10 Games That Laugh At Your Failures
Whether you fail a task, get yourself killed, or just end up in some nonspecific fail state, it’s generally an unpleasant experience to get some manner of game over.
This is especially true if you’ve been working toward a lengthy goal like a hard boss fight or an achievement.
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Losing always sucks, but some games make it suck a little less.
Most games are content to let the failure speak for itself, but for some, that’s not quite enough. Some games need to give you a little kick on the way out.
This typically manifests as passive-aggressive comments or outright mockery at your expense, the very definition of “adding insult to injury.”
10 Duck Hunt
The Original Gaming Jerk
Perhaps one of the most infamous examples of games passive-aggressively jabbing you dates all the way back to 1984’s Duck Hunt for the NES.
If you’ve been in the gaming sphere long enough, you know it: whenever you miss a duck, your canine hunting companion will stick up out of the grass, snickering at your failure.
The dog is so universally reviled, he’s been the subject of angry memes and flash cartoons for decades now.
Interestingly, in the arcade spinoff Vs. Duck Hunt, you can actually shoot the dog, giving him a comical soot-covered face. He’ll walk by on crutches, shouting at you to shoot the ducks, not him.
9 Space Quest
The Narrator Does Not Like You
Sierra pioneered the adage of “save early, save often” for its games because, in just about all of them, you were never more than one click from a sudden, violent death.
In most Sierra games, these spoke for themselves, but in the Space Quest series, the narrator felt the need to chime in.
In every single Space Quest game, any death you experience would be accompanied by a snarky quip from the narrator. These included asking you why you bothered to get out of bed that morning, reminding you to use your radar to avoid obvious collisions, and others.
In the event the narrator didn’t have a quip about your specific means of death, he’d just congratulate you on playing the game and inform you that your performance had been “a real hoot.”
8 Batman: Arkham Asylum
Sassed On Your Deathbed
Released August 25, 2009
Developer(s) Rocksteady Studios
Engine Unreal Engine 3
ESRB T for Teen: Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
How Long To Beat 12 Hours
Metascore 92
PS Plus Availability Premium
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Within the setting of Batman, it’s not particularly common for his many villains to have him definitively at their mercy. They’ve probably thought for years about what they’d say, and in Batman: Arkham Asylum, they finally get to say it.
Whenever you’re defeated, you’re treated to a brief cutscene of the current most threatening villain standing over Batman’s body and gloating.
Joker and Harley crack jokes, Killer Croc eats you, Scarecrow waxes philosophical about fear, and so on.
In the DLC missions where you play as Joker, you get to see this from the other side. Batman and Cash admonish you before hauling you back to your cell.
7 Total Distortion
A Song Before You Go
1995’s Total Distortion is an exceptionally weird game, taking place in a dimension powered by music and rock iconography.
Naturally, as the game’s central theme, music plays a large role in just about every aspect, up to and including your sudden death.
No matter how you end up blowing it, your death is immediately followed by a unique splash screen, as well as a frustratingly catchy song about your recent demise.
You get this same song in every death scenario, though if you specifically die to one of the Guitar Warriors, the Warrior will flap his mouth to sing along.
6 Team Fortress 2
Every Merc Has Something To Say
Released October 10, 2007
Engine Source
ESRB M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
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The nine mercenaries that make up the classes of Team Fortress 2 are all rather… off-kilter gents. They take pride in what they do and aren’t afraid to yuk it up a bit when they succeed.
Every class has unique callouts that play when they kill other characters, some with additional callouts based on what they have equipped.
As an extra bit of frustration for players, being repeatedly killed by the same player incurs the notorious Domination theme, which also has unique callouts from every class.
It’s a delightful thing to inflict on someone else, but absolutely infuriating to be on the receiving end of.
5 Borderlands 2
Passive-Aggressive Marketing
In Borderlands 2, the surface of Pandora is dotted with convenient New-U stations. Whenever you’re killed, they’ll reconstruct your body for a fee.
Of course, these stations are owned by the Hyperion Corporation, which hates you and everything you stand for, even if it’s happy to take your money.
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The popular looter shooter franchise is great despite having some weak points.
As such, whenever you’re revived, the device’s automated voice will provide a passive-aggressive comment. These include bits like, “The Hyperion corporation is sure none of that was your fault” or “thank you, please die again.”
It’s annoying, but it’s the only resurrection biz in town, unfortunately.
4 Quantum Conundrum
Think Of The Things You’ll Never Do
Puzzle
Platformer
Adventure
Strategy
Released June 21, 2012
Engine Unreal Engine 3
ESRB t
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The protagonist of Quantum Conundrum is just a 12-year-old boy. Needless to say, he hasn’t really seen much of life yet, and if he falls, gets crushed, or dies in some other silly way while searching for his uncle, he won’t see much of anything.
This is why, when you die in Quantum Conundrum, you’re greeted with one of a long list of Things You Will Never Experience.
This includes both positive things like finding true love or getting your first chest hair and negative things like defaulting on a mortgage or wearing sweatpants for four weeks straight.
Some are more direct insults, like “not peaking at ten” and “not failing.”
3 Hades
Hypnos Is Just Trying To Help
Death is a regular part of life in the realm of Hades, including the way you ended up expiring. This is why, whenever Zagreus is killed, he’s greeted at the House of Hades by Hypnos.
Hypnos’ list tells him what killed you, and he’ll offer some half-baked advice on how not to get killed next time. He’s not trying to be passive-aggressive; he’s just really tired and overworked and doesn’t think about the things he says.
Amusingly, even after you finish the game’s story, there’s still plenty of jabs at your expense. Whenever you successfully make it to the surface, the narrator informs you that Zagreus will be unceremoniously killed in a silly way, like walking off a cliff or being run over by a chariot.
2 Cuphead
Insulted With Rhymes And Puns
The various bosses you battle in Cuphead are not fond of the porcelain brothers. It makes sense; you’re there to beat them up and claim their souls on behalf of the Devil, after all.
Whenever Cuphead, Mugman, and/or Ms. Chalice are defeated, you’ll get a splash screen of the boss making a snarky comment.
Not only do they give you a good jab for your failure, but most of these quips are rhymes and/or puns, which is extra-insulting.
As an additional layer, every boss has several of these quips available, one for each of their combat phases. Even if you make it past a phase that’s been giving you trouble, they’ve still got more insults locked and loaded.
1 Elden Ring
“Put These Foolish Ambitions To Rest”
Released February 25, 2022
Engine Proprietary
ESRB M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
How Long To Beat 58 Hours
X|S Optimized yes
Metascore 96
Platforms That Support Crossplay PS4 & PS5 and Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
PS Plus Availability N/A
Steam Deck Compatibility yes
OpenCritic Rating Mighty
Cross Save no
Cross-Platform Play PS4 & PS5 and Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
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The majority of residents and creatures in The Lands Between of Elden Ring are barely sapient, let alone capable of speech. As such, when you die in this game, it usually goes without comment.
The exception to this is when you die against one of the game’s major boss encounters, usually one of the Great Rune holders.
Whenever the bosses kill you, they’ll add a little jab at your expense. Godrick will tell you you’re not even fit to graft, Messmer drops a blanket insult on all Tarnished, and Melania will merely state her name and title (which has an implication that she’s way out of your league).
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Even though they may be disturbing, creepy, or scary, you’ve got to admit, Game Over screens are a nice touch.
