Games That Don’t Hold Players’ Hands

For many, video games are a fun distraction from their everyday lives, with most looking for simple gameplay to relax with. However, for some, a higher level of challenge is required. Most games benefit from a tutorial that offers a basic gameplay overview. However, hand-feeding players all the information can often lead to games with little or no challenge.

Some developers have purposely gone in the opposite direction. These are video games with steep learning curves, obscure plot lines, or no set path. They require players to listen, learn, and improve to progress. While many modern AAA developers hand-hold their players through the game, these titles expect their players to work for it. While this can create frustrating experiences, it can also offer high levels of accomplishment and a deeper connection to the game.

7 Darkest Dungeon

An Unforgiving Adventure In Trauma

This tough turn-based roguelike RPG takes players into the traumatic world of adventuring. Players control a frequently rotating group of warriors as they explore dark locations, filled with loot and dangerous enemies. While each warrior has different abilities and weapons, stress is the biggest danger in the world. Pushed too far, and they will suffer from a trauma, which has negative effects on themselves and the party.

Darkest Dungeon is a challenging game, where the player leads characters to almost certain death. The point isn’t to win, but to survive. As players grow stronger, they will learn when to run and when to fight, gaining better loot, and better abilities. While many games offer fantasies of power and strength, Darkest Dungeon reveals the true nature of combat and the damage it does to a person’s mind.

6 Outward

A Harsh and Dangerous World to Explore

While this addictive fantasy survival RPG has a short tutorial area, Outward does little to prepare players for the level of challenge ahead. As soon as players emerge into the main game, they discover they are in serious debt and must find a significant amount of money quickly or lose their family home.

Adventuring out into the world is equally challenging. Enemies are dangerous and can kill players easily. Navigating the large map also requires patience and a good memory, as the player’s location isn’t shown and must be worked out by in-game landmarks. On top of this, Outward is a survival game, with thirst, hunger, and environmental hazards to consider. While starting this game can be tough, players will eventually learn and grow stronger, making the game easier with every journey forward.

5 Darkwood

Become Isolated, with Dangers Lurking In the Dark

One of the most atmospheric games on the market, Darkwood is a tense survival horror game that requires patience and perseverance to progress. Set within a mysterious and dangerous forest, this disturbing game has a constant sense of quiet dread. At the outset, players have little to protect themselves, and combat should only be a last resort.

The game has barely any kind of tutorial, and it is up to the player to figure out what they need and where they must go. Exploration is both rewarding and dangerous, with enemies always hiding just out of sight. Darkwood is a pure horror experience that doesn’t rely on jump scares but keeps players on edge throughout. Its gameplay is challenging and immersive and dares the player to continue. Darkwood is a hidden gem that is one of the best horror experiences players can find and a future cult classic.

4 Hollow Knight

Rewards Player Exploration

Hollow Knight is a critically acclaimed Metroidvania that redefined the genre and set the standard going forward. Like many modern Metroidvania games, Hollow Knight takes some inspiration from the Dark Souls series, with tough boss fights, obscure questlines, and no obvious path. Many players first starting Hollow Knight may get lost in the complex tunnels of the opening area with no obvious way to progress forward.

However, Hollow Knight rewards exploration. Its large map may be complex, but each region is unique and easily recognizable. New abilities open new parts of the map and feel all the more rewarding after discovery. Hollow Knight lets players discover for themselves. This creates a high sense of achievement with each new region found or boss defeated.

3 Dark Souls 3

A Challenging Boss Blocks The Way

The Dark Souls series has become renowned for its high level of challenge, detailed environmental storytelling, and obscure and hidden questlines. This is especially true for Dark Souls 3. Before Elden Ring, this was many players’ first introduction to the Souls games and a challenge few had ever faced.

Starting Dark Souls 3, players are introduced to a short tutorial area with basic enemies that are easily killed. However, players will soon face their first boss guarding the path to the main game. Iudex Gundyr isn’t difficult for experienced players, but for those new to the series, this tutorial boss is a powerful statement that many have failed to pass. Dark Souls 3 lays down the gauntlet, clearly stating, this is only the beginning. It is up to the player to continue and overcome this first of many challenges in the game.

2 Pathologic 2

Creates an Increasing Sense of Urgency and Panic

The challenging survival RPG Pathologic 2 is both a direct sequel and a remake of Pathologic. Set in a remote Russian town, players have twelve in-game days to save the populace from a deadly plague. The game has no set path. Players must interact with the many inhabitants of the town and make moral and ethical choices, all the while trying to survive themselves.

The tutorial of Pathologic 2 is a memorable and creative introduction that immediately brings players into the strange world of the game. However, this tutorial does nothing to prepare players for the stress of what’s to come. Time does not stop in the game, with each day progressively worsening. The player is pulled in multiple directions, and with time ticking away, and the infection spreading, the player must choose who lives and who dies. This is a game that almost demands repeated playthroughs, with new possibilities revealed with every new experience.

1 Escape From Tarkov

Complex and Unforgiving

This notoriously tough-to-start multiplayer extraction shooter set a new standard for in-depth tactical FPS games. In the Tarkov, players go on raids either solo or with a group. The goal is to progress through the level to an extraction point, avoiding or killing other players along the way. Players can explore and loot the area, finding equipment that can be either sold or used in another raid. This can be anything from armor, weapons, or medical supplies. When not on a raid, players can sell their loot or buy new gear.

Escape from Tarkov is a realistic hardcore survival shooter that wants its players to suffer. It is not a fast-paced game. Players can be shot and survive, but later die from bleeding if they don’t have the proper supplies. Weapons need to be cleaned regularly. Combat requires tactical thinking and stealth movement. Any actions, from reloading or looting to applying medical aid have long animations that leave players exposed. For new players, Tarkov can be extremely hard to learn and is best started with an experienced player. However, for a realistic FPS experience, few games have this much depth.

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