Amnesia: The Dark Descent scarred me for life. Horror games have come a long way in the 16 years since its debut, and Dark Descent might seem quaint or unsophisticated now, but when it was new it was awful. It was such a traumatizing experience that by the time I was into the final stretch I was no longer scared, because my entire psyche had been absolutely shattered. It no longer mattered what happened, because my soul was blackened and numb, and I was ready to die.
Anyway, 10/10, strongly recommend. And, lucky you, if you’ve missed The Dark Descent until now, you can pick it up from Humble Bundle along with five other Frictional releases that will make you miserable and fill you with regret for all the choices you’ve made that led up to the moment you’re now in—all in a good way, of course—for just $15.
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Penumbra Collectors Pack – The trilogy that first hinted at the horrors Frictional was about to inflict upon the world. Very Amnesia-like but dated at this point—probably only of real interest to purists or committed completionists.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent – “The game that redefined modern horror,” Humble says, and they’re not wrong. You play as a man trapped in a Gothic castle crawling with disfigured monstrosities, descending ever deeper into its bowels as you flee, hide, and slowly uncover your own role in the horror that surrounds you. Dark Descent reaction videos on YouTube were all the rage for a while too, so that should tell you something.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent – Trailer – YouTube
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Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs – Developed by The Chinese Room, A Machine for Pigs is less balls-out horror than it is cerebral creepshow. It’s probably the most divisive game in the series because of that, but I think it actually holds up better with the passage of time because the expectations it carried are long gone.
Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Halloween Teaser – YouTube
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Amnesia: Rebirth – Set in the 1930s, Rebirth is more akin to The Dark Descent as a straight-ahead horror game, and serves as more of a direct sequel to that game than Machine for Pigs, diving deeply into the lore underpinning the Amnesia games while opening the door to even darker awfulness to come. Fun stuff!
(Seriously though, it’s great.)
Amnesia: Rebirth – Launch Trailer – YouTube
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Amnesia: The Bunker – More of a survival horror game than its predecessors—I haven’t played it but my PC Gamer pal Ted Litchfield has, and he absolutely loved it, calling The Bunker “an essential horror game and an inspired next step for the series” in his 93% review.
Amnesia: The Bunker – Launch Trailer – YouTube
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SOMA – This one dropped between Machine for Pigs and Rebirth, so it was actually Frictional’s ‘real’ followup to The Dark Descent, and it may be my favorite of the studio’s work. The horror is actually dialled back somewhat (although it’s still very much a horror game), but the setting and story are brilliant: SOMA didn’t make jump out of my chair (more than once or twice, anyway), but it left me deeply unsettled.
Look at those review scores! 15 bucks for all that is a screamingly good deal—literally, at times. If you want, you can cut The Bunker and SOMA from the package and pick it up cheaper—$10—but are you really going to pass up on those two horror classics just to save a fiver? No, you are not.
All the games in Humble’s Frictional Games Bundle are delivered via Steam keys, and note that they will expire: You’ve got until April 1, 2027 to redeem them. The bundle is available until April 1.
