In celebration of World Mario Day sports scientists have teamed with BonusFinder and tasked 14 competitive gamers to play 16 of the most popular and challenging games, to find out which games cause the most stress whilst playing.
And the results are certainly surprising!
Mario Kart found to be the most stressful game to play
With heart rates elevating by an average of 21 BPM over the course of a 30-minute gaming session (32.81% increase over resting rate), playing Mario Kart is more physically taxing than any other game tested.
The equivalent of engaging in light exercise, the study shows just how competitive gamers get when trying to win those races.
Top 10 most stressful games based on average heart rate increase throughout the course of a 30-minute session are:
| Game Title | Average Heart rate throughout gaming session (BPM) | Increase in Heart rate on resting level (%) |
| Mario Kart | 85 | 32.81% |
| FIFA 20 | 84 | 31.25% |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 83 | 29.69% |
| Dark Souls III | 81 | 26.56% |
| Fortnite | 81 | 26.56% |
| DOOM Eternal | 80 | 25.00% |
| Fall Guys | 78 | 21.88% |
| Battlefield V | 76 | 18.75% |
| Street Fighter | 75 | 17.19% |
| Among Us | 69 | 7.81% |
Dark Souls and Fall Guys Produce the Most Heart Stopping Moments
While average heart rate increases throughout each gaming session provide a good indication of overall stress, this data doesn’t tell the full story.
With online and single player games having elimination rounds, finals and spikes in difficulty, we also tracked peak heart rate increases across participants, to measure which games produce the most heart-stopping adrenaline fuelled moments overall.
And the data shows the incredibly challenging Dark Souls III reigns supreme, with huge heart rate spikes as high as 127 BPM during the boss fight with Darkeater Midir.
The viral knockout game of Fall Guys placed second, with heart rates rising as high as 125 BPM when participants made final rounds and were very close to winning. Showing just how much players want to win those precious Crowns.
The top 10 most stressful games based on peak heart rates over a 30-minute session are:
| Game Title | Peak Heart Rate (BPM) | Peak Heart Rate (% Increase on resting rate) |
| Dark Souls III | 127 | 98.44% |
| Fall Guys | 125 | 95.31% |
| Mario Kart | 111 | 73.44% |
| Street Fighter | 110 | 71.88% |
| FIFA 20 | 107 | 67.19% |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 106 | 65.63% |
| Battlefield V | 100 | 56.25% |
| Fortnite | 95 | 48.44% |
| DOOM Eternal | 93 | 45.31% |
| Among Us | 88 | 37.50% |
The results also found that popular titles of Animal Crossing, The Sims and Skyrim actually LOWERED heart rates below their resting rate, explaining their popularity by helping gamers destress.
To see the full results please visit: https://www.bonusfinder.com/about-us/blog/most-stressful-video-games-to-play
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