Top 10 HARDEST Video Games of 2025 So Far

Inspired by older survival horror games, particularly those of the PS2 era, Post Trauma is designed to make you think. It follows a train conductor, trapped in a strange dimension full of deadly creatures. Newcomers may be thrown off by some of the more retro-inspired choices, like the fixed camera angle. But there are also some really obtuse puzzles that will leave you wandering around in the darkness. While longtime players may know what to look for, there are still moments where how to progress will be completely lost on you. Thats not to mention the monstrous enemies, lying in wait to tear you apart. The blend of resource scavenging, brainteasers, and narrowly avoiding demise makes Post Trauma a worthy successor to its inspiration.

To be fair, this post-apocalyptic survival game comes with several difficulty options, and even ways to adjust certain aspects of the gameplay within those. Thats why were placing it low, since you can tailor the game to whatever kind of experience you want. However, the game labels Survivor as the recommended difficulty, the fourth out of five options. Survivor keeps Combat, Survival, and Exploration elements at the Challenging level. So, if you play Atomfall the way the developers intended, it can be a pretty tough game. Enemies will appear in fairly intimidating numbers and behave more aggressively. Resources will be scarce and youll be at a disadvantage when exploring without any waypoint markers. It definitely doesnt hold your hand.

The original Crypt of the NecroDancer was a pretty challenging roguelike rhythm game. And although this spin-off is a fair bit easier, thats not to say it isnt hard. At its simplest, players are required to push certain buttons at the proper moments to defeat enemies that march towards them. However, some enemies are a bit trickier, like taking more than one button press to go down or jumping back and forth across the three lanes to trip you up. Boss fights are where things really heat up. The structure is switched up, adding directional inputs to dodge incoming attacks. And overall, everything comes much faster at you here. You might find yourself dropping the difficulty during a few of these encounters.

The Metroidvania genre is always a good place to look if you want to challenge yourself. A sequel to 2021s Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights, Bloom in the Mist follows Lilac, a girl who sets out to save her kingdom from corrupted Homunculi. While it has a lot in common with other Metroidvanias, Lilac doesnt tend to fight enemies herself. Instead, she summons the cleansed Homunculi to her side. Naturally, this type of combat can take some getting used to. The game is certainly easier than its predecessor, since the developers included adjustable difficulty settings this time around. Still, on Normal, you might find yourself overwhelmed unless youre a seasoned player. And thats particularly true during boss encounters.

While this is another case of a game being easier than its predecessor, players shouldnt go into it thinking theyre in for a stress-free time. Sure, like others, there are difficulty settings to choose from. But since its a follow-up to a game inspired by Hollow Knight and Dark Souls, you can imagine that the combat can be fairly challenging. As Arlo the white rat, you set out to bring peace to a land ravaged by the Dark Wings, a clan of vicious bats. However, there are plenty of other deadly creatures to hunt down in order to gain resources for different upgrades. Elemental effects to weaponry makes each fight more varied. But dont be surprised when enemy forces swarm you.

Inspired by old school puzzle books and tabletop games, Blue Prince tasks you with navigating a mansion in search of its 46th room. It isnt as simple as just exploring, though. Most rooms are filled with puzzles, some of which connect to other rooms, requiring you to backtrack. Theres also a roguelike twist; each time you play, the rooms will be in a different order, and each time you enter a new one, youre given the option of three different blueprints. Some rooms have dead ends, and entering a room uses one of your 50 steps, with you forced to start over when you run out. Notetaking is essential to keep all the puzzles in order, making for quite the head scratcher.

The original Beyond the Ice Palace was released way back in 1988, and got a lot of comparisons to Capcoms ultra-brutal Ghosts n Goblins series. While the sequel comes with several quality-of-life advancements from across the decades to make its difficulty feel less cheap, it will still bring frustration to even the most hardened platformer players. Following a Cursed King who rises from the dead to reclaim his throne, the game is generally hard throughout thanks to tough enemies and tricky platforming mechanics. This is increased tenfold during the games final stretch as checkpoints become scarce, forcing you to replay sizable sections each time you die. And because the game is hard, thatll happen often.

Like the Metroidvania, games that highlight tactics and stealth are also those that usually highlight high difficulty. The first new entry in the series in nearly twenty years, Commandos: Origins is a return to form. Even with some modern tweaks to make things smoother and more manageable, youll still be punished if you arent careful. With six different classes of soldiers to utilize, you must infiltrate enemy encampments for different missions. Since your team is small, doing so without planning and stealth will make for a bad time. The maps are huge, too, with sprawling designs filled with dangerous foes with intelligent AI. Each situation demands you approach with the utmost care, and every mistake risks disaster.

Just like the first game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II seeks to provide players with the most realistic medieval experience a video game can offer. And because it immerses you so heavily into that life, every aspect, from design to mechanics, can be tough to wrap your head around. The game follows Henry, a soldier who helps lead a resistance against the forces of a usurper king. Its an incredibly well-crafted experience, and the realism on display is impressive. But its a game that requires you to devote a ton of time to it. Its not something you can simply pick up and play for short bursts. If you try, youll likely find yourself overwhelmed and frustrated.

It likely comes as no surprise to find a Soulslike game at the top of our list. The First Berserker: Khazan puts players in the role of a general, framed as a traitor and imprisoned before he escapes to seek vengeance. Unlike FromSoftwares games, players do have the option of an Easy Mode. However, while that will make dealing with enemies easier, the games boss encounters will be a challenge no matter what. Just like the games that influenced it, boss fights require you to study, learn, and adapt to immensely overpowering patterns, with almost no grace period at the beginning of the game. Even the most seasoned Soulsike fans will find themselves exasperated as the deaths rack up, even on the easiest difficulty.

What 2025 game left you enraged by its difficulty? Share your pain in the comments!