Video games are a source of entertainment first and foremost. The worst thing a game can be is boring. As long as it's entertaining, then it's doing its job. However, entertainment can take a lot of different forms. There is unmitigated glee, gripping fear, and even downright overwhelming stress.
Some games can be stressful, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Entertainment, when done well, can walk the tightrope of fun and stress. This stress can come from the aforementioned fear, challenging mechanics, or giving the player something they don't want to lose. When a game strikes that balance of fun and stress, it has the potential to become something truly great.
10 Amnesia: The Dark Descent Is A Masterpiece Of Horror
Frictional Games' Amnesia: The Dark Descent helped reinvigorate the horror game scene in the early 2010s. This masterful piece of gothic and cosmic horror keeps players' on edge with the unsettling environment and mutilated monsters that stalk the halls.
Fear and dread naturally lead to an overwhelming sense of stress and fear of what's around the corner. Amnesia is a horror masterpiece and easily among the most stressful games of the last decade. Trying to find clues and the right solutions to puzzles in the dark halls of Brennenburg Castle can easily stress out any player.
9 Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon Is A Remarkably Stressful Pokemon Game
Spike Chunsoft's Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon spinoff to the series has the player taking the role of a Pokemon in a world where there are only Pokemon, and they can all speak to one another. While the games usually start off quite cute, it becomes a dread-filled experience as the player takes on increasingly harder dungeons with Monster Houses and pressure plate traps.
Boss battles are particularly stressful, with the protagonist battling huge legendary Pokemon that can sweep their entire team with one or two attacks. While all Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games follow this formula to some degree, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is one that represents the quality and stress of the series quite well.
8 Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Is A Thoroughly Stressful Experience
Ninja Theory's Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice follows the titular character as she deals with the grief of a lost lover and tries to pry his soul from the Norse Goddess of Death, Hel. Senua suffers from schizophrenia and continuously sees monsters from the Nine Realms assailing her as she tries to find Hel.
Hellblade does pull a trick to amp up the stress and dread that it causes. The game tells the player that the darkness that grows with each time Senua dies will eventually take her and force you to start the game over. This isn't true, but it does make each death all the more stressful as the player fears a fail state.
7 Darkest Dungeon Is A Rogue-lite Where Stress Is A Game Mechanic
Stress is an actual in-game mechanic in Darkest Dungeon. Developed by Red Hook Studios, this title tackles gothic and cosmic horror of a kind similar to Amnesia but in a completely different genre. Darkest Dungeon is a turn-based rogue-lite RPG that has the player exploring haunted crypts filled with deadly beasts as they try to rebuild a decaying estate.
Traps, mind-bending monsters, and vicious bandits will assail the player throughout, killing characters that they may have spent hours trying to level up and upgrade. Darkest Dungeon is a brilliant and stressful game, and it will have you continuously returning for more torment.
6 Mr. X From The Resident Evil 2 Remake Is Immensely Stressful
Mr. X from Capcom's Resident Evil 2 Remake is just a massive man in a trench coat and hat, and he's one of the scariest monsters that modern games have to offer. He is an invincible stalker that stomps down the hallways of the Raccoon City Police Department, daring Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield to try and advance to the next objective, solve the next puzzle, or shoot the zombie that has been bothering them.
Doing any of the above will likely summon the presence of Mr. X, who will kill Leon and Claire with incredible ease.
5 The Path Of Pain From Hollow Knight Is Articulate In Stress
Hollow Knight by Team Cherry is a 2-D Metroidvania that follows the Knight as he navigates the insect monsters and treacherous environments that fill Hallownest. Difficult boss battles and hidden traps test the Knight as well as the player's resolve.
That resolve is never tested more than in the Path of Pain, an incredibly difficult platforming section that requires the player to use downward attacks to bounce off a series of spiked vines and buzz saws, any of which will instantly send the Knight back to the last checkpoint to start over.
4 This War Of Mine Has Players Struggling To Keep Everyone Alive
11 Bit Studios' This War of Mine invites players to imagine what it is like to live in a war-torn country where the streets are no longer safe, and tomorrow is a luxury. The player is given a series of protagonists that they are in charge of keeping alive as they try to find food and other supplies so that they can see another day.
Brutal moral decisions naturally arise as players are forced to consider if their characters have more of a right to live than other survivors spread throughout the dying city.
3 The Dark Souls Trilogy Makes You Question Every Step
The Dark Souls series by FromSoftware is lauded as a perfect mixture of stress and fun. The worlds of Lordran, Drangleic, and Lothric put players in the role of a weak undead as they fight, scrape, and struggle to gain enough power to dictate the future of the realm.
The player must face an endless horde of challenging enemies and impossible boss battles in the hopes that they will get the souls necessary to level up their avatar. Each expedition is a risk, as death may come at any moment and rob the player of their hard-earned souls.
2 Bloodborne Mixes Horror With The Stressful Mechanics of Dark Souls
Bloodborne, another game by FromSoftware, marries the Dark Souls/Demon's Souls formula with a new setting that also mixes gothic and cosmic horror to test players with gameplay challenges and frightening locales. Like in Dark Souls, the player gains currency in the form of Blood Echoes that can be used to buy equipment and level up the character, and dying puts those Echoes at risk of being lost forever.
Difficult boss battles, unsettling enemies, and haunted environments mix to make this one of the most stressful yet brilliant gaming experiences ever devised. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice succeeds in doing this as well, albeit in a Feudal Japan setting.
1 Minecraft Is The Most Stressful Game When You Have Diamonds
Minecraft is one of the most popular games ever made. Mojang's survival and crafting simulator invites players to strike out on their own to create a home for themselves as they fight off the monsters that haunt caves and spill out into the night.
Any gain can easily be lost, especially as the player moves deeper underground with prizes like diamonds and redstones on the line. Carelessness can land a player in a pool of lava, killing them and instantly destroying their bounty. Very few things in gaming history can measure up to the stress of trying to avoid that.
