10 MOST DIFFICULT Games For NEW PLAYERS

 10 MOST DIFFICULT Games For NEW PLAYERS

Some games are made for people who are just starting out in gaming and some are not. Hi folks, today on TechyRanx, the 10 most difficult games for new players. 

10. Escape from Tarkov

Starting off with number 10, it's "Escape from Tarkov." So, getting right into it, "Escape from Tarkov" is a hardcore FPS with some MMO elements, and it has a pretty basic concept. You start a game spawning on one side of a map and have to make it to the other side without dying, which, yeah, is easier said than done. 

Along the way, you'll have to deal with AI-driven scavengers and other players that are looking to steal your loot. That's where a big part of the learning curve comes in. If you die, other players can take pretty much anything you've got on you. 

Survival in this game is dependent on what your equipment is before starting. So, if you decide to spend all of your hard-earned cash on some sweet new weapons, but then get shot in the back, you're basically sent back to square one. So, yeah, that money's gone, and so are your weapons. At least there are a few ways to protect your inventory. You can obtain secure containers that function as permanent safe inventory slots, and you can buy insurance. So, if there's something good you really want to keep, there are ways to do that. But surviving is very tough because this is one of those hardcore shooters where death can literally come at any second. You'd think that the AI scavengers wandering around would be chumps, but they are not. They're very accurate, and they're very dangerous if they see you. Sometimes scavengers are, like I said, other players, and that makes them even more dangerous. 

I haven't gotten into all the complex systems in the game, like how any ammo left in a magazine stays with it and how you have to keep track of how much ammo is in each individual mag. That's the level of complexity we're talking about here. When you combine that with a highly deadly multiplayer environment, you've got a game that sends new players running for the hills, let's just say. 

09. Armored Core

At number nine is the "Armored Core" series. If you want to talk about hardcore shooters, you need to look no further than the "Armored Core" games. These are brutal games, and there are a few reasons why. 

First, the MECH customization is extremely complicated and in-depth, and you could make a ton of mistakes. The controls can be a little awkward and are, frankly, difficult to get used to. And the mission design, depending on the game, can be absolutely brutal. Common consensus is that the hardest games in the series are "Armored Core 2" and "Last Raven." 

"Last Raven" is especially cruel, with some of its missions killing you in seconds right as the game starts. If that's not discouraging to new players, I really don't know what's going to be. This includes the first mission of the game, by the way. It doesn't get any easier from there. They throw bosses at you at the end of already brutal missions, and it's likely that the first time you encounter these guys you'll be half dead and almost out of ammo anyway. And if you die, you've got to start it all over again too. Now, they're not all quite as cruel as "Lost Raven," but they're all challenging in their own way. 

And for modern gamers, starting these games up for the first time can kind of be a bit of a culture shock. Even the controls take a serious amount of getting used to. 

08. Dota 2

At number eight is "Dota 2." In comparison to "Tarkov," "Dota 2" is definitely an easier game to get into as far as the basic mechanics are concerned. They're not quite as complex, but if you actually want to win, that is where things get ugly. 

What makes "Dota 2" so difficult is the number of heroes. It's like there are a lot of them. Every single one has different strengths and weaknesses, and if you want to do well in a game, you need to have at least a cursory understanding of what all of them are capable of. Not only from an offensive perspective, where you have to be able to execute viable strategies, but also defensively. 

And snowballing is absolutely a thing in this game. So, if you're not pulling your weight, things can quickly get out of hand. Compared to a lot of multiplayer games where dying isn't a big deal, if you die a lot in "Dota 2," you're actively helping your opponents win. That's at least partially the reason that the community for this game is considered a little toxic. It can be really frustrating, even if you're a veteran. One thing I hear a lot is that getting past the toxicity is one of the biggest hurdles for newbies, and just learning to chill and take all of that nastiness in stride is a skill all of its own. And you'll need it if you want to have fun. 

07. Kerbal Space Program

At number seven is the "Kerbal Space Program." Like, yeah, it looks like a cartoon, but this space flight simulation game is no joke at all. The main challenge of the game is to create functional rockets and fly them into space, which sounds very simple. But everything on your ship is simulated using actual Newtonian dynamics, so blowing up mid-flight isn't just a possibility when you first start out, it's very likely. 

There's a career mode that's pretty thorough about how everything works, but it's also still pretty difficult to wrap your head around everything, especially if you're not like a math nerd. Getting to the Moon, or the Mun, as it's called in the game, is really step one, and the game just gets exponentially more difficult from there. It's a game that starts out really hard and keeps getting harder the deeper you get into it. 

06. ARMA 3

At number six is "ARMA 3." It is basically the ultimate military simulator sandbox thing, right? And just running around and shooting isn't more complicated than what you would experience in a regular FPS, but how you do it does feel significantly different. Everything's slower, more deliberate, more realistic, and death can come in an instant from a stray bullet fired by someone you can't even see or hear. Situational awareness is pretty much the name of the game in "ARMA 3." So, learning to navigate the many maps, communication systems, and radar functions is essential to understanding this game. Vehicles only add to the complexity too. At first, just learning to fly a helicopter without crashing is going to feel nearly impossible at first. 

At least the game is known to have a pretty forgiving and friendly community, so that's at least one hurdle new players aren't going to have to deal with. But like everything else, this one's tough to penetrate. 

05. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

At number five is "Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead." Ever heard of "Project Zomboid"? That's a really complex and crazy game, but "Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead" is that game on steroids. 

"Project Zomboid" is basically a wall of death for newcomers, but this game is something else. There's no tutorial; everything's going to kill you, and if you want even a chance of survival, you need to figure out the game's somewhat obtuse control scheme. 

In a nutshell, the game's a rogue-like zombie survival simulator, which sounds... I mean, basically, you've heard that a million times, right? But believe me, it is not. It's a survival game first, so death comes in many forms. You can die of hunger, thirst, heat, or exhaustion. You can get sick. You can get addicted to drugs. I mean, there are a million possibilities. And it's the realistic details that can really catch you off guard. Like, if you fire a gun inside, it affects your hearing. That's the level of detail we're talking about here. 

And one of the most complex mechanics here is the crafting system. You know a game is complicated when they describe how many calories something has and if it conducts electricity or not. 

04. EVE Online

At number four is "EVE Online." And in terms of complexity in MMOs, there's nothing as intimidating as this. A lot of people jokingly call it "Spreadsheet: The Game," and ah, that's not entirely wrong. There's so much to keep track of in this game at any given time, and just staying afloat as one ship is difficult enough. 

"Eve Online," however, is a game all about cooperation. We could spend this entire point just talking about corpses and how difficult they can be to organize. But just at a basic level, looking at the interface can be overwhelming with the number of options and menus you have available. 

Like many games on this list, "Eve Online" is a game that greatly benefits from online tutorials as well as help from other players. Maybe the most intimidating thing about it is that while there's a lot to gain by playing "Eve Online," there's also a lot to lose. The game's hardcore. If you lose your ship, that's it. It's gone. 

According to this PC Gamer article, of the 600,000 new players that started up "Eve Online" in 2018, only about 10% played it for longer than seven days. It's a game with an intimidating reputation. And while it's probably not quite as bad as the worst horror stories make it out to be, it is no joke. 

03. Dwarf Fortress

At number three is "Dwarf Fortress." Now, you can't make a list like this without bringing up "Dwarf Fortress." Obviously, we've talked about this game before, but just looking at it is baffling enough. For new players, it can be difficult to tell what you're even supposed to be looking at. And that feeling doesn't go away for a long time. The ASCII art is a huge wall to get over, but once you actually get into the game, things don't get easier. 

The premise of the game is a classic build-a-thriving-settlement type thing. It's basically "The Sims" fantasy if you started with nothing and your Sims were all manic-depressive dwarfs trying to survive in an underground deathtrap. It's a famously complex game, with systems layered on top of systems that simulate everything from minor bruises to entire extinct civilizations. Just keeping your dwarfs alive is a tall enough order, and the number of things that can kill them is nearly infinite. If you don't give them enough booze or sleep, they go berserk. Actually, well, pretty much anything makes these guys go on a killing rampage. It's kind of hilarious but also baffling at the same time. 

The interface is really the hardest thing to get past in this game. It's just a lot to take in all at once. And if you get through, then figuring out the rest of the game shouldn't be a problem. right? right? Sure. Maybe. 

02. Aurora

At number two is "Aurora." When people think of complicated 4X games, the first thing that comes to mind are the Paradox games. Stuff like "Universa Universalis," "Crusader Kings," or "Hearts of Iron." These are all complex, especially now for a new player starting out, but they are nothing compared to "Aurora." Those games have pictures, a proper map, and user interface elements. "Aurora"? No, not so much. Instead of the comparatively lush visual design of the Paradox games, you get a ton of Windows menus all jumbled up and some basic ASCII art to give you a vague approximation of the universe. To call this game primitive in the visual department would be, I don't know, calling it an understatement is an understatement. But in terms of pure simulation, it's probably one of the most complex 4X games out there, bar none. 

In this game, you control an entire space empire, as opposed to "Dwarf Fortress," where the simulation is extremely granular and you only have to deal with a handful of dwarfs. You can micromanage everything down to the most inconsequential level, and it's all done with these gigantic menus. And you have to. It's games like this that really show how much we understand basic video game things like player feedback, because so many things in "Aurora" are done by changing things in drop-down menus, where it's not even clear that the game registers what you're doing. 

Most players starting this game fresh are going to feel totally lost, and it'll take dozens of hours to even wrap your head around the basics. Hell, looking at this game for too long is painful. I feel like I am getting a migraine trying to read all this tiny text, and we're not even spending a lot of time on this thing. 

01. DCS World

And finally, at number one, it's "DCS World." In terms of simulation gameplay, there's really just nothing else like this game. You want the closest possible experience of flying a fighter jet outside of literally flying one? This game's got you covered. Realism is out of control. Depending on the aircraft you're wanting to fly, even the simple process of turning the plane on and getting it in the air is complex. Tons of switches, tons of buttons. All these things have to be done in an order that has consequences. And the game doesn't do any of it automatically; you've got to figure all that stuff out yourself. 

There's a reason players describe this game as being 20% flying and 80% studying. Because if you want to fly certain jets like the F/A-18 or something like that, you basically have to be flight certified for one in real life. Except if you do the work to just play this game, you're not flight certified for one in real life. But it's the same procedure. Like I said, just doing something as basic as taking off and landing can take, and I'm not joking, hundreds of hours to learn in this game. A lot of the time, you are going to be reading actual aircraft manuals. And I'm not going to call that completely useless. Maybe your goal is to actually fly one of these aircraft, so all that information becomes useful to you. But, if not, it's hours of your life gone learning to fly a virtual aircraft. I mean, maybe that's an exaggeration to some extent, but still, this is a game where you have to be able to accurately recreate the pre-flight sequence of a jet plane, which it doesn't give you instructions for. You have to look up instructions outside of the game to actually do that. 

For newcomers, this game doesn't so much have a steep learning curve as have a brick wall. And then they give you a sharpened toothbrush and tell you to break through that brick wall with it. It's possible, as I'm sure somebody has done the brick wall thing at some point, but it really requires some commitment. 

And that's all for today. Leave us a comment. Let us know what you think. And we'll see you next time, right here on TechyRanx.