You know that there are games available for your iPhone, right? Of course you do. Everyone and their cat has heard of Angry Birds. However, did you know that there are actually horror games on the iPhone? Well there are. Normally I’m not really a fan of phone gaming, except casino games where are many promotions for high rollers, but just for you dear readers, I have decided to subject myself to three horror games on my iPhone. Let’s check it out.

The Midnight Man Remastered

First, we’re going to look at The Midnight Man Remastered. If you’re wondering who the Midnight Man might be, he’s a character from a really lousy creepypasta story called The Midnight Game. The basic idea of the original story is that you have to do some elaborate ritual and it summons some sort of entity called the Midnight Man to your home, and you then have to avoid him until dawn or else he will kill you. No indication is ever given as to why someone would voluntarily do this. In this game you play as someone who has summoned this creature and now has to avoid it. This game is obviously really not designed to be played on a phone, given the super awkward controls. The gameplay is barely existent. The graphics are lousy. I’d say skip this one.

Eyes: The Horror Game

Then there’s Eyes: The Horror Game. Sure, it’s a fun title to say out loud, but it’s pretty clunky. The game itself pretty much follows along the same lines. Eyes: The Horror Game has a pretty similar dual-thumb set up to the controls of Midnight Man. However, the default sensitivity in Eyes is at least slightly more manageable, so it’s got that going for it. The story here also makes slightly more sense; you play as a burglar who has broken into a haunted location and must find enough comical sacks of money before you can leave. All the while there are monsters or evil spirits or something trying to hunt you down.

Elder Sign: Omens

Now let’s turn our attention to something very different. We’re going to be abandoning the first person skulking sort of horror game and turning our attention to a board game. Yes, a board game on your phone. Elder Sign: Omens (an adaptation of the board game Elder Sign from Fantasy Flight) is a game based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. In this game, the player picks a team of investigators and tries to get to the bottom of supernatural happenings in the museum. This is essentially a board game which is kind of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it means there’s the heavy replayability which is very important for a phone game. On the other hand, there’s a lot of virtual dice-rolling and card-selecting which may not appeal to everyone. However even if this game is not your cup of tea, there’s no denying that it is a very well made game.

Obviously the iPhone is not going to be the best environment for a truly horrifying gaming experience. However, a lot of people have apparently tried their hands at it. For the most part I would consider these attempts a failure. However, Elder Sign was a lot of fun, and there are some pretty solid iPhone ports of Rusty Lake: Roots and Slayaway Camp. Ultimately though, a cell phone just really isn’t a good environment for a game to actually be scary.