Why Do We Suffer for Fun? Ordeal Pleasure in Souls-like Games

Abstract

Souls-like games turn repeated failure into a distinctive form of satisfaction. This paper theorizes that process as ordeal pleasure: the transformation of severe but trusted difficulty into retrospective and prospective meaning. The Ordeal Pleasure Framework (OPF) identifies a core dyad and a social amplifier. Ludic Cultivation makes failure usable by linking fair, learnable adversity to mastery. Aspirational Deferment makes present frustration valuable by orienting players toward future competence. Communal Mythopoesis amplifies this core through shared ordeal stories, lore interpretation, and cultural memory. Through theoretical synthesis and comparative analysis of Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Hollow Knight, Lords of the Fallen, and The Surge, the paper shows how different configurations intensify, loosen, or undermine ordeal pleasure. OPF contributes a temporal account of competence frustration, a specific account of difficulty-coupled social meaning, and diagnostic concepts for designing difficult games that make frustration feel meaningful rather than arbitrary.