Difficult Hidden Gems on Steam

Unlike generic lists, our game recommendations use a rigorous analysis of Steam user reviews to identify and feature only the best, community-validated difficult games.

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Road Not Taken Road Not Taken is a roguelike puzzle game about surviving life’s surprises. You play as a ranger adventuring through a vast, unforgiving forest in the aftermath of a brutal winter storm, rescuing children who have lost their way.

Price -80% 2.95€
Rating 7.5
Release 05 Aug 2014
OlliOlli OlliOlli mixes addictive one-life gameplay with over 120 tricks and grinds across 50 deviously crafted levels, 250 Challenges, Spots Mode and Daily Grind.

Price -93% 1.00€
Rating 7.5
Release 22 Jul 2014
Sokobond Sokobond is an elegantly designed puzzle game about chemistry. It's logical, minimalist, and beautiful - crafted with love and science.

Price -91% 1.47€
Rating 8.8
Release 21 Jul 2014
Spy Chameleon - RGB Agent Spy Chameleon RGB Agent is a challenging arcade-puzzle game where the player needs to avoid being spotted thanks to the color-changing mechanisms of the main character.

Price -93% 0.65€
Rating 8.1
Release 11 Jun 2014
Electronic Super Joy: Groove City A Giant Robot Stripper called JoJo has smashed Groove City! She's angry because Dr Swinger stole her Laser-Nipples! Help JoJo reclaim her Laser-Nipples & defeat the Evil Plans of Dr.Swinger, with the help of Pope Boris the Super Sexy!

Price 3.99€
Rating 7.7
Release 06 Jun 2014
Enemy Mind A retro shooter with a new power: the power to become any ship.Lost in the depths of space, you are a being of pure psychic energy with the uncanny power to take over and control anything you see in order to survive.Built for PC, Enemy Mind lets you battle your way through 70+ waves of challenging enemies.

Price -60% 3.79€
Rating 8.0
Release 06 Jun 2014
1001 Spikes Discover the lost treasures of Ukampa in South America as Aban Hawkins searches for his estranged father, world-famous archeaologist, Jim Hawkins. Aban Hawkins races into the frozen tundra of the antarctic, undiscovered temple ruins and the vast caverns of South America in search of his father and the legendary treasure rumored to lie...

Price -90% 0.99€
Rating 7.8
Release 03 Jun 2014
Monochroma Monochroma is a cinematic puzzle platformer. It’s a game about being a kid, growing up with a little brother that needs your help, facing obstacles and solving unique puzzles in a dystopian 1950's setting.

Price -89% 2.31€
Rating 7.1
Release 28 May 2014
Rogue's Tale Rogue's Tale is a single player turn-based dungeon crawling game.

Price -50% 3.44€
Rating 6.9
Release 28 Mar 2014
Cloudbuilt Rocket parkour your way through dizzying obstacles and lethal robot hazards, in this 3rd person action platformer with over 40 levels, and even more community levels.

Price -60% 7.59€
Rating 8.2
Release 20 Mar 2014
GIGANTIC ARMY Side-scrolling mech-shooting bad-assery is BACK!GIGANTIC ARMY is a heartfelt homage to 16-bit era mech shooters such as Cybernator / Assault Suits Valken, Metal Warriors, and Front Mission: Gun Hazard, developed by the studio behind the acclaimed shooter SATAZIUS.

Price -60% 2.35€
Rating 7.1
Release 06 Mar 2014
Diehard Dungeon Combining its own unique take on the real-time roguelike genre, with a nostalgic 16-bit look and feel, Diehard Dungeon is a game that feels both familiar and quite different at the same time. Followed by a trusty, treasure collecting companion chest, you must make your way through the dungeons many randomly-generated rooms and levels.

Price 1.59€
Rating 7.0
Release 05 Mar 2014
10 Second Ninja Ninjas are cool, this is an established fact of the universe. Nazi Robots from space are not cool, they are the complete opposite of cool, and Robot Hitler is out to get you, the world's first ninja. You have 10 seconds to destroy all Nazi Robots in your vicinity. IT. IS. ON.

Price 1.99€
Rating 8.0
Release 05 Mar 2014
WazHack Time moves forward only when you do in the dungeons of WazHack. Think your way out of problems instead of just spamming 'attack' and 'drink healing potion'.

Price -70% 2.39€
Rating 8.4
Release 17 Feb 2014
Graviteam Tactics: Operation Star Graviteam Tactics: Operation Star is a sequel to Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943. It’s an Eastern Front war game with solid graphics and sprawling battlefields that really emphasizes the scope of WWII tank combat.Want to step into the role of a commander in the very heart of Kharkov’s defense?

Price -40% 16.79€
Rating 7.8
Release 11 Feb 2014
Descent Welcome to Descent™ - 27 levels of the most mind-bending, stomach-churning action game ever. Featuring true 3-Dimensional worlds and six degrees of freedom.

Price -20% 15.99€
Rating 8.9
Release 11 Feb 2014
Oniken: Unstoppable Edition When a global war nearly decimated humankind, an evil military organization called Oniken takes advantage of the situation to dominate and oppress the few remaining survivors. Even though any resistance to this organization seemed hopeless, a small rebel movement organizes strikes against Oniken.

Price -64% 1.81€
Rating 7.6
Release 05 Feb 2014
Aqua Kitty - Milk Mine Defender Aqua Kitty is a fast paced retro styled submarine arcade shooter with optional 2 player local Co-op.Blast through hordes of mechanical sea monsters in your kitty sub and defend the deep sea milk mining kittens!THE MILK MUST FLOW!

Price -91% 0.66€
Rating 8.1
Release 03 Feb 2014
Our Darker Purpose Journey to the dark heart of the Edgewood Home for Lost Children in this fiendishly difficult action RPG!When her teacher stepped out of the classroom a month ago, Cordy never imagined he would be gone for good. Now her fellow students have turned on each other as the school descends into chaos.

Price 14.99€
Rating 7.8
Release 29 Jan 2014
Gunman Clive In the year of 18XX, the west is overrun by thugs and outlaws. A group of bandits have kidnapped Mayor Johnsons daughter and are spreading havok across the land. Only Gunman Clive can bring order to the west and save the girl!Jump and shoot your way across 16 diverse and challenging levels and fight massive bosses.

Price 1.99€
Rating 8.3
Release 03 Jan 2014
Oozi: Earth Adventure Oozi: Earth Adventure is a classic 2D platformer with old school gameplay - no puzzles, no punishment, just 100% pure classic platforming fun! Its most prominent features are HD visuals and beautiful hand-drawn art, but despite its visual style, it’s a good fit for all kinds of gamers!

Price -90% 1.03€
Rating 8.2
Release 05 Dec 2013
Mutant Mudds Deluxe Love pixels? Fond of platformers? Is there a special place in your heart for the 8-bit and 16-bit era? Want to have fun? Yes!? Well, you’ve come to the right place, my friend. Mutant Mudds Deluxe is a “12-bit” action platformer full of pixels and platforming fun!

Price -79% 2.10€
Rating 7.1
Release 21 Nov 2013
A Walk in the Dark In this action platformer you play as a cat, Bast, running through a dark fantasy world. You’ll be running, jumping and sliding with smooth and precise controls designed to make you feel like a cat. But it wont be easy. In the dark you never know what lies in the shadows.

Price -75% 1.72€
Rating 7.5
Release 07 Nov 2013
Intake Intake is the new retro-futuristic drugstep arcade shooter from Cipher Prime. In this polychromatic love child of Dr. Mario and Ikaruga, you battle a never-ending barrage of pills, pushing your skill and reflexes to the limit to avoid a lethal dosage.

Price -95% 0.54€
Rating 8.5
Release 06 Nov 2013
Syder Arcade Killing zombies never gets old, but sometimes you just need a break. Get back to some serious old-school gaming with Syder Arcade! Syder Arcade is a love letter to Amiga games of the ‘90s, no coins, no upgrade grinding, just your tenacity and a motherload of alien invaders.

Price -94% 0.62€
Rating 7.9
Release 24 Oct 2013
Tetrobot and Co. Tetrobot is the world's most popular and reliable robot, but he's not perfect. That's why I, Maya, have built him a microscopic little brother, Psychobot.Help me guide Psy through Tetrobot's cogs and circuits: by swallowing blocks of matter and spitting them out, we can repair anything.

Price -92% 0.87€
Rating 8.9
Release 22 Oct 2013
Soundodger+ Dodge the music and dance through a mesmerizing ballet of choreographed bullets, each synced to music from over a dozen international artists. Push your creativity and skills with the fully-featured Level Editor and never run out of things to dodge.

Price -50% 3.99€
Rating 8.5
Release 11 Oct 2013
Escape Goat Escape Goat is a puzzle platformer where you take control of a goat, who has been imprisoned for witchcraft, and overcome traps and obstacles to escape the Prison of Agnus. Fear not, for with your supreme agility, sturdy horns, and the help of a magic mouse friend, you can turn the tables on foes and use the environment to your advantage.

Price -75% 1.24€
Rating 9.0
Release 09 Oct 2013
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Rise of the Owlverlord Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is a fast-paced platformer that will plunge you into the heart of two opposing worlds.

Price -90% 0.50€
Rating 7.7
Release 26 Sep 2013
Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe The title says it all. Take one part falling block puzzle game, combine one part old-school platformer, add a couple thousand pixels, blend and serve. Why match colored blocks when you can just shoot the hell out of them? Your goal is to survive as long as you can. From celebrated indie developer Andrew Morrish and Adult Swim Games.

Price -70% 2.39€
Rating 8.4
Release 24 May 2013
Element4l Element4l is an immersive and experimental indie platform game, with a strong focus on flow and smooth gameplay, wrapped in an exceptional soundtrack by Mind Tree.

Price -67% 2.63€
Rating 7.8
Release 24 May 2013
Dragon's Lair Haven't heard of Dragon's Lair?! Well, you play the heroic Dirk the Daring, a valiant knight on a quest to rescue the fair princess from the clutches of an evil dragon! Originally released in the summer of 1983, Dragon's Lair has solidified itself as a cultural icon in gaming.

Price -50% 4.99€
Rating 7.3
Release 17 May 2013
Ms. Splosion Man You got a problem? Yo, she’ll splode it. At the Big Science after-party celebrating the capture of Splosion Man, a spill of champagne shorts out the safety protocols on the splosionatrix and from it emerges Ms. Splosion Man. The latest creation from Twisted Pixel Games, the creators of Splosion Man, The Maw, and Comic Jumper, Ms.

Price -80% 1.99€
Rating 7.4
Release 03 Apr 2013
Ultratron Experience the addictive gameplay of old-school arcade favourites, updated and improved for the 21st century! Unique retro-futuristic sound and graphics, player responsive difficulty, and a subtle system of tactics combined with classic gameplay make Ultratron a fun and hypnotic arcade blast.

Price -50% 4.87€
Rating 8.3
Release 18 Mar 2013
Fly'N Somewhere between a platformer, a puzzle game and a great big dollop of pure fun, Fly’N will challenge your skills through more than forty levels set in a luxuriant world. Experiment with the four Buds to save the World-Trees from Dyer, the loony hair-dryer who intends to destroy their Helys!

Price -91% 0.97€
Rating 8.1
Release 09 Nov 2012
Sine Mora Sine Mora is a horizontal shoot'em up that provides a unique take on challenge, where time is the ultimate factor.

Price -91% 2.56€
Rating 7.8
Release 09 Nov 2012

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