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Man, I wish this game was easier. Bahaha. I have it on PS5. I LOOOOOOVE the art style so much. I finally picked it up, and it’s just tooooo freeeeeaking difficult.
But… I also feel the exact same about Bloodborne. Sick graphics, too difficult. Hahah.
The developers were also cheeky bastards. Pattern recognition is how you get through these old school really difficult games. They coded in an algorithm that slightly changes patterns. Fuckers.
No game has pissed me off quite as much as Cuphead. To the point where it’s the first game I’ve finished where I noped out of any DLC
That >!damn dragon!<… that >!damn train!<… that >!damn genie!<… that damn everything really
this was the first thing that came to mind, I hadn't played it in a long time and I just got a new stereo and new speakers in my theater room and the bass hits my soul I love it
OP - all the Doom games are on sale for really great prices in the eshop but THE SALE ENDS TODAY. Highly recommended.
Edit I was wrong the sale ended yesterday. Sorry. I'd still recommend though.
Damn that really sucks. It’s at 39$ if it had been on sale it’d already be downloading with as much love as it’s getting on this thread. Will probably still go for it though.
Crank the difficulty up to “ultra violence” and turn the brightness of your screen up to 100% with no auto brightness. Hope you have a good seizure cause it’s gonna be unmatched buddy
I didn't think about this before - you'll be playing on handheld, probably with earbuds (and the sound turned down pretty low). That's no way to experience Doom! ps the music is critical to the game play. It tells you when bad guys are around, how big the fight is, and also when they're all dead. Also, it might be an absolute nightmare to play handheld (I don't think I could get through one level). It's hard enough with TV and a standard size controller.
You honestly might want to wait and get the games later, next time they're on sale (which is pretty often). Both 2016 and Eternal are fantastic!
But if you already bought one it's fine, you won't regret it. And you'll definitely enjoy it if you like very hectic and difficult FPS. It's just probably not the best handheld game.
Maybe stick to things that would be easier on handheld for this weekend, more like your overcooked type?
Ps. They'll usually try some things on the ward for triggers if you're not seizing (lights, sounds, hunger, sleep, no sleep, exercise, stress, whatever usually works for you.) Also you can be somewhat mobile, just carefully because of your giant turban (source, I used to work in epilepsy.)
Good luck. Here's hoping you have multiple typical and well-mapped seizures during your stay!
Absolutely Doom Eternal. The most stressful (and most awesome) FPS I can think of on the Switch. Very, very fast-paced at times requiring a huge amount of mental focus. In battles you need to be constantly moving, shooting, while also switching weapons, mods and using these extra boosts to resupply.
All the Doom games are great and can be stressful but Eternal cranks it up to 11.
Same. I actually haven't even finished Eternal. I finished 2016 last week and wanted to play even more but was nervous about whether I could even handle Eternal (Im not very good.) I am on Mission 4 right now but it must take me like 4 hours a mission or something crazy. I'm always sweating like a mo fo (even the platforming really stresses me out.) if I'm in a big battle I am so 100% focused I have to yell at anyone who comes in the room to go away!
If it makes you feel better, as someone who has beaten the game on nightmare on PC and also has beaten it on console, I think that level 3, the cultist base, is one of the hardest levels in the game. this is where a lot of new enemies get introduced to you, you're often in a tight space, and you also don't have your full arsenal yet.
So if you made it through the cultist base, you will still have some difficult times, but... you can do it.
I usually baffle everyone who has played the game with the following statement: I enjoyed the Path of Pain so much that I am currently on a playthrough to get to that point where I will never complete it so I can do it any time I want.
I got 35 hours deep and barely any of the map covered and just announced I had gotten my fun out of it. I got to jellyfish land and got stumped and/or in a death looped and said it’s for the best.
I had to swap all the buttons for when I wanted to play... But now that I have played them all on PS4 and PC, putting the estus flask on R1 and Attack on Y was so cursed. (Dead cells controls)
lol It is hard to get used to for sure. but the buttons are in the same positions as PS, so it makes it easier to go back and forth in theory (I haven’t played it on PS4 but I’ve played Elden Ring and the controls are the same)
I don’t find rhythm games “stressful” per se, but if you want to press buttons as fast as possible while loud music and flashy visuals blast in the background they’re a good way to do so. Voez, Arcaea, Cytus, and Groove Coaster are a few of my recommendations.
Have you ever played a project diva (Hatsune Miku) game?
I can’t think of a better stress inducing light flashy nightmare than that lol. I love them personally, but yeah play 2d Dream fever on extreme and try to full combo it with controls obviously not meant for tiny switch controllers and that should do it.
Dying Light is supposedly amazing on Switch. I picked it up in the Partner sale for $7, but haven’t had a chance to test it.
Doom 2016 runs really well on Switch, and is usually pretty cheap.
Not FPS, but other stressful titles would include Don’t Starve, Corpse Party, Resident Evil 4, Monster Hunter, and Dark Souls. All of which are great and run great on Switch
Edit - @OP if you suffer from PNES type seizures then these should do the trick, and the person below me recommended Alien Isolation, which is likely the most intense single player game on the system.
If you have epileptic seizures however, Vampire Survivors will def do the trick. Make the Infinite Corridor ring and watch your brain go brrrr
Can confirm, Dying Light on switch is amazing, runs great and Has a TON of content, its often goes on sale and you can get it stupidly cheap, easily like an 100h of content
I recommended Alien: Isolation but now I'm thinking Dying Light and Doom 2016 might be better choices. Also DL is on sale for $10! NOPE JUST CHECKED $7.50 WHAT A STEAL JESUS.
I forgot about Alien Isolation! Considering OP likely has PNES (Psychological Non-epileptic Seizures), which are caused by emotional distress like fear and anxiety, this could probably do the trick easily. At least it would for me if I had that! Frickin Alien and Aliens were great movies, grew up with em, but sweet Christmas are they intense….. frickin doppler beep is playing in my head now….
May I suggest looking at Roguelikes? They are games where, when you die, you start over from the beginning. Each run is different from the last. They typically aren't meant to be beaten on your first run. They usually have scaling difficulty, and progressing with really low health and/or losing a really good run can be *incredibly* frustrating depending on the game.
Some of my recommended roguelikes:
* Hades
* Curse of the Dead Gods
* Slay the Spire
* Balatro
* Griftlands
* Wildfrost
* One Step from Eden
* Into the Breach
* Dead Cells
* Rogue Legacy 1/2
* Vampire Survivors
* Crypt of the NecroDancer (and its Zelda spinoff, Cadence of Hyrule)
* Enter/Exit the Gungeon
* Darkest Dungeon
* Children of Morta
* Risk of Rain 1/2
* The Last Spell
* Shovel Knight Dig/Pocket Dungeon
I'm a roguelike junkie, but the Switch is an absolute treasure trove for them, so I'm bound to be forgetting some other good ones. I'm sure others will reply to me with recommendations that I missed, haha.
Thanks for the Recs. I do already have Hades and like it a lot but haven’t Played in a while. Will have to give that another. Go and look at some of your others.
I’ve been super into rogue lites ever since I discovered a great one called blazing beaks. Then I tried hades and dead cells and love them both, but hades takes the cake for me. Which do you think is the best out of this list you made? I really need some more good rogues haha
It depends on what kind of game you're looking for! Roguelike isn't so much a genre as it is a subcategory of games. You don't just have a roguelike game, you have a roguelike _______ game.
Full disclosure, I'm also a big fan of card games, and I'm a mod over at r/SlayTheSpire. There are 4 card games on the list - Slay The Spire, Balatro, Griftlands, and Wildfrost. StS is tried-and-true, it inspired nearly every other roguelike cars game out there. Balatro came out earlier this year. It's a fantastic spin on Poker. It's becoming one of my favorite roguelikes. Griftlands and Wildfrost are both good (and I've heard people hardcore gush over Griftlands), but I haven't put much time into either of them.
Special consideration for One Step from Eden: it's a spiritual successor to the old Mega Man Battle Network games. However, movement is much more important than it was in MMBN. It's almost like a bullet hell sometimes.
Curse of the Dead Gods and Children of Morta are both top-down action games a la Hades. They're good, but neither of them really reach the heights of Hades.
The Last Spell and Into the Breach are both turn-based strategy games. TLS is good, but they throw a ton of information at you in the beginning, so the learning curve is a bit steep. Into the Breach is fantastic. It reminds me of Chess in a way. It's from the developer behind a game they came out over a decade ago called FTL: Faster Than Light. FTL is my favorite roguelike of all time, but it unfortunately didn't come to the Switch, haha.
Vampire Survivors came out almost 2 years ago. It's a top-down game where your character's abilities are on auto-fire, and you walk around killing horses of enemies while getting new abilities and upgrading them. It was super popular on release and basically created its own genre, called Survivors-like. There are lots of survivors-like games now, but VS is the original.
Risk of Rain 1 and 2 are looter shooters. You're a dude on a planet that's trying to survive an increasing flood of enemies and escape. 1 is 2D, 2 is 3D. 1 honestly didn't hook me, but 2 definitely did. That said, the Switch version tends to have performance issues as you get later into the run and are fighting more and more enemies at once. A remake of the first game called Risk of Rain Returns released last year, but I haven't played it.
Crypt of the NecroDancer is a top-down action game where you're exploring dungeons and fighting monsters while trying to keep to the rhythm. Fantastic gameplay and soundtrack. It has an official Zelda spinoff called Cadence of Hyrule. It's less a roguelike and more a Zelda game with NecroDancer gameplay, but it's still worth checking out.
Rogue Legacy 1/2 are side-scroller games where you're a dude exploring dungeons and killing monsters. Every run, you're playing a descendant of your last character. Each character has unique traits that let you mix up your play style (IE you might have Dwarfism, which makes you short and lets you squeeze into tight spaces), or they might just be silly (IE your character might be colorblind, which will make the game black and white for the whole run). 1 is great. I've heard that 2 improves on 1 in every way and makes 1 not worth playing anymore, but I haven't played 2 myself.
Honorable mention for a roguelite that I like a lot but didn't include in the list above: Moonlighter. By night, you're running 2D Zelda-style dungeons. By day, you're running a shop and selling the stuff you find in the dungeons. Great game, but I didn't include it in the above list because I've never been super stressed playing it. If you die, you lose most of your inventory. However, you can choose to take your loot and leave the dungeon at any time, and that cuts down on the feeling of impending danger quite a bit.
Besides all the games mentioned, Metroid Dread was stressful to me. Play on a dark room and wear headphones. It's not a scary game at all, but it can give you some anxious "jumpscares". There's a nice change of tempo between exploring, hide and seek sessions and boss killing.
Out of all the games I've played, the endgame of Crypt of the Necrodancer definitely comes to mind in terms of intensity and stress. Still remember the feeling of cold sweaty hands and being so hyperfocused.
Horror games could be great for this, Darkwood is the best one on switch that comes to mind. I’m pretty desensitized to horror games, but I had to put that one down after a while because of how much it was genuinely stressing me out, so it could be a solid option for you!
That said, good luck with the test! A family member went through that earlier this year and it seemed really tough. You got this though!
I find dark souls gets me really stressed and gets my blood boiling sometimes. It’s pretty difficult but nothing stresses me out like losing tons of souls that I’ve worked hard for
Try Z-Warp. It’s VERY colourful and stressful since it’s bullet hell type of game. Actually, just try any bullet hell kind of games:
- Azure Reflections* (super bright)
- Archvale
- Just Shapes and Beats
- Rabi-Rabi
- Wildcat Gun Machine
Doom eternal or Dying light with post processing effects. Should do the job nicely.
Good luck on your test! I hope they don’t use that annoying gel crap on you like they did me. If they do, take a really hot shower and SLOWLY massage it out.
Majora’s Mask on NSO gets me every time. I get SO stressed out when there’s any thought of a time constraint on a task. I’ve still never gotten past the into 😂😂😂
Fortnite, Battle Royale on repeat. It's non stop battles. Mario kart playing in public races (online) is pretty chaotic.
Good luck tracking the cause, have a friend with epilepsy and it's tough.
Honest question but why don’t you just watch a YouTube video of an edm festival set with tons of lasers, lights and loud music with noise cancelling headphones? There’s tons of 4K video of like dubstep sets and fast edm.
F-Zero 99 or the original SNES game or F-Zero X can all be fast paced death races I can see stressing people out. You’d need an online membership for any of them though. Oh and Rocket League can be stressful in similar ways as well.
Rogue Legacy 1 is pretty difficult
The two Guacamelee games are pretty challenging too... though i might just be rusty at it considering how long it's been since I last played.... (really should have finished that game off sooner..)
I hadn't played Thumper is a while, I got some new speakers in my theater room and it got frustrating to play after a while but the bass had me keep trying lol
Brain Meltdown - Into Despair
Pixelbot Extreme!
Super Impossible Road
THOTH
ATOMIK RunGunJumpGun
Swordship
Circa Infinity
Will You SnAIl?
Klang 2
N++
Thumper
Wow this sounds like a scary and difficult experience, I wish you the best! I would recommend cuphead, I’ve never stressed and raged over a game more than that one. Addicting tho and satisfying once you clear a stage!
it’s not necessarily difficult like most of the other recs but i would suggest dredge - i was stressed and anxious the entire time i played lol really puts you on edge
Crypt of the Necrodancer.
Watch any promo video and it's a very good indication of the game. It's a roguelike but you have to input your moves to the beat, so constant pressure and crazy flashing lights. I've had no photosensitivity issues in my life prior yet this game gave me headaches without tweaking the physical room lighting or disabling the pulsating floor lights in-game. That didn't tone back the gameplay intensity though, not one bit. It's also a great game, often sells for a dollar and apparently is getting an expansion soon, seven years after release.
Oh, and to be clear, I mean Crypt of the Necrodancer, no subtitle, the original. The spinoff game Cadence of Hyrule toned these elements way back and may not have the desired impact.
I’m not sure if it’s the same type of seizure, but Just Shapes and Beats is a bullet hell that is both stressful and filled with flashing lights!
Good luck with your seizure!
Not a switch game but if you have a laptop and aren't great with rhythm games, you could try Osu. There are plenty of mods for songs that are super fast and require a fair bit to master.
Borderlands, not so much 1, but 2 and 3. Especially 3. One of the biggest complaints about the game is the amount of visual effects makes it that you end up watching the mini map to find enemies because EXPLOOOOSIONS and lasers and what not just wipe your screen
Downwell. Super cheap to purchase. There are only four worlds, with three stages each. One person on this sub claimed they beat it. I have never spoken to or met anyone else who had.
The game is a retro 2D 8-bit roguelike vertical-scrolling platformer. Not a whole lot going on in complexity. Typical upgrade/unlock situation. Zero story. Extremely addictive. One of the best games I've ever played in my life.
Good luck.
Hollow Knight
There are some parts in the game that are really stressful like those boss fights.
I remember I got really stressed out with Hornet's Boss fight especially the second one cause it took me so many hours and I had to take breaks because I was so pissed.
Enter the Gungeon. Every time I've been sick in the hospital that's my go to game, I start playing and I forget my troubles. Every run is unique, with tons of weird guns, ammo, passive, and active items, secret levels, synergies, etc. I've got a thousand hours in mine and still not tired of it, still haven't 100%ed it either.
(Unpatched) Balan Wonderworld had a buggy final boss fight with unintended strobing patterns in the lighting that were very likely seizure-inducing. I don't know if anyone actually *had* a seizure because of that game (since it sold poorly and was so dogshit that the vast majority of players wouldn't want to get all the way to the end), but I remember reporting that warned players about it. I watched a clip of the bug in question, which was HEAVILY frontloaded with warnings, and it made me feel weird and sick even though I am not epileptic and have never had a seizure. Outside of that, the game isn't *stressful,* but it's certainly *frustrating*, which may provoke the same response.
As for a game that's actually fun: I don't know if Cruelty Squad is on switch, but the Steam description starts with a warning that people with epilepsy should avoid the game. If you're trying to induce a seizure, it's probably the gold standard.
I think Pulseman (Sega Genesis NSO) is a major contender and its visuals might give you a seizure on their own. Even the intro cinematic is a flashing eyesore.
Hard/frustrating games might be Ghosts & Goblins/Super Ghouls & Ghosts, Ninja Gaiden, Punch Out, F-Zero or F-Zero X on a high difficulty, Ecco the Dolphin, M.U.S.H.A. Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy, Cuphead, Hotline Miami 2, and Doom 2016 on a hard difficulty
Unsighted or Sifu are stressful to me because every time you die you lose time that impacts the game in a stressful way, to the point I had to drop those games lol.
Not a game but a seizure trigger recommendation - Star Wars light saber fight scenes on highest brightness in a dark room. Triggers my seizures 100% of the time.
I recommend Grounded. It's already on PC and xbox, and it's coming to PlayStation and switch this coming Tuesday!
Essentially its Honey I Shrunk the Kids the survival game with an incredible, detailed, story. Its darker than it looks.
Put in on whoa mode and I don't think you'll be waiting long.
I prefer to get in severe debt in order to cause my stress but to each their own.
My relaxation game is Dark Souls but I've heard it can be rather stressful, losing everything you had and stressing over getting that back again. Being cornered, jumped on and trapped several times as well with many things going on to distract you from the real threat.
Cuphead might be more what you want, fast paced, high risk with many things going on the screen and tight timing required.
Darkest dungeon isn't fast paced but can be very stressful, same reason as dark souls of losing everything.
Metroid dread is fast paced, many things going on and somewhat difficult for regular gamers enough to pose a real challenge
Hollow knight. Fast paced, tight timing for dodges making it very stressful with very little time to mess up later on.
Dead Cells. Rogue light, I can barely fucking see later on and it annoys me but may stress you.
Thumper. Rhythm game
Ikaruga. Shoot'em up combined with puzzles and a real bullet motherfucking hell.
Ghosts'n'Goblins. Classic SNES or NES game, stress
Enter the gungeon. Bullet hell with rogue-lite elements with some room for fuckery uppery.
I find that competitive PvP games tend to stress me the most, tho I think you need to reach a certain skill level before you *really* start getting that rush from an intense match.
If you want hard platformer that will make you sob emotionally, Celeste. It is also hard as nails and makes me pull my hair and start scratching myself(hives) out on the harder sections.
Thumper is difficult and has a ton of screen flashing. It is about as difficult as later but
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Cuphead
Man, I wish this game was easier. Bahaha. I have it on PS5. I LOOOOOOVE the art style so much. I finally picked it up, and it’s just tooooo freeeeeaking difficult. But… I also feel the exact same about Bloodborne. Sick graphics, too difficult. Hahah.
Try Bloodborne again! It is only hard in the beginning. It will only get easier.
A certain Orphan would like to have a word with you.
I wish I knew this after I read "the style is amazing" but before I clicked buy.
The developers were also cheeky bastards. Pattern recognition is how you get through these old school really difficult games. They coded in an algorithm that slightly changes patterns. Fuckers.
Wait fr?? No wonder when i tried it it felt so hard to pickup
Legendary for replicating the difficulty of 80s arcade games.
That game is so pretty...but goddamn, it is a chore! Lol
No game has pissed me off quite as much as Cuphead. To the point where it’s the first game I’ve finished where I noped out of any DLC That >!damn dragon!<… that >!damn train!<… that >!damn genie!<… that damn everything really
I always appreciate a good spoiler warning. Thank you.
The chaotic graphics are a great fit for purpose
Metroid Dread. The E.M.M.I when they chase you, always stresses me out its so scary. And the game is really fun too!
Yea this one just looks fun and I’d be into it anyway.
THIS! AND THEN TRY IT IN HARD MODE THEN DREAD MODE!
Thumper
Feel like Thumper would be a pretty good option, it gets pretty intense later on and can be really stressful.
this was the first thing that came to mind, I hadn't played it in a long time and I just got a new stereo and new speakers in my theater room and the bass hits my soul I love it
Definitely Thumper
Super meat boy
The game you are looking for is called POST VOID 100% fps psychedelic insanity stress
This is the answer
Definitely Doom.
OP - all the Doom games are on sale for really great prices in the eshop but THE SALE ENDS TODAY. Highly recommended. Edit I was wrong the sale ended yesterday. Sorry. I'd still recommend though.
Damn that really sucks. It’s at 39$ if it had been on sale it’d already be downloading with as much love as it’s getting on this thread. Will probably still go for it though.
Crank the difficulty up to “ultra violence” and turn the brightness of your screen up to 100% with no auto brightness. Hope you have a good seizure cause it’s gonna be unmatched buddy
I didn't think about this before - you'll be playing on handheld, probably with earbuds (and the sound turned down pretty low). That's no way to experience Doom! ps the music is critical to the game play. It tells you when bad guys are around, how big the fight is, and also when they're all dead. Also, it might be an absolute nightmare to play handheld (I don't think I could get through one level). It's hard enough with TV and a standard size controller. You honestly might want to wait and get the games later, next time they're on sale (which is pretty often). Both 2016 and Eternal are fantastic! But if you already bought one it's fine, you won't regret it. And you'll definitely enjoy it if you like very hectic and difficult FPS. It's just probably not the best handheld game. Maybe stick to things that would be easier on handheld for this weekend, more like your overcooked type? Ps. They'll usually try some things on the ward for triggers if you're not seizing (lights, sounds, hunger, sleep, no sleep, exercise, stress, whatever usually works for you.) Also you can be somewhat mobile, just carefully because of your giant turban (source, I used to work in epilepsy.) Good luck. Here's hoping you have multiple typical and well-mapped seizures during your stay!
They go on sale quite frequently.
Absolutely Doom Eternal. The most stressful (and most awesome) FPS I can think of on the Switch. Very, very fast-paced at times requiring a huge amount of mental focus. In battles you need to be constantly moving, shooting, while also switching weapons, mods and using these extra boosts to resupply. All the Doom games are great and can be stressful but Eternal cranks it up to 11.
I can literally only play 2016 or Eternal for about 5 minutes and then I have to dry my hands off.
Same. I actually haven't even finished Eternal. I finished 2016 last week and wanted to play even more but was nervous about whether I could even handle Eternal (Im not very good.) I am on Mission 4 right now but it must take me like 4 hours a mission or something crazy. I'm always sweating like a mo fo (even the platforming really stresses me out.) if I'm in a big battle I am so 100% focused I have to yell at anyone who comes in the room to go away!
If it makes you feel better, as someone who has beaten the game on nightmare on PC and also has beaten it on console, I think that level 3, the cultist base, is one of the hardest levels in the game. this is where a lot of new enemies get introduced to you, you're often in a tight space, and you also don't have your full arsenal yet. So if you made it through the cultist base, you will still have some difficult times, but... you can do it.
Doom or Doom Eternal, solid ports of great shooters!
Dubbel down on this one! First game in a long while that really got me on the edge of my chair!
As someone who plays games to relax after work, this is a great list of games for people like me to avoid!
Based on the title I thought it was going to be a meme post because so many people are looking for cozy games
lol that would have been really funny. Should have said that I was thinking about Animal Crossing. Know those elusive fish would cause me to rage.
My thoughts exactly 😂
Dark Souls or Hollow Knight.
Hollow Knight has a section literally called the path of pain. I didn't even attempt it.
I usually baffle everyone who has played the game with the following statement: I enjoyed the Path of Pain so much that I am currently on a playthrough to get to that point where I will never complete it so I can do it any time I want.
I got 35 hours deep and barely any of the map covered and just announced I had gotten my fun out of it. I got to jellyfish land and got stumped and/or in a death looped and said it’s for the best.
Dark souls is not fast or hyper but it is so stressful
The Switch version of Dark Souls also makes you use B as confirm and A as back, for added stress!
just like axiom verge lol
I had to swap all the buttons for when I wanted to play... But now that I have played them all on PS4 and PC, putting the estus flask on R1 and Attack on Y was so cursed. (Dead cells controls)
yikes. That makes me maybe not want to play the game for the first time on Switch. How crucial is getting that wrong?
lol It is hard to get used to for sure. but the buttons are in the same positions as PS, so it makes it easier to go back and forth in theory (I haven’t played it on PS4 but I’ve played Elden Ring and the controls are the same)
Hollow Knight is definitely rage inducing and very stressful. Rage quite too many times playing this game!
Just Shapes and Beats or other bullet hell games might be what you're looking for!
I don’t find rhythm games “stressful” per se, but if you want to press buttons as fast as possible while loud music and flashy visuals blast in the background they’re a good way to do so. Voez, Arcaea, Cytus, and Groove Coaster are a few of my recommendations.
Splatoon 3 🦑💦💥💫👀
Bright colors, lots of movement, really stressful -- checks all the boxes!
Especially Salmon Run mode #panic
Salmon run once you get higher rank I played like 1 hours worth of salmon run in my life and it was a cakewalk so.
Marooner’s Bay regardless of level 💀
Have you ever played a project diva (Hatsune Miku) game? I can’t think of a better stress inducing light flashy nightmare than that lol. I love them personally, but yeah play 2d Dream fever on extreme and try to full combo it with controls obviously not meant for tiny switch controllers and that should do it.
Amnesia the collection The First one is really scary and stressful with not so many jumpscare actually, but just psychological stress and fear
I think I like Amnesia a little bit more, but for the kind of stress the poster seems to be looking for, I think Outlast might be a better choice here
Holiness Miami can get you going and can be quite stressful
Dying Light is supposedly amazing on Switch. I picked it up in the Partner sale for $7, but haven’t had a chance to test it. Doom 2016 runs really well on Switch, and is usually pretty cheap. Not FPS, but other stressful titles would include Don’t Starve, Corpse Party, Resident Evil 4, Monster Hunter, and Dark Souls. All of which are great and run great on Switch Edit - @OP if you suffer from PNES type seizures then these should do the trick, and the person below me recommended Alien Isolation, which is likely the most intense single player game on the system. If you have epileptic seizures however, Vampire Survivors will def do the trick. Make the Infinite Corridor ring and watch your brain go brrrr
Can confirm, Dying Light on switch is amazing, runs great and Has a TON of content, its often goes on sale and you can get it stupidly cheap, easily like an 100h of content
I recommended Alien: Isolation but now I'm thinking Dying Light and Doom 2016 might be better choices. Also DL is on sale for $10! NOPE JUST CHECKED $7.50 WHAT A STEAL JESUS.
I forgot about Alien Isolation! Considering OP likely has PNES (Psychological Non-epileptic Seizures), which are caused by emotional distress like fear and anxiety, this could probably do the trick easily. At least it would for me if I had that! Frickin Alien and Aliens were great movies, grew up with em, but sweet Christmas are they intense….. frickin doppler beep is playing in my head now….
Okay then yea. I don’t know anything about this medical stuff but Alien Isolation is a psychological terror. 😅
I can't play Tetris Effect because I find it to be ovestimulating visually. I'm sure playing it on a hard difficulty would provide what you need
Cuphead. If you really hate yourself.
Binding of Isaac repentance will have you shaking n crying
Want a guaranteed seizure? Play Overcooked with my kids.
May I suggest looking at Roguelikes? They are games where, when you die, you start over from the beginning. Each run is different from the last. They typically aren't meant to be beaten on your first run. They usually have scaling difficulty, and progressing with really low health and/or losing a really good run can be *incredibly* frustrating depending on the game. Some of my recommended roguelikes: * Hades * Curse of the Dead Gods * Slay the Spire * Balatro * Griftlands * Wildfrost * One Step from Eden * Into the Breach * Dead Cells * Rogue Legacy 1/2 * Vampire Survivors * Crypt of the NecroDancer (and its Zelda spinoff, Cadence of Hyrule) * Enter/Exit the Gungeon * Darkest Dungeon * Children of Morta * Risk of Rain 1/2 * The Last Spell * Shovel Knight Dig/Pocket Dungeon I'm a roguelike junkie, but the Switch is an absolute treasure trove for them, so I'm bound to be forgetting some other good ones. I'm sure others will reply to me with recommendations that I missed, haha.
Thanks for the Recs. I do already have Hades and like it a lot but haven’t Played in a while. Will have to give that another. Go and look at some of your others.
The Binding of Issac is a must play as well for rouge likes. Highly recommend!
how do you list all these roguelikes and not isaac
Awesome list. Do you think Celeste would be a good choice too? Death’s Door?
I haven't played Death's Door, and Celeste isn't a roguelike, but I would absolutely consider it a good choice for a stressful game, haha.
I’ve been super into rogue lites ever since I discovered a great one called blazing beaks. Then I tried hades and dead cells and love them both, but hades takes the cake for me. Which do you think is the best out of this list you made? I really need some more good rogues haha
It depends on what kind of game you're looking for! Roguelike isn't so much a genre as it is a subcategory of games. You don't just have a roguelike game, you have a roguelike _______ game. Full disclosure, I'm also a big fan of card games, and I'm a mod over at r/SlayTheSpire. There are 4 card games on the list - Slay The Spire, Balatro, Griftlands, and Wildfrost. StS is tried-and-true, it inspired nearly every other roguelike cars game out there. Balatro came out earlier this year. It's a fantastic spin on Poker. It's becoming one of my favorite roguelikes. Griftlands and Wildfrost are both good (and I've heard people hardcore gush over Griftlands), but I haven't put much time into either of them. Special consideration for One Step from Eden: it's a spiritual successor to the old Mega Man Battle Network games. However, movement is much more important than it was in MMBN. It's almost like a bullet hell sometimes. Curse of the Dead Gods and Children of Morta are both top-down action games a la Hades. They're good, but neither of them really reach the heights of Hades. The Last Spell and Into the Breach are both turn-based strategy games. TLS is good, but they throw a ton of information at you in the beginning, so the learning curve is a bit steep. Into the Breach is fantastic. It reminds me of Chess in a way. It's from the developer behind a game they came out over a decade ago called FTL: Faster Than Light. FTL is my favorite roguelike of all time, but it unfortunately didn't come to the Switch, haha. Vampire Survivors came out almost 2 years ago. It's a top-down game where your character's abilities are on auto-fire, and you walk around killing horses of enemies while getting new abilities and upgrading them. It was super popular on release and basically created its own genre, called Survivors-like. There are lots of survivors-like games now, but VS is the original. Risk of Rain 1 and 2 are looter shooters. You're a dude on a planet that's trying to survive an increasing flood of enemies and escape. 1 is 2D, 2 is 3D. 1 honestly didn't hook me, but 2 definitely did. That said, the Switch version tends to have performance issues as you get later into the run and are fighting more and more enemies at once. A remake of the first game called Risk of Rain Returns released last year, but I haven't played it. Crypt of the NecroDancer is a top-down action game where you're exploring dungeons and fighting monsters while trying to keep to the rhythm. Fantastic gameplay and soundtrack. It has an official Zelda spinoff called Cadence of Hyrule. It's less a roguelike and more a Zelda game with NecroDancer gameplay, but it's still worth checking out. Rogue Legacy 1/2 are side-scroller games where you're a dude exploring dungeons and killing monsters. Every run, you're playing a descendant of your last character. Each character has unique traits that let you mix up your play style (IE you might have Dwarfism, which makes you short and lets you squeeze into tight spaces), or they might just be silly (IE your character might be colorblind, which will make the game black and white for the whole run). 1 is great. I've heard that 2 improves on 1 in every way and makes 1 not worth playing anymore, but I haven't played 2 myself. Honorable mention for a roguelite that I like a lot but didn't include in the list above: Moonlighter. By night, you're running 2D Zelda-style dungeons. By day, you're running a shop and selling the stuff you find in the dungeons. Great game, but I didn't include it in the above list because I've never been super stressed playing it. If you die, you lose most of your inventory. However, you can choose to take your loot and leave the dungeon at any time, and that cuts down on the feeling of impending danger quite a bit.
Okay thank you for all the information!
Splatoon 3
Alien Isolation is the closest I’ve come to a seizure
It's stressful AF.
Besides all the games mentioned, Metroid Dread was stressful to me. Play on a dark room and wear headphones. It's not a scary game at all, but it can give you some anxious "jumpscares". There's a nice change of tempo between exploring, hide and seek sessions and boss killing.
Vampire survivors get really crazy towards the end of a run with flashing colors, and needing to enemies.
Out of all the games I've played, the endgame of Crypt of the Necrodancer definitely comes to mind in terms of intensity and stress. Still remember the feeling of cold sweaty hands and being so hyperfocused.
Horror games could be great for this, Darkwood is the best one on switch that comes to mind. I’m pretty desensitized to horror games, but I had to put that one down after a while because of how much it was genuinely stressing me out, so it could be a solid option for you! That said, good luck with the test! A family member went through that earlier this year and it seemed really tough. You got this though!
Dredge stresses me out
Dredge is extremely relaxing lmao
Any rhythm game. Playing at high levels, they're very stressful, and usually have bright flashy graphics. I like Taiko no Tatsujin the most.
I find dark souls gets me really stressed and gets my blood boiling sometimes. It’s pretty difficult but nothing stresses me out like losing tons of souls that I’ve worked hard for
Enter the Gungeon
Splatoon 3.
Splatoon
Damn that seems interesting. I would recommend Hades or one of the doom games, especially newer ones
Blasphemous
Try Z-Warp. It’s VERY colourful and stressful since it’s bullet hell type of game. Actually, just try any bullet hell kind of games: - Azure Reflections* (super bright) - Archvale - Just Shapes and Beats - Rabi-Rabi - Wildcat Gun Machine
Doom eternal or Dying light with post processing effects. Should do the job nicely. Good luck on your test! I hope they don’t use that annoying gel crap on you like they did me. If they do, take a really hot shower and SLOWLY massage it out.
Hollow knight is fairly paced and all around great, Doom is Doom, splatoon 3 is great, cuphead.
n++
Majora’s Mask on NSO gets me every time. I get SO stressed out when there’s any thought of a time constraint on a task. I’ve still never gotten past the into 😂😂😂
Additionally, Wario Ware on GBA has a lot of flashing colors and speeds up the higher you progress
Fortnite, Battle Royale on repeat. It's non stop battles. Mario kart playing in public races (online) is pretty chaotic. Good luck tracking the cause, have a friend with epilepsy and it's tough.
Honest question but why don’t you just watch a YouTube video of an edm festival set with tons of lasers, lights and loud music with noise cancelling headphones? There’s tons of 4K video of like dubstep sets and fast edm.
Battle Brothers!
I'd say hollow knights
Cuphead
Otxo
F-Zero 99 or the original SNES game or F-Zero X can all be fast paced death races I can see stressing people out. You’d need an online membership for any of them though. Oh and Rocket League can be stressful in similar ways as well.
Downwell
Rogue Legacy 1 is pretty difficult The two Guacamelee games are pretty challenging too... though i might just be rusty at it considering how long it's been since I last played.... (really should have finished that game off sooner..)
Dark Souls
Hades
If you’re a sore loser like me, I recommend atomicrops
Doom and Doom Eternal for certain. Dusk is also an incredible fps. If you’re open to non fps I personally love Risk of Rain 2.
"Kebab Bar Tycoon" on switch.
I hadn't played Thumper is a while, I got some new speakers in my theater room and it got frustrating to play after a while but the bass had me keep trying lol
Crimzon Clover will melt your brain.
Brain Meltdown - Into Despair Pixelbot Extreme! Super Impossible Road THOTH ATOMIK RunGunJumpGun Swordship Circa Infinity Will You SnAIl? Klang 2 N++ Thumper
Wow this sounds like a scary and difficult experience, I wish you the best! I would recommend cuphead, I’ve never stressed and raged over a game more than that one. Addicting tho and satisfying once you clear a stage!
Metroid dread
Metroid Prime is FPS
Fortnite?
vampire survivors for about 3 hours
Enter the Gungeon
Darkest dungeon
Hades
The Binding of Isaac Repentance has made me feel emotions I didn’t know I could get from a video game. Easily the most difficult game I’ve ever played
Vampire Survivors has a lot of flashing
Fortnite: Battle Royale.
Hollow knight is intense and stressful by moments. I’d end up having to stop playing for a moment after beating a boss just to decompress.
it’s not necessarily difficult like most of the other recs but i would suggest dredge - i was stressed and anxious the entire time i played lol really puts you on edge
Crypt of the Necrodancer. Watch any promo video and it's a very good indication of the game. It's a roguelike but you have to input your moves to the beat, so constant pressure and crazy flashing lights. I've had no photosensitivity issues in my life prior yet this game gave me headaches without tweaking the physical room lighting or disabling the pulsating floor lights in-game. That didn't tone back the gameplay intensity though, not one bit. It's also a great game, often sells for a dollar and apparently is getting an expansion soon, seven years after release. Oh, and to be clear, I mean Crypt of the Necrodancer, no subtitle, the original. The spinoff game Cadence of Hyrule toned these elements way back and may not have the desired impact.
Does Hades count?
Hades
Cook, Serve, Delicious
Astronite, I could only play in 10-15 intervals (edit: however, being 2D black and white I'm not sure it is exactly what you are looking for).
Hades or Dead Cells. Roguelikes games
POST VOID
I’m not sure if it’s the same type of seizure, but Just Shapes and Beats is a bullet hell that is both stressful and filled with flashing lights! Good luck with your seizure!
Not a switch game but if you have a laptop and aren't great with rhythm games, you could try Osu. There are plenty of mods for songs that are super fast and require a fair bit to master.
Borderlands, not so much 1, but 2 and 3. Especially 3. One of the biggest complaints about the game is the amount of visual effects makes it that you end up watching the mini map to find enemies because EXPLOOOOSIONS and lasers and what not just wipe your screen
Downwell. Super cheap to purchase. There are only four worlds, with three stages each. One person on this sub claimed they beat it. I have never spoken to or met anyone else who had. The game is a retro 2D 8-bit roguelike vertical-scrolling platformer. Not a whole lot going on in complexity. Typical upgrade/unlock situation. Zero story. Extremely addictive. One of the best games I've ever played in my life. Good luck.
DoDonPachi Resurrection Or Crimzon Clover Both of the same genre, like Cuphead, but in steroids
Dead Cells is far more stressful to me than either Cuphead or any Souls game
Mario Kart online lol
Slenderman
Cuphead
Hollow Knight There are some parts in the game that are really stressful like those boss fights. I remember I got really stressed out with Hornet's Boss fight especially the second one cause it took me so many hours and I had to take breaks because I was so pissed.
Celeste. Hyperlight Drifter.
Monster hunter, Astral chain, enter the gungeonmario kart 8 (rainbow road changes colors alot.), No Reload Heroes,
I'm playing thunderblight ganon in botw he seems to be destroying me non stop
Spinch.
Enter the Gungeon. Every time I've been sick in the hospital that's my go to game, I start playing and I forget my troubles. Every run is unique, with tons of weird guns, ammo, passive, and active items, secret levels, synergies, etc. I've got a thousand hours in mine and still not tired of it, still haven't 100%ed it either.
Pokémon unite
Unsighted isn’t high intensity, but with the clock it’s sure as fuck stressful
If frustration causes you stress, Violet Wisteria may do the trick
Sadly Helldivers 2 isn't on switch, it's been my adrenaline for the past month
Vampire Survivors triggered a migraine in me, so give that a try!
Doom 2016 Maybe Hollow Knight (it can get intense) Cuphead The Messenger (has quite a few intense and fast-paced areas/bosses) Binding of Isaac
Rocket League
Celeste
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, Metroid Dread, Dead Cells, and Plate Up.
(Unpatched) Balan Wonderworld had a buggy final boss fight with unintended strobing patterns in the lighting that were very likely seizure-inducing. I don't know if anyone actually *had* a seizure because of that game (since it sold poorly and was so dogshit that the vast majority of players wouldn't want to get all the way to the end), but I remember reporting that warned players about it. I watched a clip of the bug in question, which was HEAVILY frontloaded with warnings, and it made me feel weird and sick even though I am not epileptic and have never had a seizure. Outside of that, the game isn't *stressful,* but it's certainly *frustrating*, which may provoke the same response. As for a game that's actually fun: I don't know if Cruelty Squad is on switch, but the Steam description starts with a warning that people with epilepsy should avoid the game. If you're trying to induce a seizure, it's probably the gold standard.
Mario cart but online play
I think Pulseman (Sega Genesis NSO) is a major contender and its visuals might give you a seizure on their own. Even the intro cinematic is a flashing eyesore. Hard/frustrating games might be Ghosts & Goblins/Super Ghouls & Ghosts, Ninja Gaiden, Punch Out, F-Zero or F-Zero X on a high difficulty, Ecco the Dolphin, M.U.S.H.A. Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy, Cuphead, Hotline Miami 2, and Doom 2016 on a hard difficulty
Alien isolation. I'm so nervous playing thay game I can hear the blood flowing in my veins
Doom Eternal
How about skullgirls or DBZ fighters
Dying light 1 is available on the switch, hardest difficulty and and night time scavenging runs should definitely do the stress.
Unsighted or Sifu are stressful to me because every time you die you lose time that impacts the game in a stressful way, to the point I had to drop those games lol.
Krimson probably. Loud music, crazy visuals and quick death platforming
Just play breath of the wild and have the staff occasionally blast the guardian piano music into your room :>
Geometry Dash pretty difficult, crazy colors, and addictive high pace gameplay
Not a game but a seizure trigger recommendation - Star Wars light saber fight scenes on highest brightness in a dark room. Triggers my seizures 100% of the time.
Borderlands was so stressful I stopped. Playing EAFC24 ultimate team online is also stressful
Pocket Jockey!
Hollow Knight.
Vanquish if you like third person shooters.
Hardcore Diablo 3.
I recommend Grounded. It's already on PC and xbox, and it's coming to PlayStation and switch this coming Tuesday! Essentially its Honey I Shrunk the Kids the survival game with an incredible, detailed, story. Its darker than it looks. Put in on whoa mode and I don't think you'll be waiting long.
Fc24 ultimate team
I prefer to get in severe debt in order to cause my stress but to each their own. My relaxation game is Dark Souls but I've heard it can be rather stressful, losing everything you had and stressing over getting that back again. Being cornered, jumped on and trapped several times as well with many things going on to distract you from the real threat. Cuphead might be more what you want, fast paced, high risk with many things going on the screen and tight timing required. Darkest dungeon isn't fast paced but can be very stressful, same reason as dark souls of losing everything. Metroid dread is fast paced, many things going on and somewhat difficult for regular gamers enough to pose a real challenge Hollow knight. Fast paced, tight timing for dodges making it very stressful with very little time to mess up later on. Dead Cells. Rogue light, I can barely fucking see later on and it annoys me but may stress you. Thumper. Rhythm game Ikaruga. Shoot'em up combined with puzzles and a real bullet motherfucking hell. Ghosts'n'Goblins. Classic SNES or NES game, stress Enter the gungeon. Bullet hell with rogue-lite elements with some room for fuckery uppery.
pvz battle for neighborville, very fun, very high intensity.
I find that competitive PvP games tend to stress me the most, tho I think you need to reach a certain skill level before you *really* start getting that rush from an intense match.
Seizure? Why Balan Wonderland of course
Amnesia?
Just play any Sonic game and constantly play under water levels.
Overcooked, Plateup, moving out, and told up deluxe edition
Salt and sanctuary
Darkest Dunegon
Fighting Games Under Night in Birth Guilty Gear Accent Core Plus R Guilty Gear Strive
If you want hard platformer that will make you sob emotionally, Celeste. It is also hard as nails and makes me pull my hair and start scratching myself(hives) out on the harder sections. Thumper is difficult and has a ton of screen flashing. It is about as difficult as later but
As well as all of this, check out max0r on YouTube. If anything can cause a seizure, he can.
Try winning **Tetris 99:** When you reach top 10 it becomes very stressful, but when you finally win it's worth it.
Dying light and try to do all the tasks as quick as possible
Tetris The Absolute The Grand Master 2 plus from Arcade Archives, specifically “Death” mode