5 Best Games Like September 7th

September 7th does what many other games of its kind fail to comprehend — it genuinely scares us, and in spite of the story barely cracking the thirty minute mark, it certainly delivers one of the most well-orchestrated compact horror experiences we've seen in months. And fair enough, you could very well argue that the concept of having to tiptoe through a haunted home isn't anything even remotely groundbreaking in this day and age, but kudos to September 7th for making fresh paint stick to an otherwise dripping wet canvas.

Anyhow, if you have managed to see September 7th through to the bitter end, then chances are you're on the hunt for something more—a longer, scarier, and even more bone-chilling experience with all the same bells and whistles to boot. If that just so happens to be the case, then you'll definitely want to consider playing these five independent projects the next time you choose to scrub the market.

5. Visage

Visage bases its story on a series of horrifying encounters with a house's deadliest ghosts, all of whom jolt to life at the darkest hours when you're at your loneliest. In an episodic format, you are tasked with locating certain family heirlooms—vessels for which the paranormal use to tell their darkest secrets and string you along a multitude of memoirs. Your goal, in short, is to locate all of the ghosts that haunt the very halls and survive the trials and tribulations laid out by those who once called your own home a safe haven.

Visage dabbles on the same lines as Konami's PT; it brings an unsettling atmosphere to a series of nightmarish encounters with the supernatural, and it does it well enough to keep you invested for a number of hours, no less. It's horrifyingly bleak, and it encapsulates the very heart and soul of horror in one of the most creative ways imaginable, thereby making it a love letter to one of horror's all-time biggest missed opportunities.

4. MADiSON

MADiSON fortifies its position on the horror scale purely down to the fact that it makes use of a variety of creative features in an otherwise copied and pasted format. Similar to Visage, the idea is to travel through a haunted home in the dead of night and uncover a thread of mysteries that pertain to one particular family heirloom. Unlike Visage, however, the heirloom in question is an old camera—an artefact that lets you see the ghosts who roam the very nooks and crannies of your grandfather's manor.

Sticking to its horror roots, MADiSON relies mostly on jump scares, psychological torment, and thought-provoking puzzles, all of which comes included in a three-hour story-driven experience that's both jam-packed with gameplay and enough nightmare material to keep you awake at night for weeks on end. It's textbook horror, and it bodes incredibly well with anyone who dares to traipse its opaque and unnerving waters.

3. Phasmophobia

Phasmophobia is an award-winning indie horror by British studio Kinetic Games. Although still locked in its early access state, the multiplayer hit has shown more than enough promise to secure a lifelong fan base, which will no doubt lead to a groundbreaking launch in the foreseeable future. As it currently stands, though, fans of the paranormal can only catch a glimpse of what's to come in its fully realized version.

In Phasmophobia, you and a group of accomplices assume the roles of paranormal investigators—folk who depend on advanced gadgetry to capture evidence of the afterlife. It's your duty, as a team, to utilize every tool in your arsenal and embark on a series of ghost hunts. From cabins to campsites, manors to mobile homes, Phasmophobia gives you more than enough dead worlds to scrub clean and chronicle—each as strewn with paranormal activities as the next.

2. Pacify

Pacify takes all of the horror tropes that you'd find in any bog-standard Hollywood flick and elevates them to a new degree, doing all in its power to make an utterly terrifying online multiplayer experience. Its story is simple: having heard rumors of an old funeral parlor hosting a waylaid soul that stalks its halls, you and a team are tasked with braving the oddities and entering for a single night of paranormal investigations. How you survive the night, of course, all boils down to your ability to act as a team and navigate obstacles under pressure.

It's safe to say that any fan of The Grudge or The Ring (or Emily Wants to Play, if we're talking about video games, in particular) will surely find a home away from home in Pacify. In a nutshell, it's every horror cliche snowballed into a single two-hour episode—a triumphant and effortlessly immersive experience that'll keep you on your toes from beginning to end.

1. Infliction: Extended Cut

Infliction is a story-driven survival-horror game in which your goal is to gradually unravel the facts that surround the tragedy pertaining to a once-loved family. With little to go on other than a litter of heirlooms, documents, and possessed trinkets, you must work your way from room to room and decipher the mysteries that keep its forsaken world engulfed in anger and sorrow. On your way, however, you'll stumble upon a few wandering spirits that no longer understand right from wrong, and seek only to harm anyone who falls in their shadow.

Like September 7th, Infliction centers its world around a home—a partially abandoned carcass that has little left to share other than core memories and an unsettling ambience that could curdle blood. If that's your sort of idea of a great time, then you're sure to find solace in wandering around its hallowed halls for a few hours on a dark and gloomy evening, no doubt.

So, what's your take? Will you be picking up any of the above five horror games after beating September 7th? Let us know over on our socials here or down in the comments below.