Boss fights get blamed for a lot. Battle royale finals get blamed too. But according to a new heart rate study, the game doing the most damage to your pulse is Mario Kart. Researchers at Gambling.com strapped heart rate monitors on 14 gamers and ran them through 16 of gaming's biggest titles, from Fortnite to The Sims. The results flip a fair few assumptions upside down, and not just for the obvious reasons.
Kiwis Have Plenty of Skin in the Game
This lands harder in New Zealand than most places. Nine in ten Kiwi households have someone who games regularly, according to the 2025 NZ Plays Report from the New Zealand Game Developers Association. That's not a niche hobby anymore. It's parents, kids, flatmates, all sharing the same controller and, apparently, the same racing heartbeat.
Why the Chest Starts Pounding in the First Place
None of this happens by accident. Adrenaline and cortisol flood in the moment a game puts you under real time pressure, whether that's a last corner overtake with the finish line in sight or a boss fight where one more hit means starting over. The body doesn't fully distinguish between an on screen threat and a physical one, so it reacts the same way either way: faster heartbeat, sharper focus, sweaty palms on the controller.
Mario Kart Edges Out FIFA and Fortnite for the Adrenaline Crown
Here's how it worked. Fourteen gamers who play at least 15 hours a week, and knew every title on the list already, were fitted with heart rate monitors that logged readings every 10 seconds. Each game got a 30 minute session. Baseline resting heart rate across the group sat at 64 BPM. Mario Kart blew past everything else, spiking hearts by 21 BPM on average, a 32.81% jump. FIFA 20 wasn't far behind at 31.25%. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Dark Souls III and Fortnite rounded out the top five. DOOM, Street Fighter and Battlefield V just missed the cut, and the difference between fourth and eighth was thinner than you'd think.
The Same Rush That Keeps Players Chasing One More Spin
Sports betting produces a similar spike, and can push heart rates up by as much as 75%, well beyond anything on this list of games. It's the same instinct that keeps someone going for one more race, one more spin, one more hand: the outcome is uncertain right up until it isn't, and the brain loves that uncertainty more than it should. That pull is exactly what draws players toward top online casinos in New Zealand, where a fast round works the same nervous system a Rainbow Road pile-up does, just with real stakes attached.
Dark Souls III and Fall Guys Bring the Real Panic
Averages hide the worst moments, though. Peak heart rates tell the real story, since a single rough patch in a session can matter more than 30 minutes of steady play. Dark Souls III topped that chart too: 127 BPM at its highest, a 98.44% spike, recorded while one unlucky participant fought the boss Darkeater Midir over and over. Second place is the real surprise. Fall Guys, a goofy platformer battle royale barely two months old at the time of testing, pushed hearts up by 63 BPM in its closing rounds. That's a 95.31% spike, almost double resting rate. A cartoon obstacle course with jelly beans and giant fists rattled players nearly as hard as a boss built specifically to punish.
Not Every Game Wants to Wreck Your Pulse
Not everything on the list wants a fight. Animal Crossing, The Sims and Skyrim all lowered players' heart rates during a session, in some cases by 5%, and titles like Minecraft, Among Us and UNO sat somewhere in the calmer middle rather than near the stressful end. Makes sense. Sometimes the point isn't to win. It's to switch off, tend a garden, or build a house without a countdown clock running.
Find Your Own Adrenaline Fix
Chasing that same spike with a group of friends? Co-Optimus keeps a running list of online co-op games worth testing it on. No heart rate monitor required.
A welcome bonus on an online casino can decide whether a new player keeps exploring or closes the tab. The offer may begin with extra credit or free spins, but its real job is to make the first few sessions easier to follow and give the player a clear reason to return.
The gaming landscape has changed significantly, with cooperative experiences becoming increasingly popular. Games like Deep Rock Galactic, Valheim, and Enshrouded have built large audiences by prioritizing teamwork over competition, reflecting a broader shift in how players connect and play together.
