The 10 Hardest Game Genres to Get into, Ranked

While video game genres encompass games of varying difficulties, some genres carry a certain cachet with more difficult experiences, making them more intimidating.

This is usually because one of the games that started said genres is challenging, so any game that takes inspiration from it should follow suit.

In this list, I’ll look at these genres, the games that started this difficulty trend, and the notable games that tried to surpass their ancestors.

Difficulty is the main reason a genre can feel unwelcoming to newcomers, so I’ll try to target those with very notable and prominent titles on their list.

10

JRPG

Ruthless, as is the tradition

As with most games made in the ’80s, early JRPGs were incredibly complicated, difficult, and sometimes a little unpleasant to play, especially with series like Shin Megami Tensei.

While that series once again remained difficult throughout its runtime, more and more JJPGs let you choose how difficult you want it.

Most games in the genre have a difficulty slider and are more accessible than ever, but compared to Western RPGs, JRPGs still tend to cling to tradition.

Games like Dragon Quest 11 or Persona 5 have higher difficulty settings that make the difficulty spikes in those games like a freight train, even if they aren’t too difficult.

9

metroidvania

A Trifecta of Proven Skills

Metroid started its own genre by combining Mario and Zelda into a more exploratory type of platformer, and Castlevania expanded on that idea even further. This genre, born from two series known for being incredibly difficult, means that, while Castlevania may be dead today, its legacy lives on.

Metroidvanias typically test you on your platforming, combat, and navigation skills as you explore a massive map, all of which can be pushed to their absolute limits.

Hollow Knight, for example, tests you with intense combat and platforming challenges set on a huge map, and that’s just one example of a difficult Metroidvania.

8

Real time strategy

Stressful planning

Aside from a few Nintendo classics, the real-time strategy genre has been almost entirely populated by complex games that ask you to micromanage a hundred things simultaneously.

It doesn’t help that real-time strategy games like the Warhammer series usually have a UI cluttered with tons of small elements, making it look complicated.

Nowadays, games like Age of Empires, Company of Heroes or the Total War series constantly seek to improve themselves by adding more mechanics.

This makes the entire genre seem like a stressful nightmare where you have to constantly perform, but at least Pikmin is kind to you.

7

Survival

Very broad, a bit obvious

Survival games, if you didn’t know, expect you to survive with limited resources, seek out new things, and constantly have the threat of death looming over you.

You could say that The Oregon Trail pioneered the genre, but that would be silly, so I’ll say that DayZ and Don’t Starve served as inspiration for the games that followed.

If the idea of ​​being forced to survive under the threat of hunger and suffering wasn’t enough, games like Subnautica took it even further into horror territory.

This makes the genre seem pretty unwelcoming on the surface, and most modern survival games even throw permadeath into the equation.

6

Rhythm

Higher skill ceiling

Easily the sweatiest genre known to man, rhythm games evolved from simply tapping arrows to the beat in Dance Dance Revolution to whatever’s going on in Beatmania iidx.

It is known for making you move incredibly fast with your hands and/or feet, as well as requiring supreme coordination between hands, eyes and ears.

Rhythm games have always been up for massive challenges that push the boundaries of what a human being can accomplish, which has given them a very intimidating presence.

It’s not hard to pick a map or two in something like Stepmania, but most people can’t play more than 10% of these games without folding.

5

bullet hell

It has “hell” in the name

You can probably guess that Bullet Hells tend to be games that launch massive waves of projectiles at the player, and you’d be right.

These games just seem stupidly difficult, and with the reputation Touhou has acquired over its enormous history, it hasn’t lost its intimidation factor one bit.

While more casual games take a shooting approach, bullet hells generally give you limited control, force you to aim precisely, and have you dodge and weave without remorse.

This has often made these games feel overwhelming, and the huge, beautiful bullet patterns on display are best left to the experts.

4

rogue

A new challenge every time

Roguelikes have earned a reputation for being cruel, as the genre’s permadeath and mechanics do not require permanent upgrades.

If you skimp on any of those things, you’re a Roguelite, and since Binding of Isaac is the main cause of the genre’s resurgence, it’s only gotten more intense.

The fact that people are so picky about what makes a game a roguelike and not a light one, plus the generally difficult gameplay loop, makes it really difficult to get into a roguelike.

This is further reinforced by the hardcore audience that games like Risk of Rain 2 or Noita have acquired over the years.

3

Massively multiplayer online

Nose to the grindstone

For genres that push the limits of how much can fit into a style of gaming reserved almost exclusively for the unemployed among us, MMOs take the cake.

From the humble beginnings of taking hours to walk around the entire map in Runescape, to the crazy team raids of Destiny 2.

MMOs generally take a slow-paced design approach, giving you new things to do so you don’t get frustrated by the massive work you need to do for any major progression.

This means that the most dedicated players spend hundreds or thousands of hours playing and is especially frustrating for anyone who wants to play PvP.

2

Precision platforms

Only for the best

This one almost seems like a cheat, as the name “Precision Platformer” alone implies a higher difficulty and ultimately a less accessible game.

It doesn’t help that this genre manifested itself with games like Super Meat Boy or 1001 Spikes, and then evolved into a massive beast with some of the most difficult games of all time.

That is, Celeste, Geometry Dash, and even some Metroidvanias like Hollow Knight are eligible to be called Precision Platformers due to their intense skill requirements.

Of course, games in this genre can still be accessible, but when one of the requirements is a high level of skill, it will be difficult to access it.

1

like soul

The dark souls of genres

Dark Souls was so good that it inspired a few hundred other games, and almost every soulslike adopted the incredible difficulty that Dark Souls was known for.

I don’t think Soulslikes necessarily have to be difficult, but the intense combat, focus on parrying, and moody atmosphere are often constants.

All of these factors make games like Elden Ring, Another Crab’s Treasure, and, most recently, Hollow Knight much more difficult to get into.

I know that, personally, whenever I see a game marketed as Soulslike I tend to be cautious, as I usually associate it with grueling boss fights, depressing stories, and games I would otherwise be willing to try.