Is Getting Over It the Hardest Game? Analysis & Facts

Anyone who’s watched a streamer slam a desk over a virtual mountain already knows the pull of Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. It’s a game that turns a simple climb into a test of nerves, and its difficulty has sparked endless debates about what “hard” really means.

Release year: 2017 ·
Developer: Bennett Foddy ·
Average completion time: Around 2-3 hours for skilled players ·
Platform availability: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android ·
Estimated copies sold: Over 2 million by 2018

Seven key facts, one pattern: the game’s difficulty isn’t about reflexes—it’s about enduring total loss of progress.

What is Getting Over It?

Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy is a 2017 indie platformer where players control a man in a cauldron who uses a hammer to claw up a mountain. The controls are intentionally awkward—the hammer is operated by mouse movements, and one slip can send the player tumbling back to the bottom. The game carries a clear message about dealing with failure, as Uppsala University game studies research notes: the struggle-frustration-retry loop is central to the design.

Game premise and control scheme

• You control a character in a cauldron with a hammer as the only tool (Markiplier Wiki)
• Mouse movements swing the hammer; physics determines momentum
• No save points—every fall is permanent progress loss

Developer Bennett Foddy’s design philosophy

Foddy explicitly designed the game so that failure can strip away all progress, making loss part of the core challenge. The Uppsala University thesis describes this as an intentional design choice to provoke frustration and reflection.

The implication: The game asks players to accept that failure is not a bug but a feature—a philosophical statement about persistence.

Is Getting Over It the hardest game?

The question sparks endless debate. Getting Over It is often ranked among the hardest games, not for mechanical complexity but for its unforgiving structure. One slip can undo hours of progress.

Difficulty compared to other hard games

Common contenders for the hardest game title include Dark Souls, Cuphead, and Getting Over It. No universally agreed hardest game exists—difficulty is subjective and depends on skill type. Epilogue Gaming compares the psychological effect to gambling-like reinforcement, where the prospect of sudden progress keeps players hooked despite punishment.

Psychology of the challenge

According to the Uppsala thesis, the game can satisfy intrinsic motivations—especially competence and autonomy—despite repeated punishment. Competence is built incrementally through small successful saves, and autonomy is maintained because continuing after failure is a voluntary decision.

Why this matters: Players who persist are not masochists; they are exercising a growth mindset, as a YouTube commentary on games and mental health suggests: people with a growth mindset enjoy tasks more, perform better, and keep trying longer.

Has anyone completed Getting Over It?

Yes—thousands of players have finished the climb. The speedrun community has pushed completion times down dramatically.

Speedrun records and completion statistics

• World record speedruns are under 1 minute (community-tracked, e.g., on speedrun.com)
• Many streamers have completed the game on camera, including Markiplier (Markiplier’s YouTube playlist)
• Skilled players typically finish in 2-3 hours for a first run

The pattern: Completion is possible but requires extreme patience—the game’s difficulty is psychological, not reflex-based.

Did Markiplier ever finish Getting Over It?

Yes. Markiplier’s multi-part YouTube series became a defining moment for the game. His journey from rage to eventual triumph mirrored the game’s core message.

Markiplier’s relationship with the game

• He played multiple sessions, often showing visible frustration—titles include “I LITERALLY THROW A CHAIR IN RAGE” and “THIS GAME HAS BROKEN ME” (Markiplier YouTube playlist)
• He ultimately completed the game (Markiplier Wiki)
• He later returned for a “Getting Over It Again” video (YouTube video)

Streaming history and community impact

Markiplier’s playthrough contributed significantly to the game’s viral popularity. His public struggle—and eventual success—became a narrative that resonated with viewers.

What is the number one hardest game in the world?

There is no universal answer. The title shifts depending on who you ask and what skills they value.

Common contenders for hardest game

• Dark Souls – punishing combat, intricate level design
• Cuphead – relentless boss patterns
• Getting Over It – psychological endurance over reflex

How difficulty is measured

Difficulty is subjective. Epilogue Gaming argues that Getting Over It stands apart because it threatens players with their own incompetence throughout play—a rare psychological dimension.

The catch: Hardest is a label that says more about the player than the game.

What games do people with ADHD play?

No clinical research directly links Getting Over It to ADHD, but some players report that repetitive focus tasks help them concentrate.

Getting Over It and ADHD

According to the YouTube commentary on games and mental health, people with growth mindsets persist longer—and the repetitive, feedback-heavy design of Getting Over It may appeal to those seeking focused engagement. However, no direct correlation has been proven in peer-reviewed research.

Game design elements that appeal

• Repetitive physical task that demands sustained attention
• Clear feedback loops (success/failure)
• Autonomy in deciding when to continue

What this means: The game’s structure may unintentionally benefit certain cognitive styles, but this remains anecdotal.

Timeline

Quotes from the community

“The game’s struggle-frustration-retry loop is central to its design.”

— Uppsala University thesis on game design (full text)

“It psychologically punishes players more than most games because it lacks the normal safety nets of checkpoints and save points.”

— Epilogue Gaming analysis (Epilogue Gaming)

“People with a growth mindset enjoy tasks more, perform better, and keep trying longer.”

— Commentary on games and mental health (YouTube video)

For players who treat this game as a pure skill test, the reality is both simpler and more complex. Getting Over It demands not just coordination but the willingness to lose everything and start again. For the average gaming enthusiast in 2025, the choice is clear: either embrace the frustration as part of the experience, or walk away—because the game will not meet you halfway.

Related reading: **South of Midnight: PS5, Soulslike, Horror, Difficulty Guide** · **Sense of Self: Definition, Signs & How to Build It Strong**

For players who enjoy extreme difficulty, the psychological endurance required in Getting Over It is comparable to mastering the hardest language to learn, where frustration and persistence are equally tested.

Frequently asked questions