Which games stress you out the most to play?

Hey, I've been playing Persona 4 pretty intensely this week and the thing I had forgotten, the thing I'm remembering now about the series, or at least P3/4 (can't speak to the other ones), is that they bring out the worst tendency in me as a player, the somewhat completionist.

Perhaps it's accentuated by my experience with P3 and being familiar with the ins and outs of the game design and structure but my want to maximize the day, making sure I have the right persona and giving the best answers to boost social links, running around talking to everyone to pick up sidequests, all while trying to increase your personal attributes...it's a goddamn stressful game loop day in an day out. I have to stop and tell myself, "hey, don't worry, just enjoy the game" but there is always a nagging feeling that I'm constantly getting pushed away from experiencing all there is to experience in the game.

All that said, of course I like the game and I'm enjoying it but the stress it 'causes must've been part of the reason why I stayed away from P4 for so long after loving P3.

I'm a super chill person and never rage but a game can definitely cause me some anxiety. Probably online ranked stuff (sport mode) in GT: Sport. I'm constantly worried I'm gonna ruin a race for others by bumping or crashing into them and I'll lose a lot of rank points or cause them to lose it. I try to race as cleanly as possible though and usually it's great fun but I did notice an increased heart rate during and after the race, sorta anxious hands shakiness, no matter what happens during the race, I can't control it. Single player or non-ranked online I'm fine though.

Other than that I haven't really notice anything else. I'm also a completionist and try to do everything in a game, but luckily I'm not worried if i'm not gonna have a perfect playthrough, though I can understand why someone could be stressed out by that!

Also, maybe try to find a perfect playthrough guide so you really won't miss anything. I know there's one for P5 so I'm sure P4 and 3 have something like that too!

Competetive games in general, particularly fighting games, since they're just one on one, so there's no one to blame but myself for my shitty performance.

I don't like the side of myself that comes out when I get super competitive, so I don't play them that often.

Starcraft 2 ranked multiplayer. Nothing else in gaming has gotten close to being as adrenaline pumping for me as a really close 1v1. I've had times where I've had to step away from the PC for a few minutes afterwards to calm down.

Fighting games for sure. Especially if played in an arcade with people watching. Dota tends to stress me out pretty badly as well, because playing poorly means the team is doing extra badly.

Pathologic. Everything about that game is actively hostile to the player. One of the campaigns begins with your player character getting stabbed immediately upon entering town. Your first quest is to find bandages to stop you from bleeding to death, and all adult NPCs are hostile on sight.

Lot of games actually, recently Darkest Dungeon. trying to seriously play it on the Switch and I find it addictive in a way so far, but I feel it will soon become too frustrating. Bloodborne has also infuriated me and made me feel inadequate more than any other game in recent years. Definitely the Souls game I ditched the fastest. I don't think I'm the right person for high stress games anymore; I go to games to have,fun and relax to an extent.

XCOM 2 for me. The thought of making the ‘wrong’ decisions in the meta game and screwing myself down the line worries me way more than losing individual soldiers. I find myself paralysed and unable to decide what I should do next.

Xcom(remake) 1 and 2 on ironman.

@mattgiersoni: I actually looked at one and immediately dropped it cause it was a really boring way to play the game. The author of the guide even said in it that they didn't recommend using it.

Catherine, fuck that game.

Overwatch. I don't usually play competitive games so I get stressed with it especially when people don't play as a team. So I only make it through 2 or 3 matches before I turn it off and play something else. Heck nowadays I don't even turn it on.

XCOM Enemy Unknown. I like the game, but I hate the RNG.

I used to find the souls games quite stressful until I got better at them. Fighting games are only stressful when i'm in a lobby enviroment. Throwdowns or whatever against random people i'm fine with. I play most competitive games while i'm listening to podcasts so that tends to keep me quite calm.

Horror games. I don't get stressed by game systems or mechanics, but jump scares and poorly-lit super atmospheric environments stress me the hell out.

Persona 4 definitely gave me a bunch of anxiety - I really disliked the "choose one activity per day" kind of thing, as someone who naturally tries to min/max my RPG parties. Divinity Original Sin 2 had a similar effect in terms of how I couldn't make up my mind on party composition and would regret making a party that couldn't get through locked doors or whatever instead of focusing on what I was good at!

I can handle losing in fighting games, but I get super frustrated when my opponent hands my ass to me so much that I can't. just. get. in. one. hit. god!!! Considering I have next to no skill at this sort of thing, it happens quite often. It's really only online, though. Single player games I have less problems with because I can take the time to get my bearings.

Anything with enemy based jump-scares. I had to completely abandon what was looking to be a great game, Prey, based on the fact that the very first enemy in the game raised my stress meter too high.

I had the same issue way (way) back in the day with an Alien vs Predator PC game, playing as the Marines. I could, and did, play through the first campaign level multiple times as the Marine, or the Predator, but any map in which a face-huger exists, I could simply not get past. The out of no where screen-filling jump scare/death so triggered in me the kind of reaction I would suspect might get me..at least a few dozen views on you-tube if I ever filmed myself doing them, or it would of back when genuine fear-responces like that were a thing better video-producing people hadn't perfected faking reactions for.

Needless to say, I don't play horror games in general. When I do, jump scares are the thing I detest most in them, and mobile utterly unpredictable and/or jump scares which are specifically designed to occur when a player is at peak relaxation/focused elsewhere (Re: Prey's Mimics...prey on the fact its a game where you explore every nook and cranny and pick up every last thing you can etc etc. What is reflexive video game behavior, sweep a room once cleared for items/secrets, now has an element of "oh crap did that cup move Ah!". Which, I am sure for a lot of people is amazing, its certainly the most memorable (from others reports) enemy in the game.

For me? It was the only one I'm ever gonna see, and man I wish I had known that gimmick was gonna get used cause I basically wasted 60$ on prey. Simply put, a lot of games make me stressful, I have that kind of personality. But the ones that make me the most stressful...I put down and don't touch ever again.

Any game with a time limit. Like in Fallout 1 or Majora's Mask. Even though the time limit might be very forgiving to the player, just the knowledge that there is a clock ticking down stresses me out more than anything else.

Any games that have a competitive mode that requires communication such as R6Seige ranked, any MOBA ever or CoOp mods like Destiny Raids. I just cant talk to people, I just get really anxious.

Hearthstone still pisses me off like no other game ever has. Reaching rank 5 only to get RNG'd up the ass back to rank 7 just brings out the worst in me.

Small-team multiplayer games stress me out the most. If it's FFA or 16v16 then multiplayer is not stressful, I can just play however and I'll blend into a crowd of mediocrity. But when it's 5v5 or something then I feel like I'm being judged by my teammates for any mistake or lack of esports meta knowledge. That's why I used to love Counterstrike / CS:S, but I can't stand playing CS:GO.

Fighting games stress me out in a way I enjoy, more frustration than anxiety. I'm bad at them but when I lose I can usually understand my mistakes. Then I make those mistakes over and over due to a lack of skill which will frustrate and depress but also motivate me? There's some masochism there I guess.

Overwatch. It stresses me sooo much because I would love to get my rank up higher but I simply can't seem to. I honestly don't think it's my skill either (I know I know everybody says that). I still fucking love the game it just really pisses me off losing.

Alien Isolation was extremely stressful for me to play. It was so bad that I could only play it in 2 hour sessions. Absolutely loved the game and it was goty for me in 2014, but god damn. Fighting games also stress me out a ton when I play them online. I love playing them against friends but I can't get over the feelings of stress to enjoy them by my self online.

Shooters definitely. Either competitive shooters or intense moments in single-player campaigns. I remember Titanfall 2 really upping the stress/heart rate since it was intense in spots. Particularly in ending mission (still spoilers?) where you are jumping from one flying ship to another and have to time the jumps right. Those types of sequence I have never been great at so that may add to the intensity.

I really wanted to break my phone the other night due to the RNG bullshit that is Hearthstone. I literally ask myself regularly why I play this game.

In terms of games that give me legitimate stress/anxiety Dark Souls is that for me. I don't know why I have the patience to learn raids or events in MMO's but I can't stand feeling cheated by a single player version of the same shit.

Anything where making a suboptimal choice would bar me out of experiencing all the content, so yeah Persona definitely is a series that does put me on edge a little.

I'll also get tense in games where I feel potential poor performance on my part might mean loss of progress. (like Darkest Dungeon). I often choose not to play those.

Mainly though my anxiety in games is mostly dictated by other circumstances in my life, if I'm having a bad day I might be too wound up to relax enough to play anything.

for a long time there it would've been online pvp games, but i don't think it's nearly as bad as it used to be. i'd get shaky and feel drained afterwards, but though i'm better about it now i still tend to associate pvp with stress in my mind, so stay away from it. some very positive experiences in the last few years with games that made me just focus on how fun it was to actually play the game have made it so i don't get so burnt out when playing online.

before i guess i'd get too into it. not "yelling at everyone on voicechat" kind of into, just feeling to drawn into the experience (resulting in aforementioned shakiness and exhaustion afterward).

Subnautica. Holy shit does this game stress me out. Not only is it a deep, dark ocean where you can't see everything around you... it a freaking alien deep, dark ocean where you can't see anything around you. Needless to say, I play this game in 15-25 minute chunks.

I had a write-up about not-quite-stress from competitive online games. That’s gone now.

New answer: PT.

@ogbigcarl: Isolation is amazing. I sat there with my wife ON EASY hiding for minutes at a time. They NAILED that game...if only it were half as long...

I need to go back to that one soon...

RTS online, Starcraft 2 ranked really stressed me out.. so much to keep track off and do.

@nutter: Ye, I keep thinking about replaying it but then the memories of the stress and the length put me off even though it's an amazing game. I hope we see more video games in the Alien franchise replicate the movies (lets be real THE movie) so well.

Recently I had to stop playing Overwatch due to getting too stressed. I love the game but at it's worst the playerbase can be extremely cruel. It's even harder when your own team is being toxic as it puts even more pressure on me personally to play better and usually has the opposite effect.

Splatoon. I'm glad Nintendo didn't add voice chat because I'd be screaming at my teammates.

Souls games. They're great, but I play them in constant stress, wary of some enemy jumping from out of nowhere to kill me, the floor falling out, etc. You can also throw in the omnipresent FOMO on bonfires/items, and basically double the stress if I've got a bunch of souls that I need to fight my way back to and am in risk of losing forever.

Darkest Dungeon. I love everything about the game and want to immerse myself into the pool of stress, but I can't go two dungeons without being fraught with worry. Glad to have purchased it, though, and have shown my support!

Fighting games are probably the most definitive cause of stress for me, mostly because I've never been able to get past the "default back to button mashing when I lose track of anything, which is constantly" aspect. I generally avoid stressful games though, so nothing besides that springs to mind.

Any game with countdown timers/limited time to do things.

Bloodborne. It's relatively easy, as these games go, but the visual and sound design gets under my skin. I'll spend two minutes dodging and carving up a screaming monstrosity, and discover that my muscles have been tight the whole time and my neck is now hurting.

Wolfenstein 2. Something about the movement gives me a headache as soon as I start playing and there's no option for head bob. I want to play it because of all the hype around it, but boy does it stress me out to play it. Plus the semi serious pulp nature of the story with his dad is rough.

Stardew Valley for me. I really enjoy the game and can usually keep the stress at bay, but it really stresses me out that summer has ended and I am short ONE GOLD STAR MELON.

Dark Souls 3 is very stressful. And Amnesia Dark Descent. I can't handle a lot of horror games. Bloodborne I was fine with though.

Collectathons are stressful too, especially for games I like where I want to get everything out of the game.

Trials in Destiny and high stakes missions in XCOM 2. Also, fights that have dragged on in Dark Souls II and the odds are stacking against me over time make me really, really, really not want to lose.

@devilzrule27: yup overwatch for me as well, love it but hate it as well. Can't really play comp anymore just quick play really.

Another vote for online fighting games. That's why I like NRS games so much... I can play for ages without ever interacting with another player. Besides, my current jam is Injustice 2, and even playing against below-average folks in that series consists entirely of watching your character bounce around the screen. I'll stick to the towers, thanks.

Runner-up goes to any game in which you can be the last man standing and all your teammates watch you play. NOPE. Don't like it.

Dead by Daylight stressed me out enough to refund it after three matches, but that was just because the playerbase in that game is toxic beyond anything I'd ever seen before. Shame, as I was really excited to get into it.

I will also echo that Alien Isolation is one of the few games that made me stressed to play (in a good way). I could also only play it in about 2 hour increments. After finishing the game once, I went back again to clean up some trophies I had missed, but had to stop. The pervasive dread was just too much.

I can deal with some kinds of timers, but Lightning Returns was one where I just couldn't deal with it. I had no clue what I was supposed to be doing and it seemed like there was no time at all for trial and error.