The best scary games, all in one list. Dare you read on?

What makes a video game scary?

Is it the blood-drenched, tentacled abomination lurking just around the corner? The ravenous zombie shambling towards you?

Or is it the sense of powerlessness that comes with finding yourself alone, shrouded in darkness, with nothing but a dim flashlight and a dinky blade to defend yourself from horrors unseen?

Horror games are a special kind of peculiarity in the gaming industry. While other games are equipping you with laser swords and arm cannons, horror games strip you of confidence and the means for self-preservation, introducing you to uncomfortable concepts such as uncertainty, isolation, and vulnerability. And this is what makes a good horror game scary – the sense that everything is meaningless, and nothing you do can save you.

Listed here are our top picks for the 10 Best Scary Games to Play in 2015 – scary games we believe will disturb, startle, and frighten even the bravest of gamers.

10. Slender: The Eight Pages

Descent into madness

Born in the darkest corners of the internet, Slender Man’s presence in popular culture has grown exponentially to become a figure of folklore. He has taken up residence in our minds, where he continuous to watch… and wait…

Slender: The Eight Pages tasks you with finding eight pages scattered across an isolated woodland area. It’s dark, and all you’ve got is a sputtering flashlight. Slender Man, the tall, faceless creature of myth, is stalking you. Occasionally appearing in your peripheral vision, stare at him too long, and you’re dead. Take too long to find those pages, and you’re dead. And as the night deepens, the closer the Slender Man comes to wrapping his long, spindly arms around you…

It’s this lesson in helplessness that earns Slender: The Eight pages rank #10 on our list of best scary games to play in 2015.

Our rating – 4/5