RPG Maker Horror Games Nintendo Switch
Image: Nintendo Life

Being able to elicit fear with simply a sprinkling of pixels and a well-timed soundtrack is an art form.

Horror games come in all shapes and sizes, with varying levels of gore, ghouls, and grisly details. While the Switch is home to some incredibly realistic horror, the most influential scary games on the console are arguably those made in RPG Maker.

Originating in Japan, RPG Maker refers to a series of simple yet powerful RPG development tools. Iterations like RPG Maker 2003 (and similar tools, like Wolf RPG Editor) have been highly praised over the years for making story-driven game development more accessible and easier to crack.

These tools make up an important part of gaming history, giving people a chance to share their stories without needing to invest in immensely expensive gear or spend years training. They're not overly simplistic to use, but they do remove a lot of the typical barriers associated with getting into game creation.

RPG Maker games are usually narrative-focused with a heavy emphasis on puzzles and dialogue. Their aesthetic is often simple, giving the overarching story a chance to shine. While they’re not exclusively horror games, the tool has found a cosy home in the horror community, specifically with survival horror and scary visual novels.

Here are five RPG Maker horror classics available on Switch and another three that we’d love to see ported to the platform.

Please note that several of these games cover distressing topics and feature graphic imagery. It’s worth checking out content warnings before playing.

Ib (Switch eShop)

If you’ve never played an RPG Maker horror, start with the remake of Ib. Created by kouri and initially released in 2012, this unsettling experience manages to conjure up real dread with limited resources.

The story follows a young girl named Ib as she visits an art gallery with her parents, before ending up suddenly alone. From there, she must untangle a confusing and nightmarish alternate reality, dealing with abstract foes and solving puzzles to stay alive.

Ib is dark and foreboding, with a multitude of endings that encourage you to get lost in the gallery over and over again.

The Witch's House MV (Switch eShop)

The best thing about The Witch’s House is its story, closely followed by its puzzles. This is a Switch port of a game that initially came out in 2012 - a year that many fans of the RPG Maker subgenre praise as the 'golden age' of the medium.

The story follows Viola, who wakes up alone in the forest. The only place ahead of her is a creepy mansion - and as soon as she enters looking for help, the entrance vanishes. As she explores the halls, she learns more about the manor, its secrets, and who is waiting for her inside.

With myriad tricky puzzles, disturbing deaths, and multiple endings to unlock, this gem has plenty of replay value.

Ao Oni

If you were a fan of watching horror Let’s Play videos on YouTube a decade ago or so, chances are that you’ve seen Ao Oni in action. With an utterly iconic monster that’s frighteningly fast, developer noprops created a legacy when it released the original back in 2008.

It’s a classic premise. A group of kids head to an abandoned manor that is supposedly haunted, with some being believers and others being sceptics. Typical monster-based horror shenanigans ensue, with plenty of chase scenes and puzzles to sink your teeth into.

It’s one of the most well-known RPG Maker horror titles, with a memorable story that’s garnered a cult following over the years, and the remake feels comfortable on the Switch.

Mad Father (Switch eShop)

While Mad Father is often lumped in with RPG Maker games (as it’s being lumped in here), it is important to note that it’s technically a Wolf RPG Editor title. That being said, it’s a stellar example of this niche flavour of horror and it’s worth including nonetheless. It blends survival and horror perfectly, with memorable characters, an eerie setting, and a skin-crawling premise. It’s arguably the most disturbing game in this list.

The story centres around a girl named Aya. Her mother died at a young age, so she lives with her scientist father and their maid Maria. Aya ends up getting a lot more than she bargained for when trying to look into her father’s secret experiments in the basement.

With vengeful spirits, tricky puzzles, and an unsettling story, the remake of Mad Father on Switch is a masterclass in upsetting horror. The initial game came out in 2012, with the remake kicking off in 2020, and it still feels incredibly fresh to this day.

OMORI (Switch eShop)

Based on a webcomic and developing a cult following over the years, OMORI is one of the most interesting RPG Maker titles on the Switch. It’s one of the more recent entries in this list, being created by Omocat in 2020.

Omori is a psychological horror with a unique aesthetic and a story that explores a number of dark topics. It follows a boy named Sunny and his alter-ego dream self named Omori, hopping between two different worlds and uncovering secrets. There are multiple endings to discover, alongside some punchy turn-based battles.

While Omori can be criticised for feeling a little clunky in places, it's well-written and it'll stick with you. It doesn’t follow the typical RPG formula and it’ll hook your attention right until the finale.

That's five of the best RPG Maker horror games already available on Switch, but here's a trio of non-Switch titles — all of which are available on PC — that we'd dearly love to see come to Nintendo's console...

Yume Nikki

Yume Nikki - Dream Diary - is on Switch, but the original 2004 title is more impactful. Out of all the RPG Maker horror titles that haven’t gotten a Switch port yet, this is probably the most noticeable absence.

Yume Nikki is a strange experience with some heavy themes. Unlike most RPG Maker horrors, it doesn’t have a set story or specific tasks to complete. It follows a girl named Madotsuki, trapped inside her apartment with just her dream diary for company. The objective is to explore and discover 24 unique Effects, which have an impact on Madotsuki, the game world, and other characters.

It’s a prime example of a 'walking simulator', but don’t let that put you off. Yume Nikki is a majorly influential horror title and a port of the classic game would feel right at home on Switch.

The Crooked Man

The fact that The Crooked Man isn’t on Switch is unbelievable. Much like Mad Father, this game is actually a Wolf RPG Editor title, yet this list would feel wholly incomplete without it. It’s part of the golden age of pixel horror games and still contains plenty of frights for modern players — it’s one of the most complete and chilling RPG Maker-esque horror titles out there, originally promising “hardcore expressions of violence.”

The Crooked Man follows the story of David, a depressed man who has just moved into a new apartment. He ends up coming across a string of notes, taking him through a variety of eerie locations and leaving him with more questions than answers.

OFF

Calling OFF a horror game might be somewhat of a stretch, but it’s an unsettling and off-putting experience. This title was released originally in 2008 and to this day fans still can’t decide on what the story means.

With a strange overworld, mysterious puzzles, and a divisively speedy battle system, OFF plays into some RPG tropes while nimbly dodging others. It follows the Batter, a strange humanoid that has set out to “purify” the game world. There are several Zones throughout OFF’s world, packed with memorable characters and challenging puzzles, and the entire game is widely left open to interpretation.

RPG Maker horror may look dated to some, but these games will leave a lasting imprint on you if you give them a chance. Horror is the genre where 'less is more' applies perfectly - sometimes not showing the monster is the scariest thing a game can do.

Let us know below which of the above you've played (or which you might play in the future), as well as other RPG Maker games — horror or otherwise — that you've played and loved.