10 Hardcore Challenges Gamers Set THEMSELVES

If you've got the time, you WILL be rewarded.

By Johnny Owens /

Most people enjoy a good challenge rather than simply having something handed to them. It makes us feel like we earned our reward. For some people (read: weirdos) though, the challenge is its own reward.

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This is precisely why the term 'Soulsborne' is a thing to begin with at all, or why so many people decided to start playing chess after watching The Queen's Gambit.

Anyway, yes, seeking out a challenge is nothing new, but then there's what this lot decided to do.

Now, what you'll find in this list is a combination of two types of challenge. One is the kind that, yes, whilst insane still had a discernible justification behind it. And the other kind that...honestly just defies logic whatsoever. Masochism? Yeah, let's just go with masochism.

So come one and all on a journey through some of the most hardcore challenges gamers set for themselves and shout a resounding "WHAT?!" at the top of your collective lungs at almost every single entry.

10. Speedrunning In General - Pretty Much Every Game

Personally, I find speedrunning an absolutely fascinating phenomenon - despite being crap at it myself. It's equal parts baffling and also ironically makes total sense.

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When you heard about it for the first time, chances are you were slightly puzzled or it just made no sense at all. Why on earth would someone try and essentially break a 'toy' - for lack of a better word. Where's the fun in just trying to get something over and done with as quickly as possible?

But the more you think about it, the more sense it makes. How many times have you played the same game over and over in the exact same way? Why not try and make new experiences and new challenges every time instead?

Combine that with the fact that the speedrunning community are generally a sweet bunch who genuinely want to help one another, it's not actually about victory necessarily. There's something about speedrunning that acts as something of an antithesis to the toxicity often related with the gaming community. And honestly? I envy that I'm no good at it.

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