If I remember correctly there were lots of spiders in Might and Magic VI (a cave near the beginning full of spiders and snakes).

Edit: And there were no spiders in Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition.

Lol, this is awesome! Had to play around with spidy for a couple of minutes... still can't get enough! :)

Great helps, guys! Thanks for your continuing contributions!

This brings up a good point. Should I put these games in the workaround or cartoony category? Because I remember playing these back in the day and I hated Spiderweb Software's flash screen that would pop up before the game started. I would turn my head around each time that came up and then would be okay to play the games. What do you guys thinks? Cartoony/unrealistic or workaround?

And tinyE, there is no force on heaven and earth that can get me to click on your link! :P

I think System Shock 2's spider problem is that even though they aren't real spiders, Shock is an unbelievably terrifying game already with a great reputation, but people may not know that includes using the essence of what makes people afraid of spiders. Still, if I can find a link to the mod, I'll update to post it under the mod section.

Anyone else have any feedback on driders? Personally, I don't think they count, or at least they should be in the unrealistic/cartoony category. They're kind of in a kind of category like the spider mech in Final Fantasy VIII. We refer to it as a spider mech because it has multiple legs attached to a round mechanical body, but it isn't really a spider in anyway and doesn't really tap those buttons. I would imagine driders are like that too, but since this is a group thing, I'll concede to whomever feels leery with them.

The spiders in Avernum shouldn't be too scary because of the graphics but because of the "Happy Spiders".
They are all simply called "Spider", they talk in english with a high pitched voice and are alway happy. The spiders never try to hurt you. It's the opposite, they call you "cute" and some of them see you as an potential mate.

You forget about the evil spiders who also include magic casting Aranea.
Cartoony with warning about evil spiders and splash screens.

These are games with spiders, but where workarounds exist to avoid the spiders:

Spiders, but with workaround

Deus Ex (apparently has security spider droids, but these can be easily avoided and thus a careful playthrough may be able to eliminate them completely)
Driftmoon (mods make them into boxes or with cute cartoon eyes)
Dragon Age (Use mods to replace spiders with various other things/creatures)
Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (Check out the Insects Begone mod for a solution to Skyrim's scary spiders)
Jagged Alliance 2 (they exist, but you can be turned off by changing the settings in the game to "realistic")
Minecraft (Several different workarounds, see post for details)
Legend of Grimrock (mods remove them, replace them with other enemies)
System Shock 2 (A patch/mod to completely nullify the spiders)
Thief (DromEd can edit all the spiders out)

I thought the inclusion of spiders in System Shock 2 was kind of stupid. It felt like a cheap scare tactic. To me, they didn't really fit with the... whatever the bad aliens were called (it's been a while since I've played the game).

But yeah, I hate spiders. The spiders in Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine always creeped me out. They are usually on the ceiling and then use a web to get down on the floor when you get near them. I will never forget the time I ran underneath one and it came down right in front of the camera. Freaked me out.

I don't know if someone's mentioned it yet, but if you don't like spiders then Tomb Raider 2 is probably a good game to stay away from. There are little ones, and BIG ones in the game :P

You get attacked by everything in TR 2; spiders, birds, dogs, people, sharks, gravity....

Alan Wake is completely and utterly devoid of any spiders. American Nightmare ... Not so much.

... dinosaurs,... ;)

I just wanted to point out the Happy Spiders because if someone is afraid of a picture of a pixel/polygon spider what will happen if those spiders propose to them?


to Sazanamistyle:
You can add "Dungeon Siege" to the spider list. If I remember correctly there's one spider-themed dungeon. I thought it was quite scary back then when my group was swarmed by spiders of all sizes.

What do you think of "Arachne"? The lower body is a spider and the upper body is a woman. Quite a few games show them in a sexy light. Of course Rule 34 applies here too.

On arachnid women, I think like driders it depends on what the general consensus is. For instance, I imagine that one encounter in Dark Souls would be enough to give arachnophobes a heart attack, but I doubt the ones in 2D in Symphony of the Night are all that disturbing.

This makes me wonder if anyone ever got creeped out by the various versions of Gohma in the Legend of Zelda series.

Of my favorite games:
There are no spiders in The Cat Lady and Deadly Premonition. Spiders are mentioned in both (DP: one of the characters mentions her arachnophobia; TCL: certain obiect is described as being part of a spider).
In Sanitarium there are no spiders but there are humanoid cyborg insects.
There are no enemy spiders in Planescape: Torment, but there is a piece of jewelry that is in fact a living spider.
There are spiders in Grim Fandango.

First, OP about Oblivion having no spiders. there is the Daedra that is half spider half woman. don't know if this would count?

GoG game
Spiders:
7th guest: used to solve a puzzle

Non-GoG games:

No Spiders:
Fallout 3
Fallout NV (but it has tons of other types of bugs like scorpions. actually this game made me hate ants a lot)
Diablo I

Spiders:
Diablo II
Diablo III