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Contrast [[Sequel Difficulty Drop]], [[Easier Than Easy]].
{{examples}}
== Live-Action TV ==
* The kids [[Game Show]] ''[[Knightmare]]'' qualifies, especially in earlier years, having 8 winners across 8 seasons, and no winners in seasons 1 and 3. To be fair, it was based on a desire to be a televised version of a mid-80s fantasy RPG, and as such a bit of [[Nintendo Hard]] is to be expected...but to the point that there are still debates, by fans of the show who are now adults, as to what the correct solution to some of the challenges was? And riddles that required surprisingly in-depth knowledge of Arthurian legend?
** One set of winners was even invited onto ''[[Blue Peter]]'',the [[Long Runner|long-running]] [[Magazine Show]] that aired on the competing [[BBC 1]]. ''That'' is how much of an event it was.
* Another, more recent,{{when}} kids [[Game Show]]; ''[[Eliminator]]''. The Easy questions were your typical kids TV fare. Your Normal questions were hard for a kids gameshow, but not too bad since the kids got to choose what difficulty level of question to answer based on the category...the hard questions, on the other hand, would be considered at the very least tricky on an adult gameshow. Arguably justified by the fact the top prize was a Safari, and kids could quit before answering hard pointers (which became almost a requirement to stay in the game), but to the point that adult gameshow fans have stated that they would only go for hard in categories they're extremely strong in (...And, at that, reluctantly) unless they absolutely have to - assuming they were on an adult adaptation of the show that kept the same (non-relative) question difficulty?
* ''[[Legends of the Hidden Temple]]''. The final temple run didn't ''look'' that hard, as long as the kid was in decent shape. It was a maze of 12 rooms, each of which had some minor task to do, which ranged from laughably easy (The Throne of the Pretender was ''sit on the throne'',) to kind of difficult (The Shrine of the Silver Monkey was a three-piece puzzle, which seems to stump everyone.) However, the show had a less than 25% success rate. Why? [[Nightmare Fuel|Temple Guardians]], that's why. 3 were placed in random rooms and there was no indication as to where or when they would pop up. Usually, they were unavoidable, regardless of what path you took. Sometimes you would even be caught by one in the unskippable first room. Basically, if you didn't earn all those [[1-Up|Pendants of Life]] in the challenges, [[Luck-Based Mission|and the path you chose just happened to go past 2 or 3 guardians]], [[Failure Is the Only Option|failure would be the only possible outcome for your team.]]
** Another one was the Jester's Court - that wasn't a very fair task, because you could see people having an easy time with it, but that was because they had to hit all the buttons at once; and that wasn't easy if you were short.
* The final round ("Let's go to the map!") on ''[[Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' actually had its difficulty ramped up as the show ran on, because too many kids were winning and [[PBS]] couldn't afford to pay for trips. Seven countries in 45 seconds, not so bad. Eight cities or bodies of water in 45 seconds? Oh dear. Not to mention that the map tended to be someplace unfamiliar to American audiences like Africa, and it was ''upside-down'' from the contestant's perspective.
** Don't forget that the contestant had to wait until the host completed reading his question before running over to the proper location. Often, these were long questions, and even if he read them fast they took upwards of 5 seconds to finish. Thus, there were many instances in which a contestant was very fast and perfect about each location, but still lost because the host took too long in his part. Often, the bonus round was humanly impossible to complete.
** Although they took the long readings out after a season or two. Eventually he would just say "Carmen went to Zaire".
*** The next season, Where in Time, was even worse. The final mission was "The Trail of Time." Roughly, the kids had to run from one gate to the next, answering questions or performing a small task (turn a wheel, pull a rope.) The questions were long (albeit rather simple, usually a two-choice multiple choice.) But the tasks were time consuming and, probably the worst offender, the gates were not in order, rather just jumbled around. Even with the Engine Crew waving with airport flashlights, kids kept going to the wrong gates.
* Teams on ''[[The Amazing Race]]'', even those who have been fans of the series for years, have finished the first leg in shock of how difficult the Race actually is. This could be in part that, while very little of the travel portions are shown on TV, teams can sometimes spend hours looking for flights to their next destination, and all the sitting around and waiting doesn't help either.
* Pretty much any Quiz and Stunt Game Show. Most think it can be a walk in the park to easily beat something you can trounce through easily with your skill and knowledge. It isn't, especially if they give out big money, especially in front of millions of viewers, and especially if those millions of viewers could put you in an [[Epic Fail]] montage if you fail horribly.
* When you watch ''[[Survivor]]'' on TV, it looks somewhat easy for what they're doing. I mean, a kid can do this, right? Well, when you watch it on the TV, you're well fed, well rested, see what's going on in the other camp, etc.
==
* [[Katamino]] and its derivatives. Look at those colorful pentominos. Now try to form a 5x9 rectangle with them.
== Video Games ==
=== Action Game ===
* The ''[[Super Star Wars]]'' games on the SNES. Like the Mario series, you may not expect these games to be easy, but these games ranked up there in difficulty with the ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' and ''[[Ghosts 'n Goblins|Ghosts N Goblins]]'' series.
** Note that the unpublished but leaked PC port is nowhere near as difficult.
* Much time spent at the PC cursing the ''[[LEGO]] [[Lego Adaptation Game|Star Wars]]'' games and shouting "It's a game for ''eight year olds''!! It shouldn't be this hard!!"
* ''[[Geometry Wars]]'', ''[[Einhander]]'', and other arcade-style games for those not aware of how hard these always are.
* How hard would you expect a shooter starring a cute little yellow ''[[Alien Hominid]]'' to be? Well, if you know the inspiration was ''[[Metal Slug]]'', that should answer ''all'' your questions.
* To some extent, most of Treasure's output falls under this. With their whimsical art style and characters, you might not expect (for instance) ''[[Dynamite Headdy]]'' or ''[[Mischief Makers]]'' to be as hard as they are.
* ''Noah's Ark'', one of the few Bible games [[The Angry Video Game Nerd]] doesn't think outright sucks, is actually insanely difficult, despite its cutesy graphics and, well, status as a Bible game, especially chapter 4. Of course, it's made by the same people who made Contra. But pressing [[Konami Code|up up down down etc.]] on the title screen does nothing.
* ''[[Battletoads]]'', for the time. Now this game is famous for its difficulty alone, but back then, when the reputation wasn't so widespread yet, you didn't expect a game that had two cute frogs with ridiculously cartoony special moves and colorful stages to be hard. [[Memetic Mutation|WRONG.]]
* Hmm, a third-person actioner/shooter/platformer called ''[[Darkened Skye]]''. Involving Skittles, you say? Probably finish it in an hour. Wow, why am I dying so much? These jumps, especially involving those freakin' sinking lily pads, are HARD, and the enemies are really good shots! What, there are puzzles too?!
* ''[[Mega Man Powered Up]]'' may have inflicted the ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' cast with [[Super-Deformed|Super Deformities]], but the difficulty department definately doesn't slack off, and [[100% Completion]] for New Style mode ''requires'' you not only to complete every stage on every difficulty, but ''also'' to use every character for each of these difficulties, even characters who [[This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman|clearly aren't suited for certain stages at all]]. And hey, the original NES levels are available for you to tackle too, and they're all in Old Style mode...
* The less-than-well-known Sega arcade game ''Flicky'', which was later ported to the Genesis, is about a cute mother bluebird trying to save her chicks from hungry cats and iguanas that want to eat them. The levels are only as big as the screen, and are very brightly colored. The chicks don't actually die if the aforementioned enemies get to them (unlike ''[[Zombies Ate My Neighbors]]'')...but Flicky does if she touches a cat, and the cats like to ambush her. And the iguanas can run along any surface at about the same speed as Flicky can run. Flicky can't fly, only jump high. Your only defense are apples, telephones, cups, and other objects which Flicky can pick up by touching them and throw...but they use the same button as jumping.
=== Adventure Game ===
* The first ''[[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' game is surprisingly hard to anyone who came to the series by its sequels. You probably heard the second game is the hardest of the series, but the first game can be a surprise since its difficulty is not as discussed much.
** Eiji Aonuma, who is one of THE most important people in the making of the ''Zelda'' series, has never beaten the first game.
* The first ''[[Metroid]]'', since, unlike the sequels (and even the [[Video Game Remake|enhanced remake]]), there is no map, you can't shoot kneeling, [[Copy and Paste Environments|all the rooms look the same]], and when you continue you only have 30 health no matter how many energy tanks you have.
** While not as difficult as the original ''Metroid'', those who went from the first ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' to ''[[Metroid Prime]] 2'' [[Sequel Difficulty Spike|were shocked by an utterly unforgiving game]] with large worlds, few save points and some notoriously difficult boss fights such as [[That One Boss|The Boost Guardian, The Spiderball Guardian]] and others, and finally a second dimension that hurt Samus when she went into it.
*** You fight almost all of the bosses in this dimension, essentially turning every fight into a [[Time Limit Boss]] if you can't manage to stay in a safe zone without getting shot. Some of the later fights had NO safe zones in the arena at all.
* ''[[An Untitled Story]]'' is an indie [[Metroidvania]] game about a cute egg.. which has plenty of pixel-perfect jumps and many bosses tend to have a [[Bullet Hell]] phase.
* [[LucasArts]]' Zak [[Mac Cracken]] And The Alien Mindbenders looks like a simple adventure game set in the city, with a cheerful character and humorous premise. It quickly becomes apparent that almost nothing you do in this game makes sense in real life, and you have to try many ridiculous items to find something that works. If you don't pick up something before going somewhere it will be [[Lost Forever]] and you won't be able to progress when you need it. Not only that, but on occasion you're going against an (unseen) time limit which will send you back to earlier in the game if you don't succeed, and you can be trapped or killed quite easily...which means you have to load the game.
=== Fighting Game ===
* The first two [[Mortal Kombat]] games seem to be the best example - simple controls and limited movements...but insanely hard.
* [[Tekken]] 2 is much harder than the other entries in the series, despite being the game where the series came into its own.
** Tekken 3's Tekken Force Mode starts off as a relatively simple sidescrolling beat em up. This is until you get to Dr B, who you face after beating the mode four times. As you have one life in this mode, If you lose to him you have to complete the mode four more times in order to face him again. Luckily there is a way of getting around this by playing a certain number of matches in versus mode.
** Tekken 6's Scenario Campaign mode gets frustratingly difficult in the later stages, specifically when you have to defeat four or five different bosses within the same level.
* [[Soul Edge]] was reportedly so difficult in the arcades that its difficulty was toned down for a rerelease. The rereleased version was released on the Playstation as Soul Blade and has moments where it is still extremely difficult (such as the final boss, [[Soul Edge]]). The other Soul games can occasionally have moments like this (Soul Calibur III's Night Terror being the best known example).
=== Platform Game ===
* ''[[Super Mario Bros the Lost Levels|Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.]]'' The series isn't known for easy games, but one theory has this game not released in the US at first because of its difficulty, more than it being a [[Mission Pack Sequel]]. Please note that this is an NES game, so that difficulty is in comparison to the ''original'' [[Nintendo Hard]] games! At the beginning of the game there's an easy method to get over 100 lives. ''You will need them all.''
** Don't let the bright and colorful graphics, along with characters appealing to kids, fool you in ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'' and ''[[Super Mario Sunshine]]''. They have lots of surprise challenges/obstacles that throws off even the most hardened platform gamers. The most famous ones are the challenges presented by the green lumas in ''Galaxy''.
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*** And ''Nightmare in Dreamland'' is actually ''easier'' than ''Kirby's Adventure'', of which it is a remake.
* ''[[Loco Roco]]'''s cute and whimsical art direction masks its diabolically evil gameplay in ''Midnight Carnival'' spinoff.
* ''[[Dynamite Headdy]]'' is bright and cartoonish, but only a little harder than you might expect, until it ramps up significantly during and after the flying world. The Nasty Gatekeeper (following the much easier normal Gatekeeper) is pretty much the definition of
** That's the American/European version, by the way. The original Japanese version is still not easy, but the difficulty level is much more reasonable (and it gives you 3 continues by default).
*** The Japanese version has its own surprise difficulty (though technically more a [[Difficulty Spike]]) in the form of Twin Freaks. It's already considered to be one of the hardest bosses in the U.S/Euro game, and has twice as much health in this version, ignoring a certain glitch.
* You wouldn't expect a game with cartoon-style graphics about a boy trying to rescue his dog from monsters to be anything other than an easy kids game, would you? Well, if that game is ''[[Heart of Darkness (video game)|Heart of Darkness]]'' for the Playstation, prepare to be surprised. The game is a [[Platform Hell]] powered by [[Nightmare Fuel]].
* The ''[[Ecco the Dolphin]]'' series stars a dolphin as the player character. This dolphin will die, many, many times, be it via drowning, sharks, angry telepathic DNA, alien technology, or a particularly murderous [[Auto
** It also ramps up the difficulty for certain stages. When sharks were easily something you could dodge or fight, in "Open Ocean" they suddenly have a much more damaging attack and litter the entire screen. Near the end, scrolling stages occur. One being five minutes long. The Vortex Queen isn't easy either...and if you die or get eaten by the Vortex Queen? Back to the five minute long level. "Welcome To The Machine" will be burned into your retinas by the time you memorize it.
** ''Tides of Time'' features the Skyway, a set of gorgeous mazes in water tubes high in the sky. Hope you like falling! ''Defender of the Future'' plays a loving homage to the Skyway with the Hanging Waters levels...breathtaking beauty and enraging difficulty and all.
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* The end of ''[[Psychonauts]]''. The very last section of the game has the difficulty curve surge upwards like crazy.
* The cute looks of ''[[Gimmick]]'' (AKA ''Mr. Gimmick'') for the NES will disguise its tricky enemy and level design. It is actually even worse due to your main weapon being pathetic, and the character having a VERY annoying inertia.
* ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'' on the SNES. You'd expect something not too hard for a game based on a children's film. But the game takes [[Nintendo Hard]] to entirely new levels. Even with savestates, it's hard.
** It wasn't that easy on the Gameboy either.
* ''[[The Addams Family]]'' games for the SNES were just...insane. In the first like most platformers can give you a ridiculous number of lives if you know where to look. However it is probably the only game that expects you to ''use'' them. ''Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt'', completing a single area would take upwards of half an hour (if you knew where to go and how to progress through the levels), you were required to fight a difficult boss at the end of it (by which stage you'd be severely low on lives and energy), and then you got to do the whole thing ''again'' for the other eighteen million items you needed to collect. Oh, and did we mention that you can't save or in any way record your progress? Yeah. This from the TV show that gave us Lurch.
* ''[[
* The level with Goofy in the game Mickeys Ultimate Challenge. ESPECIALLY on the hardest level.
* ''[[Blinx]]''. Cutesy main character? Yep. Charming fantasy worlds to explore? Yep. Is this deceptive at all? YES. If some of the later levels weren't difficult enough, there's also the eighty hidden cat medals (some of which are deviously hidden) to collect, and the Nintendo Hard final boss, who is an absolute nightmare to defeat.
* ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'': It might look gorgeous, and no sane player would expect a game about [[Everything's Better with Monkeys|monkeys]] collecting [[Follow the Money|bananas]] to be hard, but worlds 5 and 6 cross the line rather quickly into [[Bottomless Pit
** ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]'' uphelds the tradition. You have to wonder if the universe seems to really hate gorrilas after playing some of the temple levels.
* [[
** The game that started it on the SNES isn't any different either. The game starts off very simple and the crayon styled graphics may lure players into thinking it's a game meant for babies, but around halfway through the game, the difficulty shoots up greatly as you have to deal with tricky gap crossing using a power up or Yoshi's floaty jump or trying to avoid nothing but spikes, which is instant death. Going for [[One Hundred Percent Completion]]? The extra levels in each world will make you hurl your controller and swear at a game that just looks too damn cute to be swearing at.
* ''[[Wario Land]] 4'' and ''Shake Dimension''. For the former, it's not the easier difficulties, those are incredibly nice to the player. But then you've got Super Hard mode. Yes, it's [[Harder Than Hard]], but compared to the normal difficulty levels, is like going from Normal to Intense in [[Super Smash Bros.]]. Some levels like Pinball Zone and Arabian Night for example literally have next to no time for the level's length in question, and getting over 10 000 coins for 100% completion is nigh on impossible due to incredibly mean enemy placement and time limits. Shake Dimension just has the much more difficult than the rest of the series boss battles and the bonus challenges which make you survive [[Marathon Boss|MarathonBosses]] as a semi one hit wonder.
* ''[[Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure]]'' is a fun little puzzle/platform hybrid that looks like your typical casual game at first glance, but the difficulty curve goes sharply up after the first world, with tricky platforming and tough bosses. The final world in particular contains some of the most challenging platformer gameplay out there, and beating the final boss is an achievement to brag about. And if you're playing [[New Game+|Gentleman Mode]], [[Platform Hell|all bets are off]].
* ''Bart vs the Space Mutants'' for NES. Maybe nowadays you're not surprised it's [[Nintendo Hard]] since it's a primitive NES platformer, but back then you really expected at least some leniency out of a game based on [[The Simpsons]]. Nope, it's one of the hardest games on a platform famous for hard games.
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===
* ''[[Super Monkey Ball]]'' features cute monkeys in hamster balls. It's also [[Nintendo Hard]] on Expert mode, especially the first game with its stages that force you to maneuver the ball across curved paths that's half as wide as the diameter of the ball. And on a timer that's never longer than 60 seconds per floor (level). And to get [[100% Completion]] and unlock Master, you need to complete all of Expert (50 floors) and Expert Extra (10 more floors) [[Continuing Is Painful|without using a continue]]. In the first game, you also only get three lives (plus one for [[Law of One Hundred|every 100 bananas]] you collect) before you have to continue.
* ''[[Kula World]]''. Roll a beachball to the end of a 2.5D level, jumping, avoiding enemies and collecting keys along the way. Seems simple enough. There are MANY levels (154) and they get harder as they go along. The fact you can only save every 5 levels doesn't help.
* ''[[Zack and Wiki]]'' looks like a kid-friendly adventure game that stars a young pirate and his pet monkey. It's actually an insanely tough puzzle game. Rues the parent who purchased this one for their six-year-old.
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* A minigame in ''[[Putt-Putt]] Goes to the Moon'' called Bear Stormin' (which was recycled in a spinoff), which isnt too bad at first, but in the later levels, it gets filled with [[Nintendo Hard]] levels complete with the fact that all non-living objects are [[One-Hit-Point Wonder|OneHitpointWonders]]. On top of that, you have to worry about your fuel, which if you run out, you lose flight unless you keep grabbing balloons. Later levels start you on a critical fuel situation, and they tease you by [[Fake Difficulty|putting the balloons in annoying or impossible to reach places]].
* ''[[Angry Birds]]'' is a game where you fling cute birds into structures to topple them over and squash cute pigs inside. Good luck getting a three-star ranking, you'll need it.
* ''[[Panel
* ''[[Pushmo]]'': Push blocks in and out to get to the top. It sounds simple but some puzzles are deviously hard.
===
* The obscure game ''[[Izuna: The Legend of the Unemployed Ninja]]'' for the Nintendo DS has kiddy graphics, a light-hearted comedy storyline, and simple controls...but it's also a [[Roguelike]], and therefore completely merciless.
** [[Genre Savvy]] gamers will take note of the fact that it's published by [[That One Boss/Other Games/Atlus|Atlus]], who are pretty notorious for [[Nintendo Hard]] games.
** To show how far it goes; in most rpgs, you can [[Level Grind]] to beat anything. In Izuna, even at level 99 the final dungeon can be a nightmare.
* ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]'' is similar - nice, kid-friendly license plus roguelike gameplay = at least it's merciful when you die, to the point of allowing for other players to rescue you like in most of the games labelled Mystery Dungeon.
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*** Thankfully, much of this was fixed in Platinum. Extra mons were added to the Sinnoh dex, allowing the Gym leaders and Elite Four members to have teams consisting entirely of their type, in addition to allowing more variety in the player's team.
*** Not to mention, the updated movesets caught a lot of people off guard because they wouldn't expect almost ''every'' pokémon available to have a move to use when fighting its weakness. Ah, using a Luxray on me? Well Torterra, I think it's time to use Earthqua-ICE FANG?!? How'd you get that?!?
** Likewise, ''HeartGold'' and ''SoulSilver'', with the added bonus of being [[Video Game Remake
** ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'' actually surprised a couple; but after Gen IV's [[Sequel Difficulty Spike]] we knew what to expect so the updated movesets didn't catch people off guard. Instead, it's the improved AI that uses more instances of [[Artificial Brilliance]] outside of important trainers. Even Pokémon rangers (Default trainer classes) use techniques such as baiting and switching.
* The [[
* ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' definitely qualifies for this trope, despite everything looking like a cardboard cut out. While The first Paper Mario wasn't too difficult, provided you pay attention and learn the game mechanics, this game ramps up the difficulty quite a bit. Bosses having tons of HP and having at least one attack that can do massive damage to the party, being forced at one point to go alone when {{spoiler|Doopliss steals Mario's body and his allies}}, and enemies inflicting nasty status ailments such as Freeze, Sleep, and Stop, which can end your game if you're not careful.
** Similarily, the [[Mario & Luigi]] RPGs (except [[Superstar Saga]]) were pretty deceptive about their difficulty. They have bright, Mario-typical graphics, but the enemies and bosses can get ''very'' deadly if you don't master the battle-mechanics of dodging and countering attacks.
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=== Rhythm Game ===
* ''Pop'n Music''. A colorful, cute-looking game on the outside. It's not for kids, though not for the usual reason: it's a [[Nintendo Hard]] [[Rhythm Game]] with its share of [[That One Boss|Those One Bosses]] on the inside.
** The difficulty of 9-key and 5-key have crept up over the years, but they're far from murderous, especially compared to IIDX's equivalents. EX, however, was made to kick butt and take names. Attempt it without lots of dedicated practice, and you get exactly what you deserve.
** The latest [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbiONkRQK28 boss song] is quite [[Soundtrack Dissonance|un-boss-like]], as well. It's basically a circus charge with kitten meowing thrown in.
* ''[[Elite Beat Agents]]'' and ''[[Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan]]''. Who would have guessed a [[Widget Series]] about dancing secret agents and male cheerleaders with [[Anime Hair]] could be so ''difficult?'' (Curse you, Canned Heat!)
** Difficult doesn't cut it. The final level on easy is difficult, requiring ''at least'' three tries to do even somewhat well. The final level on hard difficulty will make your hand blur, your vision go fuzzy, and your loved ones begin thinking about staging an intervention. And Hard is about halfway up the difficulty levels.
** And if the official games didn't make you cry enough, then ''[http://osu.ppy.sh/ osu!]'' '''will'''.
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=== Racing Game ===
* ''Mickey's Racing Adventure'' for the GBC. To fight a boss, you had to solve a sliding block puzzle with AT LEAST over one hundred moves required and a time limit. Add on rubberbanding and other cheating, the mixing of everybody's most hated game styles from the "flip around the track tiles while the train is on the track so it doesn't crash" to "dig up blade of grass to find coins" to Pac-Man converted into super mega hard mode with the possibility of crushing to attempting 3D tracks in 2D, endless [[Mc Guffins]], glitches, unavoidable obstacles, not even to mention some of the worst graphics and writing in any game. And this is supposed to be a kid's game.
* ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]'', period. It's meant for kids, but getting [[
** It was harder on the N64. They toned it down a lot in the DS remake.
* ''[[Mario Kart]]'' in general falls under this trope. A racing game with bright and colorful graphics and a wacky cast of characters will lull players in a false sense of "This is so damn easy and childish" until they encounter the AI pulling the best items out of their ass time and time again to screw the player over or playing with people who are actually really good at the game and know how to use items effectively against others.
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=== Real Time
* The bots in ''[[League of Legends]]''. It's not uncommon to see people assume that since it's a bot game, they'll just dink around or that the other players wouldn't mind someone sabotaging the game. Except that only a few people seem to realize that bots are much better farmers than players are, it's impossible to stop them from farming, and that they receive items on a ''timer'' rather than having to actually ''buy'' them. So if you're stuck on a team full of players who prefer to just run laps around the map or dink around thinking "Free EXP and IP!", they'll wind up surprised when they wind up facing champions with thousands of HP and shittons of armour on top of godlike reflexes, focus-firing skills, and crowd control.
** Not to mention, if one doesn't entirely know what they're in for, they might be surprised on playing a champion to find that they're harder than they look.
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* [[Defense of the Ancients All Stars]]: Oh that ranged carry (often Drow Ranger) looks ''so'' easy. All they have to do is just right click and boom. Then you get surprised as you're subsequently trashed with them. Compared to ''[[League of Legends]]'', carries in ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'' and ''[[Heroes of Newerth]]'' are ''MORE'' item-dependent.
=== Shoot'Em Up ===
* The "[[Cute'Em Up]]" sub-genre, a variation of the [[Shoot'Em Up]] and [[Bullet Hell]] genres, with everything replaced with cute cartoon creatures, like bunnies, penguins, and kitties. Rarely localized outside of Japan, and then usually just in PAL regions, those unfamiliar with these games may think these games would be easy or even "kiddie". ''Don't do that!''
** ''[[Touhou]] Project'' might very well be the most well known example. Fans know what to expect. However, people who got drawn in by the cute characters quickly learn the error of their ways, generally about level 2 or 3 of their first try. And ''Touhou'' is actually ''not particularly hard'' compared to other games that would fit this entry.
** The ''[[Pocky and Rocky]]'' series is one of the few to be localized in North America.
** The ''[[Parodius]]'' is a light-hearted, colorful take on Konami's other shoot-em-up mainstay ''Gradius'' - and is just as [[Nintendo Hard]].
** And [[Otomedius]]. First stage, easy. Second stage, not ''too'' painful. Third and fourth stages, painful. The remaining stages will tear your lungs out.
* ''[[Everyday Shooter]]'' is a cool-looking little indie game. Despite its simple graphics, the game is ''much'' harder than it looks.
* Similar to the ''[[Audiosurf]]'' example below, ''[[Space Invaders]] Infinity Gene'' can generate different stages based on whatever song you selected for your [[iPhone Games|iPhone]], leading to stages that are easier or harder than they look.
* ''[[Beat Hazard]]'' can generate some surprisingly difficult sessions from certain audio files.
=== Other Game Genres ===
* ''[[Cooking Mama]]'' appears as a very cutesy easy game...that is until you try to get gold medals in every recipe. Midway through the game it becomes almost impossible, since you have to be PERFECT in every step and even missing the most insignificant part of a minigame results into a silver medal. There's also a good share of ''[[Fake Difficulty]]'': play it too much and you'll get hungry!
* The ''[[Pretty Cure]]'' games for the GBA are, well, ''Pretty Cure'' games, presumably expected to be played by little girls. The first one's a platforming [[Teamwork Puzzle Game]], starting out mind-numbingly easy and getting more complex as a fairly reasonable rate...and it continues doing so ''way'' further than you might expect. And then, when you beat the game, you unlock another full set of levels as a "hard mode" of sorts, where the rise in difficulty continues almost-uninterrupted (level 51 is easy, as there's really no way they could have made level 1 hard). Somewhere in the seventies, you ''will'' begin to cry.
* ''Amazon Trail'' is an [[Edutainment Game]]. It should not be this hard to get [[
** What makes this one (and its sequels, which are no easier) so difficult is that there's certain things that can ''only'' be gotten at certain points in the game. For example, in Amazon Trail II, if you don't happen to pick up the basket or mask at certain stops along the way, you're straight out of luck, as they are the ''only'' places they can be traded for.
* In a non-children's version of this trope, the maker of the ''[[Avernum]]'' games got sick of people complaining that [[Harder Than Hard|Torment]] mode was too easy. Well, [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]] Into the Inferno'' is meant to be played by two players controlling two characters. If you play it solo the battles are quite difficult as it's easy to be overwhelmed by enemies.
* ''[[Donkey Kong|DK]]: [[King Of Swing]]'' wasn't too hard, so you'd expect ''[[Donkey Kong]] Jungle Climber'' not to be to hard either but the game had some surprises.
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* Go away and try and get the achievements in the bowling practise games in ''Wii Sports''. We'll be here when you get back...in a few months time of non-stop attempts.
== Other Media ==
* National spelling bees. I mean, they're spelling bees. For kids. The contestants are all middle-schoolers. Wait, is...is that word even English? Is it even a ''word?'' Holy shit, ''did that thirteen-year-old kid actually get it right?!''
** The movie ''Spellbound'' and the book ''American Bee'' both establish just how much training it takes to get far in those things. Essentially, you have to develop monomania for words.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Video Game Difficulty Tropes]]
[[Category:YMMV Trope]]
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