Horror games aren't usually big on gameplay mechanics, because having a gameplay loop makes it more difficult to pull off those big moments that walking-simulators funnel you into. But what are some horror games that have enjoyable and meaningful gameplay? Think Darkwood, for example.

Resident Evil 4 is unparalleled in this regard; if it had no horror element at all, it would still be the most kickass game on the Wii.

Dunno. AvP ? Alien Isolation ? System Shock 2 ? Sanitarium ? Rusty Lake ? Homeworld Cataclysm/Emergence ? Creeper World ? Jaws Unleashed ?

Not 100% certain what qualifies as meaningful gameplay or as horror.

(Oh, keep an eye on The Mortuary Assistant, maybe.)

I'd have to say Resident Evil as well. Though I don't enjoy being scared or having to worry about being jump scared so I have trouble enjoying those games.

The Suffering and its sequel are really solid shooters, not exactly scary but the stories are suitably horrific.

There are also some good turn-based horror games around, like Alders Blood or World of Horror

I recommend Penumbra Ouverture and Black Plague, fantastic games with a perfect balance between atmosphere and gameplay.

Never played the game myself as I just watched my older sister played it in the past, but I think Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly can be considered as one of those horror games. I picked the second game in the series simply because I've watched from a review somewhere on YouTube that the second game has improved on a lot of things that the first game suffered from. And the setting for the second game is larger than the first game, allowing for wide camera angles that can be used to escalate suspense at times.

Bioshock
DUSK
Shadowgrounds
The Darkness II
Arx Fatalis (not horror themed, but some areas are pretty creepy with eerie atmosphere, think crypts, spider caves and some organic-like tunnels)
maybe even DOOM, kinda?

I haven't played Prey (2017) yet and not a lot of Dying Light, but they might qualify as well?
I would also say VTM: Bloodlines in parts, although it's questionable whether the gameplay can be regarded as good. But it's still a lot of fun.

Of course, all of the above are also action games where you can fight back against (or be) the horror, but I've found that those where you can't are usually more annoying than truly scary and gameplay isn't that enjoyable.

Oh, except for Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero, if those count. I guess they only have occasional horror elements, and not in a traditional way, but they can get pretty frightening. Yeah, maybe those two would be my top pick then?

You can probably tell that I'm not much of a fan of traditional horror games. ;)

Maybe The Count Lucanor and The Binding of Isaac?

If you consider adventures games to have good gameplay, I also liked Fran Bow, Little Misfortune, The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, Dark Fall: The Journal.

Doom 3 has an awesome scary atmosphere. 12 year old me was quite on edge when playing it.

The way you interact with the environment in Amnesia: The Dark Descent is still really well done in my opinion.

Being able to hold down left-click and move and rotate an object from the environment, stacking boxes over one another in order to reach a high spot, having to physically move the mouse to open a door etc.

It also features interesting puzzles that don't hold your hand too much and really make you think.

The Custom Story level editor is also one of the reasons why it's my favorite horror game, since it adds many more hours of gameplay, allowing you to experience stories created by the community.

I think it definitely had a huge influence on the survival horror genre when it came out.

How about vampire the masquarade bloodlines has some great gameplay if i understood the op correctly

I'm a bit of an expert in this topic, I can throw a few recommendations.

Resident Evil 0 and 1 remaster, but the originals as well. Depending on how tough you are, they might or might not scare you. Gameplay is very good.

Resident Evil 4 is an action game but has some scary segments if you're into that.

Silent Hill 1-3 (I'd put 4 in here but it's not really scary) they're essentially psychologically driven horror games, scare factor is very potent. Gameplay is also great, I'd say.

Dino Crisis, never played it but heard it was pretty good.

Parasite Eve, it's not very scary but might interest you. It's basically Final Fantasy meets Resident Evil.

Eternal Darkness, a gamecube exclusive worth checking out. Very underrated because of the poor Gamecube sales.

Haunting Ground, a PS2 game just as underrated and hard to get by physically. Thought I'd mention it.

Clock Tower series, hide and seek basically. Very much inspired by slasher movies, etc.

Forbidden Siren, released on the PS2 originally, haven't played it but watched a playthrough. It's very scary.

Rule of Rose, extremely rare game with mediocre gameplay but similiar to Silent Hill.

Haunted PS1 Demo Disc, done by indie developers with various games inspired by the Playstation 1, available for PC.

Found it very scary back then, but I recommend the Snes version and PS1 version. Clock Tower II is only scary in the beginning, gets ridiculous later on.