10 Horror Video Games That Brutally Punish You

6. Maid Of Sker

House Of Velez
Wales Interactive

From Wales Interactive, last year's Maid of Sker is a beautiful, haunting first-person survival horror that embraces Welsh folklore.

Set in 1898, you take control of musician Thomas Evans, who arrives at Sker House on the Welsh coast as he looks for his 'one true', Elisabeth Williams. With supernatural shenanigans at play, and a nice dose of torture and torment, the initial threats of Maid of Sker are the Quiet Ones.

These shuffling sorts are a gamer's worst nightmare, with them able to immediately hone in on any sound you make as you inch your way around Sker House and its surroundings.

Just when you think you've mastered the stealth element of this game, you'll be slapped back down to earth by a stumbled step, a creaky door hinge, a bullet fired or an unfortunate collision with a reception bell - all of which will result in a swarm of Quiet Ones circling in on you and beating you to death.

It's in the game's false sense of security that Maid of Sker is particularly brutal, with it nicely luring you in, making you feel all cosy, before starkly pulling the rug from under you and promptly suffocating you with it - and that's before you even get to the crossroads of the game's final act.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.