Mario Kart And FIFA Found To Be The Most Stressful Video Games To Play

If you've ever played a video game before, you'll know that it can sometimes jack up your heart rate.

Whether it's a sporting game and you need one more goal to win the championship or it's a first-person zombie shooter and you are afraid of looking around each corner, there are plenty of reasons to get stressed.

But one company wanted to see what is the most stressful game to play and the results might interest you.

BonusFinder gathered together a little more than a dozen gamers to play some of the biggest titles that have ever been published. Their heart rates were monitored during the gaming sessions and tallied together to produce a pretty decent snapshot at gaming and stress.

Interestingly, Mario Kart has come out on top.

Anyone who has battled it out on Rainbow Road or Koopa Troopa Beach will be well aware how stressful it is if you're in front or behind the pack. You could be seconds away from the finish line and get bowled over by a blue shell.

The average heart rate for the gamers playing Mario Kart during the session was 85 beats per minute (BPM), which is an increase of 32.81 per cent over the resting rate.

Following very closely in second place was FIFA 20, which, again isn't surprising considering it can cause an almighty ruckus when you play against your mates. The football game was found to elevate gamers' heart rates to around 84 BPM.

After that was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on 83 BPM, Dark Souls III and Fortnite on 81 BPM, DOOM Eternal came in sixth with 80 BPM, and then it was Fall Guys (78 BPM), Battlefield V (76 BPM), Street Fighter (75 BPM) and Among Us (69 BPM).

Even more interesting was that if you wanted a really stressful game then you should look no further than the game that came fourth on the list.

While Dark Souls III only registered an average of 81 BPM, it rocketed up the list due to all the scary moments littered throughout the game. Researchers found that there were spikes of up to 127 BPM after the jump scare before eventually lowering.

If you're looking for something a little lighter and less stressful then stick with the likes of The Sims and Animal Crossing which registered the lowest heart rate levels.