Games are a form of art, but first and foremost they are a source of entertainment. This is why the primary goal of any game should be to provide joy to the user, right? Of course, this point of view crumbles the minute you come across a difficult game. Even though these games take pride in torturing the gamer, they are incredibly popular and loved. Let's take a plunge into the rabbit-hole and figure out what makes these games appealing.

Firstly, difficult games have progression systems pretty different from the mainstream. In most games, there is a steady incline in difficulty. The games hold your hand until you're reasonably proficient in most of the gameplay elements and strategies. Conversely, difficult games chokeslam you into the deep end. With little to no assistance from the game, you have to figure out how to survive.

A perennial classic is the Dark Souls franchise, as well as the recently popularised Cuphead. For these, the time you spend playing the game isn't proportional to the amount of progress you make. Regardless of how long you spend trying to overcome a particular level or boss, the game will put up a brick wall until you learn to play by its rules. You'll have to learn the movesets of the enemies, master the blocks, dodges and parries, and sell your soul to Kojima. Because of the number of hurdles you pass on the way to success, you learn to appreciate every little victory.

The little victories don't come easy, however. When playing difficult games, you will die. Repeatedly. Sometimes that is all you'll do. To some, the repeated deaths are enraging, which is why these games aren't for everyone. Some people, however, don't know when to stop. For these people, every death, every defeat adds fuel to the fire. They may fling away their controller in disgust. They may call the game unfair. At the end of the day, however, they will push on to completion.

When you finally complete a difficult game, you'll look back to realise you're standing on a mountain of corpses. Corpses for all the times you've died, of course, but also your past selves. You look back and realise that you've left behind your past and grown into a more competent self. Even though you're sitting alone in your room, you feel like you've done something you can be proud of.

These sensations are somehow amplified in roguelikes  — games which feature permadeath. Any and all progress you make in a single playthrough is wiped out the moment you die. No saves, no checkpoints. Two of my favourites are Risk of Rain and Nuclear Throne, which are like your favourite teacher- tough but fair. Each time you die, you realise the game isn't angry with you, just disappointed. In each playthrough you learn from your mistakes and eventually, you cross the first level.

Long story short, difficult games are like your parents. They'll have unreasonable goals for you to reach, and when you finally manage to reach one, they'll throw another, and another. You'll still love them at the end of the day, however. Just don't call others filthy casuals if you end up playing these games. 

"With a heart of ash and a PC of potato, Wasique Hasan could use some help. Send some memes and cheer him up at facebook.com/hasique.wasan"