15 Games That Were Supposed to Be Fun but Were Stressful Instead
The point of games, as anyone would tell you, is to have fun. Well, turns out not all games function like that, and a lot of them offer more stress than relaxation. There is entertainment to be had even in those cases, but depending on the game’s genre, such entertainment is often gotten at the expense of someone else, like a streamer.
Stress induced either through gameplay, story, or lack of multiplayer coordination, these games show just how much time we can spend stressing out instead of relaxing. Of course, it also makes them entertaining sources of media, but whether or not they are fun is up to interpretation.
Overcooked
What looks like a cute cooperative cooking game quickly becomes pure chaos. Timers, collapsing kitchens, and constant shouting between players turned Overcooked into one of gaming’s most infamous friendship destroyers.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Despite its relaxing reputation, many players became obsessed with optimizing island layouts, turnip prices, and daily tasks, accidentally transforming a peaceful life simulator into a second job.
Papers, Please
Checking passports and immigration documents sounds mundane, but the game’s constant moral pressure and financial desperation create an atmosphere more stressful than many traditional action games.
Darkest Dungeon
The strategy RPG constantly punishes players through disease, insanity, permadeath, and brutal combat. Managing the emotional collapse of adventurers often becomes more difficult than defeating enemies.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Defusing bombs through frantic communication should be hilarious, yet the game usually devolves into panicked yelling as players desperately misunderstand instructions under intense time pressure.
The Sims
A simple life simulator somehow becomes overwhelming once characters begin starving, setting kitchens on fire, or suffering emotional breakdowns because players forgot basic daily routines for five minutes.
Five Nights at Freddy’s
The gameplay technically involves little more than watching security cameras, but the constant tension and jump-scare anticipation made the series emotionally exhausting for many players.
League of Legends
Designed as a competitive multiplayer experience, League of Legends became notorious for toxic communication, stressful ranked matches, and emotionally draining gameplay sessions lasting far longer than intended.
This War of Mine
Rather than empowering players, the survival game forces civilians into impossible moral choices during wartime. Every success feels temporary, while every failure carries devastating consequences.
Mario Party
The colorful party game franchise became infamous for ruining friendships through unfair minigames, stolen stars, and sudden reversals capable of destroying hours of progress instantly.
Frostpunk
Managing the last surviving city during an apocalyptic winter quickly becomes emotionally draining. Players constantly choose between morality and survival while watching society slowly collapse around them.
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
The deliberately frustrating climbing game punishes even tiny mistakes with catastrophic setbacks. Combined with Bennett Foddy’s philosophical narration, the experience becomes uniquely stressful and psychologically exhausting.
Dead by Daylight
A multiplayer horror game about escaping killers naturally creates tension, but competitive players turn matches into intensely stressful experiences full of toxic behavior and constant anxiety.
Pathologic
The survival horror RPG intentionally overwhelms players with sickness, starvation, impossible schedules, and limited resources, creating an experience designed around exhaustion and helplessness rather than empowerment.
Cooking Mama
Cooking Mama appears harmless until increasingly strict timing requirements and rapid minigames turn simple meal preparation into a frantic panic over virtual food quality.