the toughest journey game play

PROJECT The Toughest Journey CLIENT AIB ROLE   UI Design

Turning sidelined GAA fans into serious players. As major sponsors of the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championships, AIB wanted to give every passionate GAA fan a more engaging and interactive experience than simply cheering their county on from the sidelines as spectators. Illustrations by Piranha Bar . Play the game . 

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We created The Toughest Journey, a retro-style game on both mobile and desktop which finally gave fans of all ages the chance to rise through the ranks to play for their county and experience the thrill of winning the Sam Maguire Cup for themselves.

Driven by a Shazam-able TV ad, Print and OOH, and supported by social, online and matchday pop-up arcades, AIB helped tens of thousands of GAA fans become dedicated virtual players; all serious about winning ‘Sam’ for their county, as shown by our results.

© 2023 Stephen Flynn. All rights reserved.

GAA ‘The Toughest Journey’

admin July 9, 2018 Richard Chaney , Branded Content Work

AIB – GAA ‘The Toughest Journey’ Director: Richard Chaney

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The Toughest Journey – The trailer for a fictional retro game which demonstrates what a GAA footballer needs to endure, in order to rise to the top of their unique sport. From the development of the skills and power which set them apart at club level, to the life-challenges as a top athlete in a high profile amateur sport, the gaming analogy is on the money.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.

The Toughest Game

As part of AIB’s ‘The Thoughest Journey’ campaign we collaborated with Rothco’s in-house development team to create this amazing 8-bit game to reflect the myriad challenges faced by GAA footballers, from Club to County.

Give the game a go at thethoughtsjourneygame.com

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The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

- d - h - min - sec

AIB: advert-top-1 by Rothco

To mark Allied Irish Bank’s (AIB) sponsorship of the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, creative agency Rothco, part of Accenture Interactive, teamed up with production studio, Piranha Bar, and music company, Mutiny, to create ‘The Toughest Journey’ - a 90’s style video game TVC and supporting mobile game challenging GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) fans to represent their county for the 16-bit Sam Maguire Cup and weekly prizes.

Using the analogy of a classic video game, the campaign, led by a 40-second TVC, highlights the heroic lengths every GAA player has to go through in their bid to bring the cup home. AIB and Rothco have partnered on several campaigns for the GAA sponsorship, including the recently released branded entertainment series, The Toughest Rivalry, starring ex-Premiere League managers, Harry Redknapp and Gianluca Vialli. This campaign supports a separate element of AIB’s GAA sponsorship, ‘Backing Club and County’.

Piranha Bar brought the vibrant designs to life with a mixture of 2D and 3D techniques, honing and refining the details of each graphic in order to create the most authentic visual aesthetic possible, while Mutiny created both the TVC and game’s catchy, chiptune score and SFX. The TVC will also appear in cinemas, supported by outdoor, digital OOH and digital display, while the game is available to play online.

CLIENTS: AIB

CREATIVE AGENCY: Rothco

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jessica Derby

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Alan Kelly

CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Ray Swan + Emma Sharkey

SENIOR CREATIVE TEAM: David Bowen + James Pash

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: James Moore

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER: Alan McQuaid

STRATEGY: Bronagh O'Donovan

HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY: Michael Keegan

LEAD DEVELOPER: Sean Crawford

DEVELOPER: Niall Eccles

DESIGNER: Stephen Flynn

DESIGNER: Gerard Sexton

PROJECT DIRECTOR: Jenna Plant

PROJECT MANAGER: Jill Jordan

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Piranha Bar

DIRECTOR: Richard Chaney

PRODUCER: Emily Brady

STUDIO: Mutiny

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The Toughest Journey TVC – AIB

The Toughest Journey – The trailer for a fictional retro game which demonstrates what a GAA footballer needs to endure, in order to rise to the top of their unique sport. From the development of the skills and power which set them apart at club level, to the life-challenges as a top athlete in a high profile amateur sport, the gaming analogy is on the money.

I was part of the 2D/ 3D animation team on this project.

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Battle Mode the latest for AIB’s The Toughest

Aug 5, 2019 | GAA , News Freeview

Previously restricted to playing as a single user, players can now choose to wear their county colours with pride to take on inter-county rivals in real-time.

AIB’s The Toughest Journey mirrors the challenges faced by players as they seek to represent their club then county to win the biggest prize in Gaelic Football, the GAA All-Ireland Championship.

Users can enter the world of GAA through their mobile or computer screens and take on their neighbour, granny, best friend or arch-nemesis in a battle to show who is #TheToughest gamer of them all. Battle Mode will bring a true sense of rivalry to the game as players challenge each other to go one v one.

“AIB are excited to be incorporating a dual player mode to The Toughest Journey that will make the game an even more interactive experience for users< said Chief Marketing Officer Mark Doyle.

“As sponsors of both the Club and County Championships, we are proud to have created a game that reflects the challenges GAA athletes face throughout their careers, both on and off the pitch and we are delighted to bring that journey to life for players of the game to experience through a digital realm.”

The Toughest Journey game and advertising campaign was launched last summer and will be given extensive push across all media over the coming month as this year’s All Ireland Senior football Championship draws to it’s peak.

Players from 65 countries around the globe played The Toughest Journey with 155,460 total gameplays, and an average dwell time of more than 7 minutes. Prizes including #TheToughest AIB jerseys and Senior Football Championship tickets which will be on offer to those at the top of The Toughest Journey leader board each week.

Read More: AIB Make Ad Game Real

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AIB | The Toughest Journey

To promote AIB's sponsorship of the All-Ireland Football Championship, and how tough the challenge is for every player who wants to line-up and represent their county in the All-Ireland Final, we turned Ireland's national game into an actual, retro-inspired game, so thousands of GAA fans could finally 'bring home Sam'.

Launch Film

10 of the Hardest PC Games of All Time

by Saad Muzaffar September 21, 2023, 8:35 am

Welcome to the ultimate showdown of digital fortitude! We’re diving deep into the realm of PC gaming to uncover the most challenging and sweat-inducing games of all time. These games will make you question your sanity and your decision to even start playing. The ones that have you repeatedly banging your head against your keyboard while simultaneously questioning your existence.

These games are not for the faint of heart or the weak of spirit. They require patience, persistence, and a certain level of masochism. But if you beat them, you can confidently claim the title of a true gaming champion. So buckle up, grab your energy drink of choice, and journey through the hardest PC games of all time. And don’t worry; we’ll bring the tissues for your tears of frustration.

1. The Dark Souls Series

This punishing series is infamous for its brutal difficulty, unforgiving combat, and merciless enemies. From the moment you start your journey, you’ll be thrown into a dark and foreboding world filled with danger at every turn.

Whether you’re battling grotesque monsters or exploring treacherous environments, you’ll need to stay sharp if you want to survive. Dark Souls will push you to your limits and test your skills like no other game.

But if you can endure its punishing gameplay, you’ll be rewarded with a sense of accomplishment that few other games can match. So if you’re up for a challenge, try Dark Souls – just be prepared to die – a lot.

If you’re looking for a game that will test your patience, reflexes, and sanity, then look no further than Cuphead . This charmingly retro platformer might look straight out of the 1930s, but don’t let its cute exterior fool you. Cuphead is tough. Really tough. We’re talking, “chuck your controller across the room,” tough. 

The game’s boss battles are particularly ruthless and require a level of precision and strategy that would make even the most experienced gamers break out in a cold sweat. But hey, if you’re up for a challenge (and don’t mind a few rage-induced meltdowns), then Cuphead is the game for you. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you.

3. Super Meat Boy

Super Meat Boy is not your average platformer game. Oh no, it’s far from it! Instead, this game will make you sweat bullets and scream obscenities at the top of your lungs. It’s a challenge that will simultaneously test your skills, patience, and sanity. The levels are incredibly tough and unforgiving, with obstacles and enemies coming at you from all angles.

 It’s a game that requires lightning-fast reflexes, precision timing, and a bit of luck. And don’t even get us started on the boss battles – they are the stuff of nightmares. But hey, if you’re looking for a game that will make you feel like you love pain, Super Meat Boy is right up your alley.

4. I Wanna Be the Guy

If you’re looking for a game that will make you want to pull your hair out and throw your computer out the window, then look no further than “I Wanna Be The Guy.” This retro-style platformer is notorious for its brutal difficulty and unforgiving gameplay. 

You play as The Kid, a pint-sized hero on a mission to become The Guy, the game’s ultimate boss. But don’t let The Kid’s cute appearance fool you. This game is a true test of skill and patience. From killer fruit to flying spike traps, every step you take is a potential death sentence. But be prepared to die over and over again. Only the bravest and most persistent gamers need apply.

5. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Alright, buckle up, fellow gamers, because we’re about to talk about one of the hardest PC games you can play today: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. This game is not your run-of-the-mill, casual stroll through a virtual world. Oh no, it’s more like a grueling uphill climb on a hot summer day with no water in sight. 

The enemies are relentless, the boss battles are like a dance with death, and the learning curve is steeper than a mountain goat’s trail. You’ll die so many times you’ll start to lose count. And when you think you’ve got the hang of it, the game will throw a curveball at you like a ninja star to the face. So grab your controller, take a deep breath, and get ready to sweat, because Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is not for the faint of heart.

Looking for a game that will put your skills to the ultimate test? Then Nioh is the game for you . This action RPG is not for those who lack courage, as you’ll face off against human warriors and demonic yokai in Sengoku-era Japan. As William Adams, a rare foreigner samurai who works for Hattori Hanzo under Tokugawa Ieyasu, you’ll need to use careful positioning and ki management to survive. 

Don’t let the term “hack-and-slash” fool you, as even the most basic enemy can take you down in a few hits. But fear not, as William has an arsenal of weapons and armor at his disposal and can even loot his fallen foes. So get ready to fight for peace in this challenging game that will test your mettle.

7. FTL: Faster Than Light

FTL: Faster Than Light is a challenging roguelike space simulation game that will test your decision-making skills and strategic thinking. With a complex gameplay loop that involves managing your crew, upgrading your ship, and navigating dangerous encounters, FTL offers a unique and rewarding gaming experience for those who are up for a challenge. 

However, be prepared to face a steep learning curve and the possibility of permadeath. Every mistake you make can have dire consequences for your journey through the galaxy.

Celeste is a pixelated platformer that’ll make you scream like a banshee and throw your controller at the wall. No, we’re not exaggerating. This game is a real test of skill and patience, with challenging levels that hurt your brain. You play as Madeline, a girl determined to climb a mountain that’s said to be impossible to conquer. 

But as you’ll quickly discover, the mountain is only the beginning of your troubles. The game is unforgiving, but it’s also rewarding. When you finally manage to clear a particularly difficult screen, you feel like a freaking superhero. Celeste is not for the faint-hearted, but if you’re up for the challenge, it’s one of the most satisfying gaming experiences out there.

9. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

If you’re looking for a top-down shooter game that will challenge you to the brink of insanity, look no further than The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. This roguelike dungeon crawler takes you on a journey through Isaac’s twisted imagination as he battles grotesque monsters and delves deeper into his own psyche. 

With randomly generated levels, immense items and power-ups, and painstakingly difficult bosses, this game will test your skills and sanity. But don’t worry. You can always restart and try again. Just don’t get too attached to your progress because death is always lurking around the corner. So, are you up for the challenge?

XCOM 2 is not your ordinary strategy game. Instead, it’s a game where every decision you make is a matter of life and death. With the fate of humanity on your shoulders, you must lead a squad of soldiers in a guerrilla war against an alien occupation force. But don’t be fooled by its seemingly simple premise. 

XCOM 2 is one of the hardest PC games of all time, requiring tactical thinking and strategic planning that will leave even the most seasoned gamers scratching their heads. With permadeath, randomized maps, and an unforgiving difficulty curve, XCOM 2 is not for the faint of heart. But the rewards are immeasurable for those who are up to the challenge.

So, grab your mouse and keyboard, and get ready to fight for the survival of the human race!

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Written by Saad Muzaffar

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5 of the most punishingly difficult board games

Whether you’re going head-to-head or working collaboratively, some board games are fairly easy affairs, providing a relatively relaxing space to play or a just-tough-enough challenge to overcome. The most difficult board games, however, are deliberately designed to punish the player, putting them up against seemingly impossible odds or brutal puzzles that can take multiple attempts and all your strategic brain power - and luck - to crack.

Like solving a tricky riddle, sweating through a hot sauce or finally surviving a boss run in Dark Souls, the joy of the best difficult board games comes from overcoming this adversity. The potential hours of frustration and effort eventually pay off in the knowledge that you finally got one over on the game and its creator by pulling off the perfect play, proving your tactical mastery or simply gaining the luck of the dice.

Most difficult board games

• Eldritch Horror
• Dead of Winter
• Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective
• Ghost Stories
• Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island

Of course, difficult board games aren’t for everyone - and that’s okay! Many board games allow you to select different difficulties, allowing you to ramp up the challenge alongside your own knowledge and skill. Others, however, throw you in at the deep end and expect you to learn to swim.

If you are up for a true challenge, these extremely challenging board games are ridiculously difficult to surmount. Prepare for spice - and salt.

1. Eldritch Horror

Confront cosmic horrors in a seriously tough fight to save the world

Nobody ever said saving the world would be easy - much less so when what you’re saving the world from is something as terrifying and foreboding as a slumbering elder being who has just begun stirring. You won’t like them when they’re asleep and you’ll like them even less when their nap has been interrupted.

When playing Eldritch Horror, your goal is to make sure these little bundles of terror stay asleep. If not, a battle of epic proportions ensues. Just like with a real baby, I assume.

In order to keep these monstrosities from wreaking havoc upon the world, the players take up the roles of investigators who travel the world searching for clues and preventing disaster. This might make sense for The Fed, The Explorer or The Martial Artist but perhaps less so for The Magician, The Musician or The Gravedigger. Regardless of who you are playing, each investigator brings something important to the table.

Despite being seemingly prepared, there are an onslaught of obstacles for you and your teammates to contend with. These include, but aren’t limited to, monsters and epic monsters for you to try to surmount, gates for you to close in order to remove these monsters from the board, clues for you to find, and rumours for you to investigate. All of this certainly sounds hard enough, but you also have a smorgasbord of penalties that could hinder your journey - such as injuries, restrictions and madness conditions that will make your life a whole lot harder.

All of that challenging nonsense is wrapped up in a neat little package, counting down the clock until the Ancient One awakens: The Doom Tracker.

If you’re wondering what the goal of this game is mechanically, it’s to solve mysteries unique to each terrifying Eldritch being, being impeded by a new Mythos each round. Are these Mythos cards ever-escalating in challenge level? You had better believe it!

With all of that in your way, you’re going to need to get your best investigators on the case.

Buy Eldritch Horror on Amazon US and Amazon UK .

2. Dead of Winter

As difficult as surviving a real-life zombie apocalypse?

Although I love this board game for its difficult win conditions, it’s not always a thrilling ride of close calls where you pass or fail by a heart-poundingly close margin. Sometimes it’s just plain miserable.

Similar to Eldritch Horror, Dead of Winter likes to stack the odds against you with mechanics that trip you up at every turn. Your survivors at the safe-haven known as The Colony aren’t able to simply hunker down for the winter and hope for the best.

While attempting to complete your main objective before you are overrun by the zombie hoard, you are also put up against a crisis for the round that will result in dire consequences for you and your team if you don’t complete it. Make sure to complete this objective without depleting The Colony’s morale, by the way - otherwise it’s game over.

Nestled in the dark heart of the game’s mechanics is the Exposure Die, which you must roll when you want to visit any of the in-game locations housing the tools and supplies you will need to survive the harsh winter. The rolling of the Exposure Die will result in one of four things: nothing, a wound, frostbite or a zombie bite. That’s a risky trip to your local corner shop.

To top it all off, nothing can push you further from accomplishing your main objective like a betrayer in your midst. Dead of Winter pushes your paranoia to its limit by leaving you unsure of whether or not you’re being sabotaged by a fellow player. At the start of the game, each player draws an objective card that they keep secret, which may or may not name you as a betrayer. So either this player will break the game or you might self-sabotage it by exiling a perfectly innocent player who could have helped you reach your objective.

There are all sorts of pitfalls ready to set you back during Dead of Winter and, just like Eldritch Horror, a lot of it comes down to luck. If you’ve got rotten luck, these difficult board games just might trip you up.

Buy Dead of Winter on Amazon US and Amazon UK .

3. Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective

Cracking the master investigator’s cases won’t be easy

Though this is a delightful and intellectually challenging tabletop game, it has been nicknamed ‘Sherlock Holmes: Insulting Detective’ due to its, frankly, absurd expectations. Yes, we understand that Sherlock is the world’s greatest detective. That doesn’t mean that he gets to be mean about it.

In Consulting Detective, players take up the role of what ultimately comes down to Sherlock Holmes’ interns, hoping to take up the mantle of super sleuths when he decides it's time to hang up his Deerstalker. Which looks tacky, by the way.

A case comes about and Sherlock will send us off on our own to take a stab at it. We’re not entirely sure if it plays out like that in his head, though - he probably sees it as patting our soft little heads, packing us a lunch and watching us toddle off out the door.

Well, Mr. Holmes, I’ll have you know that we solve cases thoroughly and we solve them well! For example, in that one case where there was a murder and it was clear who the murderer seemed to be, we knew it wasn’t actually them and then figured out it was actually another person with a clear motive!

Sometimes a case can be extremely rewarding and resolves with a relatively happy ending. There are other instances, however, in which Sherlock does some mental gymnastics that simply do not make sense and suggest that we’re utterly imbecilic for not seeing his answer after visiting two leads.

It follows this kind of format: There’s a murder. Sherlock visits his tailor - and the victim’s mum’s cat - and figures out that the murderer was actually a scorned ex-lover with a collection of fine silks who is currently hiding out in her brother’s attic, living as a bat full time. The game should really be retitled ‘Sherlock Holmes: Kinda Psychic’.

Even when you expect to rock back up to 221B Baker street having solved the case in full and finally get that sweet recognition, it’s never going to be that easy.

Buy Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective on Amazon US and Amazon UK .

4. Ghost Stories

Fend off hellish spectres in this scarily difficult board game

Ghosts typically come in one of two flavours. You’ve got your friendly, ‘please avenge me and/or be my living friend’ spirits. Think the Caspers of the (after) world, the pottery-loving Patrick Swayze of Ghost or the silent spectre from Mysterium trying to help solve its own untimely demise.

More often than not, though, ghosts tend to be a bit of a handful. There’s the homewreckers of Paranormal Activity, the troublesome targets of Phasmophobia and phantoms who approach chatting on an ouija board with all the decorum of throwing a bag of Scrabble tiles into a washing machine. In other words, they’re mean-spirited (ha, ha) and in need of a good bustin’.

Ghost Stories’ ghosts absolutely fit into this second category. Led by the lord of hell, Wu-Feng, they’ve decided to haunt the absolutely bejeezus out of a town and its unfortunate inhabitants in an effort to bring their undead ruler back to life. Standing in their way are a group of Taoist monks - the players - who must work together to exorcise as many of the phantoms as they can before dispatching Wu-Feng himself.

Obviously, taking on the lord of hell and an army of the dead is no easy feat. While creator Antoine Bauza is most famous for beginner-friendly games such as 7 Wonders, Tokaido and Hanabi, the designer’s Ghost Stories has earned a reputation as one of the most difficult board games ever made, with the odds seriously stacked against the players from the word go.

The players must move between locations in the village, rolling dice to banish ghosts off the board. Except the ghosts keep coming - every turn, a new ghost appears, making it an endless task to fight off the waves of wraiths. That’s if you’re lucky enough to roll what you need to get rid of one of the ghosts to begin with, with even helpful Tao tokens only going so far to make up for the luck of the dice.

The players can gain the help of villagers to improve their chances, but they’re countered by the ghosts’ own abilities to curse players, haunt helpful locations and just make an already difficult task even harder.

Even on its standard difficulty, Ghost Stories is ridiculously tough - and that’s before you get to the higher levels, which add multiple incarnations of Wu-Feng to the mix.

First released in 2008, Ghost Stories was remade a couple of years ago as Last Bastion, which swapped the spooky setting for a more generic castle-defence game. While the change of theme to Yet Another Fantasy World is arguably a downgrade, Last Bastion did tweak the game’s rules to make things a little easier for players to claim victory. Still don’t expect to win on your first try, though.

Whether you’re able to find a copy of the original Ghost Stories or its reboot as Last Bastion, be prepared for one of the toughest co-op experiences any board game has to offer. Winning is dead hard - but if you ever pull it off, you can know that no other board game will ever seem that difficult again. Good luck, you’ll need it.

Buy Last Bastion on Amazon US and Amazon UK .

5. Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island

Try to survive a deadly island - and this board game

Surviving on a deserted island is a gruelling, difficult challenge - so it makes perfect sense that a board game inspired by the most famous castaway of all time would be one of the toughest games on the tabletop.

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island shipwrecks players on their own isolated dot of land and tasks them with a simple objective: stay alive. Achieving that is much harder than it sounds, though, as players will need to search for the materials and food they need to last long enough to complete each scenario’s goal while dealing with the many dangers around them.

Among the many, many threats you’ll face are unforgiving weather and roaming animals who may decide their own survival depends on turning you into lunch. As you explore the island, you’ll eventually be able to craft weapons, tools and shelters out of resources you discover, helping you eke out another day. Survive long enough and you might even find yourself constructing a settlement, getting comfortable enough at not dying to, well, literally anything to allow you to delve into some of the island’s mysteries and hidden treasures.

If you’re playing as a group, teamwork will be essential to making it through, while if you decide to go it alone in the single-player mode you can benefit from the company of Friday and a canine companion. You can also use the welcome companions to help make games with friends a little more forgiving, with the Cursed Island living up to its name when it comes to really putting your castaways through the wringer.

Powered by a chunky deck of event cards - and a dense rulebook that’ll feel like reading a novel the first time through - Robinson Crusoe lives up to its epic namesake in terms of adventure and adversity. It won’t go easy on you the first - or fiftieth - time around, but if you’re after a true challenge and the satisfaction of triumphing in the face of hardship, you’ll find one here.

Buy Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island on Amazon US and Amazon UK .

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The Impossible Quiz

The Impossible Quiz is an online trivia quiz that features only very hard questions. Many of the questions have double meanings, tricks and puns and requires you to think outside the box. Out of the four answers, only one answer is right. There are in total 110 questions. You're given only three lives, and you'll lose one with every mistake you make.

This original game works without Flash on any device. Did you answer all 110 questions? Play The Impossible Quiz 2 .

How to play The Impossible Quiz?

Click the right answer out the of the four options. Use Skips to skip a particular questions of the game. Watch out for Bombs which have a timer to answer the question before the time runs out or it is Game Over.

What are the right answers to the questions?

Spoiler alert. These are the answers for the first 10 questions:

• No, but a tin can
• Move your mouse out of the game and around it, then back to "Next question"
• An elephant
• Find the green tick
• Top right 'THAT ONE'

Who created The Impossible Quiz?

The Impossible Quiz was created by Splapp-me-do. He also created the sequel The Impossible Quiz 2 and the 🎅 Christmas themed quiz: The Impossible Quizmas .

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Top 6 Toughest Games to Get to the Table

Let’s go on a journey together!

Walking down into the basement, or through the curtains into the second bedroom—its role as a “bedroom” ended many years ago—you will find…

YOUR GAME COLLECTION

And then, buried somewhere behind the third Kallax, below your antique 1980s Milton Bradley “Gamemaster Series” collection, and just before you have to look away from the menacing death stare of your “shelf of shame”, you see it:

The game you absolutely love. The game you KNOW gives players a rich, possibly legendary gaming experience.

The game you struggle to ever get to the table.

Each time you are fortunate enough to even begin pitching your gaming friends on why this jewel in the Nile should hit the table tonight, you have to remove a full cake of dust from the top of the box. And that’s before you remember, mid-pitch, it will take 45 minutes to teach the game, or it features “take-that” gameplay with an audience that hates confrontation, or tearing down the game is only slightly quicker than running a marathon. (Not a 5K…a marathon .)

Welcome, then, to the greatest challenge for almost any gamer: getting one of your favorite games to the table when challenges abound. We asked the Meeple Mountain team for an example or two of these types of games in their collection.

Continue on, fellow reader, if you dare! Bwahahahahahahaha!!!

Purchase from Amazon

Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant (2017, WizKids)

As many players and tabletop media outlets have acknowledged, Sidereal Confluence is an incredible game. I bought my copy on the strength of the excellent No Pun Included review a few years ago.

Sidereal Confluence is a tough sell for a ton of reasons. This isn’t one of those games that has “variable player powers.” Each faction plays the game completely differently, so the safe bet is to teach the main trading game and then how each faction approaches the game, which could take 45 minutes to an hour. It’s a loud shouting match of a game with timed negotiation rounds. It’s a massive table hog for each player, so with a full player count I need to use three of my six-foot folding tables to even set it up. Sidereal Confluence is a negotiation game that only really works if you have at least six people to play. Ideally, you would play this at its full player count…of NINE PLAYERS.

In 2021, I played Sidereal Confluence three times. And my #1 highlight of that year? I played Sidereal Confluence at nine players for the first time—and maybe the last time—ever. In fact, it was the last time ever; after struggling to play this in 2022, I moved it out of my collection in a spring math trade in 2023. So long, old friend.

Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory (2023, Hegemonic Project Games)

I’m glad I had to review Hegemony , because there’s almost no way I would have gotten this five-hour beast to the table for four plays otherwise. (I’m up to five plays now, thanks to a run at Gen Con 2023 .)

Yes, five hours is a long time for a game, but it sounds longer than it really is if you’re having fun. Hegemony is a blast, and the game really does offer a rich experience that lets people shout at each other as a function of its systems. Negotiation, politics, jousting for position, hurling expletives at another player for not buying into their goods and services.

Oh, Hegemony . I already miss it, even though I still have my copy. It’s a hard one to table because not only is the game long, but it’s really tough to teach four asymmetric factions when you have three new players join you at the table. Still, if I can find people willing and able to buy in, I’m likely going to play it anyway.

On Mars (2020, Eagle-Gryphon Games )

I love On Mars , but after a recent play, I had to admit it to myself—it’s a game that might be too hard to table regularly, meaning it is trade bait to move out of the collection.

On Mars , according to BGG’s “Weight Rating”, is the heaviest game in my collection at a 4.67 out of 5.00. It’s a game that I usually play once, maybe twice, a year, usually at the suggestion of another person in my heavy strategy gaming group. I always have to watch Paul Grogan’s teach video to refresh myself on the rules, and after 40 minutes of just watching the video, my brain is fried.

Still, On Mars is fantastic. When you are able to pull off a series of moves in On Mars that put you in a winning position, there’s something magical about how it feels. The production, like almost every Eagle-Gryphon game I have played, is amazing; just staring at my thick player board while moving crystals off of it or meeples onto it, is something else.

The problem (or maybe that’s “problem”) is that On Mars is a long play, even with experienced players. At the full four-player count, you are looking at a three-hour game with most players; even the speedy players make it a brain-burny 2.5-hour experience. That isn’t long, but it usually leaves me wanting to play a trick-taking game before going to bed to ease the mind.

I’m holding onto my copy of On Mars for now…but it wouldn’t shock me if it’s a goner in an upcoming math trade. At least six of my friends own a copy, so maybe I’ll just play theirs!

18XX games (any of them)

I currently own five 18XX games: 1830: Railways & Robber Barons, 1846: The Race for the Midwest , 1880: China, 1861: Railways of the Russian Empire, and 1867: Railways of Canada (these last two games are a part of the same box).

I am really digging 18XX games right now , but even I have to admit that these games are a tough sell job:

“Anyone down for a 5-7 hour game of 1880: China ? Oh, you don’t know the 18XX system? Well, I could teach you that, then teach you all the ways that 1880 varies from the commonalities of the system. The teach will take about an hour, then we’ll do a private company auction that will probably take 20-30 minutes. Then, we’ll pick and par our opening major companies, and after I set up the tile selection area then we can really dig into the map…”

For most strategy gamers, the rules of an 18XX game aren’t really that bad. It’s the time commitment, then the math. OH MY GOODNESS, the math. As much as I have loved my plays of 18XX games, it’s a tough nut to crack. How do I convince people that the boring-looking board and the route calculations are a part of a rich gaming experience?

So far, I haven’t cracked the nut consistently, so my 18XX games mostly stare back at me from their place on the shelves. Conventions are the best way to get these plays in, but that’s only possible a couple of times a year. If you are in Chicago and love train games, drop me a note in the comments! Please!

Clinic: Deluxe Edition (2019, currently published by Capstone Games )

With some games, no matter how much I like them, tabling them comes down to one thing: the teach.

And of all the games in my collection (including On Mars , which is really saying something), Clinic is the toughest game to teach. I’m not sure it is even close.

The rules are dense; Clinic ’s rulebook does as good a job as it can to teach some fairly difficult gaming concepts. The spatial elements are the tough part; most people who play Clinic struggle to understand how the various platforms stack from floor to floor, plus all of the edge-case rules on where these platforms can be placed. The way patients move, the way everyone drives a car to the clinic (including the staff!), the way these platforms have staff limits…there’s just a ton to consider.

The only thing worse than the teach? The re-teach . You are going to be correcting players and explaining the game’s concepts over and over again to new players. While most games benefit from having the same group playing it consistently, Clinic is maybe the only game I currently own that I will NOT play unless everyone at the table has played at least once.

And that’s critical, because the game is such a rich puzzle.

Forgotten Waters …Or, Really, ANY Campaign Game (2020, Plaid Hat Games )

I can still remember the first—and last—game of Forgotten Waters that I played.

It was early COVID, late in 2020. A new gaming group was being formed and I didn’t want to miss out on the chance to play a campaign game when there was so little going on in the world at that time. One of the players suggested, then bought, Forgotten Waters and five of the new group members jumped at the chance to play a pirate campaign game.

That one game was fantastic, even if it was a little too easy to beat the intro mission. Loved having characters. REALLY loved how well the app added atmosphere to the proceedings. The manual was a dream, the way everything happened on a couple of the pages and brought the scenario to life.

Then…we never played it again. No one even suggested playing it again. I’m still not sure if a couple players realized that it is a campaign game in the first place!

This is the curse of any campaign game—the moment when a game ends, you essentially have to schedule a second (or recurring weekly) session to ensure that it gets back to the table.

But for our group, life slowly began to reopen in the weeks after this first play. In Chicago, that meant access to a few restaurants. Some people began to go back to (gulp!) offices. We agreed that all of the original players needed to get back together, which proved to be a barrier that could not be overcome.

And until recently, I hadn’t even thought about the game a second time. Campaign games are the only category that I actively avoid reviewing for Meeple Mountain because the desire to see the entire game through is just too much, particularly when so many variables have to be just right to play. To those who are able to knock out a Frosthaven , Pandemic: Legacy or Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar campaign of 10-15 games without issue—we salute you. (Bonus points if you’re able to manage having more than one of any campaign game going on at the same time!!)

What games do you struggle to get to the table most? Share your stories in the comments, please!

Related board games

• 1830: Railways & Robber Barons
• 1846: The Race for the Midwest
• 1861: Railways of the Russian Empire & 1867: Railways of Canada
• 1880: China
• Clinic: Deluxe Edition
• Forgotten Waters
• Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory
• Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar
• Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
• Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant

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About the author

Justin Bell

Love my family, love games, love food, love naps. If you're in Chicago, let's meet up and roll some dice!

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I feel your pain, Justin!

I cannot tell you how excited I about Pandemic Legacy when it was first released. My group liked the original, as well as all the expansions I had bought. I thought, this would be an easy game to get to the table.

When I mentioned it to the group, one of them flatly rejected it, saying he couldn’t imagine wanting to play the same game 12 times in a row (or more). My explanations of the differences in gaming sessions were all for naught.

Then, a few years later, he told me about how he and his wife were gaming with another couple and the husband excitely brought Pandemic Legacy to the table.

We don’t even mention that at our gaming sessions.

I daydream about getting clinic to the table more often… so I feel your pain.

Way of the Ring. Like many on your list, too long and too rules intense. Loved the time I played, but I can never table it.

Do you mean War of the Ring? If so, yeah…it’s a big boi

Twilight Imperium 4th ed. 6 people coordinating a common, free, 10 hour period of time? Most with families?You’re lucky if you can swing once a year. 😔

My #1 is On Mars, and it gets played regularly. The key is teaching it to three regulars. The genius of the game will demand that it comes out.

I don’t have any of the huge ones, but even Firefly is a struggle to get through, and the sessions NEVER go as fast as the setup cards indicate.

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🏀 Women's Tournament

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Mike Lopresti | NCAA.com | March 27, 2024

Inside indiana state's meaningful journey to the nit semifinals.

TERRE HAUTE, IN — Some of the bigger fish say no to the NIT, lest they lose an hour staking out the transfer portal. Want to see proof how others feel? Just go to the Larry Bird statue and listen.

Note the thunder coming from inside Hulman Center Tuesday night. That’s Indiana State beating Cincinnati 85-81 in an NIT quarterfinal. Bodies are flying, emotions are raging. It’s hard to tell whether the chanting, standing, clapping masses are being electrified more by the natural urge to survive and advance, or the quest to be able to tell all those who felt the Sycamores undeserving of an NCAA tournament bid where they can stick their NET ratings. Anyway, the house is full and on fire.   "Basketball fever," reads one of the business marquees in town.

Indiana State finally wins and advances to the semifinals, which are just down the road at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Cincinnati goes home and is sad to do it. Dismiss the NIT as meaningless? Not these guys.

“Everybody’s different so I’ll say this, us not playing was never an option,” Indiana State coach Josh Schertz said. “If you’re a competitor and you have an opportunity to go play great competition and challenge yourself, that would be crazy to end my senior's year or a group that really cares about each other like this and say, 'oh you know, we’re just done with each other.'"

“Or the portal. I believe all 68 teams in the NCAA tournament accepted their invitations and they’re managing the portal as well. So I think there’s some misdirection as far as what the real reason is."

“How could you not love being out here, in that atmosphere and that environment, playing incredible competition? That’s as good as it gets. You never feel more alive than you do out there in those type of battles. Credit Cincinnati because you could tell how much it meant to them as well.”

Yes, it certainly did. “Somebody asked me if you ever thought about not playing in the NIT? No way.” Bearcats coach Wes Miller said. “Every day you get to coach your kids, every day you get to compete, that’s a blessing. We’re hurt right now because we felt like we could have won the game, we felt like we could have won this tournament. So we’re in pain right now. But for a number of reasons, this was the right thing, to play in this event. It baffles me that some people turn it down.”

MORE:  Schedule, TV channels for the 2024 men’s NIT tournament

You could even make the case – given the chance to go on to the semifinals for the first time in school history, and just 80 minutes away at Hinkle Fieldhouse – that this NIT contest might be as big as any home game in Indiana State history. There were a lot of magic moments and nationally recognized feats here during the Bird glory days, to be sure, but remember that all the really important stuff – the tournament games – were played somewhere else. Maybe some regular season conference title clinchers might be up there. but not many. “You’d be hard pressed to have a bigger win on our home floor here in Hulman Center history than tonight,” Schertz said. “If it’s not No. 1, it’s right there, 1A.”

Plus there is still that NCAA tournament thing stuck in their collective craw. The Sycamores hoped to hear their name on Selection Sunday. The masses were ticked that a 28-6 record wasn’t good to get into the NCAA tournament. They were fuming that at 29th, Indiana State had the highest NET rating not to receive an at-large bid, while several schools down in the 50s were allowed in the door.

Some of that might be fueling the Sycamores, too. If you can't get on the main dance floor, win the next one down to prove your point.

“Like we said throughout this whole NIT, it definitely sucked, it was a gut punch,” said guard Jayson Kent, who took five shots and made them all Tuesday. “But we’re even more driven just to be able to continue playing. Not a lot of teams have the opportunity to continue playing in March. We were just driven even more because we want to continue to play with each other, continue to practice with each other, continue to hang around with each other.”

HISTORY:  NIT championship history

Same for Robbie Avila, he of the famous goggles with a knack for the heroics. He buried a 3-pointer to put Indiana State in front to stay Tuesday just as the public announcer was bellowing out, "onnnnnne minnnute!"  Perfect dramatic effect. Avila finished with 22 points. “Of course being left out of the NCAA Tournament hurt,” he said. “”But I think it’s more the love of each other and being able to spend more time with each other that’s driving us to extend the season as long as possible."

Afterward, the players were circling the courts slapping hands with their fans in blue who did not want to leave. “To finish out our last home game on top, not many teams get to do that,” Avila said.

Shun the NIT and miss this moment? Not for the world.

“That’s a superpower because they don’t want this to end,” Schertz said. “So I would never have cut that off from them.”

Hail the NIT.

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9 best iPad games to play on your Apple tablet

• iPad gaming evolved from forgettable distractions to powerful portable gaming computers.
• The best iPad games optimize the hardware, focus on storytelling, and offer unique experiences.
• With a curated list of iPad games, you can avoid sifting through mediocre titles and enjoy top-quality gaming.

Before the iPhone introduced us to the App Store , mobile games were forgettable little distractions that you only resorted to playing if you had no other options. Fast forward to the release of the iPad, and suddenly we had a device that could run all the best mobile games on a bigger screen with better controls. Considering how far mobile games have come, and how powerful the newest iPads can be, you essentially have a portable gaming computer in your bag.

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The only downside to gaming on the iPad is also its greatest strength: the number of games. Opening the App Store will overwhelm you with games claiming to be the best, but they can't all be worth your time and money. In fact, most of them aren't even worth considering. While you could spend hours, days, or even weeks sifting through the game section to find the greatest titles, why not let us curate a nice, tidy list of the best iPad games for you?

Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2022)

It's always 20/20.

The best iPad games are those that leverage the actual hardware of your device, rather than attempting to cram a game made for a console into it. Hindsight is a perfect fit for your tablet, as it is heavily focused on narrative and relies on intuitive touch controls for gameplay.

The story centers on a woman named Mary, who is attempting to reconcile her feelings after an abusive parent passes away. You delve into her memories to try and untangle the complex relationship they shared, providing some closure so she can move forward with her life in a positive manner.

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Night in the woods, a cozy existential crisis, night in the woods.

If you've ever returned to your hometown after years away only to find it a mere shadow of its former self, Night in the Woods will stir up all those familiar emotions. This game is another adventure title with some light platforming, primarily focused on developing an entire town's worth of characters. Oh, and this town just happens to be populated by anthropomorphic animals. Just go with it.

After dropping out of college, Mae comes back home only to discover it's vastly different from how she remembered. She reunites with old friends, connects with the townspeople, and catches hints of something sinister lurking in the shadows. While there's a bit of mystery, Night in the Woods is more about the journey than the destination.

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Where will it take you.

Speaking of games that are all about the journey, I must highly recommend Journey. This highly artistic work is open to a wide range of interpretations. You could take it at face value or draw any number of parallels or metaphors from it. There are no spoken words or explicit directions given, yet you will always know what to do.

Aside from the visuals, score, and emotional highs this game reaches, it was also praised for its unique multiplayer feature. At any point while playing, as long as you're online, you may encounter another robed figure. This isn't an NPC but a randomly selected player who will accompany you for a short while. Only when the game is over can you see who, and how many, people helped you along the way.

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You only have a minute.

If you don't have a substantial amount of time to dedicate to playing a game on your iPad but still want something quick to pick up and play, Minit is designed for brief bursts of gameplay. It features a delightfully retro aesthetic and gameplay that echoes classic Zelda games, but with one major twist: your character is cursed to die after just 60 seconds.

This time pressure forces you to be efficient with your actions in each life before restarting at your checkpoint. It's cute, charming, humorous, and compact in a way that makes progression feel earned and rewarding. No pixel feels wasted here.

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Genshin impact.

Genshin Impact made a major splash when it launched in 2020 and has managed to sustain its incredible momentum since then. This stylish and massive RPG is built on its vast world, an endless number of quests and activities, and, most of all, its characters. If you have even a slight interest in collecting or anime characters in general, you'll be in heaven here.

While Genshin Impact is entirely free to play, there is an option to spend real money if you want to expedite progress. However, given the breadth and amount of content available, you might as well just play the game naturally and earn enough currency along the way.

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Something seems sus.

I'm calling an emergency meeting if you don't have Among Us installed on your iPad at all times. It's a game with a simple concept, yet it feels fresh and exciting every time you play. This event is as much social as it is a game where what you do and say in real life matters almost more.

If you somehow missed the Among Us craze when it started, you play as a team of crewmates in a contained facility, with a series of tasks to complete. The twist is that some of you are impostors, attempting to eliminate the others when no one else is watching. If a body is discovered, a meeting can be called to vote out whoever the majority suspects is the traitor. This leads to plenty of social deduction, misdirection, betrayals, and fun.

iPad frozen? Here's how to restart your tablet

Civilization vi, the world in the palm of your hand.

What could be better than building an entire civilization from scratch and conquering the world from the comfort of your iPad? I personally have already lost days of my life to this game on a PC alone, but being able to take it with me has made me addicted all over again.

The store page lists Civilization VI as free, but it isn't in the same way other free games are. You only get the first 60 turns before you need to pay, but it's more than worth it. You can also add plenty of expansions on top, plus it features full cross-platform support and cloud saves, so you can manage your empire on the go when you're away from your PC.

4 reasons to buy a refurbished iPad (and where to get one)

Hearthstone, pick a card.

Card games are just such a natural fit for an iPad that I had to go with one of the best. Hearthstone stands out for being a simple game to understand and start playing, yet it's deep enough that you can fine-tune your deck for the most intense matches. The Blizzard coat of paint also doesn't hurt.

The simplicity of the systems is what makes this work so well on your iPad. You don't have to worry about mana or a multitude of cards with dozens of effects that you need to read or play at the right time. Matches tend to fall right into that ten to fifteen-minute sweet spot as well.

Best iPad wallpapers: 50 background ideas for your Apple tablet

Call of duty mobile, no scope on the go.

Trust me, I didn't think Call of Duty could work on an iPad until I tried it for myself. Yes, pairing a controller is the best way to play, but the touch controls on the bigger screen actually hold up well. If you haven't given it a try, you'll be shocked at how high-quality this mobile version is.

You have all the classic modes, dozens of maps, unlocks, perks, and all the Call of Duty goodness you expect from a full release. In fact, Mobile may even be better than its console counterparts now, considering it's totally free.

Guides & Editorial

What are PlayStation's most difficult games?

From action RPGs to side-scrolling shooters, PlayStation has plenty of games that will put you through your paces. If you're looking for the ultimate gaming challenge, then step right up.

Hardest character action games

You against the world

From slick sci-fi horror to bold new twists on literary classics, get ready for the fight of your life.

Devil May Cry V Special Edition

The fifth entry in Capcom's larger-than-life action series continues its reputation for epic-scale boss battles and immense technical depth. Winning in DMCV simply isn't enough: earning 'SSS' rankings in every area of demands an expert understanding of the game's combat mechanics along with effortless timing and a genuine sense of style.

While it's true that the main game is no cakewalk, it should be manageable for the majority of players. The unlockable 'Dante Must Die' difficulty mode, however, is truly something that only a handful will be able to beat.

Your best approach is to work on mastering DMC's signature combo-driven combat. Work on chaining together rapid series of attacks and combining ranged gunplay with close-range melee to control the flow of combat and keep from being overwhelmed. 

A novel evolution of its arcade shoot 'em up legacy, Housemarque's PS5 exclusive pulls no punches. Designed to intensify the main character Selene's ongoing struggle for freedom, Returnal's world and enemies transform every encounter into a desperate, fast-paced fight for survival. 

Returnal is definitely out to challenge the player. Some of its tougher segments will see the play area absolutely filled with dangerous projectiles, brutal teleporting enemies, and environmental traps. Staying alive requires concentration and finesse.

As a roguelike, perseverance is baked into the design. The cyclical nature of the game welcomes experimentation: play around with different weapons, tackle objectives in different orders and build your familiarity with how all the games different interlocking systems can work to help or to hinder you.

Lies of P is a brutally challenging, but exquisitely executed action adventure that celebrates the very best of the genre. Fast-paced, precision combat, colossal boss battles and sprawling interconnected environments strewn with hidden secrets and deadly traps lie in wait for all who dare enter.

There's no doubt about it: Lies of P is a tough cookie, with a particular emphasis on the multi-phase boss fights. These encounters will test your ability to dodge, parry and attack fiercely aggressive enemies with huge health pools and devasting attacks.

Paying careful attention to your build is key to victory: each of your main components can be swapped out to improve your resistance to varying damage types, weapons have their own unique damage types and combat styles and amulets offer additional perks that can very much even the odds. If you're struggling, then careful planning can often trump bloody-minded determination.

The sequel to Team Ninja’s ruthless samurai adventure ups the ante in every department, featuring enormous bosses, fiendish level design, and nuanced combat that offers a wealth of options depending on your playstyle. You’ll need to hone your skills if you’re going to see the end credits – prepare for the fight of your life.

Team Ninja deliberately design their games to push players and Nioh 2 is no exception. Its most basic enemies can easily cut you down, while its bosses can often flatten you in a single hit. Though the challenge is never unreasonable, it's often considerable.  

There's a dizzying amount of variety in Nioh 2 and as much of the game's mastery comes from outside of combat as in it. Regularly review your weapons and armor. Take full advantage of the blacksmith to forge new equipment and alter equipment attributes - also, pay attention to the benefits added by Soul Cores and Guardian Spirits - everything adds up!  

Monster Hunter World

Play online with a bunch of friends in tow and Capcom’s extraordinary beast-hunting blockbuster can be a relatively comfortable and collaborative experience. Go it alone, however, and the New World is a thoroughly inhospitable place, filled with enormous fanged creatures itching to turn you into a light lunch. Worry not though – there’s a huge, welcoming online community ready to help you out.

There's an awful lot going on under the hood of a Monster Hunter game. Really understanding the underpinning systems is a big task in itself, matched only by the skill required to translate that knowledge into effective combat in-game.

Never underestimate anything, particularly your own equipment. You might think a sword is just a sword, but in Monster Hunter World, weapons are complex, layered systems unto themselves. Spend time learning your weapon's many combos and how to get the most out of every attack - it'll make a huge difference in battle.

Toughest FromSoftware games

Veterans of hardcore action

The Tokyo-based developer behind the 'Souls' series has forged a fearsome reputation for itself amongst gamers - it's time to 'get good'. 

Building on over a decade of experience designing hardcore fantasy roleplaying games, FromSoftware returns in collaboration with George R. R. Martin, author of The New York Times best-selling fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, with a sprawling adventure set in a fantastical new world known as the Lands Between. Elden Ring combines stealth, action, character building and open-world traversal to deliver their most ambitious game to date - all with their signature style of brutal difficulty.

While it's probably not FromSoftware's most challenging game, it's by no means a pushover. While Elden Ring's open-world design does make it a little easier to pick your fights, you'll eventually have to face down some daunting enemies.

There's a lot to be said for taking your time in Elden Ring. It's a huge game and while you can follow Sites of Grace directly from one boss to the next, you're far better served exploring the world. There are dozens of armor sets, unique weapons and amulets to acquire that will improve your chances - and a great deal of practice to be had!

Bloodborne is a stand-out among the studio's celebrated output, trading dark fantasy settings for a more modern, gothic feel. Taking on the role of a lone hunter in foreign garb, you must explore the blighted town of Yharnam and its surrounding locales in search of the cure to a terrible blood curse. Filled to bursting with grisly body horror and monstrous foes, Bloodborne is every bit as challenging as its siblings. 

For sure. Its fast-paced combat and huge enemy variety drive a much more aggressive style of play that will be a difficult adjustment for Dark Souls veterans. Beyond the many encounters and bosses around Yharnam, there are still more to conquer in Bloodborne's Chalice Dungeons: fiendish labyrinths filled with traps, unpredictable enemies and intimidating bosses.

The trick is to be aggressive. Bloodborne employs a special mechanic known as 'rallying' that means if you retaliate quickly enough after taking damage, you'll regain some of your lost health. The side-step maneuver (replacing Dark Souls' dodge-roll) also means that you're more mobile and can benefit from moving quickly around enemies and landing hits from all angles. 

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

From the same merciless team behind Bloodborne and Dark Souls, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a meticulously crafted ninja adventure that demands concentration, patience, and precision. What’s more, you’ll be suffering alone – unlike its forebearers, you can’t call on other players to help take down bosses. The rewards are worth it though: brilliant combat, extraordinary enemy design, and a huge world to explore.

Many have argued that Sekiro is FromSoftware's toughest game to date and there's plenty to support the assertion. While the world does have challenging moments, Sekiro's duel-style boss encounters demand a level of concentration and finesse not often seen in games.  

Don't play it like other FromSoftware games. Sekiro's unique combat puts a strong emphasis on blocking and deflections. Whilst some attacks have to be dodged, there's much more to be gained by deflecting - done repeatedly it will push the enemy off balance, leaving them vulnerable to devastating Death Blows. 

Dark Souls III

Devotees can argue for days over which is the most challenging entry in the groundbreaking Dark Souls series, but the third installment makes a very convincing claim for itself, featuring some of the series' most complex environments and demanding boss encounters. An unapologetic celebration of the influential series, Dark Souls III features a huge array of build and weapon choices, some truly enormous areas to navigate and more than a few familiar faces.

As the third title in FromSoftware's notorious Dark Souls series, it should come as no surprise that Dark Souls III is a challenging game, though perhaps not as difficult as some others on this list. The combat is finely tuned and excellently paced throughout, making for an experience that avoids excessive difficulty spikes.

Keep an eye on your weight. While donning a suit of inch-thick steel plate might seem appealing, it'll severely hamper your combat options. Don't be afraid to ditch a helmet or pair of gloves and gain back a little mobility - armor can only reduce the damage from a blow, getting out of harm's way lets you avoid it altogether.

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

The first new entry in the long-running Armored Core series in over a decade, Armored Core VI reunites the veteran developer and franchise in a brutal, brilliant combination of classic mech combat and modern production values. As a merc for hire, players control the ‘AC’ (Armored Core) that they can customize to their liking by assembling it with a wide variety of frames and weapons, repainting individual parts, and engage in fast-paced battles across the battlefield.

Though it's far removed from the 'Souls' style formula, Armored Core VI remains an intimidating game. For most, the very three-dimensional approach to combat (which involves both grounded and aerial tactics) is an extra level of demand, alongside the huge number of weapon options, masses of incoming projectiles and fast-moving foes. 

Your Armored Core (or AC) is almost infinitely flexible and there's a huge variety of options in how it's built and outfitted. If you're riding the same loadout into every mission you're likely making life harder than it needs to be. Consider the challenges of each mission, the types of enemies you'll be up against and outfit your AC to give you the advantage.

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Blasphemous 2

The sequel to Game Kitchen's arresting action platformer expands and improves upon everything that made the original such a break-out hit at the time of release. The art direction is sublimely grotesque, the combat deliberate and visceral and the level design truly masterful. Moreover, it packs a real punch when it comes to difficulty, building an atmosphere of dread that perfectly complements the world's characters and setting.

Featuring a cavalcade of challenging enemies, tough platforming puzzles and some fearsome boss fights, Blasphemous 2 is without a doubt a tough game. It might not be the most brutal on this list, but it will most certainly give you a run for your money. 

Don't be afraid to explore around. There's more than one direction to venture in Blasphemous 2. If you're struggling with one area, it's sometimes best to try your luck elsewhere. You might find additional weapons and items, or unlock new abilities that will come in handy in overcoming earlier difficulties.

Despite deriving its striking art style from 20th-century children's cartoons, Cuphead is anything but child's play. Beyond the colorful, characterful facade is a brutally challenging bullet-hell shooter. You'll need patience, careful timing and deft thumbs to overcome the many, multi-stage bosses, some of which comprise whole stages by themselves.

Do not be deceived by the sumptuous stylized visuals - Cuphead is anything but child's play. There's an old-school run-and-gun sensibility to the game's combat that harkens back to the hard-as-nails shoot 'em ups of the arcade scene. If you were playing this on an arcade cabinet, you need a lot of quarters.

If you want to make life that much easier, then take time to master Cuphead's 'Parry Slap' mechanic. This insanely useful and relatively straightforward ability will allow you to avoid damage from a whole assortment of projectiles (look out for anything pink), whilst also filling up your Super Meter. 

Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition

Beware the stylish presentation here - the denizens of Hallownest might not look all that threatening, but don't let that fool you. An award-winning action platformer, Hollow Knight is famed as much for its high level of difficulty as it is for its outstanding art direction, brilliant level design and snappy combat. There are cunning bosses and hidden challenges everywhere and your primary means of defence is a nail - best of luck!

Cutesy though some of the design might be, make no mistake, Hollow Knight is a genuinely uncompromising game. From tight, perilous platforming to brutal bosses, the developers at Team Cherry have crafted an experience designed to put the player through their paces.

Don't sweat the little things. Trying to collect and conserve every piece of Geo you come across can be exhausting and you might find you end up with more than you need. Hollow Knight's real reward is the play itself. Discovery is your greatest treasure and the really valuable things to be found in Hollow Nest can't be dropped or lost.

Dead Cells 

French studio Motion Twin deservedly found a huge audience with its phenomenal procedurally-generated action platformer. Progress can be slow in its unforgiving world, but it’s the journey, not the destination, that counts - moment-to-moment, Dead Cells is a joy to play. And while death can come quickly you’ll always want to jump straight back into the fray for just one more try.

While things start off at a manageable level, the later stages you'll visit in Dead Cells can be intensely hectic and very difficult to overcome if you haven't prepared.  

A flexible arsenal is your best friend in Dead Cells. You can carry both melee and ranged weapons as well as two 'trap'-style devices. While it might be tempting to focus on the more immediate melee and ranged weapons, traps make a huge difference when the difficulty spirals, so make sure you're investing in these and you'll find things much more manageable.

The Witness

This sophisticated puzzler from Braid creator Jonathan Blow drops you on a mysterious island without context or explanation, and points you in the direction of a simple grid-based brain teaser – the first of many, as it turns out. As you explore, the puzzles escalate in complexity and difficulty. Can you solve them all and unravel the island’s secrets?

There are dozens of puzzles built into The Witness - some that are very straightforward and others that are mind-bending difficult. While other games on this list focus on finesse and timing, The Witness will tax your gray matter harder than any of the others. 

Give everything a try. All the puzzles in The Witness have a shared sense of logic, so the more you explore and try different puzzles, the more you'll come to appreciate the differing ways in which the logic is applied, and the more immediately you'll be able to discern solutions. 

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Labyrinthia Nightmares: THE JOURNEY OF LITTLE FLUFFYPUFF

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Unleash your courage in this epic adventure. Explore, solve, conquer the labyrinth's challenges.

Descend into a realm of nightmares and marvels in this captivating adventure game. Guide the adorable Little Fluffypuff through a labyrinthine world teeming with mystery and danger. Maneuver through treacherous mazes, unravel puzzles, and engage in battles against formidable creatures in your quest for freedom. Features: - Explore a fantastical world filled with hidden secrets. - Help Little Fluffypuff overcome his fears and find his way home. - Battle monstrous nightmares in thrilling combat. - Solve mind-bending puzzles to unlock new areas. - Uncover the dark mysteries that lurk within the labyrinth. Labyrinthia Nightmares is a must-play for fans of adventure games, puzzle games, and dark fantasy. Are you brave enough to face your nightmares?

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Supported play modes, product information, release date, no. of players, game file size, supported languages.

Play online, access classic NES™ and Super NES™ games, and more with a Nintendo Switch Online membership.

This game supports: Save Data Cloud

WARNING: If you have epilepsy or have had seizures or other unusual reactions to flashing lights or patterns, consult a doctor before playing video games. All users should read the Health and Safety Information available in the system settings before using this software.

A Nintendo Switch Online membership (sold separately) is required for Save Data Cloud backup.

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Dark Souls: Archthrones is the hardest DS game yet, we're afraid

Featured Image Credit: FromSoftware, Guillaume "Skalledit" Peronnin

Dark Souls: Archthrones is a complete overhaul based on Dark Souls 3 . Fans are both thrilled about and terrified of the project, which is set out to be the hardest Dark Souls challenge to date and one that will force you to rethink what you know about the series.

According to the developers, “The design of the game has been inspired by Demon's Souls level structure. With the richness of NPC questlines and the depth of our own level design, the player will find engaging complexity within the varied worlds.”

Dark Souls still holds itself up as one of the best Soulslike games.

Dark Souls: Archthrones is a passion project that aims to bring together aspects of all three Dark Souls games in one place and reinterpret iconic characters. Keeping the hulking bosses and dangerous enemies, Archthrones places you into the world of Dark Souls as an “emissary” hunting down the Gods of yore.

Fans are already reacting to the mod on Reddit , and voicing comments on the game’s difficulty saying , “I’ve only played a bit but I tried two of the places, stuff hit very hard and it wasn’t going well lol.” It seems to be proving itself as a tough experience, even for the most seasoned Souls fans. Another Redditor who has been playing the mod has declared Archthrones to be brilliant saying , “This is literally Dark Souls 4 .”

Players can expect new weapons, classes, and bosses as part of this monumental project that has taken a small team months and months to create. It’s not just a remix of classic quests and characters, there’s plenty of new content here too and it sticks to the goal of being as tough to play as the entire Soulslike genre . As of this month, the team has addressed balance concerns and will continue to work on the mod.

Topics:  Dark Souls , Mods , PC , Demons Souls , Fromsoftware

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