10 Games You Should Recommend to Your Enemies and Ruin Their Day

What’s the best way to deal with an enemy or just mess with your bro in this world?

Forget picking a fight with them online. The real power move is handing them a game with a big, fake smile and saying, "Dude, this is a masterpiece, you absolutely have to try it."

Today, we’re counting down the top 10 games practically made for your enemies or besties. We're talking blood-pressure-spiking rage games, bizarre hit-or-miss traps, and absolute disasters in gaming history that are guaranteed to make them question reality.

Suffering Simulators

This section is dedicated to classic Souls-like games, acting as pure "suffering simulators."

With those agonizingly long boss runbacks, brutal death penalties, and malicious level designs built specifically to ruin your day, these games will easily send anyone's blood pressure through the roof.

1. Elden Ring

Steam Review	93%
Release	2022
Developer	FromSoftware
Avr. Playtime	120-130 hours

As the peak of the Souls genre, this game is perfectly tailored for your frenemy, someone you don't hate that much.

It works best on total newbies who have never played a Souls game and have zero clue how to "cheese" bosses. You can just sit back and enjoy the show as they step out of the tutorial, run straight into the Tree Sentinel, and get absolutely stomped into the dirt.

When first starting out, everyone goes through that phase of sheer paranoia. The enemies are tough, the map is massive, and thanks to the lack of hand-holding, players often run around like headless chickens. Every dark corner in a catacomb or castle hides an enemy just waiting to backstab you. Not to mention the classic "Does not open from this side" message that will drive perfectionists insane. It’s a fantastic way to let them personally experience Hidetaka Miyazaki’s pure malice.

Of course, the game is also incredibly charming. You are taking a massive risk here: your enemy might actually fall in love with it, sink hundreds of hours into it, and end up thanking you.

 

2. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Steam Review	95%
Release	2019
Developer	FromSoftware
Avr. Playtime	50-55 hours

If you want them to feel complete and utter powerlessness, Sekiro is the perfect gift.

There’s no traditional RPG leveling system here, so they can't just grind for hours to over-level and crush a boss. They also can’t summon a co-op buddy for a 2v1 beatdown. As the game famously reminds you, "Hesitation is defeat."

You can watch them die endlessly to the Corrupted Monk, or get stuck on Genichiro for dozens of hours. Listening to the endless "clang, clang" of parries as they fail over and over again is an absolute treat for both the eyes and ears.

 

3. Dark Souls

Steam Review	92%
Release	2011 (Remastered 2018)
Developer	FromSoftware
Avr. Playtime	45-55 hours

Let them experience the true meaning of "nostalgia goggles and retro torture."

For gamers used to modern action titles, rolling in the original Dark Souls feels as clunky as moving underwater. Not only is fast travel completely disabled for the first half of the game, forcing you to walk everywhere, but the world is also packed with classic cruelty. The agonizingly long runback to the Bed of Chaos, the greatbow-wielding Silver Knights in Anor Londo, the Capra Demon ambushing you in a tiny room with his two dogs...

The gameplay is just fun enough to make them want to finish it, but the game is constantly trying to screw them over. It is the perfect recipe for a mental breakdown.

 

4. Dark Souls 2

Steam Review	84%
Release	2014
Developer	FromSoftware
Avr. Playtime	55-65 hours

The absolute peak of "gank squads" in Souls history, ready to cure anyone's ego.

They will definitely question their sanity when they realize their usually reliable dodge-rolls can't avoid a single attack, all because they don't know about the bizarre, hidden stat called "Adaptability" (ADP) that they must level up. Even worse is the death penalty. Every time they die, their maximum health bar shrinks a little bit, capping out at half health. It’s enough to drive a person mad.

You can sit quietly and enjoy the show as they get turned into a pincushion by homing soul arrows shot by mages from a mile away in the Shrine of Amana. Or watch as they turn a corner, only to get mercilessly mobbed by seven or eight armed guys at once with zero honor. They will absolutely grind their teeth in hatred for you.

 

The Hit-or-Miss Traps

These games are absolute traps.  They aren't inherently bad. In fact, they have some incredible strengths.

But if your enemy prefers fast-paced action, lacks patience, or simply doesn't "vibe" with the game's unique frequency, playing them will feel like a prison sentence.

5. Crimson Desert

Steam Review	83%
Release	2026
Developer	Pearl Abyss
Avr. Playtime	50-55 hours

Released recently in March 2026, this major title saw its Steam approval rating plummet to a shocking 57% in its first couple of days.

The pacing of the story is jarring, dialogues drag on forever, and the interactions are unnecessarily complex with an absurd number of button combos. On top of that, it suffers from various Quality of Life issues: the inventory is pitifully small, and the lock-on system is downright atrocious, torturing players at every turn.

However, its rating eventually bounced back and stabilized around 83%, just because it’s the ultimate "hit-or-miss" experience. If you can immerse yourself, appreciate the subtle foreshadowing in quests, resonate with its wealth of fascinating content, and have the patience to explore, you'll discover its unparalleled charm.

But if you don't catch that specific vibe and prefer fast-paced games, it’s an infuriating, blood-pressure-spiking mess. Gift it to that specific kind of enemy, and the results will be spectacular.

 

6. Dragon's Dogma 2

Steam Review	62%
Release	2024
Developer	Capcom
Avr. Playtime	40-45 hours

This game has earned a loud and proud nickname: the "Goblin Extermination Simulator."

Much like Crimson Desert, it is incredibly polarizing. People who love it, really love it; but those who don't will just be disgusted by its mechanics and left in a state of blind rage.

The optimization is poor, hardware requirements are steep, yet the visuals are just okay. Fast travel is a massive headache and costs expensive in-game currency. The guidance is atrociously vague, and the writing is as plain as tap water. The worst part? The severe lack of enemy variety. No matter where they go, every few steps they’ll run into another pack of palette-swapped goblins, saurians, and harpies, until they are literally sick of fighting them.

Yet, its strengths are just as prominent. It boasts excellent combat and boss designs, a vibrant breathing world, and the unique companionship of your Pawn. When you're camping in the wild and fighting alongside your followers, the immersive feeling of being on a true medieval fantasy adventure is unmatched. It all comes down to whether your enemy can survive the initial torture.

 

The Absolute Disasters

If you truly hate your enemy, or just want to pull a massive prank on your best bro, make them play these.

Enter the infamous "Big Three" of 2023, a year historically known in the community for dropping some massive gaming garbage. Calling these "bad" is an understatement. This is weaponized suffering.

7. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum

Steam Review	41%
Release	2023
Developer	Daedalic Entertainment
Avr. Playtime	13-15 hours

The undisputed king of cyber-garbage.

Despite being set in the epic Lord of the Rings universe, you don't get to play as the badass Aragorn or Legolas. Instead, you're stuck controlling Gollum, who looks like an ugly, drowned rat. The graphics look like they were dragged out of 2008, and the UI is so cheap it looks like someone randomly typed it up using default Microsoft Word fonts.

The gameplay consists of nothing but broken, infuriating stealth mechanics, hiding in bushes throwing rocks at guards, and getting lost in mazes with terrible navigation. Playing this feels as painful as staring at a blank wall for ten hours straight.

 

8. Skull Island: Rise of Kong

Steam Review	35%
Release	2023
Developer	IguanaBee
Avr. Playtime	10 hours

An absolute freak of nature that looks worse than a 2003 PS2 game.

The environment textures are so rough it looks like an unfinished Roblox test server, and the combat requires nothing but brainlessly mashing a single button. The most infamous moment? During an "epic" dinosaur boss fight cutscene, the game literally flashes a static JPEG image of a dinosaur on the screen with zero special effects to fool the players.

It’s not even "so bad it's funny". It just leaves you with a massive, hollow void, knowing your money and lifespan have been utterly wasted.

 

9. Redfall

Steam Review	40%
Release	2023
Developer	Arkane Austin
Avr. Playtime	10-15 hours

A game nailed to the pillar of shame with a 40% rating. It’s so bad that even the executives who funded it couldn't play it for more than 30 minutes.

Marketed as a co-op vampire shooter, it drops you into an empty, lifeless open world. The vampire AI is practically brain-dead—they frequently get stuck T-posing on park benches or just stand completely still waiting for you to headshot them. They couldn't even be bothered to animate the cutscenes, opting instead to force-feed you a PowerPoint slideshow with voiceovers.

Official patches have somewhat stitched it together so it's kinda "playable" now and slightly less awful. If you're curious, you can try it yourself, or better yet, serve it to your "frenemy" for a taste test.

 

The Psychological Warfare

10. Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy

Steam Review	82%
Release	2017
Developer	Bennett Foddy
Avr. Playtime	8 hours

If the previous 9 games weren't enough, this is your ultimate weapon of psychological warfare.

People say: if your life feels too perfect, play this—it will humble you and crush your ego. If your life feels terrible, play this too—it will show you that your real-life problems are actually no big deal.

You control a bald man stuck in a cauldron, wielding a sledgehammer with incredibly awkward mouse controls. The most terrifying feature? No checkpoints.

When your enemy spends three sweaty hours dragging themselves halfway up the mountain, only for their hand to slip, sending them plummeting all the way back to the starting point... the narrator will smoothly chime in with some sarcastic, philosophical quotes.

Before gifting this game, it's recommended you book them a therapist and a keyboard repairman in advance.

 

Conclusion

So there you have it, 10 perfect tools for digital revenge.

Whether you want to crush their spirit with brutal boss fights, trap them in an empty and boring open world, or make them smash their keyboard with a bald guy in a pot, these 10 games will do the job perfectly.

Next time you see your enemy (or a best bro you really want to prank), you know exactly what to do. Just put on your best smile, hand them one of these games, and say: "Trust me, it's a masterpiece. You'll love it."

Happy gifting, and enjoy watching them suffer!