Fran Bow

Fran Bow is a point-and-click adventure wearing horror like a second skin: disturbing character designs, an unsettling asylum setting, and a story about childhood trauma that doesn't flinch. It's slower and more narrative-driven than nearly everything ranked above it, closer in spirit to Detention than to anything with combat. I played it in short evening sessions the way I'd work through a cozy game, except the mood never let me relax the way cozy games usually do. The puzzle logic occasionally gets obtuse enough to send you to a guide, which is the main knock against it. Anyone who wants horror delivered through story and unsettling art rather than systems should bump this up their own list.