game and it has its flaws, i genuinely like it a lot and think it deserves some more attention aaaaaa the game is very obscure, although paint's claims about its playerbase are obviously slightly exaggerated for humour. you could probably easily find someone to play with if you check out the LFG discord server for Unloved that's pinned somewhere in steam discussions. other than that there's also us on paint's server or your own friends ok sorry for the unloved rant nice video paint very good yes yes

[@Shenaldrac]

Hey just FYI this video is listed twice in a row in your Horror playlist.

[@idite-na-hui]

Wooooaaaah!

[@Painticus]

*Wooooaaaaaaaaahh!*

[@dryued6874]

Golden Light looks like my kind of jam.

[@GamingZoom]

They are usually hit or miss for me some are really good but some eeeh

[@NerdyGrounds]

I really need to play prey. Just to try that mooncrasher dlc

[@Painticus]

The base game is also spectacular!

[@Ibisian]

*_fish noises_*

[@KinshinReaper]

I haven't played Pray. In fact, I have NEVER played ANY horror games and in fact I don't like horror games or horror of any kind at all. Yet here I am, watching not only this vid but I got here by hitting "play" from the channel's "videos" row. In other words, I'm watching everything from the newest back. Binging. As for why I don't like horror or horror games. I'm a little bitch and get creeped out by everything and jump scares make me throw controllers, they make me fear I may have a heart attack, I also don't like the feeling of adrenalin that usually happens. Usually I prefer to watch other people experience horror and laugh at their terror instead. I also enjoy the stories/lore/background from these types of games but since I can't play them I watch others play them.

[@user-c4b9b]

every damn video is stalker OST that's it show me your card

[@jowell6921]

Me too, bretslayee, me too...

[@rotisseriepossum]

*alright I need that patreon shoutout*

[@redcloak5230]

underated

[@pavizi8591]

god almighty your channel is not as well known as it should be

[@SaadTheGlad]

Yo you need to like make more episodes asap or im gonna be cross witchu

[@sherifferror7934]

Love to see it

[@fabrizioschiappacasse5048]

Please never stop using Stalker background music for youe videos.

[@enigmaticvaran6597]

This video is terrible, so long as you don't pay attention to the great content within it

[@chunkytomatosoup1826]

Really sad that instead of going "blub blub" you went "fish noises"