I found myself perched precariously on a slim platform suspended over a void of infinite depth. The slightest moment of hesitation or miscalculation could plunge me to my death. I navigated this perilous terrain cautiously, heart thrumming madly in my chest. I glimpsed the winpad just a few jumps away and dared to hope that I would make it. This final stretch was the most critical period, requiring me to balance my mounting excitement with my terror of failing and losing months of progress. Gathering my courage, I made the fateful leap . . . And I missed.

In an instant, I suffered my most frustrating defeat to Roblox’s video game Eternal Towers of Hell.

Sadistically designed to break a player’s spirit in every conceivable way, Eternal Towers of Hell oftentimes requires months or even years to conquer. Seemingly straightforward, a player’s avatar must jump between multiple suspended platforms and obstacles in order to climb a tower and reach its “winpad” (a platform at its peak which the player must touch to receive a badge, proving they had ascended the tower). 

However, the game’s brutal difficulty renders the experience nearly unbearable. Even early levels often feature bare-bones, undecorated environments focused solely on difficult gameplay while challenging towers lack checkpoints (virtual objects players can touch in order to save their progress). One particularly cruel and lengthy tower (requiring two hours of continuous gameplay with no checkpoints) features a notorious final jump, which when failed, forces the player to restart the entire level. Although the jump is not overly challenging for an experienced obby (short for “obstacle course”) player, under immense pressure it becomes a daunting obstacle. 

To worsen matters, numerous towers save their hardest jumps for the very end of their runs. These are deemed the dreaded “final stretch,” when the player is most fatigued and must demonstrate not only physical mastery but also emotional stability. 

Above all, Eternal Towers of Hell is a game requiring sheer, raw psychological strength. The precision and mechanical prowess needed to clear some of the hardest obstacles/towers (aptly called “soul-crushing” or “psychologically unsafe”) is immense, and players must often dedicate months, or even years, to consistent practice. They must combat despair, burn-out, and frustration to reach the coveted title of a true Roblox obby master.

YouTube is replete with videos showcasing Eternal Tower of Hell players’ extreme levels of grit and resilience. In the video “The Citadel That Mentally Ruined Me | Eternal Towers of Hell,” Youtuber Venshure documented his hellish-like experience attempting to beat one of the game’s longest and most notorious levels, “Citadel of Wacky Strategy” (COWS for short). After failing one of the last jumps several times in a row, he suffered a mental breakdown yet returned months later to defeat the level.

In another YouTube video titled “How The Tower of Inevitable Failure Took Me 3 Years to Beat as My First SOUL-CRUSHING Tower” by Blue Water Roblox, one particularly resilient player documented his years-long journey grinding the “Tower of Inevitable Failure.” As he became increasingly invested in beating the tower, his commentary began featuring in-depth explanations of game physics and coping strategies on how to reduce stress. Ultimately, after a harrowing and winding journey filled with setbacks and failures, he finally beat the tower.  

Although the frustration of my situation pales in comparison to their experiences, I had spent months practicing a challenging tower, only to fail the second-to-last jump. The vexation of having my victory snatched away so cruelly was nearly unbearable, and for the first time I raged over a video game. I was reminded once again of the game’s punishing difficulty. 

Thankfully, that day I managed to regain my progress and beat the tower. Yet this moment compelled me to wonder: why do I continue to play such an inhumane game, and why do thousands of other players like me remain dedicated to this digital hell?

I believe the answer lies in the euphoric high which ensues after a player finally beats a tower they have struggled with for months, or even years, on end. The appeal of Eternal Tower of Hell lies in the satisfaction of finally conquering a seemingly insurmountable task. The harder the struggle, the greater the emotional payoff.

Yet the most exciting aspect of the game is undoubtedly its hardcore, tight-knit community. 

At first glance, the game appears like a mundane Lego-block game for children. However, concealed beneath this deceptively simple exterior, there lies a startlingly rich complexity of game mechanics and competitive opportunities. Advanced levels are more refined than earlier ones and commonly feature complicated glitches and mechanics which the player must master, requiring a deep understanding of Roblox physics. Several obby YouTubers have made entire videos solely dedicated to glitches.

Furthermore, at the extreme outlier of the obby community, a small handful of elite, professional players continue to push the upper limits of what is considered humanly achievable. Many professional tower builders compete to create the next “top 1” tower which is considered the most difficult level humanly possible. The community has created a detailed tier list ranking the hardest towers completed, and this list continually changes as new, talented players join and harder towers are defeated. The names of the categories reflect their punishing nature: “remorseless,” “insane,” “catastrophic,” “unreal,” and “nil.” “Unreal” is the highest skill ceiling currently achieved, and nil is regarded as humanly impossible. The current “top 1” tower (an “unreal” named “Tower of Wigglecore”) required a player’s 2,921 hours of grinding and continual practice to beat.   

My entry into Eternal Towers of Hell was catalyzed by these precise stories of resilience and perseverance. Watching Eternal Tower of Hell experts weave deftly around obstacles and effortlessly achieve jumps of inconceivable difficulty was thrilling. I felt energized by the prospect of undertaking such challenges myself and thus decided to join in this brutal, unrelenting journey to achieve obby mastery.   

Ultimately, Eternal Tower of Hell’s community transformed a simple Roblox parkour game into an exciting and dynamic challenge to prove one’s psychological strength, determination, and grit. The countless stories of players persevering against unbeatable odds provides an immense source of inspiration to me, even beyond the gaming world.