Let me make one thing clear—just because I find certain game genres frustrating doesn’t mean they’re bad. Many players find satisfaction in mastering them. However, I avoid the following genres because they frustrate me too much.
1 Soulslikes
Soulslikes are hack-and-slash games with challenging (yet rewarding) combat, imaginative enemy designs, and deep, intricate lore. All these combine to create a gameplay loop many find addictive, engaging, and worthwhile.
However, as I ventured into casual gaming, the experience became too frustrating. This is mainly due to the punishing difficulty, harsh penalties, frequent deaths, abstract storytelling, stamina management, cryptic hints, and grind-heavy exploration.
2 Roguelikes
Roguelikes are inherently frustrating since they have permadeath, procedural generation, and high difficulty. I also find the lack of progression tedious since constant dying is part of the game, forcing me to start from the beginning.
These games also have a steep learning curve, unlike roguelites, which adds to the frustration. They require you to invest a significant amount of time in understanding the mechanics and developing strategies to overcome the brutal punishment.
The game that broke me was The Darkest Dungeon. It had all the trappings of a rogue, coupled with a stress mechanic and grindiness I couldn’t love.
3 Puzzle Games
I have often found that the more the puzzles become complex in a puzzle game, the more I threw strategy out the window, relying on trial and error. I can imagine this could be the case for many other people. The “true” puzzle games often lack obvious hints and guidance that could minimize the frustration of being stuck for hours or days.
I get it—puzzle games are designed to push you to think deeply when coming up with solutions. However, while I don’t need the game to hold my hand, a bit more balanced direction and guidance would have prevented me from giving up on the genre.
4 Rage Games
Rage games are intentionally designed to be difficult, requiring skill and patience to beat them. There’s the pixel-perfect platforming of Super Meat Boy, the unpredictable challenges of I Wanna Be the Guy, and the difficult controls of Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. I even tried my hand at the browser game QWOP and found out there’s no way I have what it takes to play these types of games.
The frequent failures I experienced while playing rage games frustrated me so much that I started to question my gaming skills. To avoid feeling hopeless, I just avoided them. I prefer something challenging but accessible like Celeste.
5 Bullet Hell Games
Bullet hell games, a subgenre of shoot ’em ups, require lightning-fast reflexes and laser-like precision to avoid what can seem like a million bullets and enemies. Furthermore, the patterns in which these come at you require full concentration to come out on top. A momentary lapse in concentration can spoil a run, especially a particularly long one.
For these reasons, I consider bullet hell games highly demanding and anxiety-inducing experiences. And with the high price of failure, which is usually repeating a tough level since these games are stingy with checkpoints, I found them very frustrating.
6 Real-Time Strategy Games
Real-time strategy (RTS) games often have a steep learning curve, making them challenging for many like myself. For instance, you need to master complex systems, unit management, resource gathering, and strategic combat. Having to multitask with this complexity—sometimes under time pressure—can be frustrating.
When I faced complex scenarios or tough opponents in RTS games, the high skill ceiling became apparent. I encountered many exasperating situations as I tried to juggle so much while making split-second decisions—only to still end up losing due to the snowball effect of bad decisions.
7 Survival Games
My biggest frustration with survival games is the lack of clear goals. I remember being stuck many times in Subnautica, chasing many radio signals that were hard to find or inaccessible because I needed better equipment. Then, I would die because I ran out of resources or ran into some behemoth monster I couldn’t fight on my way back to the base.
I know that the whole point of survival games is to explore and discover things naturally. I see how this can be fun for others. But for me, I would rather not spend days, like I did with Subnautica, wondering where to go next.
I am not saying these game genres are bad and that you should avoid them. I believe some difficulty in games is a good thing. I just want to make it clear that if you are going to dive into them, expect a fair amount of frustration that can make you rage-quit.
And it’s good that developers are making Soulslikes, roguelikes, puzzle games, and other genres more accessible. However, one can argue that this diminishes the satisfaction of beating the “true” experience.
