Study Says Mario Kart Is The Most Stressful Game To Play And I Love It

Mario Kart is my JAM!!

I just love to stick Princess Peach in a little roadster and zoom my way around Koopa Troopa Beach.

There is no way I am the only one who really gets into it. I find myself holding my breath, leaning into the turns, and pushing myself forward as if it will make the car go faster.

Turns out, playing Mario Kart also gets your heart rate up there. Who needs the gym, right?!?

BonusFinder recently conducted a study on the most stressful and physically taxing video games, and Mario Kart took the top spot.

It’s official, Mario Kart is the most stressful game to play based on average heart rate increases throughout the course of a 30-minute gaming session.
BonusFinder

This wasn’t a test that simply asked gamers which games were the most stressful to play.

It was an actual scientific-y experiment of sorts, and I’m really not surprised with the results.

BonusFinder tested 16 gamers on 14 games, having each gamer wear a heart-rate monitor that tracked their heart rates over time.

We measured resting heart rates for a baseline comparison and recorded heart rates at 10 second intervals for each gamer.
BonusFinder

There were a few games that landed in a more relaxing category — Animal Crossing, The Sims, and Skyrim.

These experiential, play-through type games were actually shown to LOWER the players heart rate.

But, this was not the case for titles that included competition, elimination, and final battles — think Mario Kart, Call of Duty, and Fortnite.

There were games that really peak the heart rate during certain battles — like parts of Dark Souls III — but Mario Kart was shown to consistently increase heart rate during play.