PCGame

Best Difficult games on PC

Games with demanding combat, platforming, survival systems, or competitive play that require practice, precise execution, and effective strategies.

  • Frequent failure and repeated attempts
  • Limited room for mistakes
  • Skill-based challenges

Related: Souls-like, Survival, Competitive, Action Roguelike

1,203 games on PC, with requirements, reviews and prices.

Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment
Side-scrolling action platformer with wall climbing and aerial scythe attacks
94% positive 493 reviews
Space Gladiators
Hand-drawn roguelite platformer with randomized rooms and arena fights
90% positive 481 reviews
Descent
First-person spaceship shooter through twisting mines with full three-dimensional movement
96% positive 478 reviews
Lingo 2
First-person word puzzles in a winding, nonlinear world
93% positive 473 reviews
Control Craft 2
Real-time strategy with rapid troop commands and base captures
76% positive 469 reviews
Q REMASTERED
Physics puzzle game where drawn shapes solve tricky challenges
83% positive 465 reviews
Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls
First-person dungeon crawler with six-person parties and tough battles
71% positive 462 reviews
Touhou Shinreibyou ~ Ten Desires.
Bullet hell shooter with spirit collecting and temporary invincibility
96% positive 455 reviews
Touhou Kishinjou ~ Double Dealing Character.
Vertical bullet-hell shooter that rewards risky item collection
99% positive 452 reviews
Boat Crew
Pacific War PT boat combat and crew management across an open campaign
89% positive 451 reviews
Fate of the World
Turn-based strategy sim balancing global climate, resources, and population needs
78% positive 447 reviews
Touhou Seirensen ~ Undefined Fantastic Object.
Bullet-hell shooter about pursuing a mysterious ship in the sky
96% positive 447 reviews
Curse Crackers: For Whom the Belle Toils
Fast-paced 2D platformer with secrets, side quests, and bosses
95% positive 444 reviews
Winter
Pixel-art settlement strategy with nightly attacks from Slavic creatures
69% positive 433 reviews
Berserk Boy
Fast 2D action platformer built around dashes and changing powers
85% positive 433 reviews
Bat to the Heavens
2D puzzle platformer with bat-powered movement and precise timing
95% positive 430 reviews
Escape The Mad Empire
Isometric party-based dungeon crawler with pausable combat and repeat runs
89% positive 428 reviews
Maxwell's puzzling demon
Grid-based block-pushing puzzles where cold blocks cool hot ones
98% positive 426 reviews
Archons
Isometric action roguelite with two characters controlled at once
92% positive 424 reviews
Stellar Initiative
Roguelike tower defense with orbital building deliveries and ship support
77% positive 413 reviews
Swarm Queen
Real-time strategy where alien bugs fight on their own
93% positive 412 reviews
Dust & Neon
Twin-stick roguelite shooter with manual reloads and robot gunfights
77% positive 412 reviews
Dangerous Waters
Modern naval combat simulation with crew stations and top-down command
78% positive 405 reviews
Elypse
Dark fantasy 2D action platformer about dashing through the Abyss
74% positive 405 reviews