Meanings
plural Foddian games · alternative foddian game · alternative Foddian-like game · alternative foddian-like game
- video gamesA subgenre of rage games where the game has simple or barebones mechanics; and designed on arbitrary loss of progress and unpredictable punishments, ranging from minor setbacks to complete resets, and anywhere in between.
As a result, Foddian games are some of the most challenging titles currently available. […] Jump King is a title that transcends the Foddian game genre. You may have heard about the game thanks to its tendency to be played live on Twitch streams.
2023 August 12, Ademilade Shodipe-Dosunmu, “What Are Foddian Games, and What's the Origin of the Name?”, in MakeUseOf, archived from the original on 13 Aug 20231 more example
[…] You see, “Getting Over It” was the first in a genre we now call “Foddian-like games” games that are about the developer assembling some type of mountain or obstacle course, usually leading up, with many difficult challenges that ultimately lead the player to fall back down to where they started and lose progress. […]
2026 January 5, GameDNA, “AI And The Futility Of Foddian Games”, in YouTube
Origin
From Foddy + -ian, in reference to the 2017 video game Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. Coined by American YouTuber and streamer Ludwig Ahgren.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Foddian game. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Foddian%20game
“Foddian game.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Foddian%20game. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Foddian game,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Foddian%20game.
Source: Foddian game on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.