The hardest video games of all time

By Jesse Lennox Published February 8, 2025

We all come to video games for different reasons. Sometimes we want a chill game to relax to, others a fun co-op experience with a friend, but other times we’re looking for a challenge. Early on in the console generations, difficulty was the norm and it took a lot of trial, error, and skill to even see the end of most games. We still face hard bosses in modern games, but it usually isn’t the entire game that is punishing. There’s an expectation that most people will be able to beat most current and upcoming video games, but not all games are so kind. Whether it be due to bad controls, unfair mechanics, or simply because the developers wanted to make things unfair, these are the most difficult video games of all time.

Before getting to the list, we are basing this list on the core game itself and not any extra challenges or going for secret endings. We also won’t be including games that are meant to be impossible or that feature user-generated content.