For those who prefer to be mentally stimulated, the typical shonen or shojo anime probably won't be enough to hold their attention. Sure, the stories are generally predictable and comfortable, but where's the fun in that? For the intellectually hungry, anime featuring mind games are sure to be enticing. Watching characters outwit, manipulate, and mislead each other with words alone is amusing enough but it's even better if there's a high-stakes situation going on in the background.
These battles of wits might be for their lives or the lives of their loved ones, or perhaps the safety of a group, or even for the world itself. Many psychological thriller series feature epic intellectual battles between their characters, but even some series less focused on psychological intensity still feature plenty of high-stake gambles that require adept mental manipulation.
10 Death Note Features Characters Who Excel At Mind Games
In fact, if Light Yagami weren't so adept at manipulation, he couldn't have secured his position as Kira. Death Note's whole gimmick is that there's a lot of fighting but very little of it is physical. Instead, characters compete with their intelligence.
Light nimbly dodges L's brilliant attempts to unmask him as Kira without giving himself away, and he ultimately wins the battle of wits with L. But Light's dark ambitions didn't go unnoticed and more brilliant detectives come into the fold to put Light's intelligence to the test.
9 Umineko No Naku Koro Ni Wants Viewers To "Flip The Chessboard"
The term "flip the chessboard" comes from one of the series' cleverest characters: Kyrie Ushiromiya. It's an indirect way of promoting the tactic of thinking from a different angle, or "flipping the chessboard" to see the gameboard from your opponent's perspective.
Ideally, this tactic will allow effective counterattacks against foes, which is a great skill to have when your opponents are powerful witches who hold your life in their hands. If Battler Ushiromiya fails to outwit the witches, he and his entire family will die.
8 Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Requires Its Main Character To Outsmart Her Murderer
Rika Furude's life depends on whether or not she can identify her killer and save Hinamizawa. And she's failed so many times that she takes her time observing her surroundings. The more aware Rika is of what's going on in the current timeline, the better equipped she is to solve the murder mystery that's keeping her trapped in the Hinamizawa of 1983.
Luckily, she gets plenty of practice playing club games with Keiichi, Mion, Rena, and Satoko. The club members will do anything to win and avoid a punishment game.
7 Psycho-Pass Focuses On Catching An Elusive Serial Killer
This series borders on action and deduction with a delicate balance maintained throughout. Akane Tsunemori and Shinya Kogami are focused on bringing down Shogo Makishima, a criminal mastermind whose psycho-pass is unreadable.
The series intentionally focuses on Shogo as the main threat, but by the end of the series, it's actually the Sybil System that's the problem. Watching Shinya and Akane solve the mysteries behind Shogo and the Sybil System is sure to delight anime fans who prefer psychological thrillers.
6 Kakegurui Showcases Gambling Addicts Who'll Do Anything To Win
The characters in Kakegurui are addicted to high-stakes games with everything on the table, so this series is chock-full of intense games and bluffs. In fact, the school the main cast attends, Hyakkaou Private Academy, ranks students on their gambling ability.
Only the most determined to win can survive in this brutal social hierarchy and plenty of characters are looking to gamble their way to the top. Kakegurui is an intense series that any psychological anime fan should check out.
5 Death Parade Forces Characters To Compete For Their Souls
What could be more high stakes than a gamble on your soul? And what would you do to win? That's the question that Death Parade shines an uncomfortably bright light on.
Each pair of characters who end up in the Quindecim bar have to participate in a Death Game that will help the arbiter (Decim, in this case) decide the fate of their souls. The Death Games are brutal and often detrimental to the players, and the actions they take determine how Decim will judge them.
4 Future Diary Offers The Ability To Become God
Deus Ex Machina, the God of Space and Time, is dying... and the world needs a new god to take his place. So he gives 12 people the ability to compete for the position. Future Diary is another high-stakes series that relies on its characters outsmarting each other and guessing the other's next step, often with help from special Diaries given to them by Deus Ex Machina.
Each participant's Diary is unique to them, but they all allow that character a prediction of how they'll win. All they need to do is figure out how to pull it off.
3 Steins;Gate Puts Its Main Character Through Time-Looping Hell
Rintaro Okabe didn't mean to end up a time traveler, but once it happened, he couldn't escape. Instead, Rintaro is driven to find a way to save everyone by outsmarting time itself.
At the same time, he's having to dodge SERN's attempts to steal his time machine technology and ensure World War III goes as planned. Steins;Gate shines in its realistic portrayal of otaku life in Japan and borrows several real-world influences for its storytelling, making it a gripping narrative that's hard to put down.
2 Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Stages The Ultimate Survival Game
Trapped at Hope's Peak Academy, protagonist Makoto Naegi and 14 other "lucky" students have only one chance to escape: murder another student and avoid detection. Out of a cast of 15 characters, there's a lot of treachery that can arise from this situation.
To make matters worse, the other students are told that, if they guess the murderer incorrectly, all of them will die and the murderer will be allowed to go free. Danganronpa is an intense murder mystery series that dares its characters to commit the perfect murder.
1 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Surprisingly Contains Many Mind Games
For a series with big burly men, who would've thought it'd swing to the intellectual side? But that's exactly what JoJo's does since much of the series focuses on characters fighting each other with secret powers. A smart Stand user won't reveal their secrets, since enemy Stands are largely invisible to the naked eye.
This leaves characters constantly guessing what the enemy Stand's capabilities are and how they can outsmart them. JoJo's features several scenes with internal monologues debating the correct action to take in a high-stakes fight, and it never gets old.