We play video games because of the emotions and feelings they bring out within us. That could be in the form of happiness, joy, longing, love, and sometimes even fear. Usually, only the latter brings a sense of tension.
Tension is important in gaming because it allows for a sense of relief or accomplishment to wash over us once a stressful moment has passed. That moment isn’t just a relief, but it usually inspires some pretty good feelings in us. Tension and stress in games aren’t always driven by fear or horror - but regardless of what the cause is, it can drive anyone to some really memorable gaming experiences.
Updated on May 4, 2023, by Sam Hallahan: When you think of stressful games, you might first think of horror. However, plenty of simple and colorful games are there to make us panic, feel on edge, or just flail around while we try to figure out what on Earth is going on. We've added more games for you to flail around in.
12 Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Yup, that's right - Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a relaxing game that can be almost entirely stressful. Why? Because we need to make our islands perfect, that's why.
You can spend hours on this island paradise doing nothing but staring at your map, seeing some villagers you don't like stick around indefinitely, and being loomed over by a whole heap of cliffs that you really want to reshape but you know you have to do it tile by tile. They said being Resident Representative would be fun, but little did you know the responsibilities that would be put on you.
And don't even get us started on the debt.
11 Fall Guys
Fall Guys is a game of pure joy and silliness. Running an obstacle course as one of these oblong little fellas can be stressful, but it’s hard not to laugh as you’re knocked off into oblivion for the twelfth time.
A combination of things makes the game stressful. A lot of the levels utilize a timer or only allow a certain number of players to finish. Some are a game of survival. No matter what you’re going up against, there’s something nipping at your heels as you race to not be eliminated - again.
10 Subnautica
If you suffer from thalassophobia, or a deep and intense fear of deep water, Subnautica is probably not the game for you. It is an action-adventure game with options for laid-back modes, but if you’re wanting a truly stressful and rewarding experience, survival mode is the way to go.
You’ll manage your health, hunger, thirst, and oxygen as you fight to survive in the waters of an alien planet. You could get turned around in an underwater ruin or come across a terrifying creature who wants you for lunch - either way, it might be too late by the time you realize.
9 Darkest Dungeon
It would be a missed opportunity to talk about stressful games and not mention Darkest Dungeon. It is a dungeon-crawling RPG that includes a stress mechanic. When things don’t go well for your characters, their stress level heightens.
It is possible to lower it, but if it reaches the peak, your character can go insane or have a heart attack and die. If one does die, that increases others’ stress and in turn, can cause a chain reaction of death. It’s a very finicky balancing game.
8 Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Horror games, by default, can be stressful. In an effort to survive, your blood is gonna be pumping. Resident Evil 2 Remake’s biggest cause of stress is when Mr. X is hunting you down in the police station.
He is relentless, and his large, hulking frame and inability to be taken down only add to that tension. If you’re playing on PC, you could alleviate some of that stress by using a funny mod to make Mr. X’s model Thomas the Tank Engine or have him squeak whenever he walks.
7 Fortnite
Fortnite is a game of survival. You could even compare it to being a digital version of The Hunger Games with just a lot of pop culture references. There are a variety of ways to play - you could go in guns blazing and try to kill as many people as you can, or you could try to be stealthy and pick off the last few people when you can.
What really ramps up the tension is that the availability of areas to run, fight, and hide in becomes smaller and smaller as a toxic storm encroaches on the world map. A gas mask won’t help for this one, folks.
6 Overcooked 1 + 2
If you want to have a frantic, hilarious, and stressful romp through a kitchen without having to get a job as a chef, Overcooked will give you that experience - and the best part is that it’s even more fun and there are no real-life repercussions if you mess up someone’s dinner.
Overcooked has you spinning multiple plates (thankfully not literally) and if you and your team aren’t working together efficiently, everything can come crashing down. Though it will stress you out and get your blood pumping, it is one of the best ways to build trust and efficiency with a group in local multiplayer.
5 Alien: Isolation
If you’ve seen any of the Alien movies, you know how terrifying the Xenomorph is. Fancy spending some time in that world? Alien: Isolation will let you experience all of that tension and terror.
The game relies heavily on stealth as you maneuver your way around and away from one of horror’s biggest creepy crawlies. The game uses a motion tracker, but it can be loud, so it’s best if used strategically as to not alert the big baddie to your location. Couldn’t it have come with a mute button?
4 Mario Kart 8
Mario Kart probably doesn’t strike most as a stressful and tense time, but when you're in first place, hit by a blue shell, and passed by half a game’s racers - yeah, that's tense. Mario Kart was even named one of the most stressful games in a scientific study.
It's very competitive nature lends itself to fostering a feeling of tension. Who likes to lose? No one, that’s who. Mario Kart is a fun game to play with friends and family. What isn’t fun is getting smacked in the rear with a red shell or blitzed through by a flashing, Star-infused Donkey Kong right before you hit the finish line.
3 Amnesia: Collection
Many, many things go bump in the night in the Amnesia series. Sometimes they’re invisible, sometimes it could just be a hallucination, and sometimes it is just the dark playing with your head. No matter what, though, Amnesia is non-stop tension.
The first game follows Daniel as he explores a dark castle called Brennenburg. Over the course of the game, he’ll question his sanity as things fall apart around him and he knows something is out there looking for him. All the games in the series could easily be marked as one of the most stressful games of all time.
2 Outlast
Play this with the lights on. You’ll be thankful. Outlast is a grotesque, fear-fueled, and tense journey through Mount Massive Asylum in Colorado. In the game, you’re armed with only a camcorder.
There is no way to harm enemies or see your health, and you must make your way through a dilapidated psychiatric hospital. A lot of the game takes place in the dark, but thankfully, your camcorder can let you see in the dark - however, there’s limited battery life and batteries, so you have to use it sparingly. It's truly one of the most stressful and scary that will constantly have you on edge.
1 Minecraft
That's right, the survival game about blocks and mining is one of the most stressful and tense things out there, and you all know why. In Minecraft, when you're exploring deep cave complexes, carrying a full inventory of valuables... why, that's the perfect time to completely lose your sense of direction.
Getting back home in the dark, with monsters around every corner, and - worse yet - some random sound effects that will absolutely shake you up at maximum volume. And then, in the worst-case scenario, you die and drop all of your items. Now you need to get back to wherever you were, grab them before they disappear, and then get out safely. Or, you know, just make a new world and start over.