Your Senses Are the Enemy: Horror Games That Watch and Listen

The new horror game Vigil is a terrifying reminder that the greatest scares come from breaking the fourth wall. Its headline-grabbing mechanic is simple: it uses your webcam to track your real-life blinks, and the monster only moves when your eyes are shut.

This idea—where your own involuntary actions are used against you—is a powerful new trend in horror. Developers are no longer content to just scare your character; they want to scare you, the person in the chair. Here are a few games that use your real-world senses as a core part of the terror.

1. Vigil

This is the game you mentioned, and it’s a perfect example of this new genre. You are in a decaying underground facility with an automaton that is “Weeping Angel-inspired.”² It cannot move as long as you are looking at it.³ The catch? The game (optionally) accesses your webcam and tracks when you blink. Every time you do, the monster gets closer.⁴ It’s a free-to-play, high-tension experience that forces you into an impossible staring contest.

• Link: Vigil on Steam

2. Stifled

If Vigil attacks your sense of sight, Stifled attacks your sense of hearing.⁵ This game takes place in a world of pitch-black darkness. The only way to “see” is through echolocation, which you create by making sounds.⁶ You must make noise into your microphone to send out sound waves that briefly illuminate your surroundings. The terrifying twist? The creatures hunting you are also drawn to that sound.⁷

• Link: Stifled on Steam

3. In Silence

This is a multiplayer horror game that pits a team of survivors against one player-controlled monster. The monster, known as the Rake, is almost completely blind but has hypersensitive hearing.⁸ The survivors must communicate using in-game proximity voice chat to solve puzzles and escape. However, the Rake can hear their every whisper, turning teamwork into a deadly risk.

• Link: In Silence on Steam

4. Phasmophobia

While it’s a co-op ghost-hunting game, Phasmophobia‘s microphone integration is a core feature. The ghosts are always listening. You use your real voice to interact with them, asking questions through a “Spirit Box” or daring to say their name to provoke a reaction.⁹ Hiding in a closet won’t save you if the ghost hears you panic—it will hunt you based on the sound of your voice.¹⁰

• Link: Phasmophobia on Steam