Difficulty ladders
What do I play to get there?
Ordered paths, gentlest rung first. Every rung is chosen for what it teaches you that the next one takes for granted — so these are not “similar games” lists, and two of them cross genres on purpose. The numbers below are for an average player until you calibrate.
Hands of stone
6 rungsClimbs ExecutionPure execution, from generous to frame-perfect. Almost nothing here punishes you for failing; it just asks you to hit it.
3.57.9 for youNext up: Super Mario OdysseyLosing at the planning stage
5 rungsClimbs StrategyFor people whose hands are fine and whose plans are not. Every rung is decided before anything happens on screen.
4.29.2 for youNext up: DorfromantikNotebook territory
7 rungsClimbs PuzzleFrom puzzles you solve by looking to puzzles you solve by writing things down. Nothing here tests your reflexes at all.
2.49.5 for youNext up: UnpackingThe soulslike on-ramp
7 rungsOverall difficultyGentlest to hardest, from a game that teaches you to lose to one that refuses every alternative to getting good at it.
4.07.3 for youNext up: HadesWhat failure costs
7 rungsClimbs PunishmentNone of these is especially hard on your hands. They are ordered by what you lose when it goes wrong, which is a separate axis and the one people actually bounce off.
2.49.8 for youNext up: Hades