Video Games that look easy but aren't

[LemonDemonGirl]

For me it's Yoshi's Island. It does look rather 'kiddy' (as most Yoshi games are), but when you get past World 2 it takes you and throws you downhill and starts to get really hard once you get to the castle at the end of World 3. I'm really glad that games now have a save option, because I couldn't even imagine trying to play something like it in '95.

What's your 'looks easy but is actually hard game'?

[Arrashi]

Rimworld aka "what can go wrong" simulator.

[Justpassing]

QWOP

10chars

[Merryck]

Rimworld aka "what can go wrong" simulator.

the definition of Murphy's law

[Egomaniac]

I'm really glad that games now have a save option, because I couldn't even imagine trying to play something like it in '95.

What's your 'looks easy but is actually hard game'?

Wait...are you saying you don't think games had a save option in 1995?

[LemonDemonGirl]

Wait...are you saying you don't think games had a save option in 1995?

I guess it would depend on what game, but I didn't exist yet until 99' so I don't know?

[Ghostile]

Rimworld aka "what can go wrong" simulator.

Rimworld is the most beautiful slowmotion trainwreck simulator in existence.

[Egomaniac]

I guess it would depend on what game, but I didn't exist yet until 99' so I don't know?

Games have had the option of saves for a long time now. Whether or not a game has a save game option is more of a design choice than a technical limitation and has been since the Original Nintendo Entertainment System.

[LemonDemonGirl]

Games have had the option of saves for a long time now. Whether or not a game has a save game option is more of a design choice than a technical limitation and has been since the Original Nintendo Entertainment System.

It depends on the game style I guess. Yoshi's Island doesn't have a save option because I think the game will save automatically if you complete a level. I could be wrong though.

Now RPG's such as Final Fantasy do since there are save spots you can go to

[WaltherLeopold]

Cuphead I think has a pretty high baseline difficulty.

[SirCowdog]

Any of the Souls games. A skilled player can make it look stupidly easy, but actually playing it is something else entirely.

Elite Dangerous. Basically you almost need hours of training vids just to fly straight.

Trackmania. Hahah...smooth jumps and aerial tricks look great on youtube, but good luck pulling them off in real life.

[Egomaniac]

It depends on the game style I guess. Yoshi's Island doesn't have a save option because I think the game will save automatically if you complete a level. I could be wrong though.

Now RPG's such as Final Fantasy do since there are save spots you can go to

If it saves automatically...that's the save option.

A game that doesn't have a save option is something like the original Super Mario Bros.

[Athulua]

Any of the Souls games. A skilled player can make it look stupidly easy, but actually playing it is something else entirely.

Elite Dangerous. Basically you almost need hours of training vids just to fly straight.

Trackmania. Hahah...smooth jumps and aerial tricks look great on youtube, but good luck pulling them off in real life.

The thing with trackmania, people make "press forward" maps where all you need to do is to keep your finger firmly pressed on W button and do nothing else. The difficulty is in making a perfect map like this, not playing it.

I played Trackmania Turbo on PC and this game is a good example of easy to get into and hard to master.
You got 200 tracks in total divided into 5 leagues - white, green, blue, red and black, each one is more difficult than previous
The game uses a medal system for your timed runs - bronze silver and gold.
Bronze is doable easily on most tracks, requires to play without too many major mistakes / resets
Silver is a significant step up, requires to drive without any major mistake / reset but doesn't require perfect controls in air or in turns.
Gold is very difficult, you have to drive the track nearly perfectly, making use of the driving mechanics such as mid-air control and drifting. You would think that falling from height is just that... wrong! Pressing W while falling makes you fall faster. Yeah, that's Trackmania, it is not realistic

Normally it would be insanely difficult for players to unlock Black league. To unlock it you need 160 gold medals - aka you need to time Gold runs on ALL previous tracks. If that was the case, very, VERY few players would ever see Black league tracks. But there is a system that allows to bypass it. You can unlock Gold medal "joker" after succesfully timing 2 Silver runs in a row. It is not an actual gold medal, it will show a different overaly icon. But it can be used to access the league which would otherwise be very difficult to do.

That game does accesibility well.

[Nefarious Tea]

Rocket League

[Rorke]

Unmodded Oblivion. If you don't know how important Endurance is and you don't understand how broken the leveling is, it'll be difficult once you get around mid level (12-20) where enemies are sponges and you'll have very little health to win through attrition.

I'm willing to bet most people that started on Oblivion had to at some point move the difficulty slider down.

[SirCowdog]

The thing with trackmania, people make "press forward" maps where all you need to do is to keep your finger firmly pressed on W button and do nothing else. The difficulty is in making a perfect map like this, not playing it.

I played Trackmania Turbo on PC and this game is a good example of easy to get into and hard to master.
You got 200 tracks in total divided into 5 leagues - white, green, blue, red and black, each one is more difficult than previous
The game uses a medal system for your timed runs - bronze silver and gold.
Bronze is doable easily on most tracks, requires to play without too many major mistakes / resets
Silver is a significant step up, requires to drive without any major mistake / reset but doesn't require perfect controls in air or in turns.
Gold is very difficult, you have to drive the track nearly perfectly, making use of the driving mechanics such as mid-air control and drifting. You would think that falling from height is just that... wrong! Pressing W while falling makes you fall faster. Yeah, that's Trackmania, it is not realistic

Normally it would be insanely difficult for players to unlock Black league. To unlock it you need 160 gold medals - aka you need to time Gold runs on ALL previous tracks. If that was the case, very, VERY few players would ever see Black league tracks. But there is a system that allows to bypass it. You can unlock Gold medal "joker" after succesfully timing 2 Silver runs in a row. It is not an actual gold medal, it will show a different overaly icon. But it can be used to access the league which would otherwise be very difficult to do.

That game does accesibility well.

I mean, there are mario-maker levels that play themselves too. That's not really under the scope of this discussion. Those maps you might as well be watching a video since you aren't actually playing. I'm not even sure you can call those kinds of levels a game.

But you did have a good point about making the levels. I absolutely agree on that point.

[Eapoe]

Ghosts n Goblins

[Mendzia]

Snakebird or Baba is You

Looks like games for kids but both are probably hardest logic ones i've ever played.

[Kumorii]

Probably Cuphead is the best example. Looking at it I didn't think it would be that difficult, but damn it is. Dark Souls also looks pretty simple if you just look at it and don't play it.

[Eapoe]

Ooh, new one:
Minesweeper