Some games don't keep to themselves. Sometimes, quests, events, or entire plots make the player feel like they're being followed. Often, these themes continue well past the end and leave players with a sense things might not have been quite as they seem.
Typically it's a theme seen in the horror genre, but it's not only there. Sometimes a game just wants to drive home a level of uncanny loneliness or true hopelessness in a situation, which results in feeling much like something is following close behind.
10 Call Of Cthulhu Takes Lovecraftian Lore For A Walk
Call of Cthulhu is a game based on the tabletop RPG by Chaosium and follows 1924 Private Investigator Pierce, who was sent to look into the death of a family. In true Lovecraftian fashion, it's full of cosmic horrors, creeping madness, and the ever-present anxiety that comes along with it.
The game and its tabletop counterpart have mastered the difficult sanity mechanic. They have a solidly fleshed-out story that really feels like the player is going through a Lovecraft novel a little at a time, complete with the feeling of being watched, followed, and judged by powers far higher than mortal comprehension.
9 Amnesia Really Doesn't Want Players To Look Behind Them
Amnesia is a series of horror games that will take the feeling of being followed and take it for a run. The point is to hide from monsters, solve puzzles, and avoid the things creeping up behind.
It has a mechanic that so few other games manage to do well that really adds to the sensation. If the player turns enough to get close to seeing a monster, the screen gets distorted as their sanity tanks. There's a lot of running, hiding, and hoping for the best with a deep, lingering sense of fear that drags into the real world.
8 Subnautica Below Zero Has A Constant Sense Of Being Watched By Something In The Deep
Unlike most games that leave players feeling watched, Subnautica and its Below Zero sequel aren't marketed as a horror game. Instead, the player has to explore and survive in a deeply vibrant underwater environment, all without the use of weapons.
Even without much in the means of true combat, there are so many creatures lurking throughout the game and so many ways to fail that it constantly feels like the player is being stalked by alien sharks, leviathans, and other disasters.
7 Thief: Gold Has A Whole Quest Arc In A Mansion That Makes Players Wary
For the most part, the Theif games involve a lot of stealth, espionage, and stalking on the part of the player. However, there's almost always an arc somewhere within the games that either directly or indirectly show that Garrett is being watched and followed himself.
For example, in Thief: Gold, there is a whole mission that takes place within a mansion. Throughout the entire thing, there is some giggling and commentary that adds to the extreme sense of unease. Eventually, it's revealed that Garrett has indeed been being watched, which makes the rest of the game keep up an extremely suspicious air, leaving the player feeling like there's always someone just behind them.
6 DayZ Is A Game Where Safety Is A Luxury
DayZ Might have started out as a mod that turned itself into a full game, but this post-apocalyptic zombie survival horror constantly has players making decisions that could end up with them dying at any moment.
There's the option to team up with other characters or to stay alone, there are zombies everywhere that are trying to kill the player, and sometimes humans are totally ready to feed you to them. No matter how safe it seems, there is always something right around the corner, and that can really get the player feeling like they're being stalked.
5 The Forest Has Things In The Trees
The Forest follows a plane crash survivor who has unfortunately crashed onto an island full of mutant, humanoid creatures that are all interested in eating the player and their comrades.
These things are constantly in the trees, just behind in the caves, or ready to jump into a falsely safe base, so the player really has to get accustomed to a constant sense of dread the longer they go without one showing up. If it's been a while, that usually means the player is about to get swarmed.
4 Hellblade: Senua's Saga Fights With Her Own Mind
Hellblade: Senua's Saga is a massive game with a lot of mental health undertones. It follows Senua into the afterlife as she tries to save the soul of a dead lover, but she has to combat her own mind in the process.
The most interesting thing about Hellblade is it was made in collaboration with real neuroscientists and people who actually have psychosis. The result is a fantastic rendition that has enough realism to start confusing even the player into thinking there just might be something following them.
3 Your Turn To Die Is Literally A Death Game
Your Turn To Die is a game coming out in parts and follows a group of people who have been kidnapped and forced to participate in various games that result in their deaths until one is left standing.
No matter how hard the player tries or what sorts of things they do, it always seems that those who are running the game are one step ahead of them. Not only that, but everyone involved is trying to survive themselves and are willing to go to some serious extremes to prevent their deaths. Therefore, it's quite possible that lingering fear of being followed and watched is completely justified.
2 Penumbra: Overture Is Full Of Tension
Penumbra: Overture is a serious first-person survival horror that is heavily focused on the puzzles and survival aspect, rather than gore and cheap jump scares. There are still plenty of jumps, but they don't feel as forced. It has a very Lovecraftian vibe and is extremely interactable, with most objects being able to be manipulated.
The whole point is to create suspense, but there are still creatures that are going to come bolting around the corners, ready to kill the player. It's one of those games where it really benefits from player paranoia and the constant feeling of being followed.
1 Darkness Within Blends Suspense, Mystery, & Horror Without The Jump Scares
Another Lovecraftian-esque game is Darkness Within. This one is full of psychological horrors, puzzles, and dark secrets hidden around every turn. It follows detective Howard E. Loreid to solve a murder mystery of a wealthy man involved in the occult.
Darkness Within really wants to drive home the instability of the human mind. In addition, other installments of the series keep up that murder-mystery insanity full of unexpected monsters, horrors, and mind-boggling paranoia, leaving players feeling watched, followed, and stalked more and more as they progress.