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Fake Difficulty

...but it presents an interesting critical dilemma: can a game that's supposed, and indeed expected by its target audience, to be aggressively difficult be accused of bad design? After all, the platforming stroke wall running sections are incredibly fiddly and unintuitive and the camera is a giant piece of shit and a side of bacon but maybe that's part of the challenge.

Ben "Yahtzee" Crowshaw, Ninja Gaiden 2

When one plays a Video Game, there are certain expectations. One of these is that a challenge will be provided which depends on the skills of the player. There is an unspoken contract between the player and the game - the game provides entertainment, and the players has the right to solve it using their skills and the information provided to them.

Occasionally, however,the difficulty comes from somewhere else. It could be due to shoddy programming, poor implementation of gameplay elements, or time constraints, but the developers threw in something which makes the game harder, but which has nothing to do with the player's or AI's skills. That's when you run into fake difficulty.

Fake difficulty is defined by three criteria. If any one of these criteria are present in a game, fake difficulty is present.

The outcome is not reasonably determined by the player's actions. Unlocking a door by solving a colour puzzle is real difficulty. Unlocking it by pressing a button until you get the right number is not.
Denial of information critical to progress. A reasonable game may require the player to use information, clues, or logic to proceed. Witholding relevant information means the player cannot possibly win without a guide or walkthrough.
Allowing the computer to perform actions which the player cannot perform under the same circumstances. This occurs when the computer is capable of doing things that not even the most skilled player would be capable of doing, such as getting money/items/techniques/etc. from absolutely nowhere.
The outcome of the game is influenced by decisions that were uninformed at the time and cannot be undone. A game that offered a Joke Character and was clear about the character's weakness is real difficulty. A game that disguises a Joke Character as a real one is fake difficulty.

It is important to note that just because a gameplay feature is annoying and frustrating does not make it fake difficulty. For example, placing a large number of invincible minor minions between the player and the Plot Coupon is extremely annoying, but they can be avoided by skilled movement - thus, the difficulty is real.

Note also that fake difficulty is not inherently bad. If used subtly, it can provide a satisfying challenge in cases where the AI might be lacking. However, it is obviously preferable for the AI to provide a challenge by playing well than by getting special advantages from the programmer.