10 Best Psychological Horror Games on Xbox Series X|S (December 2025)

Sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch… all five human senses that make us feel, understand, and experience things. So far, gaming captures sight and hearing in brilliant ways. And recently, touch via haptic feedback. All of these immerse you in the game, making it feel so real. But as much as seeing grotesque monsters can be frightening, especially when they leap out of the shadows and chase you down narrow, dimly-lit corridors, it’s hearing that seems to make me nearly shit my pants. 

The fear of the unknown: you know it’s there, lurking, waiting to strike because you can hear them crawling nearer and nearer, playing tricks on your psychology. It’s mental, emotional, and terrifying to the core, not made any easier by these types of games’ oppressive atmosphere and constant dread. But which games have done it better than most? Which are the best psychological horror games on Xbox Series X/S this month?

10. The Medium

Jobs as unique as a medium come with their risks. I imagine communicating with the spirit world isn’t always the most joyous experience. The unfinished businesses you imagine spirits might have are well-addressed in the themes of The Medium’s tense story. It tackles heavy feelings like guilt and trauma.

But even more unique is the split-screen gameplay, where one side is the real world, and the other the spirit world. You need to interact with both to solve puzzles and draw closer to uncovering the dark mystery behind a brutal massacre in ‘90s Poland.

9. Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut

Do we choose the people we love? I doubt it, as Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut is so determined to prove for the best psychological horror games on Xbox Series X/S. Initially, you’re the hero who will save the world by slaying the princess. But she’s one manipulative, uhm, nightmare? She seems like an ordinary girl at first, which causes you to sympathize with her being locked away in a cabin’s basement and all. 

But the freedom to make your own choices turns out to be your greatest enemy after all. When perspectives shift, and you begin to question reality and your true purpose.

8. Still Wakes the Deep

One of the scariest scenarios that I can think of right now is being trapped at sea, your crewmates nowhere to be found. A raging storm swaying your vessel side to side, and worse? A nightmarish monster that wants you dead. That’s the setup of Still Wakes the Deep, following an electrician trapped in an old 1970s Scottish oil rig. It’s not just running and hiding, but the threat starts twisting reality and turning your crewmates into monsters.

7. The Outlast Trials

How long can you survive an interrogation? Torture devices and all? What if your friends’ lives were also at stake? Yup, The Outlast Trials doesn’t play around, testing how far you will go for science and innovation. At least you have friends you can work with to solve puzzles and escape Dr. Easterman’s sadistic, brain-washing experiments.

6. Inscryption

Card games have become so wrung out. That’s why Inscryption is so game-changing, merging roguelike deckbuilding with psychological horror. You’re playing against a dark entity, working on solving escape room-like puzzles. But it also adds an unsettling story and spooky environments that result in an oppressive and disturbing playthrough.

5. Layers of Fear

Who knows if the “tortured artist” stereotype is true? For the painter, artist, and writer protagonists in Layers of Fear, though, their minds harbor some of the most disturbing thoughts and ideas. And you, reader, are challenged to unravel their trauma and madness illustrated inside a spooky, constantly changing Victorian-era mansion.

4. The Psychological Horror Bundle

What’s better than getting three psychological horror games in one? The Psychological Horror Bundle offers Burnhouse Lane, Buddy Simulator 1984, and Afterdream. For Burnhouse Lane, it captures probably the worst psychological fear: knowing that you’re going to die very soon, yet you have to care for a dementia patient to win your life back.

Buddy Simulator 1984, on the other hand, preys on the fears we have of AI getting smarter than us, manipulating your decisions, and possibly even getting unstable. Meanwhile, Afterdream has you stuck in a lucid dream, where the lines between reality and fiction are blurred.

3. Observer: System Redux

The future can be terrifying, as much as it might bring lots of innovation. What’s fictional, like hacking into people’s minds, is featured in Observer: System Redux in ways that are outright terrifying. Discovering people’s worst fears right before they die. And understanding murderers’ worst instincts. 

It’s all unsettling, made all the more so by the dystopian 284 Krakow, Poland world, where the game takes place.

2. Phasmophobia

If you love Ghostbusters, then you should enjoy Phasmophobia. Your job is literally entering haunted places to hunt down ghosts. And they come in different varieties, with unique abilities and traits. Thus, every run is different from the last, never quite knowing when and where the ghost might be lurking, waiting to strike.

Fortunately, you’ll be in the company of up to three friends, who’re just as enticed by the paranormal as you. I guess it’s a relief that your main goal is to collect evidence that helps identify the type of ghost you’re hunting, while making sure not to spend too much time in the dark, or you’ll risk going insane.

1. Visage

Been watching a lot of detective shows, and they seem to often put themselves in the suspect’s and victim’s shoes to solve cases. It’s more or less the same thing in Visage, except it’s more surreal. You’re essentially reliving past, dark events, but also trying to survive monsters. The game certainly doesn’t make investigating its haunted mansion easy on you. 

For one, the mysterious house is ever-changing, demanding that you pay extra attention to the smallest details. While you’re taking your time not to miss a clue, you’re also constantly self-aware and drenched in a bone-chilling sense of dread.