Back in the day, messing up in a game didn’t just set you back—it completely ended your run. While many modern games are difficult, they’re rarely punishing. This can completely kill the stakes, and it’s why I want real punishment to make a comeback.
Modern Games Can Be Hard, but They’re Rarely Punishing
A typical modernAAA gamecomes with various difficulty levels, many of which do little more than turn enemies into damage sponges without changing much else. But difficulty alone isn’t the issue.
Some games even include a one-life hardcore mode where death is permanent, which is much closer to the kind of punishment I’m longing for.
However, a permadeath difficulty setting doesn’t necessarily equate to higher stakes—it’s just a tougher challenge to beat. You might make the argument that nothing is as high-stakes as permadeath, but that optional difficulty feels like a tacked-on feature, not something the core gameplay is actually built around.
EvenSoulsborne gameslikeElden RingandSekiro: Shadows Die Twicehave some of that artificial difficulty. The games are mechanically demanding, opponents are tough to beat, and it only takes a few hits for your character to die.
This makes for rather frustrating gameplay, sure, but it doesn’t even come close to matching the intensity of being on your last life in the originalSuper Mario Brosor some other classic game with only three lives.
That’s because you always get to try again. InElden Ring, you respawn at a Site of Grace and can recover your lost Runes if you return to where you died. I died at least fifteen times before finally beating the Giant Troll in Stormgate. Aside from a bruised ego, there were no real consequences of being a complete noob.
What Real Punishment Used to Look Like
Punishment and friction have been mostly designed out of modern AAA games, so to find meaningful consequences, we have to look to slightly older titles.
While I could spend all day talking about how old arcade games and NES-era titles were notoriously challenging, that would be too easy. Instead, I’ll use a relatively modern example that inspired me to write this article:Need for Speed: Most Wanted(2005).
The game is notorious for its police system and how hard it is to escape chases at higher heat levels. Cops ram into you, you can easily have dozens of cars following you, alongside roadblocks, spike strips, and even a helicopter.
The cops are only the beginning. If you get caught (and at heat level four or five, it’s only a matter of time), you’ll have to pay with cash or markers earned from defeating Blacklist racers. But if you don’t have either, you get an impound strike. Rack up three strikes (or five with the right upgrade), and your car gets impounded.
This is where the real punishment kicks in. Losing a car is bad enough, but if it’s your only one, you get a game-over screen. That’s it. There’s no coming back from it. When was the last time you saw a game-over screen in a modern game thatisn’tan indie title? Exactly.
You might assume this is rare, but it’s really not. If you’re rushing through the game and not grinding side races for extra cash, you’ll constantly be selling, upgrading, and flipping cars just to keep up with the Blacklist. It’s surprisingly easy to run out of money and end up with no spare ride, even late in the game.
Other games that punished you for mistakes, whether by setting you back to the start of the level, with a proper game-over screen, or some other way, includeSystem Shock 1and2, the originalResident EvilTrilogy, the originalDOOM, and, of course, most classic strategy games likeAge of Empires,XCOM, andWarcraft.
Games rarely have these kinds of consequences baked in anymore. At best, you might lose a couple of side characters or miss out on a side quest.
A modern example isDetroit: Become Human(and other Quantic Dream games). You control multiple protagonists, all of whom can die permanently. While there’s no traditional game-over screen, their deaths drastically alter the course of the story and the ending.
Another worthy mention isKingdom Come: Deliverance. This hyper-realistic medieval RPG is punishing in many ways—its complex and demanding gameplay loop is a test of patience on its own. But the real kicker comes in hardcore mode. There’s a 90% chance that you won’t survive childbirth, meaning the game starts with a hilariously grim game-over screen.
I’d also like to touch on theroguelike genre. Since dying is a core part of the gameplay loop, and in many of them, you actually get stronger from post-death upgrades, they’re actuallyrewarding youfor dying rather than punishing you.
Punishment Raises the Stakes, but It Has to Be Fair
I want more games that are designed with punishment systems in mind. However, I don’t want my choice to be limited to just artificial hardcore modes and soulslikes (I’m not even a huge fan of the genre). What I’m after is more meaningful consequences that raise the stakes in a way that feels earned.
Let’s useNeed for Speed Heatas an example of a modern game that completely failed to create a real punishment system.
The game shares a lot of DNA withMost Wantedand the requirement to build up heat. However, if you get caught by the police, you only lose a chunk of your money and all your heat. It’s like a slap on the wrist compared to an impound strike and the possibility of a game-over screen. I know that I won’t lose much, so the stakes are significantly lower.
Beyond racing games, let’s look at how a fair punishment system could enhance the gameplay in a modern adventure title likeGod of War.
Imagine every time Kratos died, he awoke weakened in Helheim, forced to fight or escape his way back to the realm of the living.
Maybe he could even have a debuff that limits his powers until he defeats a number of enemies and regains his confidence. If you’re facing a boss, you’d probably have to escape them or deal a chunk of damage to get rid of the debuff.
Compared to the current system, which simply resets you at the start of the fight, this would create real tension. You’d be far more motivated to avoid dying and would approach risky encounters with more caution and strategy.
Cyberpunk 2077is another modern game ripe for a punishment system thanks to its rich lore.
For instance, when V abuses their cyberware beyond the safe limits, they could face cyberpsychosis, causing hallucinations of enemies that aren’t really there, paranoia that makes NPCs seem untrustworthy and hostile, and slight distortions in the HUD that make it harder to play the game (which the game already has in the form of relic malfunction).
This would force the player to manage their cybernetic enhancements more carefully instead of abusing the overpowered cyberware abilities like Berserk, Sandevistan, and Overheat.
Most modern AAA games tend to remove friction and meaningful consequences for players’ mistakes, which in turn lowers the stakes. But if games were designed around risk and reward, victories would feel far more satisfying. It’s time for punishments to make a long-awaited return!
