Few genres were as instrumental in legitimizing the art form of games as the point-and-click adventures were. From its inception, the genre established itself with personable, witty writing, inventive puzzles, and gorgeously handcrafted worlds. And naturally, horror would eventually find a fitting home here. 

However, despite the point-and-click genre’s legacy, it remains relatively niche within the broader landscape of the medium, making it seem daunting for newcomers. To address this conundrum, I have compiled a point-and-click horror adventure starter guide, highlighting developers whose twisted tales are not only approachable but also the strongest examples of what propels the genre forward in new and terrifying ways. 

Beyond Booleans

Start with: Teeth of Glass, Carnival

Then try: The Anchorite, Abscission

For all your cosmic and Lovecraftian point-and-click horror needs, look no further than award-winning developer Beyond Booleans, aka Jacob Prytherch. Prytherch has a distinctively notable knack for crafting enthralling narratives that understand the horrifying root of their sub-genre’s strengths. Each of his games feels like an interactive novella, delivering an experience that is as engaging to read as the horrors and puzzles that await. 

There is no better starting point for genre newcomers than the bite-sized experience Teeth of Glass. One dark and stormy night, Doctor Joshua Hagstrom finds himself alone in the office with a mysterious patient, and horrifying supernatural happenings begin to occur. Despite the game’s single sitting length, Prytherch nevertheless supplies a memorably compelling character-driven narrative, puzzles reflective of the game’s world, and several memorable moments of cosmic terror. To accomplish this in a single sitting, where some multiple-hour games fail to do so, speaks to the concise and compelling horror of Prytherch’s work. 

Once you get a taste for his flavor of fear, his folk horror game, Carnival, is another engrossing piece of horror with a historical emphasis. Transporting players to 1930s Venice, reporter James Maynard’s less-than-titillating beat about a land bridge quickly devolves into uncovering mysterious happenings beneath the surface of a city that is a cultural powder keg. Carnival, being a longer experience, expands upon the qualities of Teeth of Glass. The result is an even richer narrative that explores history through a genre-tinted lens. 

The Brotherhood Games

Start with: Stasis: Bone Totem, CAYNE

Then try: Stasis

There is no other point-and-click developer whose art aesthetic has clicked with me as quickly as The Brotherhood Games has. Sure, I’m a sucker for aquatic, space, and cosmic horror. Still, despite my sub-genre predilections, the art direction and world-building of The Brotherhood’s games are of a caliber deserving the highest of praise.

The natural starting point, indicative of the studios’ knack for crafting suffocating atmosphere and high-quality production value, is the free, two-to-three-hour game CAYNE. An adjacent story to their Stasis series, CAYNE establishes design aspects that the studio would continue to foster and grow with subsequent projects. Gorgeous isometric environments, high-quality FMV cutscenes, evocative voice acting, and innovative puzzles would become staples of their work.

While CAYNE and their initial release, Stasis, are well worth experiencing, there is no better example of The Brotherhood Game’s creative growth than Stasis: Bone Totem. Frankly, it’s one of the best point-and-click adventure games of the last decade. 

Husband and wife duo Mac and Charlie, along with their cybernetic toy bear Moses, are oceanic salvagers who stumble upon the score of a lifetime: an abandoned oil rig. Though once aboard, they discover a sprawling underwater facility filled with corporate and biological horrors beyond their comprehension. Bone Totem serves as the most refined version of the studio’s already strong presentation and storytelling prowess. Isometric environments are more haunting than ever. First-person POVs of puzzles, often depicting horrific experiments gone awry, are constantly chilling. All of this is supported by emotional writing, bolstered by riveting voice acting that already raises the high standard set in previous games to an unprecedented new level of immersion. 

Cloak and Dagger Games

Start with: The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow

Then try: A Date in the Park, Football Game

Few developers have as diverse a point-and-click adventure subgenre offering as those of Cloak and Dagger Games. No matter the size or setting explored in their games, the studio consistently refines its nuanced understanding of artistic presentation and brilliant, era-appropriate writing for its worlds. And their most horror-centric offering to date, The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, serves as the culmination of their continued refinement, resulting in a stellar folk horror adventure.

While antiquarian Thomasina Bateman’s finding herself stranded in the remote village of Bewlay might be an objectively routine folk horror premise, Cloak and Dagger’s expertise makes the routine noteworthy. Indicative of the very best folk horror, our protagonist is as interesting as the village of Bewlay itself. Thomasina’s investigation into strange happenings drives not only the unearthing of the secrets of Hob’s Barrow, but also of her own tumultuous past. The ability to present a character whose present circumstances catalyze the revelation of the inner turmoil of their past is an essential aspect of the folk horror framework. 

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow also pristinely balances its compelling narrative with smartly scaled horrors. Scares are often the least persuasive aspect of horror games, given some developers’ over-reliance on them. Developer Cloak and Dagger scales the game’s scares to match the pacing of narrative revelations, providing several notably horrifying moments not commonly found within a point-and-click adventure. 

Power Hoof

Start with: The Drifter

Then try: The Inanimate Mr Coatrack, Peridium

One common hesitation among those reluctant to dive into point-and-click adventures is the perception that the genre feels “archaic,” with its pixelated graphics and slower-paced gameplay. No game on this list dispels that notion better than Power Hoof’s pulpy, John Carpenter-esque thriller, The Drifter, a quintessential starting point for newcomers wanting a more modernized experience but never at the cost of the inherent strengths of the genre.

Riding the rails, vagabond Mick Carter’s return home for his mother’s funeral is interrupted when someone tries to murder him. Thrust into a world of murder, conspiracy, and the supernatural, Mick’s journey showcases how developers can retain the classic strengths of point-and-click adventures while embracing modernization.

The Drifter stuns with its pairing of a moody score with pixel art evocative of noir films, yet imbued with a gritty 80s edge. While the game undoubtedly features a retro graphical style, the art direction makes even mundane locales stand out, adding a refreshing burst of complexity to its environmental presentation. The narrative’s blending of genre influences is reflected in the variety of environments Mick’s investigation will take him to, creating a multifaceted narrative that is refreshingly surprising in its unpredictability.

Given the numerous twists and turns Mick’s investigation will take, a continually updated journal tracks narrative beats, with subtle hints to nudge players in the right direction toward the next puzzle that needs to be solved. Puzzles are fittingly reflective of The Drifter’s world, never devolving into obtuse frustration, and there are even death-defying moments that provide unprecedented tension for a point-and-click adventure. 

White Blanket Games

Start with: Midnight Scenes Series

Then try: The Supper: New Blood, Unwelcome

My days of spending countless hours hunched over a keyboard, dedicating tens of hours to one particular game, are far behind me. Thus, sadly, is adulthood. These days, bite-sized horror is more my speed, horror games that can often be completed within a single sitting, or at the longest, the length of a feature film. There is no better example of a developer maximizing players’ spooky mileage than White Blanket Games, the developer behind the pristinely creative anthology horror series Midnight Scenes.

Twilight Zone-esque in their format and early episodes’ black-and-white graphical style, each standalone episode of Midnight Scenes tells a horror tale exploring the strange and the unexplained. The Highway tells the story of a commute home devolving into a roadside nightmare. The Goodbye Note sees a man grappling with the ramifications of a deadly work incident. From the Woods sees an unlikely bond between boys at a mental health facility. And episodes The Nanny and A Safe Place see protagonists grappling with the horrors of adolescence. 

In true Rod Serling fashion, while episodes of Midnight Scene are standalone, featuring new characters and settings, they are thematically connected. Exploring horror through a personable lens of protagonists lends itself to the winning formula of Midnight Scenes. Presenting worlds where the familiar is unsettled by the unexplainable, while keeping humanity at the core of the narrative, White Blanket Games has established itself as a formidable voice in bite-sized horror storytelling.  

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