Some games fight you every step of the way, not with difficulty, but with controls so awful, they become the game.
Movement is a struggle, basic tasks turn into chaotic messes, and every attempt at precision ends in disaster.
But here’s the thing—they’re fun.The frustration is the point.
Whether it’s a surgeon with zero coordination, a runner who collapses instantly, or an octopus trying to act normal, these games take terrible controls and turn them into comedy gold.
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You’ll fail, you’ll rage, and somehow, you’ll keep playing. Because nothing beats the sweet, ridiculous victory of finally getting it right, or getting over it—yes, that’s a hint, you all know what’s coming.
14Everything Is Going to Be OK
Deeply And Troublingly Unhinged
Everything is going to be OK
This isn’t “haha, bad controls,” this is actively resisting being played. Every action feels sluggish and awkward like the game is mocking your attempts to make sense of it.
The controls aren’t technically bad—they feel wrong like you’re not supposed to be making the moves the game ultimately asks you to make.
There’s this dark, existential weight to it, and while that’s interesting, it’s not the kind of physics chaos that makes the rest of this list fun.
This game makes you question whether anything you’re doing matters, which is cool in theory, but let’s be real—you clicked on this list for physics nonsense, not an existential crisis.
13Manual Samuel
“Sam Passes Out From A Lack Of Oxygen… Again”
What if you had to consciously control every single thing your body does—breathing, blinking, walking?
That’s Manual Samuel, where every action requires manual input, turning even taking a step forward into an Olympic-level challenge.
You play as Samuel, a rich idiot layabout who makes a deal with Death and gets one last chance at life—except now you have to do everything manually.
This game trolls you from the get-go. It is needlessly difficult, but that’s where its charm lies.
There’s a little optimistic tune playing at all times in the background, and the narrator helpfully talks you through every ounce of pain and reminds you that you need to breathe—manually.
12The Long Drive
Don’t Be Scared, I’m Just Trying To Rip Your Face Off
This gamewantsto be slow-burn horror, butthe real horroris trying to close your car door because suddenly things are running at you and accidentally ripping it off instead.
The controls are a mess, driving is difficult, refueling is stressful (occasionally I accidentally drank the fuel), and everything you try to do is a new disaster.
The creepy rabbits? Awful. The random screams in the distance? Why?
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High-stakes Hide and Seek
But despite the panic, it’s still weirdly fun. It captures that true road trip energy of “everything is fine until suddenly, nothing is fine.”
If it weren’t so stressful, it’d rank higher, but this is the kind of broken that makes you sweat.
11Grow Home
A Wobbly Climb to Something Beautiful
At first, it’s chaos—Bud moves like a toddler on stilts, climbing is pure anxiety, and the giant plant you’re growing seems to have its own agenda.
You grab, you fumble, you fall, and for most of the journey, it feels like you’re barely in control.
But then, when you finally step back, you see it—the tangled, towering mess of vines and islands you shaped. It’s weird, organic, and entirely yours.
What starts as a struggle ends in something unexpectedly heartwarming: a strange little world, grown from your clumsy hands, and somehow, it’s perfect.
10Enviro-Bear 2000
Exactly What A Bear-Based Driving Game Should Be
You’re a bear, you’re in a car, and you have one paw to do everything. Steering, hitting the gas, swatting at fish—it’s all one giant multitasking nightmare.
Meanwhile, bees, rocks, and fish are constantly invading your car, making the whole thing feel like an unhinged fever dream. The controls are so bad, but in a way that makes perfect sense.
This is exactly how a bear trying to driveshouldfeel—pure, unfiltered chaos.
It’s old-school physics nonsense, and it’s still one of the funniest games ever made.
9Wobbly Life
I’ve Never Felt More Wonky
Wobbly Life
Walking? Fine. Driving? Shockingly fine. Doing literallyanyjob? Total disaster.
The game gives you the world’s simplest instructions: deliver a pizza, take out the trash, drive a taxi.The physics of how you get these jobs done is always waiting to ruin your day.
Somehow, every job feels like afight you’re supposed to losebecause your character interacts with the world like they’re made of wet spaghetti.
And then there are the glitches—I finished a job, hopped in my car—one I’d stolen—, and suddenly, I was in orbit.
Granted, that was in the early game, I’ve gotten better at it, but it’s still a riotous mess.
8Surgeon Simulator
Don’t Worry, I’m A Doctor
Surgeon Simulator (2013)
What if surgery was performed by someone who didn’t understand how hands worked? That’s this game.You control individual fingers, which means even picking up a scalpel is a challenge.
At some point, you will drop something important inside the patient’s chest cavity, and you will make things worse trying to get it back.
The game is dead serious about what you’re supposed to do, but the controls make it physically impossible to follow the plan.
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You will rip a lung out by accident, and the game will pretend that’s not entirely your fault.
Oh, if you’ve ever playedI Am Bread—also an entry on this list—, things get even weirder.
Your patient, Bob, and Bread’s Mr. Murton? Same universe. This guy just can’t catch a break.
7Human: Fall Flat
The Name Says It All
Human: Fall Flat
This game is a trust exercise gone wrong. Your character basically has the mobility of a sentient marshmallow, and every attempt to solve a puzzle turns into an unintended slapstick routine.
In theory, it’s about working together to solve physics-based puzzles—but this isn’t like thecozy puzzle gamesI’m more at home with; this is chaos.
In practice,it’s about failing to grab ledges, falling on your face, and accidentally throwing your friend off a cliff.
Multiplayer makes it even funnier—if you think you’re bad at coordination, wait until you see what happens when two people are equally useless at the same time.
6I Am Bread
But I Want To Be Toast
I Am Bread
Bread shouldn’t be this hard to control. You move each corner of the slice separately, so even simple movement feels like fighting against the will of the universe.
The end goal is to become toast. The problem with that is that everything is out to get you.
You’ll spend most of the game clinging to furniture for dear life, desperately trying to avoid falling onto the disgusting, germ-ridden floor.
The sheer determination I developed while gripping onto the edge of a box, trying to shimmy toward the toasterwithout dying, is unmatched.
And somehow, there’slore. Why? No idea.
The Controls Are In The Name
QWOPwalked—sort of—so that other mobility simulators could try to run.
This is the original physics hellscape with the look of aclassic retro game, and, I don’t think I need to tell you who made this one; you already know.
You control a runner’s legs individually, which means even moving forward is a monumental task.
Most people don’t even make it past one meter before collapsing in disgrace.
If youdomanage to move, it never looks right. Every attempt usually lasts less than a few seconds, and it’s perfect.
So, I found a hint; You’re supposed to hit W and O together to initiate the perfect running stance, and then Q and P together to essentially move forward. Tried it, but it did not work—for me.
What did, however, was W and O to initiate, and then hitting Q—lightly—and then hitting W and O again.
I ignored P completely, and literally changed the name of the game, and it got me to about 6m meters before I fell.
