Sometimes, a game beloved by countless players still has moments that make them shudder or even feel terrified. It could be some grotesque monster, a jump scare, but usually, what stays deeply ingrained in the players’ minds is a room filled with haunting memories. Not necessarily horror games, some other genres also have strange rooms that contain messages that surprise players. Therefore, there are many rooms that gamers will regret entering, and here are the top 10 such rooms for you to be aware of.
(Note: Not suitable for those under 16+)
Mirror Room – Silent Hill 3
Each installment of Silent Hill brings an extremely terrifying experience; however, Silent Hill 3 stands out a bit more. Unlike the second installment, the third is a direct sequel to the original game and mainly focuses on the character Heather Mason.
During her exploration, Heather arrives at a hospital named Brookhaven, but when she steps inside the storage room here, she discovers that this room is filled with her fears: mirrors. This fear of mirrors was hinted earlier when Heather looked into the mirror in the shopping mall’s bathroom, where she expressed that she felt like there was another world beyond the mirror, and the one staring back at her wasn’t herself but just a mimic.
That fear quickly turns into a nightmare not just for Heather but for the player as well, as the mirror begins to bleed onto the floor, and it will kill her instantly if she lingers there any longer.
Worse still, at that moment, Heather’s reflection in the mirror stops moving and transforms into a pool of blood. This is a horrifying scene, demonstrating Heather’s obsession and making players want to escape this haunting room immediately.
Movie Theater – Until Dawn
Until Dawn uses the butterfly effect in its narrative to make the game popular among gamers. The story revolves around 8 teenagers trying to survive on Blackwood Mountain. Every decision you make in this game is crucial. Your choices can save everyone, kill everyone, or put you in a situation between those two endings.
One of the most chilling moments in this game occurs in Chapter 5. This scene shows the character Sam in the bathroom, where she begins to suspect that something is off. After stepping outside, Sam finds her clothes missing, replaced by arrows guiding her towards the movie theater. Here, she is chased by a killer, and you must quickly decide whether to run or hide.
The pace of the game at this moment is very rapid, so those with weak hearts might panic. Moreover, from the time she is in the bathtub to the moment she reaches the movie theater, there are scenes where the killer is lurking in the distance or even standing very close. All these elements have made Chapter 5 incredibly terrifying.
Dentist’s Office – BioShock
There’s no denying that BioShock is one of the iconic games of the previous generation. Released in 2007, the story focuses on the character Jack, the sole survivor of a plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean, who is also seeking his way to Rapture, an underwater city.
Being an FPS game that borrows elements from RPG, horror, and survival games, Rapture creates a chilling atmosphere for players due to its desolation. One place that you will regret visiting is the Dentist’s Office. Upon entering, you will see an empty chair in the middle of the room before being surrounded by a dense fog. Once everything around you becomes clearer, you will see that the once-empty chair now has a corpse seated in it. Although this corpse won’t harm you, it will definitely startle you and make you feel cold.
While you loot items around, the fog reappears, and when you turn back, a Thuggish Splicer in dental gear will jump at you and attack. Although it can be easily defeated, it will leave a bad impression on you about… dentists.
Serious Room – The Stanley Parable
The Stanley Parable was originally a mod for Half-Life 2, created by Galactic Café. In 2013, it was released as a standalone game and received a warm reception from players. And because it still uses the Source Engine, gamers have noticed that it shares many similarities with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (also made by Valve).
CS:GO players will be familiar with the command SV_CHEATS 1, which allows the server host to activate some fun cheat commands like “no recoil” or “god mode”. So, players tried the same with Stanley Parable to uncover secrets in the game.
Galactic Café anticipated that someone would try this, so when you enter the command SV_CHEATS 1, Stanley is “teleported” to the Serious Room and the Narrator scolds both the main character and the player. The only way to escape that room is to restart the game. If you stubbornly get “teleported” to this room a second time, the Narrator will continue to berate you for not learning your lesson. Essentially, this serves as a lesson for those who intend to cheat in this game.
St. John Family Dining Room – Telltale’s The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead series by Telltale has many moments filled with tragedy. Among them, one scene that players will never forget is when Lee and the group at the motel are running low on supplies. Soon after, the St. John brothers – dairy farmers – are ready to supply them in exchange for help. After thwarting a raid by bandits on the farm, Mark is hit by an arrow and needs Brenda St. John to care for him.
However, due to the limited information about Mark’s health, Lee starts to have doubts and investigates before dinner is served. Players will discover a bathroom behind a bookshelf, and inside this room is a horrifying sight: Mark has had his leg cut off and blood is flowing profusely. This leads Lee to think about the dishes that are about to be served at the table.
Lee forces the St. John family to admit that they are cannibals. This is a shocking scene that leaves the whole group in turmoil. At the same time, it teaches us a valuable lesson about who to trust.