Why do people play hard games?

[ToffeeMC]

Why do people play hard games? Why would one wish to subjugate themselves into playing something mind-numbingly frustrating? Is it to get a nostalgic feel so people can feel like "this is how games were back in my day"? Because I don't think they were hard to be entertaining, but to get money.

So, escapists, why do people like this torture? Why? To me it seems like the video-game equivalent of bondage. Or do people just do it for a joke, not for serious entertainment? I can't comprehend.

Captcha: piece of cake. Oh, how I wish it was.

Edit: I should probably add I mean IWTBTG stuff, not good fair but still hard challenge stuff.

 

[Popadoo]

Because the feeling of accomplishment after beating a particularly hard enemy or area is amazing.
That's it, really.

 

[Fat Hippo]

Well, how hard are we talking about exactly? Personally, I get bored rather quickly if a game has no difficulty whatsoever. If I'm not being challenged in some manner, what's the point? Isn't overcoming obstacles and tests of skill one of the main reasons we play video games in the first place?

 

[Vegosiux]

Oh, there's that thing about "mastering a challenge", and "bragging rights" and all that...

Difficulty is an increddibly difficult (har har) thing to pin down, however...I for example am perfectly fine with some forms of it, while other forms will be enough to put me off.

But it's as I said, sure, it's a lovely feeling to reach your destination after a long and arduous trek, but sometimes I just want to enjoy the walk, too.

 

[The Abhorrent]

Aside from ego-stroking (which always has been, and always will be, pointless & silly), some people genuinely crave (and enjoy) the challenge. It's also quite possible that they're bored out of their minds with their real life priorities (those not yet in post-secondary education can easily attest to this... and it wouldn't be surprising if this was the age group most prone to ego-stroking, the follies of youth I'm afraid), and they need something more interesting than the standard difficulties.

The inverse of the situation, those who play games to relax, have plenty of reason to play games on normal or easy difficulties. This may not be because their incapable of playing the harder difficulties, but simply because they don't enjoy the harder difficulties; this too can be due to real life priorities, which can be far from dull & uninteresting (i.e.: those who have completed their post-secondary education, and are putting it to good use).

---

Anyhow, the desire for challenges usually comes out of boredom; people simply want the sense of satisfaction gained by overcoming something difficult. Of course there are those who also want to praise gained from that, but they're usually not worth your time.... even there seems to be an overabunance of them from time to time.

Games can be both a challenge and a tool for relaxation, but which it is varies from player to player.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

For a challenge I suppose and possibly having fun while doing so.

I know after I finish a game I will go back and try it again on the next difficulty just to see if I can do it, and if I can then cookie for me.

 

[ToffeeMC]

Well, how hard are we talking about exactly? Personally, I get bored rather quickly if a game has no difficulty whatsoever. If I'm not being challenged in some manner, what's the point? Isn't overcoming obstacles and tests of skill one of the main reasons we play video games in the first place?

I'm talking about, like, Dark Souls hard. Not a little bit hard, like Legendary Halo: Reach, I mean actual difficulty.

I'll never understand you people. Why bragging rights? I doubt anyone that I know would really care if I completed Contra without losing a life, and we each game a lot. If you're just doing something to brag and you're just congratulating yourself on it, hardly anyone is likely to care.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Because trying to think (and twitch, if you're into that sort of thing) your way around challenges is fun? Sometimes you would rather play Rogue than Kirby's Epic Yarn.

 

[DustyDrB]

Why do people play games so easy that you just go on auto-pilot?

I play hard games because problem-solving, strategizing, and overcoming challenges is thoroughly enjoyable to me. Games that are too easy (or don't offer much in the way of strategic or dexterous execution) will most often bore me. I play games for story, yes. But I play them for the challenge as well. If things are so easy that I just steamroll everything, then why shouldn't I just go re-watch all of Mad Men again?

Well, how hard are we talking about exactly? Personally, I get bored rather quickly if a game has no difficulty whatsoever. If I'm not being challenged in some manner, what's the point? Isn't overcoming obstacles and tests of skill one of the main reasons we play video games in the first place?

I'm talking about, like, Dark Souls hard. Not a little bit hard, like Legendary Halo: Reach, I mean actual difficulty.

I'll never understand you people. Why bragging rights? I doubt anyone that I know would really care if I completed Contra without losing a life, and we each game a lot. If you're just doing something to brag and you're just congratulating yourself on it, hardly anyone is likely to care.

He didn't say anything about bragging rights...

 

[hazabaza1]

Depends. If it's IWBTG stuff, because they're stupid and masochists. If actually difficult because of good design? The challenge is fun.

 

[teqrevisited]

I've always found that the perfect difficulty for me is when I'm barely scraping through encounters. Brick walls aren't fun and neither are pushovers.

My best recent example would probably be Deus Ex: HR. I managed to finish it on Deus Ex mode without using lethal force but it made me think things through before I acted. Barely two seconds of gunfire and I turned into a Jensen cheese grater.

 

[ToffeeMC]

Why do people play games so easy that you just go on auto-pilot?

I play hard games because problem-solving, strategizing, and overcoming challenges is thoroughly enjoyable to me. Games that are too easy (or don't offer much in the way of strategic or dexterous execution) will most often bore me. I play games for story, yes. But I play them for the challenge as well. If things are so easy that I just steamroll everything, then why shouldn't I just go re-watch all of Mad Men again?

Well, how hard are we talking about exactly? Personally, I get bored rather quickly if a game has no difficulty whatsoever. If I'm not being challenged in some manner, what's the point? Isn't overcoming obstacles and tests of skill one of the main reasons we play video games in the first place?

I'm talking about, like, Dark Souls hard. Not a little bit hard, like Legendary Halo: Reach, I mean actual difficulty.

I'll never understand you people. Why bragging rights? I doubt anyone that I know would really care if I completed Contra without losing a life, and we each game a lot. If you're just doing something to brag and you're just congratulating yourself on it, hardly anyone is likely to care.

He didn't say anything about bragging rights...

I put that in a different paragraph. I realise I probably should have quoted someone who said something about it, but at that point I was talking about a different subject.

 

[Vorpal Chill]

I play games that can be considered hard for no other reason than to actually test my limits. I have to know how far I'm willing to go.

 

[Total LOLige]

If I had to guess maybe it's because they want to feel like an unstoppable gaming behemoth. "I just beat Dark Souls: Fucking Ultra Hard Edition on the highest difficulty. I am a fucking machine." Completing a hard task always make you feel like a god.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Err because people want a challange? By taking on a harder challange, the reward will feel even more of rewarding and a accomplishment than it was in normal mode.

Just imagine the feeling you get when you finally defeat/ got pass/ accomplist something that had been frutrating you for ages but times ten on a hard game (maybe like trying to fish out a hard to catch bass while fishing).

It all depend how much time and worth are you willing to take to achieve it.

 

[DazZ.]

I really enjoy playing hard games because I actually have to try. I have to take in everything about the game and learn how it works, and genuinely think about how to tackle the situation.

I don't always play hard games, as I do occasionally need to just relax with a controller playing some Mario, which for the most part you can just run through non stop mindlessly stomping on things heads. But not being challenged gets immensely dull over time, and you want a game that's going to make you work.

So much more achievement is felt from completing something I had to work on rather than just completing something mindlessly.
Take for instance at the moment I'm playing Bastion, not a particularly hard game at all but the most fun I've had with it so far is a (what I think) side level where I chose the hardest options possible (you get bonus xp for making it harder), and it was the first time I'd died in the game. Each time I died I got the option to turn off the runes(?) or whatever it was to make it easier but I chose not to and just stuck with it until I made it. That's been the most fun I've had with the game so far and it's because I overcame something rather than just mashing buttons until I "won".

I've also 100% Super Meat Boy and a few Contras, I don't mean to imply Bastion is really difficult, but when games chuck you a challenge it's immensely fun.

 

[Nazulu]

You should give an example, I don't know how hard you're talking here.

I'm one who prefers a difficult challenge because I have a lot more FUN trying to figure out how to pass it. I'm not even that good at video games and some bosses kill me 20 times before I discover the pattern or a weak spot, but those are actually hard games.

However, if it's difficult because of poor game play or design, then it's just annoying.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I really appreciate challenge when it is solid, well designed and fun. It just adds to the experience that a game provides when there is a struggle involved. I also find that a lack of challenge hurts the experience in more ways than a game simply being easy. If I'm one man against an entire army or a small band of heroes fighting an ancient evil, the whole premise of the game breaks down if you can faceroll through the content.

That's for fair challenge though. I also don't really get the interest in games that are basically just repeatedly smashing your face into the wall until you happen to see daylight on the other side. When just making it to the next screen takes hours of repeated retries, it moves from being the fun kind of frustrating to the purely teeth gnashing kind. I'd imagine there must be some level of personal reward in claiming that you legitimately beat a title like of this ilk, but the bragging rights have never seemed worth the heartache for me personally.

 

[Ryotknife]

are we talking about "easy to learn hard to master" games like dark souls? or are we talking about games with complex mechanics and a very high learning curve like some of Paradox games?

 

[Wayneguard]

I can't play frustratingly hard games like Super Ghouls n Ghosts or Devil May Cry or any of those. I just don't have fun playing them at all. I loved the shit out of Dark Souls though (most likely because I didn't find it to be all that difficult). Personally, I prefer games where I can just sit back and enjoy the ride.