Sometimes a game truly pushes players to the absolute limit, and yet they still persevere and beat the game despite wanting to rage-quit.
Difficulty in video games has been present since day one. Arcade games were designed to be difficult and sometimes impossible in order to rake in more quarters. As games have evolved and have become more mainstream, games started to be developed for more casual audiences.
However, there is still a large market for difficult games. Many developers have created games that challenge players with difficult but fair games. Most players often would get frustrated to the point of quitting. However, some players can persevere through certain games despite the urge to rage-quit.
10 Rage-Quit: VVVVVV- A Deceptively Simply Looking Platformer
VVVVVV is a platformer devloped by Terry Cavanagh. It is has a simple premise where you traverse a spaceship searching for your crewmembers. You cannot jump in the game; instead, you reverse gravity to move from platform to platform.
Simple premise, simple idea, simple presentation, it all looks simple. Nevertheless, this one of the most infuriating games players can play. It is all precise timing when changing gravity. While most of the deaths are reasonable, players will likely be shutting down their game after dying 100 times in a single level.
9 Wanted To: XCOM- A Game With A Surprising Difficulty Curve
XCOM provides a tactical, turn-based strategy game where the player commands a military group in defending the planet against an alien invasion. It starts as a fun strategy game with cinematic action moments and easy-to-understand mechanics. However, after the first hour or so, the game starts to crank it up a notch.
Alien attacks start happening more frequently. The enemies start to become tougher and tougher, and the counties start to fund XCOM less and less. Over time many players will have lost the game several times over, starting back at the beginning. Each time though, Players start to develop better and better strategies and soon enough master the game.
8 Rage-Quit: Geometry Dash- Never Has A Square Induced So Much Anger
Geometry Dash is a Side-scroller Platform where the player cannot control the speed. They can only jump. They can jump through these colorful levels where each jump is synced to the song's beat, and the levels change and vary into many platforming sections requiring quick thinking and even quicker reflexes.
What makes this game especially rage-inducing is that every time the player dies, the level and the music start over. Meaning the player has to listen to the beginning of the song repeatedly every time they die. That is a sure-fire way to get players to rage-quit.
7 Wanted To: Enter The Gungeon- A Dungeon Crawler With The Frenzy Of A Shoot 'Em Up
Enter The Gungeon boasts a unique art design, roguelike level layout, and shoot 'em up style gameplay where players can obtain hundreds of different guns to fight off other gun-like enemies. The game could theoretically be beaten in roughly 21 hours, though many players would likely disagree with that run time.
The game drops the player into the thick of it, and players have to learn very quickly; otherwise, it will be death after death. Though what makes the game so enthralling is the rich gameplay. There is so much depth in the combat, the weapons, and the enemies that players keep coming back for more.
6 Rage-Quit: Super Meat Boy- A Flash Game Classic That Will Make You Break Your Controller
There is something about Platformers that brings out the most rage-fueled games. Super Meat Boy is a widely popular difficult game that started as a flash game then evolved into a fully fleshed out game with a sequel on the way.
The game focuses on minute and precise jumps making through many death traps and jumping over huge leaps to small platforms. A good indication of how difficult the game can be is that out of the hundreds of thousands of copies sold on steam, only 6.5% of players who own this game have completed the game.
5 Wanted To: CupHead- A Deal With The Devil Is No Easy Task
An insanely beautiful game with a unique hand-drawn style reminiscent of early cartoons, Cuphead became an instant classic when it was released. The game is a run and gun set in a cartoon world where the player must repay their debt to the devil by fighting a long series of bosses.
This game has several frustrating moments, particularly in several specific bosses (the dragon especially) that can lead the player to give up entirely. With the art style, the co-op mode, and the creative bosses, the player wants to keep coming back for more.
4 Rage-Quit: Dark Souls- The Game That Put FromSoftware On The Map
A historical game, to say the least. Almost every gamer has either played this game or has played the many games inspired by this. Dark Souls has become a cornerstone game having two major sequels with a rich and detailed world with creative and memorable bosses.
Though this game is a landmark game, it has not stood the test of time. FromSoftware has improved on Dark Souls mechanics over the years. However, the original Dark Souls still suffers from clunky controls, frustrating camera positions, and glitches/bugs that can halt the player from progressing. Often leading to rage-quits and never picking up the game again.
3 Wanted To: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice- The New And Improved Souls-Like Game
Since Dark Souls, FromSoftware has expanded on its design significantly. They have also expanded into other genres. Much has gothic horror and now Japanese mythology in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Players get to play as a shinobi named Wolf as they hack and slash their way through mythological Japan.
Unlike the original Dark Souls, FromSoftware has improved significantly on its game design and has made an incredibly fast-paced hack and slash that still provides intense difficulty that players will keep coming back to.
2 Rage-Quit: Getting Over It With Bennet Foddy- Truly A Nightmare Experience
Any game where the steam tags are classified as psychological horror but clearly not a horror game has become an intense, rage-filled game. The game is simple; climb to the top of the mountain. The only problem is that players control a man in a pot with a single hammer and inconsistent controls.
On top of already being a difficult experience, Bennet Foddy adds to this experience by including a voiceover that comments on the player's failures with quotes and music from the 1940s. Patience is the key to beating this game, but many have yet to reach the top of the mountain.
1 Wanted To: The Binding Of Issac: Rebirth- The Best Roguelike That Is Played By Many To This Day
The Binding of Issac has gone through a tremendous evolution. Starting as a flash game, it has evolved into a densely packed game with endless replayability. It is also tough as nails. Many players will likely die several times over before ever reaching the final Boss.
The game has players from continuing is the large amounts of different play styles they can use. Players can mix and match weapons, abilities, characters in order to find the right playstyle that will get them to beat the final boss. After the game's ending, players will jump back in to keep playing to master this difficult game.