PATHOLOGIC! Don't read about it, just get it, and play it for a really great pyschological adventure experience. Welll, maybe it is too much to deal with to start, it's convoluted and way harder than any of the suggestions here. Maybe you should start with some of the others suggested here, actually, but, yeah, check it out still.

Also, Realms of the Haunting and Zork: Nemesis should be suggested here I think for the things you're looking for as far as the psychological horror and similar factors I think you're going for. I second a lot of the suggestions here too, but I find them mostly to be a bit better than Sanitarium and I wonder if you might for at least some of them.

Stasis is great so far but I haven't finished it (I should get to that, but, there's this crisis on a space station that has been hauting my dreams and distracting me lately...errm anyway...)

A little more straightforward mystery/horror (but still scary horror not just senseless horror) would be Gabriel Knight 2, it's not "psychological" necessarily, but I still highly recommend you give it a look, and then GK3 and 1 might interest you as well, but 2 is my favorite and is an okay starting point IMO if you are looking for a deeper level of something, 1 is an interesting horror story, but it doesn't affect any real emotion, IMO, and the 3rd isn't the same level of intensity as 2, though still great and worth checking out too.

Welcome to the forums and getting some good old games!

The suggestions helped getting Downfall to run and I had to beat it in two sittings. [Spoiler]That ending sucked and took all the magic out of it. It felt like I got the worst ending in a Silent Hill game.[/spoiler]. I loved most of it and it was almost exactly what I was looking for. Was never really terrifying, but the surrealism and dialogue (minor spoiler: especially with the receptionist part. Her creepiness was *perfect*).

I'm gonna try that dev's other game.

Wanna just make this an ongoing horror discussion?

The Cat Lady is a lot better, they're working on a Downfall remake though.
Pathologic seems pretty great, I'm waiting for the Classic HD remaster before getting it though. Especially with the updated translation.

If you're after something else that's very creative and screws with your mind, give Psychonauts a whirl. It's a platformer, so not technically what you've asked for, and as a game is pretty average, but it's really worth playing for the environment and the different minds you enter.

Some of the games mentioned here I've got but haven't got round to playing. Now I'm not sure whether I should start Pathologic or wait for the new one.

Darkseed is worth checking out but I'm not sure if it's on GOG.

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/darkseed/darkseed.htm

I would play Pathologic now AND THEN play the redo. Here's why:

The skewed wordage in the current version adds a lot of creepiness to it. It actually works for the game exrtemely, in my opinion. Especially considering you can play it 3 different times from different angles and get more and more of what is going on filled in, the overall affect is great, I think. I'm not actually sure how I feel about an updated translation and if it will be good for the game or not.

and because:

As I mentioned, there are 3 characters to play, I think it makes sense to play 3 times at least, and, with that, you could play 1 time through with the current version and then play 2nd and 3rd character through with the new version or some variation there-of.

Darkseed would be GREAT to get here, that might even surpass Noctropolis as games I'd like to have here that Night Dive has potentiality with.

So, started getting into The Cat Lady today. Another amazing game already. Haven't beaten it yet, so please don't spoil me, but I really like this.

Is the developer still active? I'd love to write a fan letter. They deserve it.

I'll throw in another vote for Stasis. At first sight, both games look very similar aside from the setting but there are a few differences, here's some info I wrote for another thread:


Story:

Sanitarium is more of a twisted psycho mind trip, Stasis is a conventional sci-fi horror story where you're all alone on a spaceship and have to figure your way from A to B and get past problems while slowly discovering the story via data logs that you find on the way.


Gameplay/Puzzles:

Both games are traditional point & click adventures with hotpots that you click on and items that you can carry around. The puzzles in Stasis feel more organically incorporated into the story, meaning there is a logical reason for what you need to do and it follows scientific laws for the most part. In Sanitarium, there are some esoteric puzzles and some weird machinery puzzles that rely more on experimentation.

Sanitarium is generally more challenging and not always in a good way. In Stasis, things make more sense. Even if it's science fiction & horror, you still use objects in ways that more closely relate to how you would use them in the real world. In both games you simply use the left mouse button to interact with things (right mouse button to walk in Sanitarium) and that's it, very simple controls for both games.

Backtracking is not a problem in either game, you never have a huge area to access in either of them. Backtracking is no issue in Stasis, the game closes off access to areas behind you as you progress and you'll only have access to a handful screens at a time. So no worries about having to backtrack through the whole ship to find a tiny item you forgot to pick up in the first place.

Pixel hunting was a bit more of an issue in Sanitarium and despite the higher level of detail in Stasis, items are logically places where one would expect to find them.

In Stasis, there are no combat scenes like the boss fights Sanitarium has. There are only very few timed puzzles in Stasis but nothing that requires super precise timing or accuracy.


Scenery:

Sanitarium has chapters with completely changing scenery, in Stasis you're always on the same ship. Different decks looks different according to their function but the overall design is consistent, this is not a downside though as the level of detail is very impressive and there are all kinds of interesting little details and animated parts and sound effects that spice things up.

Stasis looks like "Sanitarium in Space" and the gameplay is traditional point & click material in both but Stasis tells a more straightforward sci-fi horror story that will remind you of many famous movies and games. The developers list Event Horizon, Alien etc as some of their inspirations and you'll find references to many other movies and games in Stasis as you progress through the game.

Sanitarium focuses much more on the psyche of the protagonist whereas the star of the show in Stasis is the screwed up spaceship itself and you're just a random victim that finds himself aboard that ship, trying to find a way out. Both games try to mess with your mind but Sanitarium does it more successfully by ripping you from one stage to a completely different one, making you question your own sanity. In Stasis, you just want to figure a way out of the mess around you, not the mess -inside- you. Both games are very atmospheric and if you like Sanitarium, you're pretty much bound to get Stasis because there are very few games in this style.

They're still active, they're working on a remake of their previous game Downfall.
Downfall has some connections with The Cat Lady so you might be interested.

I started playing Pathologic the other day without knowing next to nothing about it, and it sure felt odd. What was that intro about? Oh, now I am in some kind of circular room where some people are talking something and I have hard time understanding what the heck they are saying (I didn't find an option to enable subtitles, IIRC).

And suddenly it seemed to be game over? What did I do wrong? Was it because I stayed in the room, trying to discern what the heck they are talking about? Should I go somewhere, do something, what? What happened? Who am I anyway?

I haven't played it since. Maybe later. An option for subtitles would be nice, for dialogue-heavy games.

Deadly Premonition seemed similarly odd, but at least there I was expecting it to be odd.

Pathologic is very likely the most bizarre game ever. There are some crazy worlds and concepts and things in games, and I haven't played tons of games, but, as far as giving you a real feeling of disorientation and being among a foreign weirdness, it exceeds most other things I've seen and, yeah, it's fruggin weird so be prepared. It's purposefully obscure to figure out what is going on and what you have to do, but, I do believe whichever character you start with has a little snippet about who they are and what they are doing in the town to get you oriented a bit, and that should be the first helpful thing. Did you start with the "first" character to select? I think it is easiest if you just go in order, as, each one presents different challenges. Explore, investigate, eavesdrop at times I believe. It has a steep adjustment curve.

Beat my first playthrough of The Cat Lady. LOVED it. I'm extremely sad it's over. Do the different options significantly alter gameplay? Could I go through the other riddle door and get some new scenes?

I friggin' loved that game.

Hi there! I see you have a few great suggestions to keep you occupied already, but I'll just throw a slightly different one into your peripheral vision to possibly check out one day - Planescape: Torment. Yes, it is technically considered an RPG (stats, spells, inventory, etc), but it is more RPG-lite, and really heavy on adventure, dialogues, characters, and narrative description, in a dark setting with all manner of strangeness. There is combat, but you can pause and take your time (or turn down difficulty), or often can skip it entirely through dialog. There are elements of psychological horror in that the quests are filled with moral decisions, and your alignment changes depending on your choices (good / neutral / evil / chaotic / lawful), and often has consequences that can mess with your brain.

I would only recommend it though if you are NOT averse to lots of READING in your gaming. It is practically a novel wrapped in a game; you can end up immersed in the conversations for a whole session. :)

Levels are mostly the same but there are three different endings and yes, some choices immediately lead to different scenes/outcomes immediately including the riddle door.

If you haven't played it yet, go check out Downfall. Downfall is the first game set in the universe that The Cat Lady is set in, and some characters in Downfall make cameos in The Cat Lady.

You can download Downfall for free legally from its official website http://www.quiethavenhotel.co.uk/

Downfall is also currently being remade to fit The Cat Lady's gameplay style (the original had more traditional point & click elements).

The dev of Downfall/The Cat Lady has also announced a sequel to The Cat Lady called Lorelai, there are few images of it over at the publisher's site www.screen7.co.uk