Spelunky
Derek Yu’s indie masterpiece Spelunky is notable for a variety of reasons, difficulty being one. While you may find yourself breezing through some of the opening levels, there are more than enough challenges waiting for you down the line.
What’s more, your mistakes can be costly, often resulting in death. Spelunky is particularly frustrating because after making substantial progress, death is permanent and reverts you right back to those easy opening levels.
Spelunky may be approachable, especially by Cuphead standards, but it certainly isn’t easy. We dare you to try and beat it in a single run!
Super Meat Boy
Where would this list be without Super Meat Boy by Team Meat? Super Meat Boy never fails to be included in a list of difficult games, and for good reason.
For those who’ve never tortured themselves with a little Super Meat Boy, the game primarily consists of two things: platforming and failure. The game’s graphics also have a nice retro feel to them in the style of old-school 8-bit platformers.
If you’ve never beat Super Meat Boy, be sure to add it to your list of games to play. You know, after you defeat your latest nemesis, Cuphead.