You Do It, Because I Won't Trivia Quiz

Answer: 'Amnesia: The Dark Descent'

Definitely up there as one of the scariest games in recent years, Frictional Games' 'Amnesia: The Dark Descent' relies on its spooky atmosphere and the real sense of vulnerability of its protagonist to produce a truly haunting experience. Terrifying monsters stalk the castle, chasing after Daniel as he searches for the castle's baron, Alexander. Because there are no weapons he can use to defend himself, Daniel's only hope of survival is to hide from his pursuers until they go away. His sanity plays a large role in the game - spending too long in darkness and encountering enemies will lower his sanity and make him hallucinate. This will, in turn, attract the attention of nearby monsters. Restoring Daniel's sanity level can be potentially problematic - hiding from the monsters until they disappear will do the trick, but staying hidden in the darkness for too long will make him lose consciousness. When he comes to, Daniel's sanity will be restored but in his "downtime", he will be extremely susceptible to attacks from monsters, so it may transpire that when he regains consciousness, he is surrounded by the monsters who will begin to attack. The lantern is an invaluable asset, but fuel and tinderboxes are few and far between, so the player must decide when and where best to use the lantern because it too will draw the attention of the castle's resident monsters.

Released in 2010, 'Amnesia: The Dark Descent' became a cult hit, and many popular videos on YouTube feature players filming their reactions as they play through the game. A sequel, 'Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs', developed by 'Dear Esther' studio The Chinese Room in association with Frictional Games, was released in 2013.

Leading up to the release of 'Portal 2' on Steam in 2011, players could purchase 'The Potato Sack', a collection of video games involved in an elaborate ARG that would help bring forward the release time of 'Portal 2'. One of those games was, you guessed it, 'Amnesia: The Dark Descent'. It still sits in my Steam game library to this day, untouched and uninstalled. Maybe one day I'll have the courage to play it.

Oh, who am I kidding? It's never going to happen.

Answer: 'Resident Evil'

Capcom's long-running survival horror franchise started out way back in 1996 with the eponymous 'Resident Evil' for the PlayStation. Successive numbered entries followed in later years on a variety of platforms, each attempting to tweak the formula of the series based on the criticism of the previous game. In between each of these main entries were a wealth of side games and spin-offs, some of which fared better critically than the main series games. Filmgoers may have noticed several live-action 'Resident Evil' films see cinema releases, though as is typical of most video game-to-film adaptations, they received less than favourable critical reception. Despite this, however, they have still managed to rake in the money at the box office and even received a Guiness World Record for the most film adaptations of a video game.

There's no doubting the popularity of the 'Resident Evil' games. But for me, it's just one of many series that I will shy away. "But Ethan, this one's not scary at all, just atmospheric!" say my associates. Yeah? Well, I'll just be huddled over here in this brightly lit corner, wrapped in a blanket and peering out over the top of it every so often before ducking back down again.

Answer: 'Fatal Frame'/'Project Zero'

If there's one game that you should never play alone and at night and in the pitch black, then it's a 'Fatal Frame'/'Project Zero' game. It's got all the things that I do not look for when it comes to enjoyable gaming: creepy atmosphere (check!), haunted buildings (check!), ghosts, spectres and the dead (check, check, check!). Say what you like about the Japanese, when it comes to video games, they definitely know how to make you wet your trousers in fright.

In much the same way that 'Amnesia: The Dark Descent' robs you of all traditional weapons and defences, the 'Fatal Frame'/'Project Zero' series simply gives you a torch and a special camera, shoves you into a derelict building and runs away before the spookiness starts. This Camera Obscura, as it is referred to in each game, allows you to capture the essence of a ghost in the camera's film, thereby "defeating" it. But, surprise surprise, it's not as simple as just pointing the camera in the vague direction of the ghost and taking a snapshot. Oh no. First, you have to charge up the camera by keeping the ghost in the camera's frame until it gains enough power. Yes, that's right, you have to stand and look at an oncoming ghost as it screams or does whatever it is they do. If, by now, you haven't paused the game, switched all the lights on in the neighbourhood and telephoned a psychiatrist to make an appointment, you can let off a camera shot at the ghost. But this doesn't guarantee the ghost is defeated. No sir. It may take a couple of shots to do the trick, but the camera needs to "reload" between shots, taking up even more of your precious time. Taking a picture at just the right moment can set up a chain, whereby the need to reload the camera after each shot is removed and you can fire off shots in quick succession, provided you don't muck up the chain by shooting too early or too late, or the ghost disappears from your camera's frame, which would be very likely if it were me playing, shaking with fear.

To be fair, not every game in the series takes place in an eerie edifice. 'Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly'/'Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly' is set amongst a village and its nearby forest. Whatever the case may be, the series is considered to be one of the scariest in modern gaming. For the survival horror connoisseur, it's a veritable smorgasbord of fear and fright. For a weedy wimp of a person like me, it's probably best just to play something else, really.

Answer: 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'

As if the horror of the Chernobyl explosion wasn't enough, the 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.' series of games decided to have it occur a second time and plonk you right in the middle of the surrounding wasteland, dubbed "The Zone". With a foreboding name like that, you can only imagine what sorts of horrors you might find. Granted, you do have weapons at your disposal, but that doesn't make it any less scary.

Mutated humans and animals stalk The Zone in the 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.' games, disfigured and sometimes disembodied by the nuclear radiation from the plant's second meltdown. Environmental anomalies also pose a threat and best triggered from afar by chucking something at them. In later games, some factions also pose a threat, depending on their allegiance to you. It seems that wherever you go in the world of 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.', there's always someone or something that wants you dead. Most of the time, it's a bloated, mutilated monster, and that's exactly why I don't want to play it.

Answer: 'BioShock'

Genetically-altered creatures. Let's just pause for a moment and take that in. Genetically-altered creatures. Whenever you hear that phrase, it's not going to be good. Nothing good ever comes from genetically altering creatures in the world of video games, and boy does 'BioShock' know this. Deep under the water in the subaquatic city of Rapture, a plasmid known as ADAM that gives creatures powerful abilities (that's the "genetically-altered" bit of the game, in case you were wondering). The game's protagonist, Jack, has to fight his way through ADAM-affected creatures like Splicers and Big Daddies to learn the truth about the strange occurrences in Rapture and how he came to be there in the first place.

Released in 2007, 'BioShock' spawned a sequel in 2010, 'BioShock 2', and 'BioShock Infinite' was released in 2013.

Answer: 'Alone in the Dark'

For those that are into these sorts of games, 'Alone in the Dark' can be described as survival horror done right. Indeed, it was one of the earliest of its type and set the standard for games to come (akin to 'Super Mario 64's impact on the 3D platformer genre). The premise of the game is simple enough, but its execution is downright chilling. Players choose one of two characters to play as, each wanting to investigate the haunted mansion for their own reasons. What follows is a series of deadly dealings with the demonic denizens of Derceto. As the chosen character makes their way down from the mansion's attic, solving puzzles and fighting off all manner of monsters, they discover why Derceto is haunted and the source of the spooky goings-on that gave it its feared reputation.

Drawing on the works of Lovecraft for inspiration, 'Alone in the Dark' was heavily praised upon its release and really did set the bar for future survival horror series such as the aforementioned 'Resident Evil'.

If you're playing along at home with What's-Ethan-scared-of-now Bingo, you can tick off "the darkness". Being alone in the darkness terrifies me. Being alone in the darkness and playing 'Alone in the Dark' is enough to fuel nightmares for several weeks.

Answer: 'Silent Hill'

The landmark PlayStation game 'Silent Hill' kicked off one of gaming's most popular and successful horror series. What set it apart from other games at the time was the sense of vulnerability of the main character. Harry Mason was not a soldier or a weapons expert, just a man, a man alone, searching for his missing daughter. The game plays shifts between survival horror and psychological horror, as Harry explores the fog-filled town of Silent Hill. Several sequels spawned as a result of the success of 'Silent Hill', including 'Silent Hill: Shattered Memories', a 2009 remake of sorts of the original.

Anything with "hill" in the title is bound to be terrifying: 'Silent Hill', 'The Hills Have Eyes', 'Grange Hill'... oh, the horror.

Answer: 'Half-Life 2'

In the events of 1998's 'Half-Life', in which a "resonance cascade" occurs at the Black Mesa Research Facility creating an interdimensional rift, the series' mute protagonist Dr. Gordon Freeman fights off the invading aliens and travels to their home planet to close the rift. Gordon is saved at the last minute by the mysterious G-Man, who stops time and places Gordon in stasis to be re-awoken and used for another purpose at a later time. 2004's 'Half-Life 2' opens with the G-Man bringing him back to life and sending him to City 17 where he eventually destroys a portal to another universe. Before he is obliterated by the resulting explosion, G-Man stops time again and places Gordon back into stasis.

The game's spooky elements come from the various alien creatures that inhabit Earth after coming through from the alien planet Xen. The aforementioned Ravenholm is crawling with zombies and headcrabs and the unknown lurks around every corner. 'Half-Life 2: Episode One' and 'Half-Life 2: Episode 2' followed in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

Let's just back up a bit. Headcrabs. Head... crabs. Crab-like creatures that latch themselves onto your head and chow down, effectively turning you into a zombie. How completely terrifying.

Answer: 'F.E.A.R.'

'F.E.A.R.', which cleverly stands for 'First Encounter Assault Recon', centres around the paranormal and a demonic girl in the headquarters of the Armacham Technology Corporation. An expert armsman with superhuman reflexes, the Point Man is sent in as part of the F.E.A.R. taskforce to deal with this paranormal activities. During the course of the game, Alma, the demonic girl, subjects the Point Man to all manner of psychological horrors in attempts to turn him away.

Not for the faint-hearted, 'F.E.A.R.' also features jump scares aplenty, which is pretty much why I've stayed well away from it. A creepy atmosphere is one thing, but to throw in jump scares every now and again is just plain unfair. I bet the developers would be laughing their heads off if they saw me playing. Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I'll be sending you my cleaning bill.

Answer: slender

It's the middle of the night. You're in a forest in the middle of nowhere. You're searching for eight pages. There's a horrific, faceless being stalking you the whole time. Just be glad such a situation only exists within a video game.

That video game is 'Slender: The Eight Pages'. That faceless being is the Slender Man. You control an unknown protagonist, armed only with a torch which, like real life, will run out of power if used for too long. Your task is simple: collect the eight scattered pages before the Slender Man gets you. The catch? Taking too long to find you will cause you to fail the game. Letting the Slender Man touch you will end the game. Finding more pages will make the forest more difficult to navigate. The Slender Man will appear closer and closer to you with each page you find. It hardly seems worth it, doesn't it? Just pack it in. It's only eight pages you're after. Leave the Slender Man to his stalking.

Like 'Amnesia: The Dark Descent', the game became a YouTube hit as people filmed their unsuspecting friends and siblings playing the game and their reactions to seeing the ever-advancing Slender Man. A sequel, 'Slender: The Arrival', arrived in 2013.