With the tagline "a game about failure and regret," Give Up is an independently-released flash game that first appeared in 2012 which is strangely compelling yet horribly difficult. By which I mean the game's own creator can't even beat it, so what chance do you think you have?
It's fairly simple - you are a little blue stickman with infinite lives. You have to double-jump your way over various obstacles from the entrance to the exit. The levels start very simple and gradually build up into being more and more difficult, with elements being added or taken away progressively as time goes on. There's also a loudspeaker in the middle of each level which makes derisive comments as to your progress and advises you to just give up.
And there's also many things that are just out to kill you. Starting with spikes, which cause you to explode messily, then adding in guns, which fire square bullets in your general direction every second or so, then adding to floors that fall away, lasers, and finally circular saws. They all make you explode messily. There's also this driving heavy metal soundtrack which loops repeatedly. Thankfully you have infinite lives but on some of the higher levels it's quite possible to die as soon as you enter the level. And all along the speech-bubble-powered loudspeaker exhorts you to just give up.
Which you do by clicking the big blue button marked, "GIVE UP". When you do, this relaxing piano music plays (think heartwarming stories on chat shows music) and a picture of a flower appears and you get hit with platitudes about how "not everyone can be a winner" and "You did your best." And the credits roll and it's back to the start.
Stylistically, with the plain grey environments and unseen supervisor giving questionable advice, there's some clear influence here from Portal. There's also influence from I Wanna Be The Guy and other "masocore" type platformers, what with spikes everywhere, precision jumping, and similar. Yet it's strangely compelling. The simple act of trying to time your jump between two sets of spikes and four bullets all converging on your position while not getting lasered from behind is something you'll try, try, and try again and when you do get it right, you'll do a brief fist pump before dying horribly on the next obstacle and having to start the level again. Your blood splatters and corpses don't disappear after each run, and the game also tracks the time spent so far and all your deaths, just to keep things in perspective. And eventually you'll hit one of those levels that's way too hard for you and end up clicking the big, blue, inviting GIVE UP button. Cue piano music.
There is an end to it, after 40 levels, but I've never got to it. I usually end up giving up between 25 and 30, but then usually come back later and fail horribly.