10 Most COMPLEX Games EVER MADE That Challenged Us
Table of contents
- Complex games can be as immersive as real-life experiences, like Microsoft Flight Simulator, where you can either casually fly or dive deep into the intricate details of aviation.
- Noida's chaotic wizardry lets you reshape the world or unleash havoc, making every game a wild, unpredictable ride.
- Navigating the complexities of Eastern mysticism in games can be a real head-scratcher, but diving deep into guides can make the journey worthwhile.
- Dark Days Ahead takes realism to a new level with detailed inventory and healing systems that make survival a true challenge.
- Even the most chaotic games have a method to their madness, making them fascinating to explore.
Complex games can be as immersive as real-life experiences, like Microsoft Flight Simulator, where you can either casually fly or dive deep into the intricate details of aviation.
Some games have beauty in their simplicity. However, some of them are just so simple they suck. Simple isn't the word of the day; it's quite the opposite. Today, we're talking about advanced, complicated, perhaps even convoluted games. Hi folks, it's Falcon, and today on Game Ranks, we present the 10 most complex games ever made.
We're starting off today with the classic Microsoft Flight Simulator. There are games that are simple, there are games that are extremely complex, and then you've got Microsoft Flight Simulator—a game that is either brain-dead simple or impossibly complex. This game lets you tweak settings and turn on assists to your heart's content. So, if you're a casual player who wants to jump into the air and do some virtual tourism, that's an option. And if you want to experience what actually flying an airplane is like, at least as close as possible using whatever control configuration you have, you can do that too. Just turn off all the limiters and jump off the deep end like the absolute psycho you are.
There is a complex physics model that dictates how planes are able to fly at all, and it's all working in the background where you're free to either engage with it or ignore it completely. For the real hardcore flight enthusiasts, there are PMDG aircraft, which are realistically modeled, and just starting them up requires an extensive tutorial. Most in-game aircraft have fully modeled cockpits with every switch and button that they'd have in real life, along with their real-life functions. With a tiny Cessna, it's not hard to figure out what all those buttons do, but when you jump up to the jumbo jet, wow, let's just say I don't know what I'm doing. I mean, I kind of know what I'm doing, but I shouldn't be in a real one at all. There are people who do fly in this game, learn how to fly, and become pilots. I am not going to be one of them. The fact that that's even possible is due to just how much stuff there is. There's a flight computer that works exactly like a real one, and they're just as complex as the real thing.
Compared to all other games appearing on this list, Microsoft Flight Simulator might look like a lightweight in the complexity department with some aspects of it. Yes, I am saying that a lot of games are more complicated than actually flying an aircraft. I'm just going to be honest here; this list is going to be a lot of spreadsheets and rudimentary sprites. Complex games don't have the reputation for being the most visually appealing, and it doesn't come from nowhere. So, I just wanted to start the list with something you can look at and actually have some idea what's going on from what you're seeing.
Oh, also while we're talking about unintuitive flying games, let's not forget the Digital Combat Simulator (DCS), which is entirely missing the whole game part and is just focused on the crazy workings of military aircraft. To get some of those things working, you actually have to spend time reading the real manuals for these aircraft. Hours of YouTube tutorials are probably going to be necessary as well. It doesn't count toward actual hours flown, but man, it's pretty close to the real thing. Extremely close to the real thing in that I cannot operate any of the aircraft. I don't know if I need to know how to operate military aircraft though.
Now we're moving on to number nine, Noita. At first, this spelunky with magic roguelike doesn't seem that difficult to understand. It's got a big magic system similar to something like Magicka combined with the potential for cascade failures like Spelunky. How complex could something like that really be? Well, as it turns out, extremely complex. Every pixel on the screen is simulated, from the water to the dirt to everything in between, and everything interacts with something else in sometimes very surprising ways. Heat makes water evaporate, which becomes fog, and that's how this complex simulation works at the most basic level.
You play as a wizard who is able to use various wands that can drastically alter the environment, and it's the level of malleability that really makes this game impressive. You could do all sorts of crazy things with wands to terraform the world to your liking or just blow it up if you want—those are both options. It's not just fluids that comprise this complicated situation either; animals are also a part of it. All this chaos can build up and lead to plenty of unexpected things. This has since been patched up, but it's a perfect example of how much is going on in the background in Noita. It used to be that the animals would create urine when they were damaged or frightened. The problem was that certain animals would urinate too much and create entire pools.
Noida's chaotic wizardry lets you reshape the world or unleash havoc, making every game a wild, unpredictable ride.
At the most basic level, Noida is a simulation game where you play as a wizard who can use various wands to drastically alter the environment. The level of malleability in this game is what makes it truly impressive. You can terraform the world to your liking or simply blow it up if you wish—both options are available. It's not just fluids that complicate the situation; animals are also part of the chaos, leading to plenty of unexpected outcomes. For instance, it used to be that animals would create urine when damaged or frightened, sometimes urinating so much that they would drown in their own pools. This has since been patched up, but it exemplifies the complex background mechanics of Noida. The game is Dwarf Fortress-like in its comic absurdity and offers a level of complexity that sets it apart from other roguelikes. With so many interlocking systems, it can take ages to understand how everything functions.
Oxygen Not Included is another game where complexity is the name of the game. It's a colony survival simulation combined with a chemistry sandbox, offering thousands of ways to fail spectacularly. Surviving in an enclosed environment in the depths of space can be tricky. The main concerns are getting enough oxygen and dealing with heat. Despite not being in the title, heat is a huge issue. In space, there's no medium for conduction, so heat doesn't have anywhere to go. Too much heat and everything starts to fall apart, leading to a cascade failure that's difficult to recover from. Gas buildup is a serious issue because only one type of gas can inhabit a square at a time. Not enough oxygen and your "dupes" will start to suffocate, which is the most common way they die. The game feels nearly impossible at first, but knowing a few tricks can make things easier. However, a small mistake can cause everything to collapse, which, while frustrating, is part of the fun.
The Amazing Cultivation Simulator might look like another colony simulation game, but it's much more complicated. The title is misleading; it's not about farming but about spiritual cultivation with the ultimate goal of enlightenment and eternal life. You're trying to revive a sect that has fallen into ruin. Some aspects feel like RimWorld, where you order your disciples around and build your sect, but with more RPG elements and a lot of esoteric Eastern spiritualism. The game incorporates Feng Shui principles, which can be complex if you're not familiar with them. Every object has an elemental association, and how you arrange a room affects its auspiciousness. Doors need to be in the right location, rooms need to be full but not crowded, and factors like walls, floors, soil, and even the weather affect the room's Feng Shui. Despite reading multiple guides, the complexity of these principles can still be baffling. The actual cultivation in the game involves a metric ton of stats, secret breakthroughs, special training methods, and something called "Secret Arts.
Navigating the complexities of Eastern mysticism in games can be a real head-scratcher, but diving deep into guides can make the journey worthwhile.
The room is good, oh I like the F swaging here. But if you're anything like me, you have no idea what fangue actually entails. And brother, if you play this game, you're going to learn, and it is incredibly complicated. Every object has an elemental association, and depending on how you fill a room, it'll affect the auspiciousness of that place. Doors need to be in the right location; the room needs to be full but not crowded. Depending on the walls, floor, soil, and even the weather, it'll affect how good a room's Fang is. I've read through multiple guides on this, and I'm still scratching my head.
The actual cultivation in Amazing Cultivation Simulator is also extremely complicated. It has a metric ton of stats, secret breakthroughs, special training methods, and something called Secret body parts. I guess you can open a literal third eye, which is part of the Eastern spiritual culture. All that stuff on its own is complex, but then you throw in the impenetrable UI, and that makes things even harder to understand. The sketchy translation doesn't help a lot either. There's so much more to this game than the stuff I'm describing. Your little dudes can go on quests, fight monsters, and compete with others. It's a daunting game but also pretty interesting if you're willing to jump into the deep end of Eastern mysticism. Just read a few guides because the mandatory tutorial only scratches the surface. To be frank, I played it for a few hours and still don't know what I'm doing. It's not an easy one, but then none of these are, are they? That's kind of the point, right?
Number six is Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic. Isn't it strange how games like Sim City or City Skylines make you the omniscient and all-powerful mayor? You basically do everything. Workers and Resources takes that idea and builds a factory with it. In a normal City Builder, you're doing stuff a mayor would never do, like directly zoning districts, ordering roads to be built, placing hospitals, and hooking up water and electricity. In those games, all you're really worrying about is location, money, and traffic if we're talking City Skylines. In Workers and Resources, you're in charge of a glorious communist planned economy, so there's a reason you're doing everything. You're the planner, get it?
However, it's so much more complicated than Sim City. You don't just have cash to worry about; you have resources that you need to build anything, and most of it needs to be homegrown. This aspect of the game turns it into a cross between a factory game and a city builder, and it gets really in-depth. You're not just building factories; you need to connect them up with conveyors so trucks can transport things around. Factories that depend on certain resources can collect what they need. Trucks aren't just things that appear automatically either; you have to build a motor pool, purchase individual vehicles like trucks and construction equipment, and keep them maintained. You even need gas for the vehicles—the simulation goes that deep. There are over 30 different resources you have to worry about, and using any given resource is rarely a simple process. Even doing something as basic as building a road is a logistical headache. You don't just need gravel; you need dump trucks, bulldozers, workers, and a way for workers to get around. I'll give the game one thing: it does make you appreciate how difficult it actually is to build and maintain a city/factory. But would it hurt to delegate just a little bit? I mean, the Soviets weren't just having one guy figure every single possible thing out. Part of the fun is that it's this complicated, but still.
At number five is Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead. This open-world apocalypse roguelike isn't much to look at, but the complex nature of the simulation is fascinating. In most games of this type, inventory management is relatively simple; you have encumbrance or a limited number of inventory slots. In Dark Days Ahead, it's much more complicated. You have a weight limit, but to hold things, you need pockets or backpacks, and these have their own limits that include an item's weight, volume, and length. So no putting broadswords into your pants pocket in this game. Honestly, it's much more realistic than other games in that respect. Healing is also really complex. You can't just use a stim pack to recover your health; you have to use bandages and disinfectant to keep a wound from festering, and it'll take days to recover from damage if you sustain a serious injury.
Dark Days Ahead takes realism to a new level with detailed inventory and healing systems that make survival a true challenge.
The simulation in Dark Days Ahead is fascinating. In most games of this type, inventory management is relatively simple; you have encumbrance or a limited number of inventory slots. However, in Dark Days Ahead, it is much more complicated. You have a weight limit, but to hold things, you need pockets or backpacks, each with their own limits that include an item's weight, volume, and length. So, no putting broadswords into your pants pocket in this game. This approach is honestly much more realistic than other games in that respect.
Healing is also really complex. You can't just use a stim pack to recover your health. You have to use bandages and disinfectant to keep a wound from festering, and it will take days to recover from damage. If you sustain a serious injury like a broken leg, the effects are significant. Worse, you have to use a splint, and it takes over a month to heal. Taking serious damage doesn't just hurt you; it also increases your character's pain, and the more pain they're suffering, the more debilitated they are. The usual rules of zombie survival games are in effect here. If you make a lot of noise, like firing a gun, hordes will come looking for you. This means melee weapons are pretty essential for surviving early on, but getting a good one early is also fairly rare. You might find a katana or a broadsword in someone's house, but don't get excited just yet. Examine it to see if it's a replica sword or not. A fake sword falls apart after one swing, which makes sense. This is one of many ways the early game is full of opportunities to make mistakes and die prematurely.
Hearts of Iron series is another example of complexity in gaming. When it comes to complexity, few games in the grand strategy genre match up to Paradox software's offerings, from Europa Universalis to Crusader Kings. These games are highly detailed and extremely complex. Notably, unlike most strategy games, there's never actually a win condition. The main goal is just to play them and see what happens. This leads to the player making their own goals, like conquering Europe or starting as a backward noble scheming their way into ruling an entire kingdom. The game doesn't actually care whether you win or lose; it's mostly interested in creating a massive and dynamic simulation where it's sometimes just as fun to lose as it is to win.
The most recent Crusader Kings is probably their most beginner-friendly game, but the most complex in terms of simulation is either Hearts of Iron 3 or maybe one of the Victoria games like Victoria 2. Hearts of Iron 3 isn't necessarily the most difficult, but it has the most going on behind the scenes. Normally, you have a whole bunch of advisors to take care of the daily business of running logistics of World War II so your chosen leader can get into the nitty-gritty of actually fighting the war. But if you really want to give yourself a headache, you can turn off the assists and try to manage every aspect of your country single-handedly. Usually, this will end in disaster. Managing logistics of a single city in workers and resources is tough, but in this game, you do that for a whole country.
In Hearts of Iron 4, for example, supplies never just appear where you need them. They actually need to take a train and get distributed at supply hubs, which could be interfered with by enemy forces. You're not just directing the war effort; you can even dip into the design lab and build your own ships, tanks, and planes, all of which are extremely detailed. It's not that hard to manage if you have all your advisors turned on. Most of the game's complexities can be hidden from the player, but that complexity is what makes these games so interesting as a simulation. The "what if" scenarios that result feel a little more plausible than what you'd see in other games like this because there's some kind of rationale behind everything that the game is doing. Well, most of the time, just like in real life history, sometimes people just do dumb things for no good reason, like playing Hearts of Iron with all the assists off.
Children of a Dead Earth is an interesting but unfortunately abandoned space strategy game. It is complex in the usual ways these games can be, but with one added wrinkle. Unlike any other game set in space, which shows space combat as basically being World War II in space or usually Star Wars, this game actually realistically depicts how bodies move through the vacuum of space. It is one of the most complex physics simulations ever attempted. It doesn't do atmospheric stuff like the Kerbal Space Program, but...
Even the most chaotic games have a method to their madness, making them fascinating to explore.
There's some kind of rationale behind everything that the game is doing well most of the time. Just like in real life history, sometimes people just do dumb things for no good reason, like say play Hearts of Iron with all the assists off.
Children of a Dead Earth is an interesting but unfortunately abandoned space strategy game. It is complex in the usual ways these games can be, but with one added wrinkle. Unlike any other game set in space, which shows space combat as basically being World War II in space or Star Wars, this game actually realistically depicts how bodies move through the vacuum of space. It's one of the most complex physics simulations ever attempted. It doesn't do atmospheric stuff like the Kerbal Space Program, but everything else about the simulation is much more complex and in-depth than even that game. They did their homework for this one and even cite actual scientific journals in-game to show their work. The sort of tricks you can pull off with space flight all sound like Greek to me, but apparently, the game has a full in-body simulation. They actually have the Lagrange point that you can slingshot around planets to gain speed using gravity assist. Basically, if you have seen The Expanse, it's like that but more complicated. It all sounds really interesting, and it's really unfortunate that the game was never really finished. A lot of the planned editions never happened, but even in its incomplete state, it's still one of the most realistic space combat games out there.
Dwarf Fortress is a legendary game made by two madmen who wanted to make nothing less than the most complex simulation-heavy strategy game of all time. Every time I read something about this game, I find out new insane things that happen dynamically because of the complicated systems at work. You've probably heard of the drunk cats event, where cats would walk around in taverns, get beer stuck on their paws, and then get drunk because they'd lick their paws. All of this happened organically through the complex simulation at work behind the scenes. They made beer that would spill, created small puddles which would stick to things that walked over them, made cats who would walk around and lick their paws, and made it so that the game would recognize that the cats were coming into contact with alcohol and get drunk. There's so much going on at any given time that this sort of thing happens constantly. Another famous patch note is where they made the carp too hardcore by accident. What happened was that physical activity used to buff the physical stats, so carp were swimming around all the time and just naturally got extremely overpowered, killing dwarves left and right. Dwarf Fortress is less of a game about actually doing anything and more of a story generation tool. There's always something unexpected and crazy happening because of the simulation. It's not a great game to look at, even with the Steam release that gave it actual graphics. They're still abstract and not a lot going on, but at least the UI makes slightly more sense. The original version of the game was hard to tell what you were even looking at; you had to train your eye just to play the game because everything was ASCII art. It was so rudimentary that it was kind of like looking at the Matrix. It sounds very complex, and it is, but it also isn't. It still technically had a graphic interface. Now at least you can tell at a glance where a wall is, so you can spend less time trying to figure out what you're looking at and more time watching your dwarves become feral paranoid psychos, which is usually how any given game of Dwarf Fortress eventually ends. All your dwarves either get eaten by monsters, go crazy from stress, or you open up a lava vein by mistake and burn everyone alive. It's a game of chaos, but that chaos is made interesting by the extremely complicated systems that are going on behind the scenes.
Finally, at number one is Aurora 4X. This is the final boss of complexity, or as one Reddit user accurately stated, it's what the end goal of complex looks like. Aurora 4X is an ugly, extremely unintuitive game, but it's unimaginably complex. Originally created as a platform for space-based cooperative role-playing games, Aurora 4X is a sandbox empire builder where pretty much everything you can imagine is simulated. Ordering your ships around in most games involves clicking on your big blob of units and ordering them to move. In this game, you have to assign all available posts, which serve different functions and affect how the fleet operates. Each specific part of the game isn't overwhelmingly complex, but when you take it all in with the size and scope of your space empire, it quickly feels completely unmanageable. Your economy can be completely left to the devices of the corporations in your simulation, or you can try to manage it all yourself. You can manage research, mining, industry, and logistics, making yourself sick dealing with every tiny minute detail of your universe-spanning empire, or you can let the AI do it. Either way, it's unbelievably complex and not helped by the ugly visuals and frankly spiteful UI. But if you love that kind of complex game where watching a four-hour YouTube tutorial is the best way to get into it, you've probably already dumped 1,000 hours into this thing. I don't need to tell you about it.
And I got a bonus for you too: Minecraft mod packs. Let's end it with a quick shoutout to these absolutely insane Minecraft mods that are so complex you need a graduate degree in Minecraft studies to understand. I'm talking about stuff like Chromatic Craft, Rotary Craft, Throne Factory, CEU, and especially GregTech New Horizons. That last one they call the 5,000 plus hour mod pack, and they are not joking about it. You can lose an entire lifetime to the complexities of this thing. I think it might be easier to build a nuclear power plant in real life than it is to build one on GregTech. At least in real life, a country isn't literally starting from square one. There are some crazy Minecraft mods, like the Integrated Dynamics mod, which is literally coding—it's writing code for Minecraft. The mod scene for Minecraft is absolutely wild.
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