Survival horror games don’t necessarily have to involve combat to be scary. Take Asteristic Game Studio’s The 3rd Night (which you can snag here on itch.io), which while short in length and lacks the monsters/zombies/ghosts for you to battle, it does one thing and does it well: Atmosphere.
Created in 15 days for a horror game jam, The 3rd Night has that feel of the original Resident Evil, right down to the room transitions and inventory management. The game, while short, evokes that feeling of 90s survival horror at its best.
There’s not much to speak of with the story. You wake up in front of the TV after a little too much drinking the night before. Your objective is to get out of the room. But even that isn’t explained to you until you actually try to get out. To get the key, you’ve got to do a few item-based puzzles.
Again, it’s short but sweet. But the room you’re in definitely hearkens back to what you experienced in the Spencer Mansion back in 1996. Which is okay in my book.