6 Infamous Games That Are Impossible to Beat

The term “rage quit” was invented for good reason. It encompasses an all-too-familiar moment for gamers far and wide, where players spend significant amounts of time trying to get through a stage of a game only to get frustrated and give up (for now, at least).

This term, integral to the gaming community, exists thanks to games made so difficult that they challenge your patience and, sometimes, your sanity. Perhaps it’s an impossible boss battle, a never-ending storyline, or even a 100% completion rate that feels completely unattainable. Whichever way, these types of games have built a reputation for their toughness.

Here are six titles with a legacy of being impossible to beat.

Dark Souls

We’re not focusing on a specific installment of the Dark Souls series because the entire franchise has become legendary for its unforgiving nature. Rather than give players a fair chance right off the bat, the games force players to “get good” by remaining patient, learning the game, and persevering even after soul-crushing losses and deaths. However, with so many other games out there, many players simply toss in the towel and play something else. It’s a lot like how you might look at casinos.com reviewing ACH casinos to narrow down your choice of online gaming options.

The Dark Souls series is known for its serious lack of checkpoints, plethora of secrets and collectors’ items, and incredibly grueling boss battles. And considering that other games now need to pass the “Dark Souls” test to earn the title of being hard to beat, we can safely say that the franchise sets the standard for gaming difficulty.

Super Meat Boy

You know those video games where you respawn and die right away? Well, Super Meat Boy is one of them. In a way, it’s just as relentless as Dark Souls but with a quirky retro aesthetic rather than a brooding atmosphere. While it might seem like a fun, action-packed game at first glance, players quickly realize that protecting this little animated meat chunk is potentially the most frustrating scenario known to man.

Meat Boy must navigate and dodge spikes, flames, and saw blades to get to the end of each level—and you can picture the struggle. The tight controls and precise reaction time it takes to win is unforgiving, and racking up trophies for completing each world without dying is an even harder feat.

Alien: Isolation

Survival and horror are two genres where death and failure have much scarier stakes. So, when you combine them, you’re in for a wild ride. Alien: Isolation lets you play as the daughter of Ellen Ripley from the Alien movies, forcing you to be stealthy, smart, and brave in threatening and frightening situations. It’s considered one of the best horror games on the market.

There’s the constant curiosity about what’s out there—androids, other humans, and the infamous Xenomorph, which is fast, relentless, and unpredictable due to the game’s AI. What’s great about Alien: Isolation is that you can choose your difficulty level, which, in itself, might make it seem like it shouldn’t belong on this list. But choose Nightmare mode, and you’ll experience just that. Take one wrong step, make one tiny sound, and the Xenomorph will hunt you down and kill you faster than you can say, “Game over, man!”

Contra

Ah, the Contra series—the famous run and gun game that began as an arcade game by Konami. If you’re unfamiliar with Contra, you might be wondering how a simple shooter franchise like this could possibly be considered impossible to beat. Yes, there isn’t a storyline nor difficult gameplay mechanics to deal with, but the margin for error is incredibly slim.

The reason could lie in its origins, as arcade games are designed to be difficult to encourage players to continue inserting coins. However, Contra is on another level. Once you get hit by an enemy just once, one of your lives is gone and you lose your weapon.

Flywrench

All the games we’ve touched on thus far require you to control some sort of character, but not Flywrench. Flywrench is a minimalistic-looking game where levels are made up of various shapes. The premise involves piloting an aerobatic spaceship through “space.”

The gameplay revolves around performing maneuvers and actions with your ship to avoid obstacles, such as tumbling, flapping, changing colors, and more. It’s so fast-paced and requires such laser-sharp attention that you’re bound to fail the second you blink. Instead of soaring through the air like a regular spaceship, there are three different modes to switch from to change the ship’s controls and shapes, which means you’ll need to time each move to perfection. It involves a lot of trial and error, but the inherent structure of the game simply encourages you to keep playing until you master it.

1001 Spikes

As a “masocore” game (a portmanteau of masochism and hardcore), its categorization alone indicates players are in for a tough time. This genre is deliberately made to get gamers riled up and make them rage quit. In essence, that also means players seeking out games of this type have a desire for challenging gameplay. 1001 Spikes is the perfect example, involving 100+ levels and 1,001 lives. Although 1,001 lives sounds incredibly high, the surprise traps and increasing difficulty mean dying just about every few steps.

Despite the game’s hardcore reputation and dangerous name, the charming art style features retro 8-bit graphics and bright colors. Featuring ancient ruins and jungle temples, the levels provide plenty of variety that entice players to start and continue playing.