Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information, you confirm you are aged 16 or over, have read our Privacy Policy and agree to the Terms & Conditions. Geographical rules apply.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
Trending
  • Memorial Day sales
  • New Games 2026
  • Summer Game Fest 2026 schedule
  • Best gaming gadgets
  • Submit your clips. Win prizes
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
  1. Games
  2. Action

The 25 most insidious booby traps (and their victims' last moments)

Features
By Lucas Sullivan published 10 April 2013

If you see it, you're already dead

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Subscribe to our newsletter

The trap is set

Traps are so in this season. Spike pits in Tomb Raider, fire-shooting floors in God of War: Ascension multiplayer, electrified crystals in BioShock Infinite--it seems that the video game zeitgeist has a real thing for deathtraps as of late. Theyre awfully efficient, after all--just set up your killing machine, wait for a hapless victim, and watch them trigger their own demise!

Weve died to these traps so many times, weve become completely desensitized to automated fatalities. When you stop and think about whats really happening, the results arehorrifying, to put it mildly. These are the most sinister traps in all of gaming, and the woeful fate that awaits unprepared adventurers in some of the most undignified deaths imaginable.

25. Poison rice ball (Tenchu)

Youve been on duty for at least eight hours--the least you could do is take a lunch break. And what luck! Someone left a perfectly edible rice ball in the middle of the road. Bon appetitGURK!

Latest Videos From
You may like
  • Resident Evil Requiem On the Radar screenshot of a zombie biting a fire poker with an orange overlay Resident Evil Requiem is my new favorite Saw movie thanks to one of the most upsetting survival horror levels in history
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong The 25 best Metroidvania games you can play in 2026
  • Minos screenshots Crafting my own devilish dungeons in roguelike Minos has awakened something villainous inside of me

24. Blade wall (Prince of Persia)

Everyone knows how agonizing it is to get your finger caught in a door. Now try to envision that instead of a door, youre caught between two sheets of toothed metal, and instead of a mere digit, that slicer is clamping down on your entire body. Were getting the chilly-willies just thinking about it.

23. Tripwire shotgun (Max Payne)

After a rough day at the office, all you want to do is go into your apartment and hit the hay. But oops--instead, youre blasted point-blank with a spray of hot metal pellets with no warning whatsoever. Honey, you got some splainin to doooooo!

22. Murder of Crows nest (BioShock Infinite)

Actor extraordinaire and all-around dynamite guy Nicholas Cage said it best: OH, NO! NOT THE CROWS! NOT THE CROWS! AAAAAHHHHH! OH, THEY'RE IN MY EYES! MY EYES! AAAAHHHHH! AAAAAGGHHH! (Or it might have been bees, we don't remember.)

21. Barnacles (Half-Life)

Whatever you do, dont look up. Because if you do, youll know that the spindly yellow thing you brushed up against was not some errant power cable, but a tongue. Youll realize that, like a fish moments away from death, you were being reeled into a gaping maw of an alien organism that is little more than a mouth. Better to just accept your fate as your torso is slowly devoured in the caustic acid of this creatures hideous throat.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

20. Spike traps (Uncharted: Drakes Fortune)

Nathan Drake has a penchant for laughing off bullet wounds and near-death experiences. But even he has no witty retort when a rack of sharpened wooden spears springs into his abdomen with the force of a human-sized mousetrap. The worst is what happens to those who think this is a one-time gimmick: a Sideshow Bob-esque stumbling from tripwire to tripwire in excruciating--albeit funny--impalement pain.

19. Burrowed Banelings (StarCraft II)

Weird, must be some kind of sinkhole here. Wait a sec, somethings popping out of the gr--AHHHHHH! THEYRE EVERYWHERE! ACID! THERES ACID ON OUR FACE! ITS IN OUR SUIT! GYAAAAAA!

18. Spike walls (Dark Messiah of Might and Magic)

Some people baby-proof their homes; others ensure that fatalities can--and will--occur in every single room. And the quickest way to do that is by affixing metal spikes onto every vertical surface in sight. Its almost like the inhabitants enjoy the feeling of sharp, cold metal sliding into their back and spine.

17. Pressure chamber (Unreal Tournament)

Wuh-oh. Looks like there was no one in this room. There is, on the other hand, someone on the other side of the glass in what is now a locked chamber. They just pressed a button--and now your head feels like its about to pop off your neck. In fact, your entire body is swelling, and your bowels have been forcibly shot out of you. Moments before you explode into a fine, crimson mist, you find yourself wishing they had just shot you and gotten it over with.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Current page: Page 1

Next Page Page 2
CATEGORIES
Android iPad iPhone PC Gaming Wii-u Nintendo PlayStation PS4 Xbox Xbox One Platforms Mobile Gaming
PRODUCTS
Dark Souls II Half-Life 2 Dark Souls New Super Mario Bros. U
Lucas Sullivan
Lucas Sullivan
Social Links Navigation

Lucas Sullivan is the former US Managing Editor of GamesRadar+. Lucas spent seven years working for GR, starting as an Associate Editor in 2012 before climbing the ranks. He left us in 2019 to pursue a career path on the other side of the fence, joining 2K Games as a Global Content Manager. Lucas doesn't get to write about games like Borderlands and Mafia anymore, but he does get to help make and market them. 

Read more
Resident Evil Requiem On the Radar screenshot of a zombie biting a fire poker with an orange overlay
Resident Evil Resident Evil Requiem is my new favorite Saw movie thanks to one of the most upsetting survival horror levels in history
 
 
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Action Games The 25 best Metroidvania games you can play in 2026
 
 
Minos screenshots
Roguelike Games Crafting my own devilish dungeons in roguelike Minos has awakened something villainous inside of me
 
 
A close-up of Leon, frowning in a big black coat, in Resident Evil Requiem
Horror Games The 25 best horror games worth playing in 2026
 
 
Hades 2
Roguelike Games The 25 best roguelike games to play right now
 
 
Demon's Souls Dragon God roaring
Action RPGs FromSoftware experts find evidence Hidetaka Miyazaki's breakout RPG deleted some truly evil enemies
 
 
Latest in Action
Heartman from Death Stranding
Action Games Generative AI finally sends Hideo Kojima into space in new short film with Death Stranding partner Nicolas Winding Refn
 
 
James Bond smirks in M's office in 007 First Light
Action Games "You don't want to say 'I played it safe'": How 007 First Light's developers made the best James Bond game yet
 
 
In Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, protagonist Edward Kenway sits on a rooftop looking out over Havana
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced lead says it's "a little bit more dense" compared to Shadows
 
 
007 First Light
Action Games What is Tacsim in 007 First Light?
 
 
007 first light staff key
Action Games Where to get the staff key in 007 First Light
 
 
007 First Light
Action Games How to get the Auction Fee in 007 First Light and make 100k
 
 
Latest in Features
James Bond smirks in M's office in 007 First Light
Action Games "You don't want to say 'I played it safe'": How 007 First Light's developers made the best James Bond game yet
 
 
The Witcher The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past will tell me everything I need to know about The Witcher 1 Remake
 
 
John Wick stares into the camera while wearing a suit
Events & Conferences 4 PS5 games I predict will appear in June's State of Play
 
 
Grogu and the Anzellans in The Mandalorian and Grogu
Star Wars Movies The Mandalorian and Grogu proves that Baby Yoda has a massive future ahead of him – and he's more than a cute sidekick
 
 
Image of a collection of Dragon Quest merch on a blue GamesRadar+ background.
Toys & Collectibles Celebrate the Dragon Quest 40th Anniversary with my favorite merch from across the series
 
 
Key art for Paralives showing a group of friends in bright clothes walking through a sunny, blue-skies town - cropped for a header image
Simulation Games Paralives' build mode might mean I don't have to mod The Sims anymore
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. A screenshot from the Path of Exile 2 opening cinematic trailer, showing a woman shouting.
    1
    Path of Exile co-creator tells developers "don't survey your players" because "'your audience is good at recognizing problems and bad at solving them'"
  2. 2
    Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis boss fight lead points to Elden Ring as a stellar example of how to make sure they're fair
  3. 3
    Lego Batman actor doubles down on Solid Snake comparisons by teaming up with Metal Gear star David Hayter himself and getting his blessing
  4. 4
    Viral dev tells players "don't buy this game" on Steam yet because it's about to go on sale
  5. 5
    Bullseye actor teases new suit for Daredevil: Born Again season 3

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...