Summary
- Spelunky 2 offers accessibility with lethal hazards in a brutal roguelike structure, delivering a biting edge.
- Darkest Dungeon 2 provides easy learning with tough combat, a clear user interface, and escalating difficulty.
- Post Void has simple controls, a breakneck pace, and draining health points, offering easy learning despite high difficulty.
There are many games out there that offer immediate and all-encompassing difficulty, often providing experiences that are wholly inaccessible to newcomers. The most complex of these games are often the most difficult to start, packed with complex systems and unforgiving mechanics that punish even the earliest of mistakes.
Best Open-World Games That Are Immediately Difficult
Players won't be receiving any mercy when they first walk out to explore these harsh and difficult open-world games.
However, there remains a number of difficult games that, despite their numerous challenges, are easy to learn. These are titles like Spelunky 2, with its intuitive control scheme, or Post Void, with its streamlined FPS gameplay.
8 Spelunky 2
An Accessible Platformer With Lethal Hazards
Spelunky 2
- Released
- September 15, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Fantasy Violence, Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Mossmouth, BlitWorks
- Genre(s)
- Roguelike, Platformer
- Platform(s)
- Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Spelunky 2 is a remarkably approachable 2D platformer with a brutal roguelike structure. In the game, players delve into dangerous caverns packed with lethal hazards and hostile creatures. This sheer abundance of dangers and their often deadly nature gives Spelunky 2 a biting edge.
Exploration-Heavy Games With Great Gameplay
These incredible video games not only showcase vast and complicated environments to explore, but they also deliver great gameplay to match.
However, Spelunky 2 remains easy to learn thanks to intuitive controls and a simple gameplay loop, offering clear mechanics that are easy to grasp. As a result, while Spelunky 2 is quick to punish mistakes, it's easy to jump straight back into another run.
7 Darkest Dungeon 2
Intelligible But Unforgiving Turn-Based Combat
Darkest Dungeon 2
- Released
- May 8, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Darkest Dungeon 2 will be an immediately challenging experience for many players. With its lengthy road-trips across a burning country, this strategy game excels with its tough combat encounters and immersive atmosphere.
Despite its unforgiving gameplay, Darkest Dungeon 2 remains tremendously easy to learn, with a clear and concise user interface. Each run also escalates rather slowly, giving newcomers plenty of time to warm up to the game's systems even within their first run.
6 Post Void
A Simple FPS With A Breakneck Pace
Post Void
- Released
- August 6, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Offering psychedelic, pixelated visuals and a dizzying soundtrack, Post Void excels with its immediate pace and simple controls. With an expressive but intuitive movement system that takes no time to learn and stripped-back FPS mechanics, Post Void offers a roguelike experience that plays at a breakneck pace.
This pace makes Post Void easier to dive into, but it also provides a great deal of difficulty. In the game, players are subject to constantly draining health points, forced to play at a constant sprint. Since slowing down for even a moment can lead to death, Post Void is a consistently tense and often difficult experience. However, its elegant design ensures it's easy to learn.
5 Sifu
A Simple But Unrelenting Brawler
Sifu
- Released
- February 8, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Sloclap
- Genre(s)
- Roguelike, Beat 'Em Up
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Sifu is a stylish and cinematic brawler with an emphasis on martial arts. The game's intuitive controls and accessible combos ensure it's easy to learn, and this allows for an immediate, fast pace. The tutorial is also remarkably stylish, giving players an immersive introduction to the systems, world, and visuals.
Great Indie Games With Amazing Production Value
Some indie games are able to punch above their weight, delivering excellent production values to their players.
Despite the quick and easy learning process, however, Sifu can be hard to master. This is thanks in large part to its fast and snappy combat and the frequency at which players are outnumbered. Furthermore, Sifu features a unique death mechanic that can be quite punishing.
4 Into The Breach
A Turn-Based Tactics Game With Open Information
Into the Breach
- Released
- February 27, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
Into The Breach is a surprisingly challenging turn-based tactics game with an emphasis on puzzle-like design. The game's roguelike structure keeps it a relatively punishing experience, but Into The Breach also excels with its player-friendly nature.
Into The Breach is a game of open information, offering detailed enemy telegraphing that ensures players always have the necessary knowledge to make an informed decision. Furthermore, the ability to undo moves and even reset an entire turn ensures players are frequently able to experiment without being punished.
3 Ravenswatch
A Challenging But Intuitive Action Roguelike
Ravenswatch
- Released
- September 26, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Ravenswatch is an intuitive action roguelike with a unique structure, excelling with its diverse playable characters and the addition of cooperative play. With its clear user interface, slower pace, and simple controls, Ravenswatch is immediately easy to grasp, but it can be truly challenging.
Ravenswatch isn't an immediately difficult game, but as players unlock additional game modes, it becomes a more unforgiving experience. Thankfully, the initially forgiving difficulty makes Ravenswatch easy to learn. Furthermore, players don't begin with every upgrade available to them, providing simpler decision-making that quickly opens up into a more expressive system.
2 Wildfrost
A Deceptively Charming Deck-Builder
Wildfrost
- Released
- April 12, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ // Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood
- Developer(s)
- Deadpan Games, Gaziter
- Genre(s)
- Digital Card Game, Strategy, Roguelike
- Platform(s)
- Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Wildfrost is an immediately charming and easy-to-learn deck builder that excels with its unique but intuitive mechanics. In the game, players battle various enemies on snowy battlefields with a variety of companions, supporting them with strategic card play.
These battlefields are easy to read, and moving companions around during the fight is simple to do and tremendously intuitive. However, Wildfrost can also be extremely punishing, and making even a single mistake can lead to a swift and brutal end.
1 Dark Souls
An Intuitive But Unforgiving ARPG
Dark Souls
- Released
- September 22, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Violence
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Soulslike, Adventure
- Platform(s)
- Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Dark Souls is an ARPG with notoriously difficult gameplay. Be it dangerous enemies, challenging boss battles, or the punishing loop, Dark Souls is likely to wear many a player down within a matter of hours. However, its systems are surprisingly easy to learn.
Dark Souls teaches players its core mechanics within a few minutes, effectively introducing them to the game with a simple boss fight. However, while it's easy to learn, the game's difficulty quickly steepens; it's not long before Dark Souls opens up and reveals its unforgiving nature.
Open-World Games That Focus On Combat Over Exploration
These open-world games might feature a mix of exploration and combat, but they focus more heavily on combat and challenging encounters over discovery.