Games Designed to Make You Rage-Quit
If you're a gamer, you probably have your collection intuitively divided up. Your favorites are in one pile, the easy ones in another, and the extremely hard ones are stuffed in a garbage can in the corner of your room. And if you've lived long enough to be there when the term "Nintendo Hard" was coined, you've definitely played your fair share of impossible-to-beat games. Think you have the patience to beat the ones on this list? Think again. Here are 20 of the most frustrating games to play that will have you pulling your hair.
1. QWOP
If you ever wanted to compete in the Olympics but don't actually understand how to control your limbs, that's what QWOP is like. Created by video game designer Bennett Foddy, your goal is to move an athlete through a race using only the Q, W, O, and P keys. Sounds easy? Try it for yourself and prepare to be disappointed.
2. Geometry Dash
As addictive as Geometry Dash is, you'll likely be crying in frustration before you even get a quarter of the way in. This game restarts from the beginning every time you lose, so good luck whenever you bump into a spike on the way.
3. Happy Wheels
If you're not particularly a fan of graphic violence and gore, Happy Wheels is one to skip. But if you're looking for a challenge where, like QWOP, you have to control ragdoll-like characters through obstacle courses, you're in for a treat.
4. Cat Mario
At first glance, Cat Mario looks just like a reinterpretation of Super Mario, only that the main character is a cat. But you'll soon realize that the gameplay is completely different. Things aren't what they seem here: enemies can pop out of question mark blocks, clouds could be evil, and everything is just weird. Well, that, and not to mention extremely frustrating.
5. Superman 64
Has your curiosity ever made you wonder: What would it be like to play a game with horrendous controls, awful graphics, and yawn-inducing, buggy gameplay? Yeah, those who have played Superman 64 will immediately point to this janky video game.
6. Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy involves a red animated cube who's trying to save his girlfriend. Similar to Geometry Dash, if you're not equipped with fast fingers and impeccable reaction times, you're probably not going to fare very well in this game.
Wireframe, Raspberry Pi Press, Raspberry Pi Foundation on Wikimedia
7. Only Down!
Ever played games where the only objective is to keep climbing up? Well, in Only Down, the goal is the opposite: you're supposed to keep falling until you reach rock bottom. Fall too fast, though, and you'll have to start all over from the beginning.
8. Jelly Mario
What if Super Mario was made of jello? Actually, we don't think you want to know. This game is so frustrating to play, that we guarantee you'll probably only last a couple minutes before you're rage-quitting. Don't even bother trying—you'll just bounce off of everything.
9. Octodad
Octodad was created by a group of students at DePaul University and the entire objective of the game is to go undercover as a human dad in a normal family. The catch? You are an octopus... who looks like an octopus... and moves like an octopus. While your disguise isn't fooling anyone in real life, you're supposed to keep up your act while going about your day and doing household chores.
10. Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
Also developed by Bennett Foddy is Getting Over It, in which you control a character (who's half-stuck in a cauldron, in reference to ancient Greek philosopher, Diogenes the Cynic) who wields a hammer. Your goal? To climb mountains and stuff and go up with only a hammer at your disposal. Yup. Good luck.
11. Dark Souls
Dark Souls, for all its notoriety, is a well-made game. But it's also insanely difficult to play, and if you don't adapt quickly, you're in for a bad time. Be prepared to sweat when loading this game up. Our only tip for you: be patient. And smart.
William Tung from USA on Wikimedia
12. Stilt Fella
Hey, have you ever wanted to walk on stilts? Or control a character who walks on stilts? No, you don't. Trust us. Though there are only 14 levels in Stilt Fella, you'll probably want to set aside a dedicated slot in your day to get through this grating, practically impossible physics-based game.
13. Ninja Gaiden for NES
Ninja Gaiden isn't the one to play if you're just looking for a cool action game to pass the time. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was notorious for insanely challenging games, and Ninja Gaiden was a prime example. Be prepared to be sweating and screaming until you're red in the face.
14. Super Bunny Man
Super Bunny Man should be played if and only if you and your friend both want to be bald. Seriously. This game isn't only difficult, it's chaotic and ridiculous and nonsensical. At the very least you might be entertained, but honestly, at what cost?
15. Cuphead
One look at Cuphead and you might feel a rush of nostalgia, seeing that its design seems to take inspiration from retro Disney cartoons like Mickey Mouse or the animations of Warner Bros. Don't underestimate the gameplay, though. Each boss you'll face will probably make you want to bang your head on the wall.
16. Battletoads for NES
If all the games we've mentioned up until this point were deemed "hard," they don't hold a flame to Battletoads. Along with Ninja Gaiden, Battletoads was, in essence, why the expression "Nintendo Hard" was coined. There might have been 12 total levels, but you probably weren't making it anywhere past level three.
17. Unfair Mario
Unfair Mario is a lot like the other nonsense reinterpretations of the original, in which you're thrown in surroundings that look like a normal level, but are actually filled with so many booby traps you're unlikely to get through a level without wanting to throw your computer out the window. The only way to play it is to not trust anything. Literally.
18. Flappy Bird
Considering all the games we've already mentioned, Flappy Bird doesn't seem to fit on this list. But unless you've played it before and have gotten the hang of it, this tapping side-scroller will either make you too frustrated to continue, or so addicted you'll be procrastinating all the other work you were supposed to do.
daveynin from United States on Wikimedia
19. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for NES
Back when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) was all the rage, you were bound to see it everywhere and adapted on just about every console and entertainment system out there. All the rage it was, and especially on the NES, if you weren't cursing at the choppy graphics, you were probably screaming at all the booby traps and hard-to-reach pizzas.
Calvin Walton from Ottawa, ON, Canada on Wikimedia
20. Ghosts 'n Goblins for NES
Often touted as one of the greatest games ever made but also simultaneously one of the most difficult games ever made, Ghosts 'n Goblins has made a pretty big name for itself in the video game world. But being certified Nintendo Hard, you'll need a lot of practice, patience, and—honestly, you'll need to have the game conquer you before you conquer it.
