The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (2024)

In 2005 Microsoft's Xbox 360 debuted, and with it came achievements. Shortly after that, Sony introduced its trophy system. Achievements gave gamers something they didn't know they wanted from games, a tangible accomplishment. Today, gamers will spend hours to weeks grinding to get every achievement in a game.

RELATED:

The 10 Funniest Video Game Achievements, Ranked

There are achievements and trophies so difficult that not even 1% of people who've played a game have acquired them. Some achievements aren't hard to get as much as they simply require too much luck, like the "Yes, I Am The Real Garry!" achievement in the popular Steam game Garry's Mod. However, some achievements involve too much skill or weeks' worth of gameplay to even get close to the goal.

10 This Left 4 Dead Achievement Put Players To The Test

The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (1)

The easiest achievement on the list comes from fan favorite, Left 4 Dead.L4D is a multiplayer zombie game where gamers work together to defeat hordes of infected as they trek through various campaigns, and survive against special infected that have super abilities like throwing up bile so foul it attracts nearby hordes.

Special infected can incapacitate players and make beating some campaigns nearly impossible when played on expert mode, which is exactly what the "What Are You Trying To Prove?" achievement asks of players. The only positive thing about it is knowing that players need to beat every campaign on expert, each campaign can be played in separate sittings, and only one survivor must make it to the end.

9 The Floor Is Lava Stumps Support Players

The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (2)

Lucio is a high-speed support character in Overwatch. He's an athlete and a DJ with an upbeat attitude as positive as the beats he plays, which can either heal or speed boost his teammates. His skates give him a unique ability no other character on the roster has: wall riding.

RELATED:

10 Best Video Game Healers

"The Floor is Lava" achievement is given to Lucio players who get three finishing blows while wall riding in quick play or competitive. Once known as the hardest achievement in the game, when the backward wall riding ability was introduced, many more players could attempt it, but to this day, it eludes some.

8 Super Meat Boy When From Hard to Impossible

The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (3)

Following a trend of indie platformers in the early 2010s, Tommy Refenes and Edmund McMillen created Super Meat Boy. The game consists of a cute square character made of meat, as he traverses difficult levels that exist just to kill him and slice him to bits.

The game's difficulty is what caused the game's popularity, so it's no surprise that the "Impossible Boy" achievement has only been obtained by less than 0.1% of players. The achievement is awarded for completing every single level without dying, it's a gold trophy on Sony consoles, and thanks to the precision required to get it, some fans wonder if it's obtainable at all.

7 Bladder of Steel Is Exactly What It Sounds Like

The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (4)

Rock Band 2's "Bladder of Steel" achievement has over six hours of continuous gameplay, no pauses, and no breaks. Players must successfully play every song in "Endless Setlist 2" to unlock this achievement, and the game has built mechanisms to combat cheating.

The playlist hosts Megadeth, System of a Down, and Metallica songs, and the simplest way to beat many of them is to not play guitar and not play on the highest difficulty. But, if a player is a true completionist, they'll likely want to platinum it at the same time, making this next to impossible for any human who has to eat or go to the bathroom regularly.

6 My Kung Fu Is Stronger Is Not For The Faint Of Heart

The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (5)

Replay value is important in a video game, but few games force achievement hunters to go after over a month of gameplay minimum for one digital accomplishment. Mortal Kombat's "My Kung Fu Is Stronger" requires several goals on top of playing for all 27 characters for at least 24 hours - not including DLC or console-exclusive fighters. Each character has to have 100 victories, 100 fatalities, 150 x-ray hits landed, and 10,000 pints of blood spilled.

RELATED:

10 Best Fighting Game Campaigns

This type of task would be easy for any seasoned fighting game player to accomplish with their main, but doing this for every character is truly a test of might.

5 Messiah Puts The Energizer Bunny To Shame

The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (6)

Game developers often have a sense of humor when introducing game mechanics, including an achievement that asks players not to rely on the said mechanic. Nowhere is this trend more prevalent than in survival horror, and Outlast 2's "Messiah" achievement takes the cake on difficulty, and fright factor.

Outlast relies heavily on the usage of batteries so that the main character can see; this achievement requires the highest difficulty, no battery reloads, no checkpoints, and no form of saving. Luckily for those scared of the dark, there is a low-power night mode, making it a little easier to see the countless fail screens before this is unlocked.

4 You Asked For It Is For Those Who Like A Rush

The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (7)

Fans of survival-horror games are a unique breed. Games with a lack of threat or real challenge are heavily criticized by their player base. When The Evil Within introduced AKUMU mode, it gave players precisely what they wanted.

In this intense difficulty, the main character dies in one hit. The saving grace from players rage-quitting their attempt at the "You Asked For It" achievement is that there are still checkpoints and the ability to save, meaning they don't have to replay the entire game when they inevitably face defeat.

3 LASSO Master Challenges Chief Halo Players

The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (8)

There aren't many games that require players to play multiple titles to win an achievement, but the Halo: Master Chief Collection happily takes that honor. Halo is a classic game that requires little explanation; it revolutionized online gaming, first-person shooters, and showed what a serious threat console-exclusive titles could be.

"LASO Master" requires players to beat the four mainline Halo games on the Legendary difficulty, with all skulls on, meaning there are various modifications to gameplay, such as enemies being bulked up and harder to kill. Not only does this achievement require a chunk of time, but immeasurable skill.

2 A Gears Of War Achievement That's Seriously Hard

The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (9)

Many players argue if a game is played frequently, it's more than easy enough to achieve 100% of its achievements, but the Gears of War franchise put that idea to the test with its "Seriously 4.0" achievement.RELATED:

10 Best Xbox Games Of The 2000s

After several installations, this achievement has proven to be the most ridiculous in that it requires an absurd amount of hours, game sense, and skill. To unlock it, players have to level 5 skills to level 5, Get Re-Up (prestige) to 10, get all horde classes to level 10, complete 50 consecutive wave hordes on every map, earn a rank in each game mode, earn all ribbons, and play the campaign on insane difficulty to top it off. These feats are seriously impressive, and for the most dedicated of players.

1 World Champion Is For The Best Of The Best

The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (10)

Gamers everywhere agree that Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter has the hardest known achievement to date. While the game's player base is barren, the stats a player would have to make to achieve "World Champion" still would take upwards of a month alone.

Most players would only suggest getting this code via cheating or making multiple accounts during peak popularity for Advanced Warfighter. Creating multiple accounts would make it easier for players to rank higher if they purposely played poorly on the smurf accounts. Even with these shady tactics, the achievement would take weeks on end, proving that no matter what skill had to be shown to earn a spot as World Champion.

NEXT:

10 Video Game Series That Don't Deserve The Hate

The 10 Hardest Video Game Achievements, Ranked (2024)

FAQs

What's the hardest video game achievement? ›

Top 10 HARDEST Achievements in Video Games
  • #3: Emperor!
  • #4: The Bladder of Steel Award. ...
  • #5: Seriously 3.0. ...
  • #6: 7 Day Survivor. ...
  • #7: Universal Explorer. “World of Warcraft” (2004-) ...
  • #8: My Kung Fu is Stronger. “Mortal Kombat” (2011) ...
  • #9: Master. “Star Wars: Battlefront” (2015) ...
  • #10: Impossible Boy. “Super Meat Boy” (2010) ...

What is the hardest game to 100 percent? ›

Here are the hardest games to complete to 100%.
  1. 1 Caves Of Qud.
  2. 2 Crypt Of The NecroDancer. ...
  3. 3 XCOM: Enemy Unknown. ...
  4. 4 Dark Souls 2 - ...
  5. 5 Alien Isolation. ...
  6. 6 The Binding Of Isaac. ...
  7. 7 Shovel Knight. Multiple Campaigns And Tough Achievements. ...
  8. 8 Hollow Knight. Challenging Achievements & Optional Bosses. ...
Mar 17, 2024

What is the hardest video game ever to beat? ›

From a particularly infuriating tutorial level to the Souls games, these are our picks for 25 of the most challenging video games of all time.
  • 1 of 25. 'Bloodborne' ...
  • 2 of 25. 'Contra' ...
  • 3 of 25. 'Cuphead' ...
  • 4 of 25. 'Dark Souls' ...
  • 5 of 25. 'Demon's Souls' ...
  • 6 of 25. 'Dragon's Lair' ...
  • 7 of 25. 'Driver' tutorial. ...
  • 8 of 25. 'Dwarf Fortress'

What's the hardest Xbox achievement ever? ›

  • 7 What A Journey It Was. Hi-Fi Rush. Hi-Fi Rush. ...
  • 6 Seriously 4.0. Gears Of War 4. Gears of War 4. ...
  • 5 7 Day Survivor. Dead Rising. Dead Rising. ...
  • 4 Energizer. Outlast. Outlast. ...
  • 3 Hard To The Core. Dead Space 2. Dead Space 2. ...
  • 2 LASO Master. Master Chief Collection. ...
  • 1 World Champion. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter.
Nov 5, 2023

What is the hardest game to be pro at? ›

Some get so hard that they are nearly impossible.
  • 8 Valorant. ...
  • 7 Counter-Strike 2. ...
  • 6 Dota 2. ...
  • 5 Apex Legends. ...
  • 4 Street Fighter 6. ...
  • 3 Age of Empires 2. ...
  • 2 Starcraft 2. Micro & Macro Management, Multi-Tasking, Controlling Units. ...
  • 1 League of Legends. Champion Mastery, Team Coordination, and Mechanical Skill.
Mar 30, 2024

What is the longest game to complete 100%? ›

Gaming News: What Game Takes The Longest to Reach 100%? Reddit Users Share Their Insights
  • Summary. Final Fantasy XIV's fishing achievement alone took 10 years for one player. ...
  • Final Fantasy XIV – A Fishy Tale. ...
  • EVE Online – The Skillful Wait. ...
  • Stanley Parable – Time Offwards. ...
  • Lost Planet 2 – Speedrun Records.
May 20, 2024

What is the hardest game in the whole world? ›

10 Most difficult games out there
  • Contra. ...
  • Mega Man 9. ...
  • Flywrench. ...
  • 1001 Spikes. ...
  • Dota 2. ...
  • Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Zelda II is the black sheep of the Zelda series. ...
  • Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. A game so hard, it wasn't released outside Japan. ...
  • Ghosts 'n Goblins. Ghosts 'n Goblins is for the most hardcore players.
Jul 6, 2021

What is it called when you 100% a game? ›

completionist. A particular kind of video game player who focuses on achieving 100% completion in the games they play.

What is the longest video game to beat? ›

To be considered for the list, a game must have at least 10 main story times submitted to HowLongToBeat and something resembling an ending.
  • 5 SnowRunner - 90 Hours. ...
  • 4 Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite - 97 Hours. ...
  • 3 Persona 5 Royal - 101 Hours. ...
  • 2 Kerbal Space Program - 115 Hours. ...
  • 1 Library Of Ruina - 118 Hours.
Apr 28, 2024

Is Cuphead harder than Dark Souls? ›

Cuphead Is Hardest Due To Its High Stakes Pace

While Dark Souls is notoriously difficult for good reasons, Cuphead has proved that true punishment comes not from enemy difficulty but defeat by the smallest mistakes.

Why is Sekiro so hard? ›

You lose progress when you die. The bosses' attacks don't make them vulnerable to counter attack so easily after deflection. You have so few healing items. The combination of these factors means you have to be consistently good before your character can be strong enough to be consistently good.

What is the hardest achievement to get? ›

However, it's still rather niche, and as such, there are many brutal achievements that a lot of gamers simply don't know about.
  • 5 Better Than The Best: Sniper Elite 4. ...
  • 4 The Legendary Hero: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots. ...
  • 3 No Point In Dying: Limbo. ...
  • 2 Masterminds: Grand Theft Auto 5. ...
  • 1 Seriously 5.0: Gears 5.
Nov 29, 2023

What's the hardest game to master? ›

Chess. In a lot of ways, the difficulty of a game is subjective, but when it comes to board games, a lot of people see chess as the world's most difficult game. It's famous for its complexity, and players who are passionate about the game know just how much time goes into learning and mastering chess.

What is the most hardest game to run? ›

Forspoken. If you wonder what the most demanding game is today, the answer is clear – Forspoken. Currently, it is the most demanding project of modern times, but this is due not to its cool graphics, but rather to poor optimization. This aspect aligns Forspoken with the Next-Gen update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Madonna Wisozk

Last Updated:

Views: 6408

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (68 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Madonna Wisozk

Birthday: 2001-02-23

Address: 656 Gerhold Summit, Sidneyberg, FL 78179-2512

Phone: +6742282696652

Job: Customer Banking Liaison

Hobby: Flower arranging, Yo-yoing, Tai chi, Rowing, Macrame, Urban exploration, Knife making

Introduction: My name is Madonna Wisozk, I am a attractive, healthy, thoughtful, faithful, open, vivacious, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.