The horror genre wasn't invented by Resident Evil, but once that game hit shelves in 1996, horror became an indispensable part of the taxonomy of design. Even though that series has by now all but left its horror roots behind, newcomers have taken up the torch of frightening players, and done so extremely effectively -- and pushed the boundaries of the genre in new directions.
Given that it's Halloween, we decided to ask our developer followers on Twitter what horror games they remember best and why.
The results are a mix of games old and new, which highlight the usual suspects but also bring up some forgotten examples of developers experimenting with ways to torture players' psyches.
Was your favorite game on the list? If it was, was it on the list for the reason you best remember it? Horror games leave lasting impressions on players, after all.
Remember, if you're interested in participating in these conversations in the future, make sure to follow @Gamasutra on Twitter. The questions usually go out on Fridays in the late morning, Pacific time, alongside Tweets of our regular news, blogs, and original writing.
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'What are your favorite horror games, and why?'
For our Halloween question, we asked developers to share their favorites in the horror genre. But since it's a dev question, we wanted a little more than that...