HBO’s Euphoria just finished its third and final season, bringing to an end arguably the most controversial series of the last decade. Some people love its unapologetic tone and willingness to go to extremely dark places in the pursuit of showing humanity at its worst; conversely, others found its storytelling to be inconsistent and way too reliant on shock value. Still, Sam Levinson’s show made a big impact on pop culture, and fans finally know if Rue dies at the end or not.
As far as I am aware, there isn’t an exact gaming equivalent to Euphoria, as we would essentially need a no-restrictions life sim. However, quite a few dark-as-hell games touch upon similar themes to the HBO series, and some of them even handle the topics a bit better. Let’s keep the bad times rolling.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Needy Streamer Overload
The Euphoria Connection: Cassie Howard
Don’t be fooled by its bright colors and bubbly protagonist; Needy Streamer Overload‘s cute exterior hides a dark and heavy psychological thriller that wants to and will make you feel uncomfortable. OMGkawaiiAngel’s arc echoes Cassie Howard’s journey in Euphoria: the crushing desperation for love, the complete loss of identity, and the willingness to burn down every healthy relationship for external validation.
8 Best Psychological Thriller Anime To Watch Right Now, Ranked
If viewers are looking for an anime that will keep them on the edge of their seats from start to finish, they should check these series out.
Cast as her boyfriend and manager, players must arrange Ame’s daily routine as she strives to become the internet’s most beloved angel in just a month. You decide when she streams, what she posts, when she sleeps, and how she copes with the internet. The latter includes some extremely dark coping mechanisms.
Your contributions reflect a couple of Euphoria‘s major themes. To keep Ame happy, players essentially need to act as an enabler, leading to a toxic cycle of increasingly dangerous behavior in an attempt to keep her calm right now. Despite this being Ame’s story, a guy (you) controls every part of her existence, and you drive her to ruin despite trying to act as her savior.
Disco Elysium
The Euphoria Connection: Rue Bennett’s Addiction
As a dialogue-heavy detective story, Disco Elysium naturally covers very different ground than Euphoria, and it also doesn’t have that “exploitation movie” shock factor that defines parts of the HBO show. Nevertheless, the game’s coverage of addiction and relapse more than manages to match Rue’s horrifying story, arguably even more effectively, since players get to directly influence Harry’s journey of recovery or regression. Your personality traits, emotions, and bodily functions are fully realized characters that constantly argue inside your head, and that includes the thought of relapse that constantly hums away at Harry’s psyche by pushing him to cross the line again and again.
Euphoria season 2 forces Rue to confront not only her addiction, but her life as an addict trying to stay clean despite a brain that demands they harm themselves. Addiction takes away free will, and that’s something Disco Elysium explores brilliantly. Even if you try to completely turn Harry’s life around by making every “right” decision, your stats actively tempt you to break that streak. You are your own worst enemy.
Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk
The Euphoria Connection: Rue Bennett’s Hallucinations And Psychological Episodes
When her anxiety reaches its boiling point, Rue goes through psychological episodes that strip away reality in favor of pure terror, reflecting her state of mind at the time. Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk takes that cinematic concept and strips away every ounce of its aesthetic beauty, leaving behind a raw, agonizing simulation of severe mental trauma.
6 Games Where the “Monsters” Were Actually Innocent
Your enemies really aren’t the monsters you might think in these games.
Technically, the plot and gameplay are incredibly simple: a girl needs to buy milk and return home. However, the story explores a traumatized girl utterly dissociated from reality, as she drifts through a nightmarish world that is deeply unpleasant. Simple things become terrifying, and she constantly battles intrusive thoughts. Milk doesn’t remotely glamorize mental illness; instead capturing the reality of a life constantly lived in flight-or-fight mode.
Class of ’09
The Euphoria Connection: High-School Chaos & Cold Survivalist Mentality
Before season 3 aged up the characters, Euphoria‘s first two seasons take place in high school, a decision that garnered criticism as the show explored darker and darker themes. As disconcerting as many things are, Euphoria’s high school setting makes sense for the story being told, which follows teenagers who must weaponize their status and sexuality to survive. Even nowadays, series tend to sugarcoat a period when most people are trying to find their identities and, consequently, are more vulnerable.
Although it might not be draped in neon lights or cinematic presentation, Class of ’09 covers the same ground as Euphoria‘s first season, exploring high school through a cynical lens built around manipulation. You portray Nicole, an awful teenager who uses and discards other awful teenagers in her attempts to survive high school. While presented comedically, Class of ’09 lets players carve out a pretty dark story.
Hotline Miami
The Euphoria Connection: A Drug-Fueled Murderfest
Push past its twin-stick shooter gameplay, Hotline Miami basically takes the “hallucination-driven drug binge” to its most extreme conclusion. Like Euphoria‘s most chaotic moments, Hotline Miami uses visual distortion to echo the protagonist’s mental state, showing the transition from calm to chaos and back to calm again. With its neon lights, garish colors, and electronic soundtrack, the game even strikes a similar presentation to Euphoria, at least conceptually.
Narratively, Hotline Miami follows a mass murderer who gets calls “ordering” him to go to a building and kill everyone. Pure psychological break with total detachment from reality. The frantic action makes the “high” feel good, but the walk through the mayhem after completing a mission might be the most effective come-down in gaming.
5 Psychological Horror Games That Trick You Into Doubting Reality
Can you decipher between what is real and what is fiction within these psychological horror games?
