The Chinese indie horror game scene continues to carve out its own spine-chilling subgenre, moving away from cheap jump scares to embrace deep-rooted folklore, societal anxieties, and atmospheric storytelling. We brought you some of our favorites from last year, and we’re back again with a new batch of unsettling games, just ahead of Hungry Ghost Festival. From ghost marriages to ’90s Qigong fever, here’s our new list of five games redefining the modern “Chinese-style horror” scene.
1. Fools, Maniacs and Liars (乌合之众, demo 2025)
Crafted by a seven-person student team, this suspenseful narrative adventure began as a two-person project in 2020, with no professional programmers, and a designer taught himself to code. Set in a fictional Fujian kiln county, the game blends eastern Guangdong and Fujian influences. Art lead Shuzi, a ceramics student, integrated authentic pottery details into the environment. Exploring themes of crowd psychology and collective guilt, the demo is already a word-of-mouth hit for its moral ambiguity and dark humor.
2. Firework (烟火, 2021)
Created by Moonlight Cockroach (月光蟑螂), Firework is a masterful pivot from his earlier pixel RPGs. After quitting his Beijing design job, he built this atmospheric puzzle game alone. Drawing inspiration from his hometown—where he filmed derelict houses to study how old buildings weather—the story follows a mountain-village funeral gone wrong. Bathed in a dim grayish-green hue mimicking rural dusk, the game relies on ghost lore, funerary rituals, and a gripping crime narrative rather than gore.
3. Paper Bride (纸嫁衣, 2021)
Developed by Chengdu’s HeartBeat Plus—a studio mostly composed of artists—Paper Bride is a cornerstone of Chinese mobile horror. The point-and-click adventure revolves around the chilling custom of “ghost marriages.” Its striking visual motif blends weddings with funerals: red bridal silk that reads as paper, and blank-faced effigies attending the ceremony. By leaning into uncanny ritual symbolism, the series popularized local superstition for a massive global audience.
4. Sanfu (三伏, 2023)
Another triumph by Moonlight Cockroach (月光蟑螂), Sanfu trades rural isolation for an oppressive urban thriller. After scouting an overcast Chongqing, he saturated the game with the city’s murky green aesthetic. Set during China’s “Qigong fever,” the story features a deceased psychic child and shadowy conspiracies. Moonlight Cockroach hand-drew all the ’90s-inspired propaganda posters, slogans, and UI, giving the game a distinct “digital patina” (电子包浆) that amplifies its paranoid atmosphere.
5. Paranormal HK (港诡实录, 2020)
The only 3D title here, Paranormal HK was built in Unreal Engine 4 by a small team led by producer Wang Dong. The art budget was poured into meticulous architectural recreations: tong lau tenements, bamboo opera sheds, and the demolished Kowloon Walled City. Set during the Hungry Ghost Festival with authentic Cantonese voice acting, this first-person thriller offers a terrifying dive into Hong Kong’s urban legends.
Cover image via Steam.
