Some of the Best Indie RPG Maker Horror Games Can't be Found on Steam

gamerant.com:

There are plenty of RPG Maker horror games available on Steam today, from atmospheric titles, like Ib and Yume Nikki, to more thrilling ones, like Mad Father and The Crooked Man. All of these games feature a distinct playstyle, with a top-down view of the player character and their environment. These aspects are what categorizes these games as RPG Maker horror games.

That said, these are only a few of the many RPG Maker indie horror games that cropped up in the 2000s and 2010s. There are many more still available online for free; all it takes is a little digging.

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Ao Oni is one of the earliest known RPG Maker horror games that gained massive popularity. Created by noprops and released sometime in the late 2000s, the game revolved around a student named Hiroshi and his circle of friends as they explored an abandoned mansion. Unfortunately for them, the mansion was filled with huge, mishappen monsters known as “Oni.” With its unnatural eyes and rows of sharp teeth, the titular Oni is undoubtedly one of the most terrifying monsters in the RPG Maker horror game genre.

Ao Oni’s gameplay is mostly built on solving puzzles within the mansion. Completing puzzles furthers the narrative and provides the player with useful tools that they can use later in the game. Progressing also eventually sheds light on how the strange Oni are created. However, the Oni can appear to disrupt the player’s progress at any time, initiating a chase sequence where the player must run away from the monster until it gives up.

As more YouTube creators and gaming communities took notice of Ao Oni, its popularity grew. This resulted in the game getting its own light novel, two different manga