ent years, indie gaming has reached a similar if not the same popularity as AAA titles. Gone are the days when big developer and publisher studios had a monopoly on the gaming industry. Thanks to social media, the internet, and some great marketing skills, several indie devs and publishers have made their games known.
And it’s not just because of that, of course. The quality of indie games, which can match and sometimes even surpass the quality of AAA titles, has only improved in recent years. Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight, and Hades are just a few examples to come out of the indie gaming realm.
However, most of these titles deal with light themes. It’s time to delve into the deep, dark, and mysterious world of psychological horror and mystery fiction, and we’ve got just the example for you.
In this article, we’ll learn more about Sally Face, the indie adventure game with the aforementioned elements. We’ll also give fans of the game 15 new games to discover if they liked Sally Face!
What is Sally Face?
Sally Face is a game coming from Portable Moose, a one-man development team from Pittsburgh. Throughout this point-and-click adventure game, you get to know Sal Fisher (or Sally Face), a boy with a prosthetic face who has a knack for solving local murders. He uses his handheld video game system to speak with the dead, which helps him investigate what happened.
The game consists of five episodes with release dates between 2016 and 2019, making the game a few years old already. The episodes all have different titles:
- Episode 1: Strange Neighbors
- Episode 2: The Wretched
- Episode 3: The Bologna Incident
- Episode 4: The Trial
- Episode 5: Memories and Dreams
Fans and critics have both had positive responses to the game. Overall, many consider it a worthwhile and unique psychological horror masterpiece. The game does a particularly good job of evoking strong emotions and providing an interesting story to follow.
The developer, Portable Moose, doesn’t really have any other games to offer fans. However, he has worked on the following games:
- Crowman & Wolfboy (2016) | Creative Director
- Immure (2019) | Artist/Designer
- Touched by an Outer God (2020) | Artist/Designer
These games were all developed under Wither Studios, whose founding Portable Moose was directly involved in. It seems he’s taken a liking to the horror genre of gaming, and we don’t blame him.
However, these games differ from Sally Face, and fans will notice it right away. Lucky for you, we’ve compiled a list of 15 games like Sally Face you can play to sate your psychological horror hunger!
15 Games Like Sally Face
Enjoy our list of 15 games like Sally Face! Note that these games are in no particular order, and we’re not ranking them.
#1: Night in the Woods
Night in the Woods is yet another awesome indie game that has similar mystery elements as Sally Face. Though you’re not solving any murders here, you are following Mae Borowski as she returns home after dropping out of college. As the player, you quickly learn that there is a dark mystery hiding in her hometown of Possum Springs. It’s up to you to discover it!
The game has been praised for its dealing with dark themes, namely mental illness and depression. Pretty soon, you’ll find the story is rather gripping and the characters are all endearing and interesting to get to know. Infinite Fall has really done a good job on all these elements, and the dialogue in the game is there to prove it!
#2: Red Bow
Red Bow puts you in the position of Roh, a young girl who is stuck in a bizarre nightmare with creepy creatures all around. Although it’s a short game with around one hour of playtime, the story-driven narrative really helps immerse the player as well as frighten them a little bit.
In the game, you must find items, discover secrets, and solve puzzles to achieve one of multiple endings. In that sense, Red Bow has a decent amount of replay value for the game’s length as you can achieve three different endings. You can choose to save at certain moments to achieve these endings in only two saves, but why do that when you can have the fun of getting creeped out three whole times!?
#3: What Remains of Edith Finch
What Remains of Edith Finch is a great exploration game with similar story elements as Sally Face. In the game, you play as the titular Edith Finch, a seventeen-year-old girl who is the last surviving member of the Finch family. One particularly unique trait of What Remains of Edith Finch is the fact that it combines several gameplay styles to tell the story of Edith’s ancestors.
If you’re looking for a game that’s just a little spooky, has an interesting story, and keeps you hooked with its gameplay, this is the one. You won’t regret the 2-3 hours spent on finishing the game or the emotional storyline you’ll go through, we promise!
#4: Little Misfortune
Little Misfortune is one of those games that will definitely take you for a wild, unexpected ride. It’s always the ones you least expect it from, and this game fits the bill. The game has a cute art style and an adorable cast of characters. However, underneath this bubblegum exterior, you’ll find themes of death, alcoholism, grave robbery, and more.
You play as Misfortune Ramirez Hernandez, an eight-year-old girl living with her abusive parents in Sweden. It almost breaks the fourth wall by having the narrator directly talk to the main character and guide her through the story, inviting her to play a game of choice-making.
Although we’ll avoid spoiling the rest of the game and the ending, all we can say is that Little Misfortune definitely made us think after finishing it. To be fair, we didn’t know what else to expect from the creators of Fran Bow.
#5: Fran Bow
Speaking of Fran Bow, this cute and creepy graphic adventure game sports yet another haunting story. It puts you in the role of Fran, a ten-year-old girl who has witnessed the murder of her parents. As expected, this has left her with some deep psychological scars for which she is admitted to an asylum.
The game’s story really deals with Fran’s hallucinations which are a result of the pills the doctors prescribed to her. Fran tries to deal with her trauma and escape the asylum. All the while, she is stuck in this parallel universe where her asylum is filled with blood, torture, human experiments, and many more creepy elements.
#6: Limbo
We can’t believe it’s already been 13 years since the release of Limbo… It seems like this game was pretty much everywhere when it came out and for good reason. Limbo explored the psychological side of video games and, with its open ending, left players scrambling while trying to craft suitable theories.
You play as a nameless boy who awakens in Limbo, the edge of hell. He goes on a journey to find his sister which takes him through a forest, a seemingly abandoned crumbling city, and industrial and flooded environments. All the while, he uses his surroundings to try and progress through and find his sister.
#7: Little Nightmares
Little Nightmares really delivers on the horror and adventure aspects that we’re looking for in games like Sally Face. You play as Six, a nine-year-old girl who awakens from a frightening dream. She must solve puzzles and rely on the environment to get away from the various enemies she encounters throughout the game.
There are many speculations we can make about the meaning of the game. Most take it as a little girl facing her fears and trying to fight back. Either way, the suspenseful feeling that is ever-present throughout the levels of the game is hard to deny. In that, we can see Little Nightmares is one of the better horror adventure games out there.
#8: Inside
If you listened to our advice and played Limbo, you’ll definitely be coming back for more. In that case, we’ve got you covered with Inside, coming from the same developers! In this game, however, you play as a boy in a dystopic world who is seemingly drawn to an entity known as the Huddle.
Not many are exactly sure about why the ending happens the way it does, and that means there’s an abundance of theories about it. Of course, as with Limbo, the developers haven’t really touched on the topic. Still, to those who enjoy the gameplay more than the story, Inside will be an enjoyable and thrilling play for them.
#9: Oxenfree
Oxenfree is a fairly simple game that allows you to make choices as the main character, Alex, and deal with consequences. Alex travels with her friend and stepbrother to a fictional island for a party. However, a few supernatural occurrences give way to a dimensional rift that the protagonist must now solve.
The 2.5D graphic adventure game allows the player to roam free around the environment even as they speak to the characters. This walk-and-talk mechanic has essentially freed the game of cutscenes and helped create a teen film and coming-of-age vibe to the game. Those looking for a thrilling adventure will definitely enjoy this game.
#10: Firewatch
In Firewatch, you get to solve an old mystery that happened years ago. You do this in the shoes of Henry, a fire lookout working in Shoshone National Forest. All the strange occurrences that begin happening to him and his supervisor prompt him to start investigating.
We won’t say too much about the plot, but we do have to mention the shadowy figure you can often catch staring at you from afar. That thing really gives us the creeps! We’ll also say that the story really grips you from the beginning, beckoning you to find out more. The immersion will prove to you why this game deserves a spot on this list.
#11: Unforeseen Incidents
Unforeseen Incidents is one most gamers wouldn’t expect to see on this list due to how underground the game is. You play as Harper Pendrel, a handyman who learns of a mysterious virus, Yelltown Fever. This virus is taking the lives of Yelltown citizens. He makes it his goal to find out who stands behind this virus and why they’re letting this happen.
In this point-and-click adventure, you’ll witness some gruesome moments but also some pretty funny ones, too. In that sense, Unforeseen Incidents keeps a decent balance between the two. You solve puzzles (or cry about not being able to solve them) to progress the game and find out who is behind this mess.
#12: Detention
If we’re talking real horror games like Sally Face, Detention is one of the best fits. The game tells the story of Wei Chung-ting, a Taiwanese high school junior living in Taiwan during the White Terror period. He falls asleep in class and wakes up to a seemingly alternate reality (though we’re not sure if it really is so) where the campus is abandoned.
Along the way, Wei encounters several other characters and supernatural beings. The atmosphere in this game alone is enough to bring chills to your spine. Through point-and-click, the player navigates through the evils that have been unleashed on the school to get to safety. Wei finds out more along the way about Ray, a student he encounters during the game, than he ever hoped.
#13: The Cat Lady
This adventure horror game employs the use of puzzles to get the player to progress through the story. One unique aspect of The Cat Lady is the fact that it almost exclusively uses the four arrow keys to navigate and play, with the ESC key acting as a Save and Load menu. The choices you make in the game also have a bit of an impact on the story and its ending.
You play as Susan Ashworth, a middle-aged woman who is chronically depressed with stray cats for companions. Susan decides to take her own life but soon meets the Queen of Maggots in the afterlife. The Queen of Maggots grants Susan immortality. She also tasks her with getting rid of five psychopaths she refers to as parasites. It’s up to Susan to find out who they are and rid the world of them.
#14: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Paul Prospero, a paranormal investigator, receives a fan letter from Ethan Carter. Ethan is a 12-year-old boy who lives in Red Creek Valley, Wisconsin. Upon visiting him, Paul finds out Ethan has gone missing, and it’s up to the investigator to find out what happened to him. Of course, Paul soon experiences a few supernatural occurrences which are seemingly tied to the Carter family.
The ambiance in this game is unreal, and it really delivers on the mystery fiction aspect. Though it’s not particularly spooky, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a great choice if you’re looking for games like Sally Face.
#15: Mad Father
Mad Father is a game that puts you more into a survival role than one of adventure. As 11-year-old Aya Drevis, you must escape the monsters wandering around the mansion and uncover her father’s secrets. This is possible through solving puzzles and progressing through the game. With this, you learn about Aya’s past, her late mother, her father, and their maid Maria.
The game’s twist is an unexpected but impressive one, but the ending is even better. Sure, there are three different endings, but the ‘true ending’, as fans refer to it, is probably the best and most interesting outcome you can get. The final few moments of the game are thrilling, although the entire game is riddled with adrenaline boosts for the player.