Video games are popular for a lot of reasons, offering various different types of experiences for those who are interested. One of the great things about video games is that they can be both difficult and easy, meaning that people of all skill and experience levels can take part if they want to.
Let's take a look at the last ten years and see what the gaming world has offered us when it comes to both casual and hardcore titles. Kudos to you if you've beaten all of the hardest ones!
10 Hardest: Bloodborne
Everybody knows that the Dark Souls series was difficult, forcing players to get a grip of certain techniques that they'd lost over the years as video games had become simpler. However, it was Bloodborne that really made players feel helpless.
Not only did it up the difficulty, it also made it impossible to block, forcing players to bob and weave as they attacked the enemy. With shields (mostly) gone, Bloodborne proved to be even more difficult than the Souls series, something that many of us thought was pretty much impossible beforehand.
9 Easiest: Yoshi's Crafted World
Yoshi has been around ever since Super Mario World. While he started out his gaming career as a sidekick, it wasn't long before he started to get his own titles. His most recent game came out on the Switch not long ago, and it is widely considered to be one of the easiest games yet to be released on the Nintendo console.
While some have said that the game is too easy, becoming quite boring for those that have played games for years at this point, others have stated that it is fun to play through with a friend (no matter their skill level).
8 Hardest: Super Meat Boy
Before Dark Souls became the game that everyone spoke about when somebody mentioned difficulty, it was this independent platformer that had people smashing their controllers in frustration.
Despite seeming incredibly simple on the surface, this game is filled with nuance, expecting pinpoint precision from any player that wants to get all the way to the end. Seriously, we don't know many people who have managed to finish everything available to them in this title, and it's no surprise to us either.
7 Easiest: Kirby's Epic Yarn
This is game that many people played with a younger sibling, one that allowed them to get involved because it's so easy to get to grips with.
It may lack challenge, but it's also a beautiful-looking game with quite a lot of innovation wrapped into each level, meaning there's enough reason to stick around, even if it means playing through levels that are easier than older players are used to. Will it give anyone that difficulty fix? Definitely not, but that's not what all games are about.
6 Hardest: Furi
A boss rush game can be a difficult thing to pull off, as it's essentially a chance for a developer to show off exactly how good they are at refining a handful of core mechanics.
Furi succeeded in being a great game because it put all of the necessary tools in the player's hands, while placing them against an increasingly difficult set of bosses. Each one could be defeated in various ways, but the set of mechanics that were at the players disposal stayed exactly the same, and it made for some furiously tense gameplay.
5 Easiest: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Going up against somebody who knows what they're doing in this game can be a hugely frustrating experience (especially if you yourself don't), but the main campaign that is placed into this game is not very difficult at all.
Even when people choose to take on bots that are at the highest difficulty, they're not too hard to take down. Anyone that is looking for a difficult battle in this game will need to either get a good internet connection or grab some friends who are really good at it!
4 Hardest: Cuphead
When people were first shown Cuphead years ago, people quite rightly fell in love with the visuals. It's like looking at an old-school cartoon, and we imagine that it will continue to be considered a beautiful-looking game for a long time yet.
However, one thing that didn't come across until people finally got their hands on it was how brutally difficult it is. There's a brilliant irony to the fact that a game that looks like it should be played by children is actually so hard that it has adults crying.
3 Easiest: New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
There was once a time when games in the Super Mario series were genuinely difficult, expecting players to pull off some brilliant jumps and to take on a lot of enemies at once. Now, it would seem that most of the games in the mainline series are attempting to get easier and easier.
While we have no problem with easy games, even we have to admit that we're not happy with the direction that these games have taken. If it was up to us, the developers would ensure that the games went back to how they used to be, offering a genuine challenge.
2 Hardest: Hotline Miami
This is a game that is all about ripping it up and starting again, with death only really being a second long handicap at most. Players are tasked with tearing into a psychedelic building and taking down every single enemy in there, without taking a single hit.
The reason this sounds so difficult is... well, because it is, but the pumping music and hypnotizing visuals will keep people coming back for a very long time. Anybody that has played this game will know just how addictive it is, no matter how many times the player is defeated.
1 Easiest: Pokémon Sun And Moon
We know that some people play this game competitively (and that's a heck of a scene to get into), but when it comes to the main campaign, the Pokémon games have always been easy to beat.
They're essentially made so that children can get from beginning to end without any real problem (so merchandising companies can then try and sell them toys that look just like their favorite Pokémon). We're not saying that it can't be good fun to play through one of these games, but they're certainly not difficult!