20 of the most Exciting Trailers from the Horror Game Awards Summer Showcase 2025

Lurks Within Walls by Here Be Monsters and 2 Wedges

This was a behemoth of a showcase. 

Going in, the Horror Game Awards announced that there would be over 100 trailers and 50 WORLD PREMIERES (the latter of which didn’t start appearing on the broadcast until we were an hour in). It’s hard to truly process how many games that is until you’re fully immersed in the glow of your Smart TV screen for 2.5 hours, being treated to project after project with “blood” or “meat” or “somnia” in their titles. These were typically being presented in blocks of ten to twelve at a time. It was dizzying (it was delightful). 

In the interest of showing off as many games as possible, I’ve kept some of these observations brief. Everything deserves to find its audience–and I feel like I’m doing my part. 

Let’s just jump in–we have a lot of ground to cover. 

Leftovers KO

Have you ever wanted to play Punch-Out against the food slowly being consumed by mold in your fridge? Buddy, do I have the game for you.

I know it’s silly to kick off this article with a title that isn’t, strictly speaking, a horror game–but I felt Leftovers KO is a perfect example of why I watch every video game showcase. 

How else would I have discovered this?

Dark Mass

Dark Mass was pitched as Resident Evil underwater and that feels fitting at least from a plot standpoint. 

Mansion? Check.

Zombies? Check.

It already has great atmosphere. I just wish we could have seen some gameplay. 

Caput Mortum

It’s an interesting choice to introduce your game by promoting its unwieldy controls (complete with a demo being performed by a pair of skeletal hands). 

Maybe most importantly, Ockeroid is doing the soundtrack (they composed Crow Country) and honestly, that’s all I needed to hear to get me onboard. 

Weldiver

Weldiver is, as you may have guessed, an underwater welding adventure. As stressful as this 1.5 minutes of footage is, I’m not sure if it will lean closer to a traditional horror experience or the various career simulators that have become popular over the last few years. Either way, I don’t think I’ve ever played anything like this and I can’t wait to learn more. 

Does it have sharks? Add it to my Wishlist. 

Phase Zero

Let me tell you, I’ve shown some intense restraint by not putting every game inspired by classic Resident Evil and Silent Hill on this list. 

The fixed cameras–the sounds when transitioning between screens–the low poly rotating items–everything here makes me feel warm and fuzzy ( as warm and fuzzy as something with writhing meat hallways can make me feel, anyway). 

SSR Wives: The Murder of My Winter Crush

I’m not sure what this is, but I desperately want to play it. 

It feels like the Simple Series from the PS2 has come back from the dead and wants to hurt you. 

The character models are lovely. 

Quite a Ride

Who doesn’t want to take a relaxing ride while being stalked by the silhouettes of spindly creatures?

Quite a Ride appears to take inspiration from the 2007 adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist (this is a good thing). I’m currently most curious about its scope. Will we have an open world to explore on our bicycle or are all the roads on the straight and narrow?

Will I be able to go off some sick jumps? Will I be able to tailwhip?

FEAR FA 98

The title is a play on FIFA–which is fitting for a demonic soccer game. 

Someone do me a solid and find the name of the song and artist used in this trailer, please. 

Cult of Blood

This trailer doesn’t give us much, but the combat looks like it could become something great. Quick dodges. Crisp pistol pops. Meaty axe swings. I’m a little concerned that the enemies might block our view of our character–but hey, I can worry about that when I’m actually playing it. 

Speaking of which, the demo is available now. 

The Cave Diver

Even though I don’t consider myself claustrophobic, I can’t think of many things more terrifying than cave diving. 

The game appears to have some sort of physics based grab and pull controls as you slide your dead weight through caverns (I worry about the feel of it), but this deserves some attention for the concept alone. 

Silly Polly Beast

I’ve decided that I’m committed to becoming an obnoxious cheerleader for this game. I love everything about it and it looks better each time it’s shown. 

Overall, there’s less footage in this trailer than the one we saw at the Top Hat Studios showcase a month ago, but there’s no denying the cute demon girl skateboarding present in this one. 

Top Hat Studios is quickly becoming one of my favorite publishers. I’m ready to play everything they touch. 

Whisper Mountain Outbreak

I’m charmed by the 2D sprites navigating horrific 3D environments (and you can navigate said environments in co-op). 

I’m also excited to learn more about the skills and character progression hinted at in this trailer (you can play as a medic or a bodybuilder–you can learn new abilities through manuals, etc.). 

A demo of this is available today. The game releases on Steam on August 11th. 

Yan: Parasomnia

I can’t quite explain why, but this trailer made me feel really uneasy both times I watched it (that’s probably a good thing if you’re making a horror game). 

I’m ready to explore the dark world that Nimbus and Cerebral are crafting inside this cramped apartment complex. 

You’ve Changed

You’ve Changed is a new entry in the anomaly reporting genre. However, developer Burkus has given their project a fresh, retro pixel aesthetic. 

Don’t worry, it still looks terrifying. 

Vampire Huntress - Lament of the Sun 

Hey, it’s that vampire game I’m in love with. 

Vampire Huntress - Lament of the Sun has the look and feel of a forbidden PS2 bargain bin title (I mean this as the highest compliment I can give). It drips blood and sex in equal measure–the sort of game where your parents would come crashing into your room, uninvited, during its cutscenes. 

Also, I need to give a quick shout-out to its developer. If they hadn’t posted about this event on their social media, I might have missed the whole showcase. 

Liminal Point

“A blood-soaked head, sealed by hands and a torn blindfold. Something inside her mouth is pulsing, like a beating heart–maybe there’s a way to get it open.”

Girl, why do you want to open it so bad?

Liminal Point is basically isometric Resident Evil (however, both the item boxes AND inventory use RE4 style Tetris organization). It has a clean presentation and I feel like I know exactly what I’m getting. 

It just looks extremely polished (and I really want to play this). 

Meganaut

This trailer doesn’t give us much, but I’m including it because it accurately captures the feeling of being suspended in the void better than anything else that was shown today. 

Tenebris Somnia

Tenebris Somnia’s gimmick (not an insult) is that it masterfully mixes retro adventure game aesthetics and gameplay with live action cutscenes. 

It’s being made by Andres Borghi, the visual effects artist of the brilliant, but deeply messed up, When Evil Lurks. It’s easily one of the most interesting games in development right now, and even if the experiment ends up not being completely successful, I feel confident it will still be a dark trip worth taking. 

Artists, get cracking on your fanart of Candle Head. 

Lurks Within Walls

This is one of the coolest trailers of the event. 

Lurks Within Walls blends the gameplay of a first-person, turn-based, dungeon crawler with the creature designs of Mr. Long Horse himself, Trevor Henderson. 

Demon Spore

The opening animation in this trailer didn’t do much for me, but the gameplay pulled me back in. Demon Spore is about fast-paced survival as the floor below your characters transforms into an alien Petri dish. 

As always, go stuff your Steam Wishlists and follow the devs for updates.

This is only the beginning of Tactical Reload’s coverage of the summer video game season. We currently have firm dates for 16 press conferences and at least a couple more will be announced in the next few days (at the time of this writing, we still haven’t heard from Sony or Nintendo). If you feel like following along live, I have the schedule pinned at the top of my Twitter and BlueSky accounts (@StephenTBW). 

I’ve temporarily been released from my tutorial purgatory and plan to cover all of the shows in some capacity. I’m both excited and nervous about the amount of words I’m going to produce over the next 10 days. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! And remember, you DO have time to play everything.