The votes are in, and PC Gamer readers have picked the scariest game on PC
PC Gamer readers have voted to crown Alien: Isolation as the scariest game available on PC. The publication conducted a community poll after asking readers to nominate the most terrifying titles they could think of, selecting the top 16 submissions to form a tournament-style bracket that played out over one week.
Alien: Isolation dominated the competition throughout, advancing to the finals with minimal resistance before ultimately defeating Amnesia: The Dark Descent in the championship matchup. The Creative Assembly title also swept past other notable horror contenders along the way, including SOMA, Darkwood, and Silent Hill 2.
The game’s victory underscores the effectiveness of its core mechanic: a xenomorph stalker that relentlessly hunts the player throughout the experience. This sustained, asymmetrical threat creates a constant sense of dread and tension, ultimately proving more frightening to voters than the narrative-focused psychological horror of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, which helped pioneer first-person horror over a decade ago.
The results reflect PC’s continued prominence as a platform for horror gaming, with both classic titles and contemporary releases resonating with the community. The poll demonstrates how survival horror remains a compelling and popular genre among PC players, with creature-based threats like the Xenomorph continuing to generate some of gaming’s most intense fear responses.