The Most Difficult Games Guaranteed To Test Player Skills and Patience

Gamers have long debated the subject of game difficulty. Different players have different views.

Yet, the simple truth is that there is not one single way to play a game. Regardless of how people feel a game should be experienced, some titles have downright malicious difficulty and make no attempt to hide it. Games like Cuphead hammer players with unrelenting rage from the very first level and titles like The Witness test the patience of any sane human being with mind-bending puzzles.

Below, find a round-up of the most difficult games guaranteed to test gamer skills and patience…as well as sanity.

1. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice is, unsurprisingly, a title from FromSoftware and is possibly the most challenging game ever built. From the beginning, Sekiro places much greater emphasis on parrying attacks than dodging away from them, which goes against the grain of everything die-hard souls players are used to. That alone ramps up the difficulty for players, unlearning what has become natural to replace it with something else.

As a game, Sekiro prioritizes stealth, patience, and impeccable timing. Players should not rush into battle in Sekiro, unless they crave a swift and violent death. However, for all the ways it is harder than the infamous Dark Souls titles, the adrenaline rush and sense of achievement that comes from finally vanquishing a boss become all the more remarkable. Everything in Sekiro has a cadence to it. The secret to getting the most out of the game and reaching the end credits with any modicum of sanity intact is learning the cadence and dancing to its silent rhythm.

2. Lies of P

Lies of P took everybody by surprise in 2023 when it launched as a souls-like game that didn't come from FromSoftware, though it does everything gamers have come to expect from one of their games. It features a dark and twisted tale set in Pinocchio's world with fiendish monsters and wicked puppets, each one harder to kill than the next. Even the generic monsters in each level have the ferocity to kill in a few swift strikes if caught off-guard. Not only does the game feature 25 main bosses, but each level includes miniboss fights and ‘elite' creature encounters that will have the death counter rising without question.

Though the newest entry on this list, Lies of P deserves its recognition as one of the hardest and most demanding games ever made, with a parry system that requires perfect input to save health being stripped away and a dodge mechanic that is a must-master feature for anybody looking to make it past even the parade master. The deeper gamers sink into the game, the more frequently the postal gods get cursed for delivering the game in the first place. 

3. Dark Souls

Dark Souls comes to the mind of most gamers when considering most difficult games. Released in 2011, the years have not lessened the toughness of this title, which set a new standard for masochism in gaming. Though no longer the most difficult – that honor belongs to another FromSoftware title – it remains a badge of honor and a game people want to compete for bragging rights alone.

Dark Souls – and this entry really extends to Dark Souls II and III also – hits the target on all points of game difficulty. It offers but one gameplay setting, has a control system that requires excellent timing, and a high learning curve. Dark Souls is relentless. Even dead enemies will return the minute gamers heal up or save at a bonfire, meaning backtracking and safety saves are not what many people perceive them to be.

4. Elden Ring

It should come as no surprise to see another title from FromSoftware make it onto a list of the most difficult video games of all time. Elden Ring is a game produced in association with George R. R. Martin, which should tell people enough about what to expect and the frequency with which death is dealt. However, compared to the Dark Souls trilogy, Elden Ring shows a bit more kindness to its gamers. That doesn't make Elden Ring easy, but FromSoftware showed they have some small ounce of compassion in their souls.

So, while Elden Ring may let players summon NPCs to help in battle and top up their health with flasks while not resting at a campfire, that does little to lessen the soul-crushing brutality. The difficulty level in Elden Ring remains set to the highest level of fiendish imaginable, and it takes considerable talent and patience to complete the game.

5. Battletoads

The original launched on the NES in 1991 and remains one of the most challenging titles on that platform and across all video games. Many people write off older consoles and think that only modern games can present any actual difficulty. However, Battletoads delivers a punishing level of gameplay, especially on the harder settings, hitting gamers with a combination of high-speed, intricate level design and a requirement for quick fingers and faster reflexes.

Gamers often cite Battletoads as an unfair or unbeatable game. While countless gamers have proven otherwise, it remains a game that tests the patience of anybody who picks up a controller. Turbo Tunnel is arguably the most challenging and rage-inducing section of the game, but that doesn't mean others are easy; they are merely less sadistic in their difficulty.

6. Shinobi

Shinobi has delivered frustration to games since the halcyon days of the SEGA Genesis and through to the PS2. Shinobi titles on both systems are regarded as some of the most difficult games ever released. The PS2 version of the game lulls players in with smooth movement mechanics and two early levels that create a false sense of security, ripped away as the difficulty hits like a shuriken to the netherregions.

It doesn't help that the character's sword works as a hindrance when not used to slice and dice enemies, slowly sapping player health during prolonged periods of peace.

7. Returnal

Returnal from Housemarque arrived in 2021 and has proven one of the most challenging games ever. According to various trophy data sources, only 10% of players have ever completed the game. Even when considering that the game's true ending hides behind a complete second playthrough, less than a quarter of gamers have even reached the end of a single playthrough.

Returnal's difficulty is intentional, with the developers stating that they wanted to ensure the players understood and felt Selene's anger and frustration as she experienced them in-game. On an interesting note, many people think the game plays more difficult in the opening half than in the closing. Anybody who has played the game will attest that Derelict Citadel, one of the game's middle levels, far exceeds the others in terms of difficulty.

8. Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels

The Lost Levels hit consoles in Japan in 1986 as a direct sequel to Super Mario Bros, called Super Mario Bros 2. However, Nintendo thought the game too difficult for a Western audience and created a different Super Mario Bros 2 that they distributed in Europe and America. The Lost Levels, as it is called in America, was not officially released until 1993 as part of the Super Mario All-Stars collection for the SNES. The launch and the time since then have proven Nintendo correct.

Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels features sinister difficulty, requiring blind jumps, route and pattern memory, and a requirement for precision platforming at all times. The addition of the poison mushroom is barbaric, and many players have surely cursed the person who decided on its creation over the last thirty years. Even the most experienced Mario tricksters must admit that level C-3 is, without a doubt, the most challenging thing ever performed with a Mario character.

9. Ninja Gaiden

The original Ninja Gaiden ranks high as one of the most difficult games ever made. The NES title arrived on the system between 1988 and 1991, depending on geographical locations, and forever changed the landscape of game difficulty and what developers could ask, or rather, demand out of a player. No gamer can conquer Ninja Gaiden with brute force. It requires impeccable timing, precision platforming, and quick reflexes to avoid waves of enemies that can easily chain together one or two hits. Not to mention, projectiles, traps, and pits also spell doom in several different ways.

Anybody who has played Ninja Gaiden on NES will confirm they came out of level 6-2 a stronger and better person because that level will make or break the human spirit. Ninja Gaiden has earned its spot on the Mount Rushmore of difficult games and continues to be a challenging title more than three and a half decades after its launch.

10. Punch-Out!!

Punch-Out!! is a classic title that is frustrating not only for its difficulty but also because the game has clear patterns. Players know that every failure results from the inability to react appropriately. Punch-Out!! lures players in with progressive difficulty, and just as one fighter is beaten and the patterns committed to memory, a new foe appears with harder patterns and more battering power.

People who have conquered the game will readily boast that Punch-Out!! “wasn't that bad.” However, for those casual gamers who still struggle to put Mr. Sandman to sleep for the ten-count, the game is possibly one of the most complicated and frustrating titles ever to have a loading screen. Too many players have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory to label this game anything other than difficult.

Punch-Out!! serves as a reminder that difficulty in video games does not have to mean unbeatable and that an ability to recognize and remember patterns doesn't suddenly make a game easy.

11. Myst

Myst earned its place among the difficult game elite for the hours of pain and mental suffering it has wrought on players since its release in 1993. Not only was Myst somewhat revolutionary, rising tall above a field clogged with action-adventure titles, but it also created an intriguing world of interconnected puzzles rarely solved based on a single solution.

Many of the puzzles in Myst consist of smaller riddles and puzzles that must be solved to crack the main overarching puzzle. To do that, gamers must remember the relevant solutions, understand what to look for, and know how to use the available information to get the right solution. No wonder players give up in despair.

Yet, for those who have the fortitude and can crack the secrets of the island, Myst defines a genre and leaves behind a mark that remains forever.

12. Nioh

The development team behind Nioh has gone on record to say that their driving mantra through the entire process was not to build an easy game. They wanted something that would tease, frustrate, and ultimately test the soul and sanity of gamers. The game they created achieved that and then some. Nioh requires tactical preparation for fights and a dextrous pair of hands to remember and input the vast array of controls with pinpoint accuracy.

Nioh, as a game, ranks up against Dark Souls for its difficulty. However, a portion of that comes from the complexity of the controls rather than the gameplay itself. With a steep learning curve right off the bat, Nioh gets more comfortable the deeper players get in the story. The complex controls start to commit themselves to muscle memory. However, even that will not help when faced with bosses like Shima Sakon, who is not even the final boss but proves to be the exit point for many intrepid gamers.

13. Contra

When an entire cheat code got its name from gamers desperate to complete a single game, chances are, the game has some difficulty.

The Konami Code, as gamers call it, has saved the lives of Contra players for decades and will do so for decades to come. Contra has long been regarded and revered for its high difficulty, particularly the early games.

Contra features a rapid pace and furious bursts of action thrown the player's way. Every shot and footstep must count with just three lives as a base point. Every death sees all accumulated power-ups and weapons lost, returning the character to its virginal state. Over the years, players have beaten Contra in numerous ways, including speedrunners and die-hard gamers, but its threat still looms large over many backlogs. While it is possible to beat the game, rarely will somebody say they beat it without breaking a sweat.

14. Ghosts ‘n Goblins

Ghosts ‘n Goblins hit the arcades in 1985, and its 1986 console launch presented a challenge like no other. Now, almost four decades later, it remains a game whose end credits have most likely avoided more players than have seen them.

Ghosts ‘n Goblins earns its place among the most difficult games ever made thanks to its life system and gameplay mechanics that border on malicious. To make matters worse, a player has just three hit points per life and three lives in total to reach the end of the game. Not only does the game provide some health items and extra lives, but many will not see them. Once those three lives are gone, that's it; back to the start.

15. Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy

Released in 2017, Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy bore out of a love for difficult titles and a desire to throw back to the “good old day” of having to start a game over after a single death. The developer, Bennett Foddy, built a game he wanted to play and stated his love of a challenge. What makes Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy so difficult is not just starting from the beginning after dying but that the entire game consists of a single level.

The game doesn't have one set route to victory, either. Armed with a trusty pickaxe, players must swing the titular character higher and higher, overcoming obstacles and puzzling through tight spots with precise jumps and micro-movements; all the while, the character, whose lower body is a large iron cauldron, dangles a single wrong input away from his demise.

The difficulty becomes even more apparent when one realizes that the main task of the game takes approximately six or seven hours to complete. That said, speedrunners have beaten the game in under two minutes.

16. The Witness

Puzzle games often frustrate, especially towards the tail end. The Witness takes the crown as one of the most challenging games ever made. With over 500 puzzles to solve, the game takes no prisoners. Launched in 2016, it is the brainchild of the same developer who made the indie sensation Braid.

What makes The Witness such a tough game is that from the very opening scene, it offers no assistance to the player and no instructions on where to go or what to do. Everything is explained intuitively, with the puzzles sometimes being cryptic clues that point towards progression. The game doesn't feature a distinct storyline, but rather, it encourages exploration of the world and how the user chooses to interact with it, with many of the puzzles deliberately built to offer multiple solutions.

17. Super Meat Boy

Super Meat Boy arrived in 2010 and ranks as one of the greatest games ever made.

At first glance, Super Meat Boy looks like a simple platformer; however, the difficulty starts from the first level and steadily builds throughout the game. The aim of the game is simple. The character is a piece of meat trying to save his heavily bandaged girlfriend, who also happens to be a piece of meat. She has been kidnapped by the evil Dr. Fetus.

The developers approached Super Meat Boy with difficulty as their core focus and built around three key aspects. Short levels ensure the ending remains within view and, as such, keep people pushing because they know they are always just a matter of inches away from success. The lack of lives makes the punishment for death a level restart, which increases frustration but keeps people hooked as they don't need to worry about using up their continues.

Finally, including the “dark word” meant that Super Meat Boy could have the best of both worlds: insane difficulty from the very first level, but in a way that meant it could be circumnavigated for first-time players until their skills were sufficient enough to take on the challenge.

18. I Wanna Be the Guy!

I Wanna Be the Guy parodies other popular games of the late 80s and early 90s. Titles such as Castlevania, Zelda, Ghost ‘n Goblins, and even Tetris get a nod in this insanely difficult and borderline unfair title.

I Wanna Be the Guy doesn't hold anybody's hand when it comes to difficulty and, at times, is specifically designed to flirt with being unfair, with apples falling upwards and other unexpected traps making every screen a miasma of death and mayhem.

I Wanna Be the Guy offers players four difficulty levels: medium, hard, very hard, and impossible. Impossible mode offers no save points–a feat only the foolhardy would consider.

19. Celeste

Celeste features a heart-wrenching, eye-opening story about mental health and depression, which is borderline ironic given the maddening difficulty this game presents. However, unlike games like Dark Souls or Lies of P, the difficulty in Celeste never incites rage. Every death comes as a direct result of a player's mistake. Gamers rarely lament unfairness or poor design. In many ways, Celeste borders on perfect in everything it does.

Celeste presents itself in a way that rarely makes people feel overwhelmed. The game slowly builds player confidence ahead of new challenges, and gamers feel confident in their ability when the problematic sections arrive. Players laugh at death because success stands but a single jump away. Quick reactions are imperative, but a cool head remains essential because panic is a guaranteed way to see the death counter skyrocket.

20. Cuphead

Cuphead features legendary difficulty, whose conquerors have become enshrined in Twitch and YouTube glory for all eternity. Many people have watched TheMexicanRunner make the game look so easy they approached it with the expectations of a walk in the park, only to have their hopes, dreams, and controller shattered before the end of the first Run-and-Gun.

Cuphead lures players with its retro animation style and adorable lead characters. The game showcases a brilliant depth of creative talent and places it behind a wall of near-impenetrable difficulty. Even the regular mode, which limits success and stops gamers from completing the game, the challenge that will make people weep tears of pure frustration. Rightly considered one of the most challenging games, Cuphead provides a test of skills, reflexes, and patience like no other, and for all of that, gamers can't help but fall in love with this astounding game.

21. Flappy Bird

Flappy Bird, a vibrant mobile game, differs from the sort of game people expect to find on a list like this. However, though cute and cartoonish, the game sports downright barbaric difficulty.

Guiding a colorful little bird through a series of levels with raging difficulty using nothing but a single button is the stuff of nightmares. Many gamers have lost their rag to this chirpy playmate over the years, with the game's developer even removing it from sale because of its addictive, rage-inducing, just-one-more-try qualities, which he said went against the very reason he created the game.