What is your greatest fear? For me, it’s trying to drive over mountainous roads that don’t have guard rails in the middle of winter (can my state please invest in guard rails???). It’s a task that I try to avoid, yet every year there comes some reason or two where I have to literally rise to new heights in order to attend an event of importance. I face my fears.
After a successful blog collaboration last month, I was asked again by Kim of Later Levels to work together on another pair of articles. She told me that October 10th is National “Face Your Fears” Day, and it invites others to muster up the courage to conquer their foremost frights. Kim is using this as an opportunity to write about her greatest nightMARE: horses. Going in a different direction, I decided to look up the ten most common phobias and paired them with ten video games that are best suited to address each specific scare. Play these, and you, too, can face your fears!
Make sure to visit Later Levels and read Kim’s article about how she faced her fear with video games, too!
FEAR #1:
Arachnophobia: an intense fear of spiders and other arachnids.
Skyrim
(Various, 2011)
If you’re afraid of spiders, Skyrim does a great job of setting the scene on your approach to one. First, the walls become lined with webbing. Then, you may see an egg sac or two scattered about. Finally, you’re forced to cut your way through a thick string of silk where a giant frostbite spider awaits you on the other side. However, if you’re well equipped and have a companion, you should be more than prepared!
I’ll add that later in the game, you can free a couple helper spiders that have the ability to cast protective spells on you. They’re your friends!
FEAR #2:
Ophidiophobia: an intense fear of snakes.
Rattler Race
(PC, 1991)
These snakes aren’t going to bite you. They just want to be fed an endless supply of apples. Their greatest enemy is the elongated version of themselves. Totally harmless. Now grab your graphing calculator, and get playing!
FEAR #3:
Acrophobia: an intense fear of heights.
The Legend of Zelda:
Tears of the Kingdom
(Nintendo Switch, 2023)
After a few hours of exploring the sky islands, Tears of the Kingdom kindly asks you to jump to the ground thousands of feet below you. Don’t worry. You’ll be fine as long as you land in (deep) water. Between the sky and the depths, you’ll get used to these heights rather quickly!
FEAR #4:
Aerophobia: an intense fear of flying.
Pilotwings
(SNES, 1990)
Speaking of heights… Pilotwings is a game literally designed to help you earn your virtual pilot license through flight lessons. Rocket belt, parachuting, hang gliding, and light plane are all included in the training. And, to really put you to the test, you’re forced to rescue your instructors via a helicopter combat mission in the final levels!
FEAR #5:
Cynophobia: an intense fear of dogs.
Nintendogs
(Nintendo DS, 2005)
If dogs aren’t your thing, then there’s no way you’ll come away from Nintendogs with any distaste. These cute little puppers are craving your attention and will patter at the screen in order to let their needs be known. The DS version of the game even adds an extra touch of interactivity through use of the stylus to physically “pet” your new little buddies.
FEAR #6:
Astraphobia: an intense fear of thunder and lightning.
Final Fantasy X
(PS2, 2001)
The Thunder Plains in Final Fantasy X is riddled with bolts of lightning. But, you’ll be an expert at avoiding this shocking experience since you’re required to pass through this area while dodging a set number of lightning strikes. It’s comforting to know, too, that Rikku shares your same fear!
FEAR #7:
Trypanophobia: an intense fear of injections.
BioShock
(PC/Xbox 360, 2007)
Injections can give you superpowers! Well, they can in BioShock. If you were to carry over the belief that every time you see a needle being plunged into your arm, you’re being enhanced with a Plasmic that could give you telekinesis or the ability to shoot lightning (look out, astraphobiacs!), then maybe injections won’t seem so bad after all.
FEAR #8:
Social phobia: an intense fear of social interactions
Quiplash
(Various, 2015)
Here’s a game to get you out of your shell. While you technically don’t have to say a word while playing Quiplash, you do need to delve into the psyche of how your cohorts are thinking. Are they into clever answers that challenge the roles of society, or do they just want a goofy response about butts? Which one are YOU?
FEAR #9:
Agoraphobia: an intense fear of places that are difficult to escape, sometimes involving a fear of crowded or open spaces.
Game & Wario
(Wii U, 2013)
Baby, it’s just me and you, yeah
The “Fruit” mini-game of Game & Wario makes wonderful use of the separate Game Pad that was a staple of the Wii U. The player who is “it” must navigate their character through a crowded screen of people while trying to collect a series of fruit without being noticed by the other players who are actively searching for you by simply watching the TV screen. The goal is to try to blend in. At the end of a round, the other players will try to pick your character out of a lineup and vote for their choices. If you have agoraphobia, then crowds are your greatest asset in this game!
FEAR #10:
Mysophobia: an intense fear of germs, dirt, and other contaminants.
Dr. Mario
(NES, 1990)
What better way to face your fear of germs than by destroying them directly with giant, multicolored pills? Dr. Mario showed us that anyone can put on a white lab coat, don a head mirror, and wrap a stethoscope around our necks to take on illnesses of all kinds.
Thanks for stopping by to read my article! What are some of your greatest fears? And, what game could you play to face them? Let me know in a comment! While you’re at it, stop by Later Levels, and read Kim’s article about facing her greatest fear!
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Eric Hagmann Music 
Number 8: ‘Do they just want a goofy response about butts?’ This pretty much sums up my friends, every single time we’ve played Quiplash.
Thanks once again for another great collaboration! Let’s try and come up with something else by the end of the year, and I hope you get your guard rails soon…
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I have pretty bad acrophobia and there were moments in Tears of the Kingdom that actually caused me to have mild anxiety. Usually when I would nearly miss a jump and (nearly) fall or something along those lines that caught me by surprise. Absolutely solid list, as always.
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Terrifyingly great post! Astraphobia used to be a big one for me. When I was a kid, lightning struck a power pole and the end of our driveway. It sounded like a bomb went off, shook the house, and every electronic thing in the house was fried (except for my Nintendo 64; go go old school Nintendo quality!). I’ve grown a healthy respect for lightning nowadays. I credit all the various lightning related spells and abilities in games for giving me some control over its chaotic power.
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Oh my gosh! Lightning does not mess around. What a horrifying experience! I’m amazed the N64 could handle it.
Thank you for sharing your story and taking time to read!!
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Excellent article. I’ve played a few of these games but I never thought they’d help people beat their fears. A game like Skyrim can definitely help someone beat arachnophobia. I wonder what will help me get rid of my fear of hell though. Doom? Blasphemous?
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Maybe Hades would be a good option for you! Thanks for reading ☺️
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💯
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I think one missing that is talked about a lot is thalassophobia which is fear of open and deep bodies of water with no land or bottom in sight. A game that truly brings out that fear is Subnautica and only the most dauntless seemed to have completed the game.
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Yes absolutely!!! I played Ecco the Dolphin and while those stages are a little more compact, I still had an incredible sense of anxiety just exploring the great depths of the ocean without a hint of sunlight above me.
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