3D Monster Maze is a 45 year old survival horror and it’s still scary today – Reader’s Feature

3D Monster Maze – terrifyingly old (Vassilii Khachaturov/Wikipedia)

A reader returns to Sinclair ZX81 classic 3D Monster Maze and finds arguably the first ever survival horror game to still be impressively frightening.

Instilling fear is something video games can do most effectively. Watch a horror film and although sometimes it can feel like it, you aren’t directly involved in the events unfurling on the movie screen. You’re being shown a nightmare, you aren’t participating in one.

Horror themed games make you take part. Play a scary game and you’re no longer watching a shocking situation, you’re living it, and it’s down to your wits and decision-making skills whet...