There are many kinds of creepypasta out there. What started out as campfire tales and urban legends shared via the internet now incorporates various styles, topics and media, as you can see in my list of the best creepypasta of all time.
One medium that’s been given a lot of attention by creepypasta writers is video games. There’s a plethora of video creepypasta out there. The subgenre is infamous for spawning some of the worst and most ridiculous creepypasta out there.
There are, however, some I truly came to enjoy. That the reason I created a list of the best video game creepypasta.
Table of Contents
- 9. Jvk1166t.esp
- 8. Killswitch
- 7. Polybius
- 6. Lavender Town Syndrom
- 5. Ben Drowned
- 4. Pale Luna
- 3. Pokémon Black
- 2. The Theater
- 1. NES Godzilla Creepypasta
9. Jvk1166t.esp
This video game creepypasta features a Morrowind Mod called Jvk1166z.esp. The mod is cryptic, strange and only works after extensive tinkering with it.
Our narrator tries his luck with the mod, but soon gives up out of frustration. An acquaintance of his he got to know via the internet doesn’t give up so soon.
As the story continues, we learn what the narrator’s acquaintance uncovers in this weird mod.
When I was a teenager, I used to play Morrowind excessively. I loved the game and enjoyed the many details given in this story.
If you’re a fan of cryptic mysteries related to video games, check this story out.
8. Killswitch
Killswitch is written more like an urban legend than a real creepypasta and details the story of a game that was supposedly released in 1989.
What makes Killswitch such an interesting video game creepypasta isn’t the content of the game itself. At first sight, it appears to be a simple story about a cryptic and bizarre video game.
What’s interesting here are the circumstances of the game and its supposed creation. Only 5000 units of the game were ever created. They were uncopiable, and the game deleted itself after finishing.
What made it even more mysterious was the fact that the game had two playable characters, but was almost impossible to play should one choose the second one.
Killswitch is an interesting video game creepypasta, and it makes one curious if games like this actually exist. While it’s not scary, and written more like an urban legend, it’s a very creative and interesting idea.
7. Polybius
Polybius is probably the most famous video game creepypasta of all time. It’s theoretically an urban legend, but I still included it in this list, if only for its widespread popularity.
The story is about an arcade game by the same name that appeared in Portland, Oregan. The legend states that the game was highly addictive and everyone who played it suffered from side-effects. These side-effects included amnesia, night terrors, but also suicide.
After only a month, men in black removed all traces of Polybius and none of the machines were ever seen again.
Over the years, Polybius garnered a lot of attention. It was the subject of countless YouTube videos and was referenced in a variety of movies.
Polybius proves to be a very interesting story, not so much for its content, but the history surrounding it and its spread to become the dominant urban legend it is today.
6. Lavender Town Syndrom
The game series Pokémon serves to be a breeding ground for video game creepypasta. The most popular of them is Lavender Town Syndrom. It’s no understatement to say that anyone who’s heard about creepypasta has heard about it.
Once more, this is less written as creepypasta, but more like an urban legend, related to the original theme of Lavender Town.
It’s a quick read for a video game creepypasta, but still enjoyable and details a rather unsettling urban legend related to a children’s game.
5. Ben Drowned
Ah, Ben Drowned, the story who started the trend of haunted video game creepypasta. The sub-genre revolves around haunted video games which cause the people who play them to go insane or kill themselves. It makes up a huge subset of video game creepypasta and has spawned some of the worst ones out there.
Ben Drowned, however, is a rare exception. While I’m not too big a fan of haunted video games, one has to acknowledge the influence Ben Drowned had on the genre of creepypasta.
What I enjoyed most about Ben Drowned was the attention to detail. As the story continues, we read about strange glitches, additional levels or areas created out of nowhere and various other game changes.
The story itself regards a young man who buys a used game of Majora’s Mask at a yard sale. Upon starting the game, he discovers a safe file named Ben. Ignoring it, he starts the game, but notices that NPCs occasionally refer to him as Ben. This, however, is only the beginning, and the game gets progressively strange, becoming a surreal experience for the narrator.
Ben Drowned isn’t an outstanding story, but what is outstanding is the work that went into it. The story comprises elements from multiple other media. There are not only pictures showcasing what’s happening, but even actual footage of this supposedly haunted game.
Ben Drowned doesn’t end there, however. There’s an entire ARG (alternate reality game) related to Ben Drowned. I found out about it because of a YouTube video and now see the entire story in a different light.
Ben Drowned is a very long video game creepypasta about a haunted video game cartridge. While the story isn’t the best, I still consider it a fantastic work, if only for all the work that went into it and the ARG surrounding it.
4. Pale Luna
Pale Lune is among the best video game creepypasta out there.
The story revolves around an obscure text adventure only circulated in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Most people who tried the game quickly abandoned it. The game was cryptic and barely functioning.
Eventually, a young man with too much time on his hand decides to play the game himself to see if he can actually finish it.
Pale Luna is a rather short video game creepypasta, but I really enjoyed it. It’s a story about a cryptic, mysterious game and the disturbing secret hidden within.
3. Pokémon Black
Pokémon Black is another video game creepypasta regarding an obscure game, a Pokémon game.
If you ever explored video game creepypasta, you notice that there’s a plethora of Pokémon creepypasta out there. Many of them aren’t worth your time, but Pokémon Black proved to be different.
It’s not about a cursed or haunted game, but about an obscure hack by the titular name.
That’s what makes Pokémon Black so interesting and why it works so well. The hack itself isn’t dangerous, it’s merely a tale about an obscure hack that can be interpreted in many ways.
2. The Theater
Another video game creepypasta that’s not about a haunted or cursed video game cartridge. Instead, the story features a strange and glitchy game.
I don’t know why, but since the first time I read The Theater, I loved it. The mystery, the minor details, the obscure nature of the game, it all fits together fantastically.
Once more, nothing bad happens to the narrator, and instead he only describes what he experiences when playing a strange, obscure game.
The Theater is a very enjoyable, short tale, one I regard as a classic.
1. NES Godzilla Creepypasta
The NES Godzilla Creepypasta is my favorite video game creepypasta of all time.
The story revolves around a young man who wants to rekindle his childhood nostalgia. Back in the day, he loved nothing more than to play the NES game Godzilla: Monster of Monsters.
His play-through of the game starts out normal enough, but soon enough, the game glitches and changes in strange ways.
The reason I like the NES Godzilla Creepypasta is less for the story, but for the visuals, the images. The creator wasn’t satisfied by merely telling a creepy story. Instead he filled it with pixel art of entire screens, bosses and monsters.
Over the course of the story, he even describes the various levels of the game in intricate detail, the bosses, and how he’s able to defeat them.
I can’t say why, but I enjoyed this play-through-style of writing.
My biggest problem with this creepypasta, however, is the story. It’s a story about a haunted video that’s clichéd at best and lackluster at worst.
What makes it stand out, however, is the game itself, the different levels and the various monsters. For that alone, it’s a delight to read, even if the story is rather weak.
If you’re interested in video game creepypasta, this one is a must-read. However, you might want to focus more on the art and the strange game it depicts than on the story itself.