I could list a few, but I think some folks would give me that look that says, "Wait, you had problems with THAT game?!?"

Interesting, though that's a completely different type of difficulty. As far as turn based strategy goes I'd probably pick SoD's levels as the toughest I've ever played. But If I had to pick the hardest game I've ever played overall then I guess it would also be a 2D sidescroller type game. Possibly those 3 'the guy' levels from super meat boy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTPT2kv6PXw
That's where I rage-quit the game. I managed to reach the 2nd level somehow, but quit not long after. Annoyingly the third level doesn't look that bad at all :\

By the way, if you like difficult games like stargunner / gradius, then you should definitely try Hydorah
It's an absolute love letter to the genre and it's free as well. I also discovered just now that there's a super version on steam too with an actual demo. I'll have to try that out over the weekend.

There's always someone that wants to do that :P Or at least almost always. If you want a guaranteed reaction though then list some games you found scary. Some people will stop resuscitating their own pets, hold their breath and run back into a house with a carbon monoxide leak just to let you know they didn't find those games scary at all...

Ziggurat. Cannot progress past level 3, even with unlocked character.

Both SOD and Stargunner can be uncompromisingly unfair. In the former, the game regularly puts you up against AI opponents that have ridiculous advantages in numbers, economy, mobility, magic, etc. In the latter, the deceptively simpler game can obliterate your ship's shields within seconds and actually punishes you if you burn through too many lives. Make no mistake: SOD is sadistic enough to require many restarts or reloads, but if you ask me, it at least gives you a fighting chance. With Stargunner, even if you somehow make it through a level with most of your lives intact, you're almost guaranteed to be one-shot killed by the level boss(es). I'll add that while strategic mistakes are common in HOMM, even the absurd difficulty of the harder campaigns aren't likely to "tilt" you like an action game would. That's how I look at it.

I wasn't familiar with that game, but I learned about I Wanna Be The Guy from Jason Pullara, the Youtuber who inspired me to try Stargunner. Those games sound like they were intentionally designed to give players severe migraines, so I doubt I'll ever attempt them myself!

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm definitely going to try it sometime. Apart from the game itself, I'm also interested in hearing the soundtrack. It sounds like my kind of music.

The Impossible Game, but it's not on GOG.

Gameplay

Subterrain is a painful, repetitive grindfest. Is that difficulty/hardness, though? Well, it doesn't require much skill to keep punching yourself in the face, but that is what playing Subterrain feels like. Probably the only game on GOG that I regret buying.

HoMM can kind of tilt you in that you might be busy losing the numbers game without knowing it. That is, a good hour or more before you actually meet the main enemy army you may already be too far behind with unit numbers to stand a chance. And when you finally meet the enemy force with your 500 strong army you find that he's archers alone are 500 strong :P

That was a so called secret world level in Super Meat Boy, which are secrets levels that you have to unlock. Typically their difficulty is all over the place, and that 'the guy' one is an extreme example. The 'normal' super meat boy levels aren't like that at all. It's difficult sure, but a lot of fun and not sadistically designed by any means. Well, except perhaps for the last bonus chapter, Cotton Alley :P

Final Doom - The Plutonia Experiment. Ultra-Violence difficulty. If that isn't enough, try Nightmare mode ;-)
Incubation - The Wilderness Missions (part of Battle Isle pack)

Off topic: Am I losing my mind, or did you ask Support to make the first letter of your nickname lower-case? Because I could swear it used to be "ToxicTom".

Can't agree more that game SUCKS!

eador genesis... do everything right and still lose
I really love this game because winning means you did things right and got lucky

p.s, the remake is a busted mess so don't mix them up

Good one.

Getting support to do something could and should be considered the hardest game on GOG. :D


I joke. Don't delete my account. :P

It's always been with a small "t".

I never felt this way. I found it addictive and loved how I got better and better even though it seemed to be impossible to do it. I actually like the game. But it is hard for sure and I probably will never be able to play it to the end.