Conscript

World War I is not a setting survival horror visits often, and CONSCRIPT makes good use of the fact that it does not need to manufacture dread when the setting provides it for free. Classic inventory management, top-down puzzles, limited ammunition. It launched in 2024 and runs well on Steam Deck without fuss. The reason it missed the top ten is that the horror impact does not quite reach the level of the games ranked above it, even though the mechanical execution is solid. Worth knowing about if you have worked through the main list and want more survival horror in that classic mould, particularly if the World War I angle sounds interesting to you.

Conscript transposes classic survival horror into the trenches of World War I, which sounds like a gimmick until you realise how well the setting maps onto the genre. Limited resources, oppressive environments, enemies that feel wrong rather than just threatening. The atmosphere is relentlessly grim in a way that serves the material. It did not crack the top 10 because the overall mechanical execution is rougher than the genre leaders on this list, and some of the puzzle design can frustrate without satisfying. But as a 2024 indie horror game with a genuinely distinctive identity sitting in the PS Plus catalogue, it is worth fifteen minutes of your time to see whether the setting catches you.