Has a game ever scared you to the point that you couldn't play?

[Cale Lively]

I tried to get through Doom 3 properly once. Properly meaning headset on, at a time past midnight and with no lights on. All I remember is that pounding door, throwing the headset off, mashing the lamp switch and looking around the room.

for me that was the original FEAR. The sewer level at 0100, headset on. You just see shadows of Alma and hear giggles. Finally you climb down that one ladder and shes standing there. I jumped out of my seat.

 

[Nouw]

I almost considered not picking up Penumbra again after encountering an infected. Or rather, hearing one at the other sound of a door.

Alien Vs Predator 2. I manged to get face-huggered three times in a row, which frankly necessitated me taking a break so I could calm down a bit.

Three times in a row? Ouch. That's a lot of alien-wong-wong .

 

[Doclector]

Snipeth-Minecraft stuff

Good sir, I, too, suffer the same problem.

I bought Minecraft because I played it at my friend's house and it was fun. We spent the first night running away from zombies and creepers. So I got my own for the same reasons you described. And then I ran into those stupid spiders. pitch black, HUGE spiders with red eyes. Can't even stand to look at them from afar. I could probably take them out with my wolves and bow and arrow, but I'm just scared of them! Same with Creepers popping out of nowhere, exploding in your face. Or just random enemies coming from a dark corner at you while you're mining innocently somewhere. But yeah, mostly spiders.

So know what I did? I set it on Peaceful. I've been lucky enough to find string on dungeons and to have some leftovers from when I was playing on Normal. So I figured I was fine. Oh, how silly I was.
As it turns out, squids look a lot like spiders: large, black, multi-legged creatures. They don't attack you...but they do like to show up for no reason in caves with waterfalls. So imagine my surprise/horror when I was mining and I saw three of them bundled together, half swimming, while I was mining. I swear I thought they were spiders at first so I didn't even bother looking back. I ran away.
So yeah, those I can't get rid of. Oh, and slimes. Freakin' things look like HUGE Creepers. Scared the hell out of me.

Holy crap, I forgot about my dogs. I got two of them the day before the bugs showed up. Sure, still means I have to go running up to them, but it'll sure help to have back up.

Honestly though, I do like that minecraft is scary. It drives the gameplay, makes you come up with ways to make your creations as secure as possible. For example, I put overhangs on everything, to make sure the bugs can't just crawl on over, I put lights everywhere, and if I find a cave system, I quarantine it from the rest of the mines/my creation.

It also makes it even more satisfying when you get stuff done, to know that your creation is completely safe, and beyond human error, no creature may breach it.

 

[Broderick]

I would say that the only game that I stopped playing because I got scared enough was Fatal Frame. Unsure why, I have played through the likes of Resident evil and Silent hill, but for some reason that game just clicked with my scare factor. I think the head rolling down the stairs and then flying right at the camera(towards the player, not the player controlled character) might have had something to do with it as well. I paused the game, and ran into my sister's room straight after that, tearing up, but not quite crying.

The game had a few shock scares as well, and I am usually used to them in video game form(deadspace did bugger all to scare me)but it worked in Fatal frame. I guess it is just the atmosphere.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

Literally a minute ago I was running through swamplands in Minecraft trying to find a good place to set up base and a fucking Enderman appears right next to me and than peaces off. Just randomly, in the middle of the day cycle.

Fucking bastard scared me shitless.

 

[Rastien]

I tried to get through Doom 3 properly once. Properly meaning headset on, at a time past midnight and with no lights on. All I remember is that pounding door, throwing the headset off, mashing the lamp switch and looking around the room.

Lmfao this.

Also when crawling through the dungeon/tortuer area in amnesia head set on fully immersed didn't notice my gf walk into the living room and she puts her hand on my shoulder from behind.

HOLY FUCK! i have never jumped so much out my skin in all my life pushed her on the floor and was by the door before i realised what happend, i then threw up lol to much adrenaline apprently x)

 

[Rastien]

Spoiler

Bioshock always does it for me. That *TACTICAL SPOILER* doctor who appears behind you in the medical centre, the shrieking nurses, the Big Daddies of the next level and trying to save little sisters whilst crawling through pipes listening to dribbling psychos and sophisticated sociopaths talking about what they'll do to you. Once the splicers start pretending to be dead, you go through the statues and the teleporter-guy appears behind you as you get a Power To The People upgrade. I couldn't play past that point always lost it as I went through that level.

Bioshock spoilors

Spoiler

Yeah that bastard playing possom made me loose my shit, as up until that point body on ground = free loot! run up to him he jumps up shoot me in the face his friend behind me who i thought was dead does the same >:C

From then on while approuching all corpses they got a shot gun to the head before i tried to loot them.

Also its a dentist your on about you enter the room nothing there mist fills the room, begins to clear screaming psychopath in your face mah god i jumped

 

[VoidWanderer]

Scared to the point of not playing? Sadly no.

I haven't played Amnesia, that might be the game for me to get around to.

Though, Thief: Deadly Shadows. Shalebridge Cradle aka 'The Orphanage' or as I called it during my playthrough

'ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodWTF!!!ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod-RUNRUNRUN-FREEDOM!!!!'

Fucking level...

Honorable mention: Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines. The Hotel.

Points for trying: The tentacle thing in Dead Space. Returned game about 30 mins after that due too excessive boredom.

Should play Amnesia, given how many haunted house stories and such I have read, it has me very intrigued now.

 

[Sonicron]

In Shadow of the Colossus, I was following my light beam to the next baddie, when I came over a ridge and saw it was pointing at a lake.
"Oh, no," I thought, "Don't do this, game."
I moved forward and saw that I was, indeed, being directed to the middle of the lake.
So I stopped playing.
See, at the time, I had a crippling fear of giant sea monsters. Something about being in the water, unable to even access air and with every angle being an exposed point, while a giant, barely visible creature closes in on me just freaked me the fuck out. Still does, but I have somewhat better control over it. The fact that I'm a piss-poor swimmer (though I do know how) doesn't help things.
So, on the sneaking suspicion that the game would make me fight a sea-serpent or something of that nature, I abandoned an otherwise amazing game. Still haven't gotten back into it.

First lake you encountered in the game? If up to that point you'd already encountered the swordsman and the bird, then yes, you would have met a ginormous lake serpent... it doesn't bite or anything, but it will try to electrocute your ass.
Oh yes, and one of the late-game colossi also lives in a lake, and it's much bigger than the serpent.

OT: Silent Hill 2, definitely. The first few hours had me on the edge of my seat already, but when I stepped foot in the hospital the atmosphere (environment and soundtrack) made me snap. Switched off my computer and didn't touch the game again for two weeks.

 

[neversleep]

Resident Evil REmake on the gamecube

I've played every horror game I could get my hands on but no game ever forced me to just chillout for a sec because I was too agitated to continue.

 

[Chemical Alia]

That one Ecco the Dolphin level that's just sharks everywhere and the one with the big prehistoric fish things, geez.

 

[Urgh76]

Scared to the point of not playing? Sadly no.

I haven't played Amnesia, that might be the game for me to get around to.

Though, Thief: Deadly Shadows. Shalebridge Cradle aka 'The Orphanage' or as I called it during my playthrough

'ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodWTF!!!ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod-RUNRUNRUN-FREEDOM!!!!'

Fucking level...

Honorable mention: Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines. The Hotel.

Points for trying: The tentacle thing in Dead Space. Returned game about 30 mins after that due too excessive boredom.

Should play Amnesia, given how many haunted house stories and such I have read, it has me very intrigued now.

If you're going to, just get it along with the humble bundle.

OT: None yet really, although Amnesia's now sitting in my library....

None yet only for the fact that I've never really played a horror game.

I'm a wuss ;_;

 

[Britisheagle]

Eternal Darkness. Had to stop when my I was playing in the dark, at home, on my own when there was a scratching at the living room door. Even when I found out what it was, I decided I'd wait til it wasn't such a damn creepy time.

Fucking cat.

Also had to stop playing Dead Space 2, not for scariness but for that damn end mission. I hate anything to do with eyes, genuinely had to take a break!

 

[kasperbbs]

Dead Space, i spent around 2-3 hours playing it each evening until i finished it. Not that i was super scared, but i thought a few hours of paranoid gameplay was enough. That game had amazing sound effects, making it look like enemies can jump you from the wall, ceiling or floor any second and it had some moments that made me jumpy, like passing some random corpse on my way to the objective and a few moments later i was its dinner.

 

[Puzzlenaut]

This is evil bastard:

Spoiler

Is the most scary thing I have ever come across in any game, and at times I found myself unable to play it, it freaked me out so much.

Youtube is littered with reaction videos to this terrifying little gem; someone's already mentioned this, but you can download it for free here:
http://scpcb.wordpress.com/

 

[Beautiful End]

Snipeth-Minecraft stuff

Good sir, I, too, suffer the same problem.

I bought Minecraft because I played it at my friend's house and it was fun. We spent the first night running away from zombies and creepers. So I got my own for the same reasons you described. And then I ran into those stupid spiders. pitch black, HUGE spiders with red eyes. Can't even stand to look at them from afar. I could probably take them out with my wolves and bow and arrow, but I'm just scared of them! Same with Creepers popping out of nowhere, exploding in your face. Or just random enemies coming from a dark corner at you while you're mining innocently somewhere. But yeah, mostly spiders.

So know what I did? I set it on Peaceful. I've been lucky enough to find string on dungeons and to have some leftovers from when I was playing on Normal. So I figured I was fine. Oh, how silly I was.
As it turns out, squids look a lot like spiders: large, black, multi-legged creatures. They don't attack you...but they do like to show up for no reason in caves with waterfalls. So imagine my surprise/horror when I was mining and I saw three of them bundled together, half swimming, while I was mining. I swear I thought they were spiders at first so I didn't even bother looking back. I ran away.
So yeah, those I can't get rid of. Oh, and slimes. Freakin' things look like HUGE Creepers. Scared the hell out of me.

Holy crap, I forgot about my dogs. I got two of them the day before the bugs showed up. Sure, still means I have to go running up to them, but it'll sure help to have back up.

Honestly though, I do like that minecraft is scary. It drives the gameplay, makes you come up with ways to make your creations as secure as possible. For example, I put overhangs on everything, to make sure the bugs can't just crawl on over, I put lights everywhere, and if I find a cave system, I quarantine it from the rest of the mines/my creation.

It also makes it even more satisfying when you get stuff done, to know that your creation is completely safe, and beyond human error, no creature may breach it.

Well, I usually tell them to follow me when I'm exploring the world. However, they're not really meant for that. If you go into a cave, they can get lost (I lost one of my dogs like that somehow), they can fall into lava, they can drown and so on. If you're on the outside world, a Creeper can kill them, they can STILL drown and die and such. And I got attached to them so I don't even want to put them in harm's way, even if I can heal them.

Anyway, the whole scary theme was unexpected. I thought Minecraft was this place where you could just build stuff at your heart's content. Which it is. But running into scary stuff wasn't pleasant. I'm going for the whole visually-beautiful structures rather than impenetrable forts. I don't like playing on Peaceful because I'm missing out on resources and, yeah, I gotta admit it makes it easier to find dungeons. But I like having the peace of mind that I can build whatever I want without being constantly worried about a Creeper ruining my work of art.