Best Difficult Games 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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Resident Evil 0 Before the mansion, before the destruction of Raccoon City, there was Resident Evil 0. Now remastered with improved visuals and sounds, as well as the all-new Wesker Mode, there's never been a better time to experience the origins of the Resident Evil story.

Price 19.99€
Rating 8.0
Release 19 Jan 2016
Darkest Dungeon® Darkest Dungeon is a challenging gothic roguelike turn-based RPG about the psychological stresses of adventuring. Recruit, train, and lead a team of flawed heroes against unimaginable horrors, stress, disease, and the ever-encroaching dark. Can you keep your heroes together when all hope is lost?

Price -96% 1.01€
Rating 9.1
Release 19 Jan 2016
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen Set in a huge open world, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen presents a rewarding action combat experience.

Price -93% 2.22€
Rating 8.7
Release 15 Jan 2016
Tharsis Succeeding in Tharsis requires you to make the best of what you have, even if it happens to be a pair of snake eyes. Certain factors may be outside of your control, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be overcome. Tharsis is not a game about facing the odds. It’s a game about changing them.

Price -93% 1.18€
Rating 6.8
Release 11 Jan 2016
Squirbs Squirbs is a challenging puzzle-platformer in which you control two cute blue Squirbs simultaneously with one set of controls. Looking for an awesomely difficult game? That's Squirbs.

Price 0.79€
Rating 6.4
Release 06 Jan 2016
Sora From Orange Juice comes a shoot'em'up starring the lone enhanced human, Sora. The sequel of the high-speed shoot'em'up "Suguri", with improved game system and graphics.

Price -62% 3.42€
Rating 8.6
Release 05 Jan 2016
Linea, the Game The goal of the game is to survive for more than 60 seconds on each level, dodging platforms and objects, listening to bitpop soundtracks. Four levels, online-records, achievements and trading cards are waiting for you.

Price 1.99€
Rating 8.1
Release 04 Jan 2016
UnderRail UnderRail is an old-school turn-based isometric role-playing game that features a large open post-apocalyptic world, deep and challenging combat and an intricate storyline.

Price -68% 4.75€
Rating 8.5
Release 18 Dec 2015
Bubsy Two-Fur Bubsy returns in the first authorized digital release of his first two games! What could paws-ibly go wrong?

Price 20.99€
Rating 6.8
Release 17 Dec 2015
Taimumari: Definitive Edition Retro-style platform game in keeping with the best traditions of games of our childhood! Take control of the Himari, the young female wizard travelling across various ages to settle the balance in time across the whole world!

Price -70% 2.09€
Rating 7.4
Release 16 Dec 2015
Emily Wants To Play It’s 11pm and the last house on your route. The windows are boarded up, the yard is overgrown, but the lights are on and the front door is open… strange place to deliver a pizza. You’re getting soaked from the rain, so you hesitantly step inside the house. You shouldn’t have done that.

Price 4.99€
Rating 7.5
Release 10 Dec 2015
Ben and Ed Ben and Ed is a 3D platformer, in which the player controls Ed the Zombie, who is forced to participate in a grotesque game show called "Rundead". Will he beat all obstacles Hans Showmaster confronts him with, to save his best friend Ben?

Price 9.99€
Rating 8.0
Release 08 Dec 2015
Gun Wings A mysterious meteorite from deep space was detected approaching the Solar System, before the meteorite is due to hit the Earth, three of the girls who had their bodies modified as weapons are sent, along with all the hopes of humanity, to destroy the meteorite and save mankind...

Price 3.99€
Rating 8.2
Release 08 Dec 2015
Bullet Heaven 2 Bullet Heaven 2 is a bullet-hell shoot-em-up inspired by games like Touhou and Jamestown. It's all about shooting every cute thing that moves, while dodging hundreds of shiny bullets per second!

Price 13.79€
Rating 9.1
Release 07 Dec 2015
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition HELLDIVERS™ is a hardcore, cooperative, twin stick shooter. As part of the elite unit called the HELLDIVERS, players must work together to protect SUPER EARTH and defeat the enemies of mankind in an intense intergalactic war.

Price -97% 0.66€
Rating 8.9
Release 07 Dec 2015
Nuclear Throne Nuclear Throne is a post-apocalyptic roguelike-like top-down shooter. Not 'the final hope of humanity' post-apocalyptic, but 'humanity is extinct and mutants and monsters now roam the world' post-apocalyptic. Can you reach the Nuclear Throne?

Price -93% 0.94€
Rating 9.4
Release 05 Dec 2015
Nyan Cat: Lost In Space Play with the most celebrated flying cat in human history. Drink milk, eat ice-cream, collect coins, buy gorgeous boosts, fly like a superhero (sorry... supercat), jump onto platforms made of cake, avoid angry dogs, and discover the infinite space.

Price -73% 1.10€
Rating 8.8
Release 04 Dec 2015
DARIUSBURST Chronicle Saviours DARIUSBURST Chronicle Saviours is the latest installment in Taito's DARIUS series of arcade-style shooting games. Blast hordes of alien sea-monsters, and blaze your own trail through branching environments.

Price -64% 17.74€
Rating 7.8
Release 03 Dec 2015
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege Rainbow Six® Siege is the reference in tactical team shooters, where elite strategy and execution triumph. Enjoy free access to Quick Match, Unranked, and Dual Front game modes with a selection of operators.

Price Free to play
Rating 8.3
Release 01 Dec 2015
12 is Better Than 6 12 is Better Than 6 is a dynamic top-down shooter with stealth elements, presented in a Wild West theme. The story puts you in the shoes of escaped slave fleeing to the United States in 1873.

Price -97% 0.23€
Rating 8.1
Release 20 Nov 2015
hocus perspective illusion puzzle based on M.C. Escher drawings and impossible shapes

Price 0.99€
Rating 8.6
Release 18 Nov 2015
ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) is one of the most successful roguelike games ever created, boasting a brilliant mix of story, RPG, exploration, and intensely strategic & flexible combat. The Steam version adds various features like achievements, difficulty level customization & play modes.

Price -95% 0.77€
Rating 8.1
Release 16 Nov 2015
Knight Squad Knight Squad is an insane 1 to 8 players chaotic arena friendship destroyer. Take on current friends and future frenemies in any of the incredibly fun game modes, ranging from Last Man Standing to Medieval soccer. All of that using only weapons from the Middle Ages… and laser guns… and miniguns.

Price -94% 0.92€
Rating 8.1
Release 16 Nov 2015
The Purring Quest Have you ever wanted to be a cat? You will be able, thanks to the aventure platformer The Purring Quest. Take on the role of Kimchi the cat and meet famous cat of the internet in a journey full of humor.

Price -96% 0.48€
Rating 7.9
Release 12 Nov 2015
Mushihimesama Battle huge "Koju" bugs in CAVE's beautiful fantasy shooter, Mushihimesama. Experience the thrill of bullet hell from the masters of the genre as you evade visually stunning shot patterns with thousands of bullets.

Price -47% 10.45€
Rating 9.2
Release 12 Nov 2015
Kero Blaster C&F Inc. teleporters are going offline all over the place, and it's up to an intrepid frog employee to fix the situation.

Price -96% 0.41€
Rating 8.9
Release 11 Nov 2015
Turbo Pug It's time to unleash your inner pug! Turbo Pug is a casual runner with difficult, random, procedurally generated levels. Enjoy random weather and try to avoid getting zapped by lightning. Unlock new costumes for your pug and new characters to play as. Please try not to squish your pug!

Price -61% 0.78€
Rating 8.7
Release 09 Nov 2015
The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians - Enhanced Edition In this tactical combat & dungeon crawler mash-up, explore a massive dungeon, full of danger, mystery and secrets. Fight your way through hordes of enemies and powerful creatures, with your tank, healer & damage dealers party.

Price -70% 5.99€
Rating 7.9
Release 06 Nov 2015
Mini Metro Mini Metro is a strategy simulation game about designing a subway map for a growing city. Draw lines between stations and start your trains running. As new stations open, redraw your lines to keep them efficient. Decide where to use your limited resources. How long can you keep the city moving?

Price -66% 2.84€
Rating 9.4
Release 06 Nov 2015
Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game You've just unearthed the classic post-apocalyptic role-playing game that revitalized the entire CRPG genre. The Fallout® SPECIAL system allows drastically different types of characters, meaningful decisions and development that puts you in complete control. Explore the devastated ruins of a golden age civilization.

Price -91% 0.96€
Rating 9.2
Release 01 Nov 2015
Pathologic Classic HD Pathologic Classic HD is the Definitive Edition of the original Cult Classic Psychological First-Person Survival game. In this unforgettable experience, players control one of three unique characters as they try to save a mysterious town from a deadly plague that cannot be stopped.

Price -96% 0.64€
Rating 8.5
Release 29 Oct 2015
GALAK-Z Brand New features!! The Void DLC offers endless gameplay, Online Leaderboards, and a Daily Challenge that allows players to compete worldwide for the top score. Anime inspired 2D space combat simulation at its best! GALAK-Z is a modern, A.I.

Price -95% 1.17€
Rating 7.0
Release 29 Oct 2015
Pink Hour Help a pink-clad office lady find a missing document so the boss doesn't get angry in this free spin-off minigame to Kero Blaster.

Price Free to play
Rating 8.8
Release 28 Oct 2015
Albert and Otto Created by solo developer Nikola Kostic - Traverse a haunting world set in 1939 Germany in search of a mysterious girl with rabbit ears. Utilize a little bunny in creative ways to solve puzzles. Levitate sheep, use them as torches or wolf bait and make your way through a dangerous land.

Price 4.60€
Rating 6.2
Release 28 Oct 2015
Toby: The Secret Mine A challenging puzzle platformer inspired by games like Limbo and Badland.

Price -90% 0.89€
Rating 6.8
Release 20 Oct 2015
Empire TV Tycoon Empire TV Tycoon is a game in which you manage a TV channel and fight for audiences taking decisions that will project your channel to fame and fortune.You will decide the content of your channel, select advertisers, hire workers, make your own productions, hire actors, and engage in much more activities!

Price 9.99€
Rating 7.5
Release 20 Oct 2015

Most played difficult games


76,550 players

401,026
28,895
Rating 9.2

28,634 players

981,540
75,137
Rating 9.2

17,141 players

334,165
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Rating 9.6

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354,017
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Rating 8.8

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Rating 9.3

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Rating 9.1

2,253 players

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Rating 9.5

2,222 players

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Rating 8.3

2,078 players

307,041
15,193
Rating 9.4

1,825 players

117,545
3,057
Rating 9.6