History ParanoiaFuel / VideoGames

* This is the main source of terror in ''Subnautica''. While the game itself is a survival adventure game and not a horror game, there's nothing more unnerving than treading across the seafloor of an alien planet, unable to see anything 5 feet in front of you, not knowing if the source of that echoing cry was a [[GentleGiant Reefback]] saying hello, or a [[SeaMonster colossal, vicious predator that has you on the menu]].

** Your room is entirely dark. A few seconds later, you see Freddy's blue eyes outside your door (and you hear a lullaby tune). Staying perfectly still could allow you to survive…if it's close to 6 in the morning. Hopefully you're not playing the game at night (or just wandering around during the night). You'll be worried that Freddy is nearby, ready to kill you horribly.

** The entire beginning area. You wake up alone with only a voice in your head explaining that you've been asleep for a century. Then you go out and [[AfterTheEnd everything is an overgrown ruin]] and start slowly learning of the destruction caused by [[BigBad Calamity Gannon]]. Your only ally is a single old man who gives vague and mysterious suggestions, and until you do what he says, you can't leave. At the end, you find out the old man [[spoiler: is in fact a ghost]]. Until you finally get out of this area and encounter your first Hylian NPC's, it really does feel like [[LastOfHisKind you're the only non-monster left in the world.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM}}'', its sequels, and the 2012 remake VideoGame/XComEnemyUnknown hinge much of the horror aspect of their gameplay on Paranoia Fuel. Your team of trained operatives are sent to deal with an enemy humanity knows little of, and the uncertainties of landing in a fresh new battleground covered by the FogOfWar, with no enemies in sight as your team begins moving into positions, can be very unnerving. Extra paranoia is delivered via the Terror Missions, where the aliens deploy some exceptionally dangerous and terrifying Terror Units that you can't see, sometimes until it's too late and they're in range to shoot you, or worse, run into melee range to stab, crush, or [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong impregnate you]]. The ominous background music (or lack thereof) [[NothingIsScarier does not help]].

** Stalmonsters and Yiga Clan members. The former ambush you from the ground at night, and they're pack hunters. The latter disguise themselves as travelers, then reveal their true colors once you try to talk to them. And you can't escape once you do this and know about it. If the traveler's name just says "Traveler," you're screwed. They also ambush you like Stalmonsters. Fighting one of the aforementioned Lynel or such at night? Hope you like living in fear of being mobbed by a ton of monsters while fighting a centaur monster that can beat you to a fine pulp with no sweat!
Oh, and once you beat the Yiga Clan boss, Yiga Clan members will start assaulting you at random without provocation.

** In ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'', the level Fracture Hills is ''specifically designed'' to be extreme Paranoia Fuel. The whole level is filled with bushes and trees... except that some of the bushes will try to eat you, and some of the trees will attack you with {{bee|Afraid}}s. The trees are not so bad, as the presence of a beehive will alert you to the fact that they are enemies, but the bushes are infinitely worse - they look exactly like the harmless bushes, so you won't even notice they are hostile until you're being [[NightmareFuel chewed up by one]]. By the time you've reached the end of the level you will have probably flamed every harmless tree and bush there is, just to be safe.

* ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'' has Black Sedans with unknown drivers which chase the player in certain missions in level 4, and appear in level 3.
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has Ghasts, whose cries are always heard at the same volume no matter how far away they are. The player has no idea upon hearing the sound whether the Ghast is in another cavern or right behind them. Pair that with the fact that they can detect and shoot at you from outside your render distance if you're playing with the Short or Tiny render distance and they certainly qualify as this.
** And let's not forget the Endermen: one of them could be hiding behind the next corner. You won't know until you look...but if you look at it, it will attack you. And they can teleport, so the moment you try to kill one it will be somewhere else, and you don't know where.
** Not to mention that you always hear monsters before you see them. You know there's something waiting to kill you, but WHERE IS IT? And if you built you house right over a cave, you'll have to listen to the monsters as you go about your daily activities.
*** The one exception to this rule is, of course, the [[ActionBomb Creeper]]. By the time you hear the hissing noise signalling that it's about to blow, it's already too late to run.
*** And then sometimes you ''do'' see one coming. Standing on a high ledge. Watching you. Somewhere in the world, a Creeper is plotting your death.
** Traveling in the vicinity of an abandoned mineshaft and you hear spiders? Be afraid; they're probably Cave Spiders, which are like regular spiders, only smaller and poisonous. Spiders of both breeds can detect the player through solid blocks (something only they can do!) and climb walls, and Cave Spiders can fit through a wide variety of tiny passages. If you can hear a spider in an abandoned mineshaft, it's probably a cave spider, it knows where you are, and few things short of a solid wall will stop it from reaching and murdering you.
** On higher difficulties, zombies can start beating on your house doors during the night. Unless the doors are ironclad, you have a short amount of time to dispatch them before your only safe haven is invaded, usually from multiple angles.
** Turning off the music while exploring the caves makes for a much more visceral and terrifying gameplay experience. Not only do you have no music to calm you, the absence of it leaves open a huge auditory window to every possible sound in the caves.
** A few notable [[GameMod mods]] for the game get in on the fun as well.
*** ''[[VideoGame/{{Witchery}} Bewitchment]]'' adds {{Curse}}s. At any time, another player can perform a relatively simple ritual to inflict some kind of negative status on you, ranging from temporary blindness to a wasting disease that will almost certainly kill you again and again until it wears off. The worst part is that unless you use a Crystal Ball or are familiar with the various curses, there's basically no way to know that you have been cursed and all of this will seemingly be happening for no reason whatsoever. Probably most notable for this trope is the Curse of Paranoia, which causes a player to hallucinate various threatening noises nearby, including enemy vocalizations, a creeper preparing to explode, footsteps, and an arrow being loosed. Even if you figure out that you've been struck by the curse, it's near impossible to know which of the sounds are real and which are fake, meaning that you'll always be checking over your shoulder just in case.
*** ''VideoGame/{{Thaumcraft}}'' has Warp, a kind of reality-warping SanityMeter. When a player's Warp is high, they will begin experiencing occasional auditory hallucinations similarly to ''[[VideoGame/{{Witchery}} Bewitchment's]]'' Curse of Paranoia mentioned above. Unlike that curse, Warp can also cause much more physical effects to occur, including spawning a powerful Eldritch Guardian on top of you at any time without warning.

* Antagonist roles in ''[[VideoGame/SpaceStation13 Space Station 13]]'' run on this, especially traitors and changelings.
** Really, everything about the Syndicate. They're a loose, but highly passionate criminal conglomerate of various industries bent on destroying Nano Trasen, and by extension, your beloved station and your life. Unlike Space Wizard Federation members, who are all flashy magic users in stereotypical wizard hat and robe garb, Syndicate members can be ''anybody'' you know, from a lowly assistant to even the captain, and they come in a wide variety of forms.
*** Traitors: Standard secret agents, armed with deadly high-tech spy gear. Traitors have lots of ways to kill you, but some of the worst offenders in paranoia-inducement tend to be:
*** Energy swords: [[LaserBlade Laser blades]] small enough to fit in a pocket when unactivated, making it entirely possible (and quite common) for someone to walk up to you, pull out an e-sword from their pocket, activate it, and slash you down. All it takes is three or four hits to send you into critical condition, and each swing knocks you down, so you're completely vulnerable to more hits. Even if there was a Security Officer right around the corner, they wouldn't be able to do much; e-swords block taser and energy gun shots half the time, more so if it's double-bladed.
*** Revolver: Twice as deadly as an e-sword, and since it's a gun, they don't even need to walk up to you to kill you. Two or three hits from this thing, and you're good as dead, with barely any time for a reaction dodge. The trade-off is that it's very loud, and it can't fit in pockets, but it can easily be hidden in a backpack.
*** Stechkin Pistol: Not as deadly as its big brother the revolver, but can fit in pockets, and getting an entire clip unloaded on you (which is a very common tactic) will still do loads of damage, even if you have armor on. Can be outfitted with a silencer, softening its loud sound and removing its distinct attack message, so people around you may not realize you're getting filled with lead until it's too late.
*** Miniature energy crossbow: A pocket-sized crossbow that is ''very'' silent and can launch a small bolt that, after a small delay, will knock you down without you ever knowing. Doesn't too a lot of damage, but synergizes very well with other weapons, like the aforementioned guns an e-sword.
*** Parapen: A chemical injector disguised as a tiny pen, small enough to fit in a PDA. Not as powerful as it used to be, but still very paranoia-inducing. At any point, a traitor with a parapen can walk up to you and fill you with nasty knockout chemicals, without you ever knowing until it's too late. Especially chemistry-savvy traitors will skip the knock-you-out part and replace the default mix with something like carpotoxin (constant toxin damage over time) or heparin (constant internal bleeding unless you can get a blood transfusion) and miner's salve so you won't even know you're dying without a health analyzer on hand.
*** Revolutionaries: Agents provocateur, who can instantly brainwash you into killing your own boss and the entire Command staff.
* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'' had the reveal that the world may all be a dream, and not even YOUR dream, at that, complete with what's more or less a DownerEnding. You're not expecting something like that on the [=GAME BOY=], of all consoles.
* VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild: Guardians. Unless you keep your guard up at all times, you'll be liable to be happily walking in the wilds of Hyrule, when suddenly you hear angry piano riffs and see a laser sight on you. That's a Guardian Stalker, intent on blasting the Hylian shit out of you with lasers that chop off a MINIMUM of six hearts. As soon as that reticle locks on to you, you have roughly five seconds to run the fuck away before you get annihilated. Oh, and for extra [[SarcasmMode fun,]] ''[[LightningBruiser they clamber towards you at Mach 5]]'' once they catch a glimpse of you. [[ImplacableMan They have tons of health, are incredibly durable in terms of defense, have a deceptively long sight range, will blast away anything you're hiding behind like it's nothing, won't stop when they catch wind of you, and will attempt to blast you even after all six of their legs have been hacked off.]] And worse? There are some that look like busted ones, [[JumpScare but pop back to life or out of the ground when you get too close.]] You better sneak for your life and PRAY that it doesn't turn around when one of them is in the way of your destination. And there are ''[[AirborneMooks flying]]'' versions of these, too, which are faster and much harder to incapacitate due to the propellers they have taking much more punishment than a Guardian Stalker's legs. Keep in mind that there were an army of these things protecting Ancient Hyrule.
** On a slightly more subdued level of paranoia, Lizalfos. They're HollywoodChameleons that have terrifyingly good disguises. They look like strange piles of some substance from afar [[GlamourFailure unless you use the Camera or Sheikah Scope]] and if you get too close, they wake up and bum-rush you in the time it takes you to blink. And they pack Shock Arrows.
** Talus and Pebblits can be a source of this, too. You can be minding your own business on a mountain or even just a rocky area, when you hear rocks grinding, then look up to see either a horde of walking boulders, or a giant [[TheBlank faceless]] golem ready to smush you into a fine paste. Downplayed in that Talus can drop rare gems and Pebblits are easy to chuck and break.
** Lynels. They're quiet and can likely see you before you see them. [[BerserkButton And if you have your sword drawn when they spot you]], you'd best pray you have your guard up, as they start bum-rushing you like a swarm of Japanese Sparrow Hornets. They can breathe fire, teleport, and their Shock Arrow attacks [[AlwaysAccurateAttack is so accurate it might as well be a straight up bolt of lightning.]]
** Stalmonsters and Yiga Clan members. The former ambush you from the ground at night, and they're pack hunters. The latter disguise themselves as travelers, then reveal their true colors once you try to talk to them. And you can't escape once you do this and know about it. If the traveler's name just says "Traveler," you're screwed. They also ambush you like Stalmonsters. Fighting one of the aforementioned Lynel or such at night? Hope you like living in fear of being mobbed by a ton of monsters while fighting a centaur monster that can beat you to a fine pulp with no sweat!
** The entire beginning area. You wake up alone with only a voice in your head explaining that you've been asleep for a century. Then you go out and [[AfterTheEnd everything is an overgrown ruin]] and start slowly learning of the destruction caused by [[BigBad Calamity Gannon]]. Your only ally is a single old man who gives vague and mysterious suggestions, and until you do what he says, you can't leave. At the end, you find out the old man [[spoiler: is in fact a ghost]]. Until you finally get out of this area and encounter your first Hylian NPC's, it really does feel like [[LastOfHisKind you're the only non-monster left in the world.]]
* ''VideoGame/CondemnedCriminalOrigins''.
** The house of SKX. It could very well have been your house after all.
** Also the [[MurderousMannequin Murderous Mannequins]] in the department store level. A disturbing number of lunatics have taken to adhering bits of plastic to their bodies and dressing up as the mannequins in the displays, waiting in very similar poses to the real mannequins to hop off and kill you. They have a slightly different pose from the real ones that can clue you in to their real appearence, but many players never know that it was a fake until they're getting beaten, they go up to every mannequin and whack it with a pipe, or they turn around and find that the mannequin that used to be behind them has disappeared....
* The Barnacles from ''Videogame/HalfLife'' have made people reflexively look towards the ceiling for ''years''. Which is arguably good, because the commentary for Portal stresses that it is hard for developers to get players to look up.
** Headcrabs. They can be ''anywhere.''
-->'''Game Dev''': Headcrab in every vent? Predictable. Headcrab every fourth or fifth vent? Terrifying.
** Pretty much everything in the original ''Half-Life''. What's around that corner? Is it a zombie? A turret? Is there a group of soldiers JUST behind that door with guns pointed at you? [[spoiler:Is a bullsquid going to spawn behind you when you use that health station? Is that large, empty storeroom, in fact, filled with assassins?]] The answer to all of these questions and more is YES.
* Though it's more subtle than most of the entries on this list, ''Videogame/{{Portal}}''. There is the sudden change from {{FPS}} to SurvivalHorror in the final test chamber. And the cameras, constantly watching you. And the fact that [=GLaDOS=] and the Weighted Companion Cube both evidently survive. [=GLaDOS=] should have included "paranoia" on her list of the most common symptoms to develop in test subjects.
** Opinion varies on the cameras. Some players just see them as fun things to pop off the wall using the portal gun.
** ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''. You know that really nice robot guy that's been helping you this whole time? The one who doesn't seem too bright, but is willing to help escape? Guess what, something could go horribly wrong with him. He could end up [[spoiler:corrupted by the mainframe of the lab and decide to obsessively want to test and/or kill you.]] But, [[TemptingFate what are the chances of THAT happening?]]
*** The whole plot of Portal is terrifying when you think about it: You're the only human left in an abandoned facility, everyone who worked there were killed, almost every machine out there is trying it's best to kill you too, [[AIIsACrapshoot the central AI is insane]] and the only one you can interact with and befriend is a single sentient robot. [[spoiler: A robot that can be ''corrupted/re-programed.'']]
* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' has relatively few actual monsters. However, the floor constantly creaks and the music has thumps in it, so you'll cringe every time you hear a strange noise and go cowering for the nearest dark corner. There's just enough genuine danger to make everything terrifying.

* ''[[VideoGame/WarioWare Game & Wario]]'' has a microgame called "Gamer", which tasks the player with letting 9-Volt and 18-Volt play video games past their bedtime without their mother noticing. At the lowest skill setting, you only need to keep an eye on the bedroom door, but at higher difficulties, 9-Volt's mom can peak into the room via the window ([[ThereWasADoor which she may break!]]) or come in through the TV like the dead girl from ''Film/TheRing''. The microgame was remade into a stage for the Wii U version of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', which, depending on the layout, may have 9-Volt's mom peak in through ''9-Volt's own video game console'' and potentially OneHitKO any unfortunate enough to be caught in her sights!
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''. By our very nature, every single one of us is [[spoiler: summoning not one but two {{Eldritch Abomination}}s to arrive and wipe every single one of us out!]]
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' also gives us the notion that at midnight, we turn into coffins while the world around fills with monsters, all without our knowledge. It also implies that we could be murdered by physical manifestations of our inner selves and our heads eaten from the inside out during this time! ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' introduces the concept of a total demonic world inside televisions, which can be accessed from even the TV in your own bedroom.
** Thankfully, that's not probable in RealLife. Now, [[spoiler: one of your classmates]] murdering somebody, like in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}''...
** By the way, steer clear of your TV whenever it's foggy out, be sure to look up in the power lines after it rains, and [[spoiler: the friendly neighborhood detective]] might actually be an AxCrazy SerialKiller.
* ''VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows'': The Cradle still remembers you. You're not out, it's just playing.
* ''VideoGame/{{Oddworld}}'': The field of visions for the sligs is ''very'' unclear, and they are not limited to a single screen (unusual for a 2D game at the time). So make sure your every move is made with deadly precision. Don't blink. Don't falter. Don't let go of the 'walk slowly' button... or they will get you, and all your friends, and they will chase you to the ends of the earth to make sure you're dead, [[ContinuingIsPainful taking you back to a checkpoint and making at all go to naught]].
* ''VideoGame/OmikronTheNomadSoul''. The premise was that you put your soul into this game to help defeat evil scary-ass demons, and until you finished the game, your soul was trapped.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has the Spy. He can turn invisible at will, [[LatexPerfection flawlessly disguise himself as one of your teammates]], and kill you instantly from behind. And then do it all again in less than five seconds. They can be anyone, anywhere, at any time. In the past you stay be mostly safe as long as you pumped a few rounds into ''everyone'', [[FriendlyFireproof friend or foe]], but...
** An update gave the spy a new watch that lets him potentially remain invisible ''indefinitely'' (he just needs to stay in place occasionally), and another that allows him to perfectly fake his death. In other words, this man could be in any room he likes, and you can never trust you've killed him.
** They up the ante again with Your Eternal Reward, a dagger that instantly turns the spy into whoever he just killed, cloaks the corpse, and erases the kill-icon for the unfortunate victim's teammates. The process happens so fast that most might not even realize their teammate just got skewered. Those friends you had coming up the stairs with you, that you just spychecked a minute ago, might not be who you think they are anymore...
** To top it off, it can be combined with the aforementioned watch that fakes your death. So even if you find out who the offender is, chances are he's still alive and gotten a new face now.
** And if the Spy chooses to disguise as one of his ''own'' teammates, the feign death watch drops a corpse that looks like the class he chose, not a Spy's corpse. In other words, the Spy can mask the fact that his team even ''has'' a Spy. So, unless you actually ''saw'' that enemy fire his weapon before you killed him, you can't be sure that ''he'' wasn't a Spy.
** It used to be much worse. The thing that made that combination of items a REAL pain in the [[IncrediblyLamePun back ]] is the Saharan Spy set. If a player who was playing the Spy had all three items from the set including the hat, they gained a bonus. For the Spy, the bonus was a HUGE reduction to the decloak sound that plays whenever they come out of invisibility. The draw back to it was that if you bumped into someone cloaked, you're revealed for a bit longer... But that doesn't apply to the 'feign death' watch. Now, the main draw back of the watch that fakes the Spy's death is that it gives off a very loud decloak sound... That is if you didn't have the Saharan Spy set activated. Should a player actually have this set, they were given a silent fake death, a knife that kills silently and leaves no trace, AND a revolver that will replenish the watch's cloak meter. Fortunately ([[BrokenBase at least to some]]), Valve did away with item set bonuses, so the extra bonus of the silent decloak is gone.
** Yeah, it doesn't help that in the Meet the Spy video the BLU team Spy tells his surviving comrades about a certain skilled RED Spy that managed to get in their base and has causes a lot of havok...
--->'''BLU Spy''': Zis Spy has already breached our defenses... You've seen what he's done to our colleagues! And worst of all, he could be any one of us... He could be in zis very ''room!'' He could be ''you!'' He could be ''me!'' He could even be-''[[[YourHeadASplode head demolished by BLU Soldier's shotgun]]]''\\
'''BLU Soldier''': What? It was obvious! He's the RED Spy! Watch, he's gonna turn RED any second now! Aaanny second now...See? RED! No, wait, that's blood.\\
'''BLU Heavy''': So, we still got problem?\\
'''BLU Soldier''': Big problem...Alright, who's ready to go find this Spy?\\
'''RED Spy''': ''[[spoiler:[formerly disguised as BLU Scout]]] Right behind you.''
*** In-game, there's absolutely no drawback to spychecking, since there's no teamkilling (unless the server you're playing on is running a mod that enables it). However, Meet the Spy shows us, as seen in the above-quoted dialog, that, InUniverse, mercenaries ''can'' kill their own comrades, meaning that, for characters themselves, there's an ''aditional'' layer of paranoia, created when you realize you can't even spycheck a suspicious teammate out of fear that you might actually ''kill a friendly ally by accident''.
** There is one drawback to that combo, and that is that the Spy cannot disguise normally and must make at least one kill before he is able to move freely among your comrades. This in theory should comfort you since you will see the spy coming and can at least prepare for him. However, once [[FridgeHorror you realize]] that anyone capable of pulling off a kill without being routed out themselves will likely be a ''very experienced player'' and if you do put him down for good, there's nothing stopping him from doing it again, and again, and AGAIN. In other words: This set makes the already powerful even ''more'' powerful, while ensuring anyone that isn't experienced enough to use it get weeded out very fast. Unless [[KillItWithFire you're playing as a Pyro.]]
*** The Spy-Cicle, grants the Spy protection from fire for 2 seconds if he gets hit with flames. Enough time for a cloaked Spy to escape, or for a disguised spy to dissuade the Pyro or round a corner and escape. Yes, he leaves obvious ice sculptures of his enemies when he kills, and can't use the aforementioned set combo, but the bottom line is, unless you listen for the sound it makes upon melting, you cannot be sure if you successfully spychecked an ally, or merely set a Spy back for a mere 15 seconds while his knife refreezes.
** As of ''Meet the Pyro'' we can tell that the Pyro is paranoia fuel in canon. Causing panic upon the mere sight of him, causing teammates to abandon each other in fear of [[AmbiguousGender him/her]], and making its own team nervous.
--->'''Heavy:''' I fear no man...but that ''thing''... ''[checks over his shoulder then whispers]''...it scares me...\\
'''Scout:''' No, I ain't...I ain't...I ain't talking about that ''freak'', alright? ''[struggles to get his microphone off then freezes in horror]'' He's not here, is she? ''[panics and stands up, shoving the cameraman out of his way]''
** In addition to the aforementioned Spy and Pyro, at any point in the game, you could also be surprised by the following: headshot by a camping Sniper, gibbed by a Demoman's sticky-bomb trap, pinned against the wall by an Engineer's sentry, shot full of holes by a Heavy, splattered by a rocket-jumping Soldier, or circle-strafed by a Scout. And any one of the eight could be being pocketed by a Medic, who left to his own devices [[CombatMedic isn't exactly helpless]], either...
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'': Witches. You suddenly hear a woman sobbing, and it could be coming from ''anywhere''. Personal experience has taught you that you do ''[[CurbStompBattle not]]'' want to run into the source of that sobbing. After exploring around for a while and not finding anything, you think you're safe... only for you to ignorantly shine your flashlight around the very next room, onto a woman with [[RedEyesTakeWarning glowing red eyes]] [[OhCrap staring directly at you]]...
* Tonberries from the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series have a counter-attack based on how many enemies a character killed, meaning they '''know''' how many enemies each character killed. ''They know what you're doing, even when you can't see them they're watching you''.
** The enigmatic note you get before you fight them in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2''. "Once more, I pick up my knife. I'm coming for you." Phew.
** Emerald WEAPON in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Somewhere, in an ocean darker than a black hole, with nobody else around, there's a possibility that a GIANT GREEN DEATH MACHINE could be following your little submarine, or waiting for you to go to a certain area that it may be hovering over, or may be right underneath your sub when you dive underwater, or could be right inside that cave entrance there... if you get close enough, you can barely see its green-ish silhouette swimming around, just DARING you to try and sneak past it without getting caught. The actual fight is nothing compared to the prospect of a WEAPON sneaking around like Solid Snake, waiting for a chance to pop out of nowhere, scare the crap out of you, then murder you [[DeaderThanDead until you're dead.]]
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' has the last floor of the Floating Fortress, and this floor is a long and straight corridor leading up to the altar where you can fight the boss. Along this corridor, every time the RandomEncounters FightWoosh goes off you can expect the usual enemy waves...with a 63/64 chance. That one other 1/64? Say hello to [=WarMECH=], a BossInMookClothing that will most likely murder your entire party by ambushing you and casting NUKE and has the HP of a typical boss. Are you playing a version that doesn't let you save anywhere? Hope you have the patience to do ''two'' dungeons all over again!

* ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin]]'' leaves us with the unsettling idea that any door we pass through could, any instant, lead us to somewhere completely different from where we intended to go. Plus the possibility that at any given moment, you could turn around and '''OH JESUS SHE'S RIGHT THERE GRABBING ME-'''
* ''VideoGame/FatalFrame''. There are hostile ghost and non-hostile ones, along with ones that will help you. You don't always know this when they appear. Sometimes the ghosts won't give any indication that they're one or the other until you start moving towards them. It doesn't help that the atmosphere of the games contribute to the entire idea that something could jump out and try to kill you at any moment... it's just meant to have to sitting on the edge of your seat ready to jump and hit pause the moment something jumps out of you. There's no shortage of creepy moments in the games that make you THINK something will happen, but not, so then you just wind up feeling that everything is trying to screw with you.

* Not even ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' is safe.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', Old Chateau, Pre-National Dex. You will not be able to sit near an off TV for days without looking at it out of suspicion. And the Pokémon this is connected to isn't much better, considering it can control other electronics in ''Platinum'' (A washer, fan, lawnmower, refrigerator, or microwave oven). If that thing wasn't on your side when it possesses the lawnmower...
** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver]]'' has a photographer that apparently follows you EVERYWHERE. Your player character is a 10-year-old child. And he takes photos of you. Quite creepy...
*** Also the callers from the phone mechanic somehow always know what you've done. And then there's Juggler Irwin, who only says something like "Every time I think back on your adventures, I'm left in awe." and hangs up. Though in ''Crystal'', he only acts like a stalker if you're playing as a girl. [[ThatCameOutWrong Wait, that didn't help...]]
*** Pokémon can follow you around in this game. If you talk to them, they'll perform an action. When you're in Victory Road, your Pokémon will "Cautiously eye the trap". ''What is "The trap"?''
** Cipher's activities in [[VideoGame/PokemonColosseum Orre]] cement them as the patron saints of this trope.
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonColosseum Phenac City]]. In ''Colosseum'', [[spoiler:Mayor Es Cade is really Cipher's Grand Master Evice, and nobody seems to notice the evil hanging over their heads.]] In ''XD'', however, [[spoiler:''everyone in town'' is a disguised [[{{Mooks}} Peon]], and the real mayor's incomplete note is the only hint as to the truth behind the entire town.]]
*** [[CeilingCling Ceiling]] [[BeingWatched Peons]]. ''[[NightmareFuel/{{Pokemon}} Everywhere.]] '''[[UpToEleven Even on the elevator.]]'''''
*** Cipher does its damned best to keep its very ''existence'' confidential - you only know about it if you're in Orre, and that's because Wes caused a ruckus. Nobody outside the group knows just ''what'' they're planning, as whenever someone other than Wes and Michael ''try'', they take action to keep the public from figuring out. Cute red-headed girl sees the black aura around a Makuhita? ''Sack her and take her back to headquarters!'' Running low on Pokémon for personnel armament? ''[[SaharanShipwreck Steal a cargo ship]] and [[NeverSayDie throw the crew overboard]]!'' Vital data about to be compromised because that brat with [[PhlebotinumRebel stolen technology]] snuck a disc off your admin? ''Raid the fucking news station and [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill scrub their mainframe]]!!''
** So, in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', N mentions he ordered the [[McNinja Shadow Triad]] to keep tabs on you whenever he can't [[StalkerWithACrush follow you around himself]]. To make things worse, the Triad are very fussy about taking orders that contradict those of their actual boss, but don't balk at N doing this, so either there's a standing "Obey N unless it directly interferes with me" order, or [[spoiler: Ghetsis also wants them to watch you]].
** In ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'', the Hoenn News Network will announce everything about you. Just catch a Pokémon or pick up an item? The HNN will ''announce it to everybody''.
* In ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', it's set up very early that around any corner, behind any door, ''when you turn around'' there could be someone there, standing quietly waiting to kill you, and ''nothing is as it seems''. [[spoiler: e.g. the splicer woman standing over her baby carriage cooing to her "baby", which is actually a gun and who will try to ''murder'' you if you get close enough.]] The rest of the game should go by in a mix of acute shock, horror and paranoia if they did it right, which they did.
** Would you kindly do something for me?
** Upgraded in [[VideoGame/BioShock2 the sequel]], where Lamb will tell her followers [[BigBrotherIsWatching Big Sister is Watching]].

* Playing ''VideoGame/{{Tenchu}}'' for more then two hours will leave you in absolute paranoia. Ninjas could come from anywhere this very second. ''Shadow Asassins'' made it even worse, allowing the Ninjas to hide in dark corners, pots, under the ground, in a cupboard, in the ceiling, behind doors, ''under your seat''.
** A similar thing occurs with playing ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' and being around bald men... is that person really a police officer? Why is there a syringe in his hand...? Heck, it may not even come to that: 47 doesn't even need the personal touch to get the job done. [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident All he needs is a wrench, a gas lamp, and the knowledge that his target likes to smoke]]. Forget looking out for bald men: the mark will never even know he was there.
** What further adds to the Paranoia Fuel of Agent 47 is that he's ShroudedInMyth. He's considered an urban legend among both the civilian populace and law enforcement, someone on par with Bloody Mary or Slenderman. Except he's real, his reputation is in no way exaggerated, and the wealthy 1% have him on speed dial.

* In ''VideoGame/MartianGothicUnification'', if two of your characters enter the same room, all three of them fuse together into a type of monster that you've been dealing with. Imagine, you could just come across someone, and suddenly be fused into a horrific monster.
* ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' will have you routinely dismembering corpses whenever you enter a room for fear of "infectors". As this game features "strategic dismemberment" as a game-play mechanic this tends to produce a lot of gore.
** The necromorphs that make up a majority of the enemies you encounter in the game tend to pop out of vents. The game sometimes exploits this by leaving an open AC vent or scripting noises that sound like something is crawling in the vents that eventually amount to nothing.
*** Also, there is a scripted event in which a necromorph will get the jump on you should you use a particular upgrading bench. At ''no'' other point in the game will you risk being attacked while you use a bench, provided you first check to make sure there are no space zombies around. But that single one scripted event will make you nervous every time you use a bench afterwards.
** The vacuum areas are already bad enough due to the fact that you have to monitor your air supply in order to avoid suffocating to death, but since [[ShownTheirWork there are no sounds in a vacuum]], you can only rely on your sight to spot necromorphs. Which means that you'll likely end up walking into a vacuum area thinking there is nothing there, and next thing you know, you have to shake a hungry abomination off your back while a few more gang up on you from behind. Suddenly, you think the creepy sounds necromorphs usually make aren't that bad : at least, outside of vacuums, you can ''hear'' them coming.
* The Creator/{{Infocom}} InteractiveFiction game ''VideoGame/AMindForeverVoyaging'' invokes this in its [[{{Feelies}} prologue]]: "You have spent twenty years living a normal, unsuspecting life. You are YOU. The suddenly, one day, the universe around you is torn away, and you learn that your whole life has been a charade, a carefully calculated scientific experiment. Perhaps, at this very moment, you are a normal human being, sitting in some comfortable armchair reading this story. But - perhaps you are not."
* In ''VideoGame/{{Eversion}}'', [[spoiler:dying in the later stages will sometimes replace the "READY!" prompt with "BEHIND YOU" or "I SEE YOU".]] Or [[spoiler:"GIVE UP".]] Or [[spoiler:[[FissionMailed "GAME OVER"]].]] Or [[spoiler:just a [[NothingIsScarier plain black screen]]]]. The [[spoiler:"I SEE YOU"]] message seems to be foreshadowing for something that happens after the game is cleared with the good ending. On the other hand, the [[spoiler:"I SEE YOU", "STOP"]] messages are particularly disturbing when you are making modifications on the game's files.
* The MilkmanConspiracy level in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' is a level based on paranoia fuel, a given when the level takes place inside a conspiracy theorist's psyche. It includes shady (albeit hilariously inept) [[TheMenInBlack Men in Black]] figures, [[GirlScoutsAreEvil a cult of Girl Scouts dedicated to keeping the Milkman hidden]], and almost every thing in the level will sprout a camera or a pair of eyes (so much so that using clairvoyance on them actually gives you a view of yourself) when you're not facing them. They are all somehow obsessed with the "true nature" the Milkman, a split personality of the person whose head you're running around in, who runs around filled with TranquilFury and throwing around milk-bottle Molotov Cocktails. Some of the lines from Boyd Cooper/The Milkman show exactly how paranoid this level can make you feel.
** [[NightmareFuel "My milk is filled with what the world wants. What the world deserves."]]
** Just stand around listening to Boyd for awhile. He says the most inane things, but the tone he says them in can make them absolutely horrifying. Think "I'm dropping out of this yogurt convention-- there's no fruit at the bottom!" sounds funny? It's not. Then we get gems like [[IronicNurseryTune "I scream, you scream, we all scream, we all scream"]]
* ''VideoGame/TheSuffering''. The games involve places filled with evil spawning murderous Malefactors embodying the sins that tainted them -- possibly because the evil eventually [[GeniusLoci makes the places sentient and malevolent.]] Where the Paranoia Fuel comes in is that it's implied that there isn't ''anywhere'' people have lived that hasn't built up enough evil for this -- it's just waiting for the right catalyst to bring it out.
* If you leave a game of Bookworm Adventures 2 idle for long enough, Lex will say "How long does it take to go to the bathroom?" Perfectly innocent and amusing...unless you happen to be in the bathroom wearing wireless headphones at the time. Lex is watching.

* Chapter 2 of ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', Osohe Castle - Anyone who has played ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' knows as soon as they see one of the abstract paintings that they -are- going to attack you. The problem is, most of them really are just paintings. "Most", not "all".
** [[MushroomSamba Tanetane Island]]
--> [[spoiler: '''Claus''': Everyone's waiting for you, Lucas. Waiting to throw rocks at you, to spit on you, to make your life a living hell. Who's everyone? ''[[NightmareFuel ...Everyone you love.]]'']]
** Then there's the [[OneHitKO Ultimate]] [[NightmareFuel Chimera]]. Thought you left it behind in the Chimera Lab? ''Wrong. Dead wrong.'' It escaped, and managed to get from a science lab on the Nowhere Islands to [[spoiler: a bathroom in an extremely well-secured building in a city that's ''floating possibly miles above the ground''.]] Where else could it be hiding...?
* The Garry's Mod mod [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAVaeb70z_0 The Harmless Companion Cube]]. Manages OffscreenTeleportation... in a FirstPersonShooter via pure physics.
** A well done horror-esque movie about said [[http://www.wegame.com/watch/Paranoia/ cube]]
** well, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13YlEPwOfmk I'll just leave this here]]...
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', and ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'' missions [[spoiler: "Shock and Awe" and "No Russian"]]. Consider the fact that neither event is even slightly fantastical nowadays, and actually a very real possibility.
** ''Modern Warfare 3'' showed that both events were led by one man, rather than just No Russian. This is just as possible as the events themselves. Think: a madman who "trades blood for money" could rise up and turn one of the Earth's superpowers into his own private army, then train all the nukes under his thumb onto one of the other superpowers. Why? [[ForTheEvulz Fuck you, that's why.]]
* The Cocytans in ''VideoGame/TheDig'' are nice enough once you save them, apart from the comment their leader makes about how "if any of your people try to pick a fight with us, ''[[CurbstompBattle we'll mash them like bugs]]''." In context, what he meant to say was "don't worry, we can take care of ourselves" in response to Commander Low cautioning him that not all humans would be as amenable to the idea of alien contact; but the ''way'' he said it, it makes one worry about what would happen if the Cocytans ever gave humankind a ''good reason'' to "pick a fight" with them...
* Small one in ''VideoGame/MarioPartyDS''. Boo's trophy description's last couple lines: "Do you think he's a nice ghost? Ask him yourself. He's right behind you."
** For that matter, Boos in general. There could be one behind you right now, sneaking up for the kill. Or there could be one right ''in front of you'', waiting for you to turn around.
* Forgetting the incredible VideoGameCrueltyPotential and the fact that you play as a NighInvulnerable [[IAmAHumanitarian cannibal]] [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifter]] and ''think'' about the concept. [[VideoGame/{{Prototype}} Alex Mercer]] is capable of taking ''anyone's'' identity, even being capable of mimicking the sound of someone's voice when they're talking with a gas mask on ([[spoiler:as Karen Parker found out the hard way]]), and is known to the city at large as a violent, sociopathic bio-terrorist. Just think about trying to live in the BigApplesauce with that knowledge and getting to sleep at night. Granted, Alex tends not to go after civilians except by accident, but that doesn't bring any comfort to anyone in the military. It's not a surprise the "Patsy" ability works so well.
* ''VideoGame/TheSims''. On the surface it's a harmless simulation game. But when you start thinking about the premise...what if there is some higher "player" capitolizing on VideoGameCrueltyPotential manipulating your every move and controlling your entire life? And [[YouCantFightFate there's nothing you can do about it]]. * Shudder*
* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'''s Dark Matter. Already frightening, it just gets scarier if you think about it. After all, someone who is possessed by Dark Matter doesn't have to show any symptoms. Anyone you know could be the puppets of an EldritchAbomination: your friends, your family, your pets... In fact, can you be sure that YOU aren't possessed! Those thoughts in your head-are they yours, or is someone else thinking them for you?
* ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve''. [[spoiler: Realize, if you will, that there are small intelligent life forms living inside EVERY SINGLE CELL of your body. Now, imagine if one day they decided to revolt...]]
* [[SpiritWorld The Fade]] in ''Franchise/DragonAge'' is pretty disturbing. The realm of spirits and demons, it is the place where everyone visits when they dream, except for Dwarves. Usually one can sleep peacefully without any worries and if you do get the attention of any demons, you will usually just wake up and only vaguely remember it as a bad dream. However, if you are a Mage you remain self-aware that you are in the Fade, increasing the risk that a Demon will be attracted to you, intending to hitch a ride into the waking world by possessing your body, transforming it into an abomination. As people are very well aware of this, all mages are forced to join a Circle when their ability is discovered, where they are monitored by templars all day round for the rest of their lives, to be slain instantly on any sign of possession. Everyone who refuses to join a circle or tries to escapes is killed as well. The only way to completely avoid this is to be cut off from the Fade entirely by being made Tranquil, a process that is essentially a magical lobotomy that robs you of all magical potential, the ability to dream, and the ability to feel any emotion at all.
** How about in Ortan Thaig when you begin heading deep in and the spiders who have been ambushing you all this time run away back to their lairs it almost feels as if theres something even scarier up ahead.

* [[http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=126769 They're]] [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 watching you.]]
* In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3,'' on your way to the Seeker Missile, you walk past shielded tubes containing Metroids. Guess what happens when you get the item.
** But your paranoia fuel isn't enough to prepare yourself for how these Metroids works. You expect to be able to shoot the Ice Missiles at the Metroids since ice has been the easiest way to kill Metroids since the first game so you shoot the missile at the metroid and the Metroid just phases and the Missile just passes through. Cue major Freak Out.
** The biggest source of Paranoia Fuel has to be the [[VideoGame/MetroidFusion SA-X]]. You first see it right after you go down the elevator to the Sectors, blasting right through a wall that you just passed. Even worse, you start to realize that this evil clone could turn up ''anywhere'' and blast Samus to bits without breaking a sweat.
*** You enter a room. It's quiet. Then, you hear it. '''TAP TAP TAP.''' Coupled with that bone-chilling ambiance, it's like a bucket of ice water down your back. And you ''pray'' it doesn't turn into '''DAAA DA-DA-DA DA-DA-DA''' because then '''it sees you'''.
*** Players tend to lose their paranoia after actually dying to the SA-X the first time, as it has a pretty basic intelligence. For the most part, it just tries to catch up to Samus, freeze her, and shoot a missile- not even checking to make sure it is on the same level as the ''immobile'' target it is going after, meaning it could very well miss a frozen target. Hilariously, this knock-off Samus can easily be dodged if you know its behavior. Cue [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Ap14qUORo Yakety SA-X]].
*** For those who played ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' Sometimes SA-X is such a Paranoia Fuel that you can't listen to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2OPPfSxEVY its theme]] without hearing its footsteps.
* In ''VideoGame/ShadowOfDestiny'', the game starts with you getting murdered out of ''nowhere'', and you don't know why--and you don't get murdered just once like that. By the time you have finished the game and know the reason for your murder ([[spoiler: your time traveling to save your own life will set off a chain of events that the ''villain'' needs to be born, depending on your ending]]), you're already wondering whether death really could be lurking around ''every'' corner.
* The [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]] in ''Franchise/MassEffect''. '''[[VillainOverride ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL.]]'''
** And by extension, [[AndIMustScream indoctrination.]] Undeniably a FateWorseThanDeath and once you even realize what's happening to you, [[NightmareFuel it's already too late.]]
** It gets worse in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' where indoctrinated agents may be everywhere. You think you're safe? Maybe in the six months you were away from action one of your friends was captured and indoctrinated, and you have no real way to be sure, until they prove loyalty to you... or to the reapers. There are some examples in-game of characters appearing to be your friends, until they reveal their indoctrination.
*** The Indoctrination Theory, a fan theory that arose following the release of ''Mass Effect 3'', proposed that the original ending to the game, which contained various inconsistencies & plot holes, was actually Shepard undergoing Reaper indcotrination. People have torn the game apart looking for proof this theory is accurate, even finding a subtle audio effect that wouldn't be picked up by speakers, but only occurs in certain places, usually when Reaper technology & agents are around. [[spoiler:It's when people found it in places they didn't expect it - Like whenever Major Coates, a minor character from the end of the game, is around - that this trope really kicks in]].
** The Shadow Broker, a covert information broker.
*** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', a sidequest provided by former squadmate Liara has Shepard hunting a Shadow Broker spy on Illium, only going off datalogs HiddenInPlainSight. [[spoiler:The spy is actaully Liara's secretary]].
*** The "Lair of the Shadow Broker" actually has Shepard & Liara tracking down the Shadow Broker. Completing the DLC [[spoiler:has Liara take his role, and upon returning to the Broker's ship, she's collected some data you might be interested in - several personal files regarding Shepard's crew. As in medical records, emails, covert mission logs...]]
** Also from ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', is what happens if the player betrays the Krogan if Wrex is still alive. [[spoiler:He confronts Shepard about it, but doesn't reveal who told him, meaning it's very possible the Shadow Broker a.k.a Liara was the one who did it.]]
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'''s ''Leviathan'' {{DLC}} adds some more paranoia fuel. All three of the new locations are in star clusters that had been visited in the previous game. One of those locations was even in a ''system'' that had been visited in the previous game and had been in its current state for more than ten years. The series takes place over the course of 3-4 at most. It makes the player wonder what else they've flown by over the course of the series, completely oblivious. It's even lampshaded by a squadmate.
* ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's]]'' use of YouALLLookFamiliar for multiplayer [[FridgeBrilliance may actually be for this]]. With all the [=NPCs=] looking like the playable characters, how do you know which ones are the other players? Newbies will give themselves away with High Profile actions like running around and going on rooftops, but experts will hide in the crowds, waiting for you to pass by, and then OHSHITWHEREDIDTHISGUYCOMEFRO- poof, YetAnotherStupidDeath.
** When Ezio uses his "Call Assassins" ability, the Assassins will often leap down off roofs or ride in on horseback to kill your target. But if there's a hide spot like a well, haystack, or roof garden nearby, the Assassin will leap out of there with no warning - leaving one with the unsettling suspicion that ''every hide spot in the game'' has an Assassin waiting there.
*** This also adds a bit of humor value to whenever you drop into one of the hide spots. Imagine all those Assassins trying to fit inside that hay cart!
*** Somewhat supported by the dev team's explanation that the Assassin apprentices in the game are his bodyguard team when not deployed on missions elsewhere (though the ''Project Legacy'' Facebook game has him training Assassin apprentices who just do missions), so except for certain missions and the final Sequence, they ''are'' following him the whole time. On the other hand, ''we'' never see them enter their hiding spots...
*** Subtly reinforced by how Seekers -- the guards who would [[GenreSavvy poke any hay carts or haystacks they came across on their patrol routes]] -- appear more frequently than they ever did in ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII Assassin's Creed II]]'', although the devs explained that as being a historical nod (to the rise of pike-and-shot tactics).
** Let's take a step back and look at the "original" Assassin, Altair. The guy makes his way through the Holy Land killing {{Mooks}} and big names without ever getting caught. Why is that? ''Because people just don't see him coming until it's too late!'' If done right he looks just like a harmless guy walking around until his target suddenly has a blade in his throat. And after that he fights off dozens of armed guards without taking a hit or getting ''any blood on him''. Think about living in the time this guy was active, maybe even as a Templar. It's a wonder most of them managed to sleep at night.
* ''VideoGame/{{Riven}}''. Notice anything different? [[spoiler:Gehn screwed up. AGAIN.]]
* From Kongai: A stealthed, deadly, unpredictable killing machine, Angelan just might be behind you RIGHT NOW!
* Any Stealth game provokes the feeling that there could be a quiet, well-armed man sneaking around near you right now. No, don't bother looking. He could be on the ceiling. Or maybe he's coming tomorrow. Or maybe he's already been there, and [[VideoGame/SplinterCell his superiors said not to kill you]]. And it doesn't matter where you are. Work, home, airport, third world country, castle...
* ''VideoGame/DrChaos''. You have to open doors and cabinets to find weapons... unless a boss jumps out an kills you because you don't have the weapons to defend yourself.
* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'': Every bit about [[RealityWarper Yukari Yakumo]] and her eye-filled tears in reality. Her power over boundaries allows her to snatch anyone from outside world to put into Gensoukyou. Since "boundaries" are everywhere, you can potentially step into Gensokyo just by passing through an otherwise normal door ''inside your own home''... Or by lying in bed and crossing the boundary between being awake and asleep... That she's heavily implied to know more-or-less ''everything'' that goes on in Gensoukyou and is outright confirmed to have spies in the outside world as well are also facts that can stir up quite a bit of worry.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' is an intensely creepy game in itself (because you're wandering around a dark, dirty insane asylum), and it doesn't help later in the game which takes place [[spoiler: in Arkham's Cell blocks]] where you [[spoiler: Pass through a room filled with screaming loonies in cells.]]. The Paranoia fuel really starts when [[spoiler: ALL of the prisoners are released and you are forced to go back through the dark cell blocks, afraid that one could just leap out on you at any moment...]]
** Subversion 1: You have Detective Mode, which reveals hiding loonies from quite a distance, giving you plenty of time to prepare.
*** It doesn't show them if they're in the ceiling somewhere.
** Subversion 2: ''You're Batman.''
*** One of the areas you have to find to get all of the Riddles that the Riddler leaves around the Island is Scarecrow's hideout. Take a close look at those photos on the walls. Notice anything? Yup, that's right, [[spoiler: he's been ''watching you the entire game'', waiting for you to show up just so he can attack you with fear toxin]]... Other such fun, paranoia-inducing touches include that creepy Joker mannequin in the visitor's center (hint: turn around when you reach the door), the fact that since the Joker controls the whole asylum and is taunting you over the PA system, that means he's ''also'' watching you (and he even leaves you 'presents' as a reward for jumping through his hoops), and Killer Croc's two little foreshadowing threats earlier in the game that lead up to [[spoiler: you having to go into his lair while he stalks you the whole. Time]].
* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront'', battles can go horribly wrong for you, leaving a huge army on the opposing side and only YOU on your side.
** The real paranoia comes when you're the last guy on your team and you suddenly hear "Darth Vader has entered the battle"
* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' series:
** The first game has The Final Trial. There are only small tests around a linear path and no enemies. Even though the level looks quite colorful, you just can't help but to feel wrong each time you land there. The music hides an incredibly eerie undertone in an otherwise happy and cheery music. This, combined with the fact that it seems that only you and your pikmins are in that place, makes for some creepy final level. At the very end of the stage, [[spoiler:your fears become justified as it holds the final boss, the Emperor Bulbax, appearing out of the ground.]]
** Anyone who's played ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin 2}}'' knows that when you're in the caves, ANYTHING can suddenly drop on you at ANYTIME. In fact, when you're above ground in the Perplexing Pool after a certain number of days, a BEADY LONG LEGS can drop down on you out of nowhere.
*** It doesn't help that there are cases where stuff can fall on you when you walk into a spot you've already been in & there even seem to be cases where things only fall if your Pikmin walk under their vicinity while carrying something.
*** Well, the Beady Long Legs only appears right in front of the landing area, so you do know where it is, but since it's huge and dangerous, you have to kill it if you still need one of the above-ground treasures.
*** The Waterwraith. He comes down to kill all your Pikmin if you spend too long on a floor in his dungeon. How long? You don't know. You can spend a while doing your business and dreading the inevitable moment this ImplacableMan makes its appearance.
*** Creeping chrysanthemums are monsters that hide underground showing only their flowers. The flowers look like margarets except they have eyes that are hard to notice. If you look up Creeping Chrysanthemum in the piklopedia it sometimes shows one hiding in a flower pot. That flower pot is actually in a level & you have to throw your white pikmin into it so they'll dig up a treasure but there are margarets in it.
** In the third game, idling Rock Pikmin sometimes squeal like they're being attacked, which invariably provokes frantically swinging the camera around for the nonexistent enemy that snuck up on you to gobble them up.
* This is a nice website you got here. Shame if something happened to it. [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} SSSSSSSSSSSSS...]]
* ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy''. Are you sure that that tree isn't going to kill you? How about the lamp in your bedroom? Have you checked those bathroom tiles recently? As far as you know, even [[EverythingTryingToKillYou this TVTropes page]] could be a trap...
** PlatformHell in general will do this to you. After dying to traps about 100 times, even the ground where you start the next level may very well be a pitfall trap. That 1-up in the air? Either it triggers an instant kill trap when collected, or the 1-up itself kills you!

* The obscure shooter Chimera Beast does this with its good ending. It says this, and I quote: [[spoiler: "EATERS have destroyed the entire ecosystem of the planet, which is now in ruin. Now the EATERS will roam the universe in search of more victims. Repeating their pattern of destruction on each planet they find. Eventually, they'll undoubtedly reach the Earth. And you'll have to live with the knowledge that what led them there was...you."]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''
** Just exploring the wastes can become this. You never know if that buzzing you hear in ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'' is just ambient noise, or if it's [[DemonicSpiders a group of Cazadores]] trying to sneak up on you.
** It gets worse in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}''. You think Deathclaws are bad news? Wait until you have your first run-in with a '''''[[ChameleonCamouflage Chameleon]]''''' Deathclaw! You'll never be able to walk through the wastes again without fear of getting struck by these nigh-invisible devils.
* Then there's chapter 2-4 in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''. Mimi, a shapeshifting villain, will stalk you throughout the basement of the mansion while in her nightmarish "true form." If you spend too much time in one room, you'll hear that chinging sound as the chase music starts up and she comes raining down on you.
** Then there's Dimentio. Things he says and does throughout the story imply that he can just appear in front of you at any time or place and [[FelonyMisdemeanor say weird, rhyming similes.]] [[spoiler: Between chapter 6 and 7, Dimentio shows up at the house you've been spending time at and ''nukes Mario, Peach, and Bowser to death''. The way he did this implies he could have done this at any point if he wanted to. Luckily for you, it's part of a plan that he needs you alive for and doing this actually helps you.]]
* [[SIRENBloodCurse Bella]]! It's mummy. I came to get you!
* After the first time a [[ChestMonster Mimic]] instantly devours you when you try to open it in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' you will probably attack every chest you see.
* The later levels of ''D/Generation'' have enemies that can disguise as hostages or nearly anything in the environment - furniture, potted plants, and more. If you get too close, they'll shift form and decapitate you for an instant kill. Even better yet, they're immune to your laser gun, and they'll chase you from room to room until one of you dies!
* I'm not the only one who has thought that difficult parts of any game are programmed to predict your movements and outright screw you right?
** Every game (especially {{Role Playing Game}}s or any kind of strategy game) will make you feel this way at least once. Then ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'' came along, and it actually ''is'' programmed to predict your movements. After you've chosen your strategy, the computer will choose its. Choose to counter special moves, it'll use a physical move.
* After your first encounter with a dragon in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', you'll likely flinch every time you see a shadow fall over you. Even if it's just a bird.
** The worst part is that the ambient "wind blowing past your ears" sound effects are hard to distinguish from the "flap of enormous leathery wings" sound effects. Actually, no, the worst part is that far enough into the game, ''every time'' you enter an area there's a chance a dragon might swoop down out of nowhere.
** The ''Dawnguard'' expansion adds random vampire attacks at night inside cities. Those walls no longer protect you....
** ''Dawnguard'' also adds a random encounter in the form of a "Traveler" who is actually a vampire who stalks and kills a random NPC in the area. He doesn't show up as a hostile, either, so you have to keep your eyes open, because you ''never'' really know when he'll show up. Paranoia at its finest!
** One quest in the game tasks you with killing the owner of an orphanage named Grelod [[IronicNickname the Kind]]. About a day after her death, you'll receive a message from a courier, consisting only of a black hand print and two words: "[[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140313225353/elderscrolls/images/4/4a/We_Know.png We know.]]" Who knows? How do they know? What will they do with what they know? Hope you didn't need any sleep...
** One unique area is Frostflow Lighthouse, the story of which is that a family had moved in there and was slain by the [[TheMorlocks Falmer]] and [[BigCreepyCrawlies Chaurus]] that had previously set up shop there. This is morbid enough on its own, but then there's the fact that you can frequently hear the Chaurus skittering.
* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'':
** This is actually used as a gameplay mechanic in form of the playable champion Nocturne. Nocturne's ultimate ability (aptly named Paranoia) causes the enemy team to lose sight over the entire map save for their sight radius, making it impossible for them to see where their allies and what they are seeing. In addition, while Paranoia is active, Nocturne can target an enemy and leap towards them, flying over terrain at high speed. Combine this with the fact that he's always played as a roaming ambusher, and you have a champion whose mere presence is a psychological weapon. The team playing against Nocturne is never going to feel safe, as Nocturne can turn the tables of any fight against them, and their own teammates won't even know you're being targeted to begin with!
** Fiddlesticks is another good one. Fiddle is infamous for his Crowstorm ganks, which consists of a cackling scarecrow popping out of the bushes, surrounded by a ravenous flock of crows when you least expect it. If he hasn't been seen for awhile, it's probably because-[[MemeticMutation CAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAW]].
** The pre-match loading screen comes with a helpful tip or Did You Know lore tidbit. One of them says "Did You Know: [[SuperPersistentPredator Warwick]] is hunting you right now."
* Blood is one of your most useful resources in ''VideoGame/{{killer7}}''. It heals you, it upgrades you, it lets you perform special attacks and abilities... then [[spoiler: Andrei Ulmeyda]] turns into a Smile. This is a man who has experimented on his blood to create vaccines. As in, his blood is disease filled, but he became immune to these diseases. When he finally loses his resistance to becoming a Smile, it's revealed his blood is so diseased that to anyone who has not drank his blood or the player character(s), it is ACIDIC.
* If you wander around at night in ''VideoGame/{{Drakkhen}}'', the constellations may randomly form into powerful monsters that can kill everyone. You'll never want to travel at night ever again.
* ''VideoGame/HellNight'', a UsefulNotes/PlayStation game released [[NoExportForYou only in Europe and Japan]], has this in spades. The game is played in first person, and casts the player in the role of an average Joe salaryman trying to escape from the underground areas of Tokyo as he is stalked by a constantly-mutating humanoid monster for some reason. The high school girl that the main character is partnered with at the beginning of the game can detect the monster's presence somehow and will tell you were he is... usually. Another scary part of the game is that NPC[=s=] are not visible outside of individual rooms until you walk right up to them, making for some unpleasant surprises, especially if you haven't come down from the adrenaline rush of encountering and escaping the monster at the time.
* ''VideoGame/MegamanBattleNetwork'': The series has green floating [=NPCs=] with bunny ear-shaped hands on their head called "Mr. Progs" that provide tutorial[=/=]useful advice. Talking to them is usually required in dungeons, or at the very least will give you an advantage by telling you the right course of action without guesswork. Then [[VideoGame/MegamanBattleNetwork1 the first game]] introduced "Alt Progs" in the [[ThatOneLevel Power Plant]], already a miserable level due to its "[[ContinuingIsPainful no HP replenishment after battle]]" gimmick and the pressure of completing the level as quickly as possible to prevent the in-game battery from running out[[note]]You can recharge it should it go out... but the game doesn't tell you this, which is itself a kind of Paranoia Fuel[[/note]], and made players terrified of even going near them. Alt Progs look ''[[TheyLookLikeUsNow identical]]'' to normal Mr. Progs, but if talked they will battle you, and they're the toughest virus in the entire game, using both Area Grab and an electric orb that spins around them that causes moving to damage you if it hits to lock you in. Should the player let them use Area Grab twice, you will be forced to move with frame-perfect timing to avoid the orb ([[MortonsFork which itself might eventually kill you because moving also resets the cooldown of the effect]]). So naturally, the only solution is to just not talk with any Mr. Prog, ever... except there are some of them scattered across the power plant maps who give you the all-important tip of 'no batteries are ever adjacent to each other in the puzzles' which if not listened to will cause the player to run out of batteries many, many times as they futilely try to complete the puzzles in the area without full knowledge of the rules. Starting with the third area, [[DemonicSpiders they're added to the random encounter pool]], lessing the paranoia somewhat, but you still wouldn't want to run up and talk to a Mr. Prog in that dungeon even then.
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' isn't a horror game by any stretch, but certain areas can feel like this. In particular, Tall Trees seems designed to make the player paranoid. The trees severely limit visibility and mobility, and the area is crawling with cougars and bears, the most dangerous animals in the game. Oftentimes you'll be able to hear them in the distance, but have no idea where they actually ''are''.
** The DLC ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemptionUndeadNightmare'' cranks this up to eleven. You can't go ''anywhere'' outside of a safe town without having to constantly look over your shoulder to make sure a bunch of zombies haven't materialized behind you.

* The Tiny Tina DLC for {{VideoGame/Borderlands 2}} introduces a new enemy, [[ChestMonster the mimic]]. You will never trust another chest again.
* PlatformHell games are chock full of this, with traps springing from objects that seem perfectly innocent and harmless. NEVER trust anything in a platform hell game, not even the clouds in the background.
* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', there are the yellow-eyed, sharped-grinned ghosts in Pumpkin Hill, Aquatic Mine, and Death Chamber. Some of them are invisible and don't reveal themselves until after you get close to them, at which point they'll [[JumpScare pop out in your face and grow very large before dissipating.]] They're scattered randomly throughout these levels, you have absolutely no way to detect them, and they will hide in the walls, inside objects, in the floor, etc.
* There's a disease in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' called the Delphinus Parasite. It causes those it infects to [[HatePlague fly into an uncontrollable anger]], attacking anyone in sight. It's impossible to trace physically, because ''there is no physical vector'' - the disease is spiritual and transmitted by unknown means. The only cure is a repurposed mind control gun - you basically have to ''brainwash'' its victims back to normal. And eventually, ''that stops working''...
** There is also an example in the game mechanics, that when you encounter a previously unseen enemy, it is displayed as a bunch of scattered data and has to be scanned. Which could either be a pushover or could be a dreaded [[BossInMookClothing Herald or Fiend]].
* The whole point of ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' is to induce this in you. You're a security guard. You have nothing except a bunch of security cameras, two doors that you have to manually close (and normally leave open to save power), two hallway lights and 3 [[BlatantLies friendly]] animatronics on the stage that you have to guard. Uh... make that two on the stage and one in the dining area. Wait, there's only one on stage, one in the dining area and [[spoiler: one in the hallway right outside!]] You check the security cameras... There's only two. Where [[spoiler: '''[[JumpScare SCREE]]''']]
** Wait, Freddy's on stage, Bonnie's in the dining area, Chica's just outside... Did you check Pirate's Cove yet? [[spoiler: *rapid footsteps* [[OhCrap Of course not...]]]]
** Your room is entirely dark. A few seconds later, you see Freddy's blue eyes outside your door (and you hear a lullaby tune). Staying perfectly still could allow you to survive…if it's close to 6 in the morning. Hopefully you're not playing the game at night (or just wandering around during the night). You'll be worried that Freddy is nearby, ready to kill you horribly.
** Then there's the Purple Man, William Afton, a SerialKiller who started the entire plot by [[WouldHurtAChild murdering as many as a dozen children when their parents weren't around]].
** The ([[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation seemingly]]) final game, ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4'', ramps up the Paranoia Fuel by completely changing the rules and pitting you against the most horrifying renditions of the Fazbear gang to date. You can move around your room freely and you have no resource to manage, making this game less frenetic than previous entries. But you have no cameras to keep track of the animatronics. Your only defense is a flashlight and two wooden doors you have to manually close, meaning you have to go to a door, peer into the inky darkness and listen for the animatronics' breathing before making a decision. Make the wrong choice, (I.E. shining the flashlight when an animatronic's near the door), and you'll be [[JumpScare greeted by its snapping jaws]]. This also means that Foxy and Freddy can sneak into your room at will. The worst part of all this? This doesn't take place in a pizzeria, this takes place in someone's ''[[HauntedHouse house]]''. And even worse? You're not a badass security guard, ''[[AdultFear you're a defenseless child]]''. All this comes together to form the ultimate Paranoia Fuel: '''''You're not safe in your own home.'''''
*** And as if the main game wasn't rife with Paranoia Fuel, the Halloween Update takes the trope to ''[[UpToEleven absolutely insane levels]]'' by giving us a Blind Mode, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. You are unable to use your flashlight, meaning you have to rely purely on intuition and hearing alone. And if that wasn't bad enough, there are three other modes: Mad Freddy (Freddles appear on bed at lightning speeds), Insta-Foxy (Foxy is in the closet from the start), and All Nightmare (replaces all the animatronics with '''[[TrueFinalBoss Nightmare]]'''). Even worse? You can stack them with Blind Mode. '''[[SerialEscalation All of them.]]''' Playing on Blind Mode is hard enough. All four modes? '''''[[HarderThanHard It's sheer hell.]]'''''
** And now we have VideoGame/UltimateCustomNight. Not only are there now ''[[UpToEleven 50]]'' of those things [[spoiler: and even more thanks to Dee Dee]], there are now animatronics that ''start in your office''. All of these (except for maybe Rockstar Freddy, seeing you can hear him and he usually gives you some time for you to pay him [[spoiler:or trick him with the heater]]) have easily some of the scariest mechanics in any FNAF.
*** Music Man starts RightBehindYou and slowly gets closer over the course of the night if there's too much noise. You don't see him until he jumpscares you:all you here is crashing symbols as they get closer and closer...
*** Nightmare Balloon Boy sits in your office and sometimes stands up. If he stands up, you have to flash the flashlight on him, and if you don't he'll kill you. Simple enough, right? Unfournately, he's obscured by Rockstar Freddy meaning it's entirely possible to miss him, or result in you flashing the flashlight because you think he's up. And if he isn't? [[spoiler:He kills you then, as well.]]
* ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation'' is ''built'' with this trope as its foundation. You're alone on a desolate space station, relentlessly hunted by a ravenous, merciless Xenomorph. [[ImplacableMan It cannot be injured, killed, or reasoned with]] and it's [[LightningBruiser much faster and stronger than you]]. Your best hope is to [[KillItWithFire stun it with incendiary devices and flee]] (But even this is a temporary measure as the Xenomorph will eventually [[NoSell power through the flames and kill you]]). It knows you're hiding and the slightest mistake or noise will let it find you and [[ArtificialBrilliance it adapts to your strategies to constantly keep you on your toes]]. The constant creaking and noises lets you know its lurking about in the vents, ready to strike at any moment. [[VerticalKidnapping And if you foolishly walk under an open vent, it will do just that.]] And don't think the [=NPCs=] on the station can help you. Oh no. They're just as scared of the Xenomorph as you are and they're so paranoid that they will most likely shoot you on sight. Making matters worse are the killer androids called Working Joes, who are just as tough to beat as the Xenomorph (thankfully, unlike the Xenomorph, they're killable) and fighting them carries the risk of attracting the Xenomorph to you. Finally, there's TheReveal: [[spoiler: ''There is a whole hive of Xenomorphs on the ship'', meaning that even if you escape from one, there's another lurking about and ready to kill you.]] All in all, you're alone in a place where EverythingIsTryingToKillYou fighting to survive against an enemy that is not only unstoppable, but can be '''''anywhere'''''.
* The various treasure chests in ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising''. Most chests are harmless, but four of them are not so nice. First, there's the Mimicuties, which are {{Chest Monster}}s that look just like ordinary treasure chests until you approach them, at which point they sprout legs and proceed to [[DemonicSpiders beat the shit out of you with deadly attacks while boasting lots of health]]. Then there are the Pandora's Boxes, which resemble treasure chests and have loot, but unleash a flurry of energy bolts when opened. Next, there are Bouncy Boxes, treasure chests that have loot but bounce away from you. Likewise, there are the Speedy Boxes, which will run away from you when you move too close. Finally, there are ordinary chests that have or don't have treasure and are [[SchmuckBait used as bait to trap you in rooms with enemies]]; one in particular is used to lure you to an '''[[OneHitKill Orne]]''' who's invisible until you approach the chest. The worst part of all this? ''[[TrialAndErrorGameplay There is absolutely no way to tell which chests are harmless unless you approach them]]'' (The only exception to this rule are the Pandora's Boxes, which are designed differently, but even then, there's no way to tell whether they'll fire energy blasts at you or just give you loot without approaching them). By the time you're done playing, you'll quickly learn to never trust a treasure chest again, even if it means skipping out on valuable weapons and Powers.
* In ''Depth: Divers vs Sharks'', the divers' heartbeat will pick up when sharks approach, getting faster and faster until the shark finally attacks. Combined with dark, murky waters, unprepared divers will have no idea where a shark is until it bites your legs off.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' - your tutorial is silent, except for the ominous, foreboding music. A disembodied voice warns you of a coming darkness, and you are introduced to black, glowing-eyed monsters, the biggest of which seems to kill you... Oh wait. It was AllJustADream, right? Wrong. To keep it simple, the first game destroys your home and throws you into a battle with the Heartless, who've been destroying the worlds and populace of the Disney universe. You're attacked almost everywhere you go by progressively stronger and numerous Heartless. It's unnerving when you're ''not'' attacked in places you normally would be (thanks to the presence of a special enemy). Then the game gets darker, and you're going through progressively darker and scarier locations, up to and including '''''[[WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}} BALD MOUNTAIN]]'''''. It seems the first game was determined to make you lose any sense of security! The latter installments lighten up on the paranoia fuel, even if they progressively get DarkerAndEdgier.
** Later, for ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]]'', there's a note in the tunnels of Twilight Town - "BEHIND YOU!!!" The developers admitted to doing it just to [[TrollingCreator screw with people]].
** ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]]'' later features a return to the Heartless-driven paranoia, as you fight your way through the series' equivalent of Hell, the Realm of Darkness.
* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'': "This action will have consequences." Now you have to decide whether or not to rewind and do it differently. Particularly concerning when you get it for ''watering your plant''.
* ''Videogame/DreamingMary'': "Never stop running. The moment you think you're safe is the moment he'll get you."
* Occasionally when backtracking in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', the player may catch a glimpse of [[spoiler:[[BigBad Flowey]]]] retreating underground, implying that he is stalking the player throughout their adventure. Since he's usually onscreen for a few frames before disappearing, the player may not recognize or even notice him.
** [[spoiler:The Amalgamates in the [[AbandonedLaboratory True Lab]]]] disguise themselves as seemingly random, nonsensical objects, such as [[spoiler:tap water, a save point, dust particles, a fridge and even the player's [[AlertnessBlink '!' bubble]]]].
** To Sans, [[spoiler:'''you''' are a source of this, thanks to your ability to reset timelines and his awareness of multiple timelines. No matter what he does, you have the power to take his efforts all away by simply bringing up the save file screen and hitting the [[ResetButton "Reset"]] command. That GoldenEnding that you, him, and everyone else [[EarnYourHappyEnding worked so hard for]]? Say hello to a common player pattern: hitting "True Reset" and then going for a [[KillEmAll "Genocide" run]].]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'':
** The underground is sprinkled with with hard-to-spot pressure plates that trigger dart traps, falling boulders, or even land mines.
** No matter what quarantine measures you take before activating Hardmode, and no matter how quickly you isolate the Corruption/Crimson and Hallow spread by defeating the Wall of Flesh, every time you smash a Demon/Crimson Altar there's a chance that some brick, somewhere, is converted to one of those contagious biomes. And you probably won't discover it until you go mining one day and discover another chunk of the map is now filled with horrors or fey monsters.
* The beginning of ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'' has the player character checking his phone messages, telling him that an order he never made had been delivered by his doorstep. As he opens up the package, he finds a rubber animal mask and an assignment to go and murder a group of Russian mobsters for a briefcase with implied consequences if he doesn't comply. Imagine someone who knows your number and where you live forcing you into a hitman ring for the sake of their own amusement, until [[spoiler:they send another masked killer to your house once they grow bored of you]].
* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' has quests with "Unstable" environments. "Unstable" means that while you're doing whatever the quest tells you to do, an "intruder" large monster will show up on the map at some point. This means you could be hunting another monster or gathering materials for yourself when suddenly, you encounter anything from the [[WarmUpBoss managable-at-all-levels]] Great Jaggi to endgame horrors like Deviljho or Rajang, and if you're playing G-rank quests in ''Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate'', it's likely you'll encounter their ''[[SuperMode Apex]]'' versions.
* This is the main source of terror in ''Subnautica''. While the game itself is a survival adventure game and not a horror game, there's nothing more unnerving than treading across the seafloor of an alien planet, unable to see anything 5 feet in front of you, not knowing if the source of that echoing cry was a [[GentleGiant Reefback]] saying hello, or a [[SeaMonster colossal, vicious predator that has you on the menu]].
** The stand out example are the reaper leviathans. They aren't the biggest fish in the sea, nor are they the strongest. But when you're in their territory you will ''constantly'' hear them roaring, even from half a kilometer distant, as a continuous reminder of their threat. Their erratic movements and tendency to try to circle around the player makes it hard to tell if they've noticed you or not, and in darkness their lack of bioluminescence makes them damned near invisible until you're right on top of them. And if they do decide to hunt you they are capable of being sneaky and silent as they creep up from behind, so there's no guarantee you'll hear them coming.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': The game is no stranger to horror, but right after completing the Chains of Harrow quest, which in itself is full to the brim with FridgeHorror and NightmareFuel, you get back to your Orbiter and suddenly there's your Operator, sitting on a console.... but wait, you still have control of your Warframe--
-->'''The Man In The Wall''': ''Hey Kiddo~''
** From that point on, whenever you enter your Orbiter, whether returning from a mission or logging on, there's a chance The Man In The Wall will be present, ready to spook you with his voice whenever you get close enough. He also tends to disappear from view the second you turn the camera away from him, with him simply choosing to fade away if you focus on him for a while. There's also hints that he's interested not in your Operator, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou but you, the player.]]
** Of course, long before you get The Man In The Wall haunting your Orbiter, there's The Stalker, a rogue enemy whom has a chance to choose to avenge a boss you've killed (barring the very first boss, Captain Vor). You'll know the Stalker is targeting you when you get an Inbox Message stating the following.
-->'''???''': Your actions have consequences....
** From that point on, whenever you're in a non-Assassination mission, if the lights happen to flicker, or the screen basically goes dark, even in areas with sunlight, the Stalker is after someone; in the latter case, yourself!

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'':
** The entire first chapter has an oppressive, ominous feel to it. All those familiar old test chambers have been made much more eerie thanks to the ravages of time, there's the implication that, out of 10,000 test subjects at Aperture Science, you're the only one left alive, and of course, there's the other implication that an entire apocalypse has happened on the outside world. However, nothing seems quite as creepy as the moment where you meet [=GlaDOS=] again. Yeah, that scene seems harmless enough from what we saw in the trailers, right? We're all familiar with the humorous bit with Wheatley trying to hack the password, that ever-quotable "You Monster!" line, etc. Well, those trailers left a few little details out of that scene: the ominous music that plays as you re-enter the chamber, [=GLaDOS=] using a giant claw from the ceiling to pick you up and casually crush Wheatley, slowly lowering you towards that all-too-familiar incinerator... (okay, it doesn't work anymore, but you don't know that until she drops you in).
** As much as a moron as Wheatley is, him screaming, "What?! ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?" is scary as all get-out. The idiotic, silly Wheatley now furious he couldn't kill you is pretty freaky.
-->''"Now we're all gonna pay the price. Because now we're ALL GOING TO BLOODY DIE!"''
** During the testing sequence with [=GLaDOS=], before Wheatley manages to make contact, you can catch at least two glimpses of Wheatley watching you before wallpanels hurried to obscure the sight. It's a little creepy without knowing what the heck he's doing.
** The fake test [=GlaDOS=] builds when you try to escape. If you go in, the Companion Cube that is pressing the button gets fizzled, and the (presumably fake) door to outside is locked, and she fills the chamber with neurotoxin.

** The ([[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation seemingly]]) final game, ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4'', ramps up the ParanoiaFuel by completely changing the rules and pitting you against the most horrifying renditions of the Fazbear gang to date. You can move around your room freely and you have no resource to manage, making this game less frenetic than previous entries. But you have no cameras to keep track of the animatronics. Your only defense is a flashlight and two wooden doors you have to manually close, meaning you have to go to a door, peer into the inky darkness and listen for the animatronics' breathing before making a decision. Make the wrong choice, (I.E. shining the flashlight when an animatronic's near the door), and you'll be [[JumpScare greeted by its snapping jaws]]. This also means that Foxy and Freddy can sneak into your room at will. The worst part of all this? This doesn't take place in a pizzeria, this takes place in someone's ''[[HauntedHouse house]]''. And even worse? You're not a badass security guard, ''[[AdultFear you're a defenseless child]]''. All this comes together to form the ultimate ParanoiaFuel: '''''You're not safe in your own home.'''''
*** And as if the main game wasn't rife with ParanoiaFuel, the Halloween Update takes the trope to ''[[UpToEleven absolutely insane levels]]'' by giving us a Blind Mode, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. You are unable to use your flashlight, meaning you have to rely purely on intuition and hearing alone. And if that wasn't bad enough, there are three other modes: Mad Freddy (Freddles appear on bed at lightning speeds), Insta-Foxy (Foxy is in the closet from the start), and All Nightmare (replaces all the animatronics with '''[[TrueFinalBoss Nightmare]]'''). Even worse? You can stack them with Blind Mode. '''[[SerialEscalation All of them.]]''' Playing on Blind Mode is hard enough. All four modes? '''''[[HarderThanHard It's sheer hell.]]'''''

* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}} Kiwami'' plays this for laughs with the Majima Everywhere System; the way it works is that Goro Majima will randomly ambush you at anywhere and any time, even if you're doing [[SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer something mundane]] like eating at a dinery or playing darts. Sometimes, you don't see him until you fulfill his subordinates' requests. Other times, he'll even ''join in on a fight''. In short, if you hear "Kiryu-chan!", be prepared.

** From that point on, whenever you're in a non-Assassination mission, if the lights happen to flicker, or the screen basically goes dark, even in areas with sunlight, the Stalker is after someone; in the latter case, yourself!

* ParanoiaFuel/{{Overwatch}}
* ParanoiaFuel/WatchDogs

*** ''[[VideoGame/{{Witchery}} Bewitchment]]'' adds {{Curse}}s. At any time, another player can perform a relatively simple ritual to inflict some kind of negative, and sometimes crippling, negative status, ranging from temporary blindness to a wasting disease that will almost certainly kill you again and again until it wears off. The worst part is that unless you use a CrystalBall or are familiar with the various curses, there's basically no way to know that you have been cursed and all of this will seemingly be happening for no reason whatsoever. Probably most notable for this trope is the Curse of Paranoia, which causes a player to hallucinate various threatening noises nearby, including enemy vocalizations, a creeper preparing to explode, footsteps, and an arrow being loosed. Even if you figure out that you've been struck by the curse, it's near impossible to know which of the sounds are real and which are fake, meaning that you'll always be checking over your shoulder just in case.

** A few notable mods for the game get in on the fun as well.
*** ''[[VideoGame/{{Witchery}} Bewitchment]]'' has the {{Curse}} of Paranoia, which causes a player to hallucinate various threatening noises nearby, including enemy vocalizations, a creeper preparing to explode, footsteps, and an arrow being loosed. Even if you figure out that you've been struck by the curse (either with a crystal ball or simply due to familiarity with what the curse does), it's near impossible to know which of the sounds are real and which are fake.

*** ''VideoGame/{{Thaumcraft}} has Warp, a kind of reality-warping SanityMeter. When a player's Warp is high, they will begin experiencing occasional auditory hallucinations similarly to ''[[VideoGame/{{Witchery}} Bewitchment's]]'' Curse of Paranoia mentioned above. Unlike that curse, Warp can also cause much more physical effects to occur, including spawning a powerful Eldritch Guardian on top of you at any time without warning.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' - your tutorial is silent, except for the ominous, foreboding music. A disembodied voice warns you of a coming darkness, and you are introduced to black, glowing-eyed monsters, the biggest of which seems to kill you... Oh wait. It was AllJustADream, right? Wrong. To keep it simple, the first game destroys your home and throws you into a battle with the Heartless, who've been destroying the worlds and populace of the Disney universe. You're attacked almost everywhere you go by progressively stronger and numerous Heartless. It's unnerving when you're ''not'' attacked in places you normally would be (thanks to the presence of a special enemy). Then the game gets darker, and you're going through progressively darker and scarier locations, up to and including '''''[[Disney/{{Fantasia}} BALD MOUNTAIN]]'''''. It seems the first game was determined to make you lose any sense of security! The latter installments lighten up on the paranoia fuel, even if they progressively get DarkerAndEdgier.

* VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild: Guardians. Unless you keep your guard up at all times, you'll be liable to be happily walking in the wilds of Hyrule, when suddenly you hear angry piano riffs and see a laser sight on you. That's a Guardian Stalker, intent on blasting the Hylian shit out of you with lasers that chop off a MINIMUM of six hearts. Oh, and for extra [[SarcasmMode fun,]] ''[[LightningBruiser they clamber towards you at Mach 5]]'' once they catch a glimpse of you. [[ImplacableMan They have tons of health, are incredibly durable in terms of defense, have a deceptively long sight range, will blast away anything you're hiding behind like it's nothing, won't stop when they catch wind of you, and will attempt to blast you even after all six of their legs have been hacked off.]] And worse? There are some that look like busted ones, [[JumpScare but pop back to life or out of the ground when you get too close.]] You better sneak for your life and PRAY that it doesn't turn around when one of them is in the way of your destination. Keep in mind that there were an army of these.
** On a slightly more subdued level of paranoia, Lizalfos. They're HollywoodChameleons that have terrifyingly good disguises. They look like strange piles of some substance from afar [[GlamourFailure unless you use the Camera or Sheika Scope]] and if you get too close, they wake up and bum-rush you in the time it takes you to blink. And they pack Shock Arrows.

** Lynels. They're quiet and can likely see you before you see them. [[BerserkButton And if you have your sword drawn when they spot you]], you'd best pray you have your guard up, as they start bum-rushing you like a swarm of Japanese Sparrow Hornets.

* Never stop running. [[Videogame/DreamingMary The moment you think you're safe is the moment he'll get you.]]

** From that point on, whenever you enter your Orbiter, whether returning from a mission or logging on, there's a chance The Man In The Wall will be present, ready to spook you with his voice whenever you get close enough. He also tends to disappear from view the second you turn the camera away from him, with him simply choosing fade away if you focus on him for a while. There's also hints that he's interested not in your Operator, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou but you, the player.]]