Ahoy dear users,

I felt the need to fill this void in the forums with a post about the hardest games ever made.
To qualify:
1. I must have invested significant time into the game
2. I must have made significant process into the game
3. The game must be genuinely unbeatable at my projected ability for the next few decades
4. I cannot have used devmode or cheats
5. I must attempt to play the game semi-regularly

Difficulty Scale:
Combination of the below scales.
1: Skill issue - 10: God did not intend for this to be beaten(I'm an atheist)

Duration Scale:
1: Sub 15 minutes - 10: 3 human liftimes

Technical Ability Scale:
1: Point'n'click - 10: Superhuman reflexs

Complexity Scale:
1: A short rules page - 10: Full set of encylopedias

I may make further posts as I find new trinkets, but lets start it off. These games are in no particular order as they vary between length and complexity, but I'll start off with my personal hardest one to get it out of the way.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
By Infocom: 1984
Difficulty: 8/10
Duration: 8/10
Technical Ability: 2/10
Complexity: 5/10
This is without a doubt the hardest game I have ever played. In terms of playtime, you could beat in a couple of hours with a walkthrough. In 1984, walkthroughs hadn't been invented yet.

The game is roughly based around the plot of the first book in the series, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and was released for home PC's.

The gameplay is that of collosal cave adventure or zork, which should honestly make addendums to the list if I ever get around to seriously playing them(Goddang grues).

You want to know where the complexity lies? About 10 minutes into the game(assuming you memorize/write down the correct instructions), you had to have collected so many specific items, and entered the most obscure commands in such a specific and timely order, that they released a t-shirt to market to the lucky few who solved the puzzle. The game only got harder from there.
You'll have to experience it to know true struggle, and I feel sorry for my parents who had this game unknowingly purchased by their own parents for them.

Dwarf Fortress
By Bay 12 Games: 2006
Difficulty: 9/10
Duration: 10/10
Technical Ability: 5/10
Complexity: 11/10
A game that generates hundreds of years of history across an entire continent, the drops you in the middle of it with only a goal of survival and no instructions. Death is inevitable.

You know what makes beating it even harder? It doesn't have a win condition, no ending screen. Not even a final boss! It's truly the definition of sandbox, and it's community plays it simply to survive or even to die.

With a terminal-interface gameplay using colored ANSI maps, the game is incredible. I've only made it a few months on my best save, but its rewarding and engaging the whole time(until you die a horrible death). What skill ceiling?

Nethack
By The Nethack Dev Team: 1987
Difficulty: 8/10
Duration: 7/10
Technical Ability: 3.5/10
Complexity: 9/10
I have a love-hate relationship with nethack. I could play it for hours and never get past floor 5.

It orginates from hack(1982) which in itself originates from rogue(1980). It literally a dungeon "roguelike" game in which you navigate floors, collect items, kill things, and generally screw yourself over.

Your goal is to get to the bottom floor(No it isn't linear), collect the amulet of yendor(Yeah it's guarded by the final boss), then bring it back to the surface for your patron deity(No they aren't very merciful)(No it doesn't get easier on the way back).

The game features a ton of difficult enemies and a huge pool of items and events. It's gameplay is remarkably similiar to dragon crystal on the Sega Master System only way harder and longer.

Honorable Mention:
World's Hardest Game
By Stephen Critoph: 2007
Difficulty: 3/10
Duration: 2/10
Technical Ability: 6/10
Complexity: 1.5/10
The flash phenomenon, World's Hardest Game took webgame sites by storm. An instant coolmath-games.com hit, World's Hardest Game is a quick-reaction top down level drive puzzle game that requires precise key inputs to beat. It stopped many a child from beating it, but it wasn't really that bad. I put it here for the bold title and as a reflection of difficulty between it and real giants.

You'll notice very few console games on this list, mostly because nobody buys an unbeatable console game. *coughs in ET on the atari*, and I'm particularly well experienced with terminal games.

I challenge you to find harder games and email me all about them. I'll credit you in my next Hardest Games Review if I play them.



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