So, you're saying that you believe that the term "Fake Difficulty" must be a universally-recognized term, with everyone who uses that term agreeing to a single definition?

That's like (for instance) the word "game." Or the term "gameplay" (or "game play").

First step: understand that a phrase or term may sometimes exist without a universally-agreed-upon definition.

Consider also that a term may sometimes have multiple context-sensitive meanings.

In other words, the term or phrase may have a slightly different meaning when used by various writers in different contexts.

What makes you think there is a "correct definition"? I did search Google, and I noticed that in most of the linked results where people were discussing "fake difficulty" they started out by defining what they meant, usually along with some examples -- the reason that they all seem to do this is that "fake difficulty" isn't a commonly used term with an agreed-upon definition.

In my own opinion, I would say that a brief (and very broad) definition might be along the lines of "difficulty imposed upon the player by the forced undertaking of challenges outside the scope of the game's normal mechanics".


A more interesting and related question to consider might be how best to design obstacles in such a way as to challenge players without the game seeming unfair.

I don't think "fake difficulty" is an universal term. I would be very surprised if such definition would be found in any encyclopedia.