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Last Update: 2023 November 3
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Touhou Difficulty Chart

Note that this list is still incomplete, it's still missing a few Seihou game, LNB, and many shot type rankings. I'm undecided on whether or not to include LNNs and ExNNs due to them being inherently luck dependent. Fangames might also be added at some point but I'm not sure of that either. It's also entirely possible that these rankings will change at some point.

I've been working on a list of how hard each Touhou game is, inspired by the Japanese STG Wiki difficulty chart (English translation) that ranks arcade shmup difficulty. The list works on a scale of 0-50, with higher numbers being harder. I tried to make this list equivalent to the Japanese STG Wiki one, so for example a 20 on that list would be about the same as a 20 on this list.

# Game Achievement Notes
37 Undefined Fantastic Object LNBNV Reimu A, No UFO summons and no tokens are identical
35 Seihou Shuusou Gyoku LNB
34 Unconnected Marketeers LNBNC
32 Undefined Fantastic Object LNB Reimu A, +1 for Sanae B, +3 for others
Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom LNB Reimu, +1 for Sanae, +3 for Marisa or Reisen
30 Hidden Star in Four Seasons LNBNR Reimu Winter or Autumn
29 The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil LNB Reimu B
Perfect Cherry Blossom LNBNBB Reimu B or Sakuya B
28 Imperishable Night LNB Border Team, Final A
Mountain of Faith LNB Reimu B
Subterranean Animism LNB Reimu A
27 Ten Desires LNBNT Reimu, Marisa, or Youmu
Unconnected Marketeers LNB Without Eirin and Eiki's cards, -6 with them
26 Perfect Cherry Blossom LNB (border breaks) Reimu B or Sakuya B, could go lower with heavy border break abuse
25 Seihou Shuusou Gyoku Lunatic
24 Mystic Square LNB Mima
Great Fairy Wars LNB Route A2, up to +6 with other routes
Ten Desires LNB (trances) +2 for Sanae
23 Lotus Land Story LNB Marisa A, +2 for Reimu A or B, +3 for Marisa B
Undefined Fantastic Object Lunatic Reimu A or Sanae B, +3 for Marisa B, +1 for others
Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream Lunatic Reimu or Yumemi, -5 with autofire
21 Story of Eastern Wonderland Lunatic Reimu A, -4 with autofire
The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil Lunatic Reimu B or Marisa B, +1 for Marisa A, +2 for Reimu A
Subterranean Animism Lunatic Reimu A
Double Dealing Character Lunatic Reimu A, Marisa B, or Sakuya A, +2 for Reimu B, +6 for Marisa A or Sakuya B
Ten Desires ExNBNT +2 for Sanae
20 Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom Lunatic Reisen, +1 for Sanae, +3 for Reimu, +4 for Marisa
Phantasmagoria of Flower View ExNC
Double Dealing Character ExNB Reimu A or Sakuya A
19 Ten Desires Lunatic +2 for Sanae
Unconnected Marketeers Lunatic Reimu, +1 for Sanae, +2 for Sakuya, +3 for Marisa
Ten Desires ExNB (trances) +2 for Sanae
18 Highly Responsive to Prayers Lunatic
Mystic Square Lunatic Mima
Perfect Cherry Blossom Lunatic Reimu B or Sakuya A, +1 for Sakuya B, +2 for others
Great Fairy Wars Lunatic Route A2, up to +4 with other routes
Undefined Fantastic Object Hard Reimu A or Sanae B
Phantasmagoria of Flower View LNC Aya or Medicine
Imperishable Night ExNB Border Team
17 Imperishable Night Lunatic Border Team Final A, +1 for Final B, +1 for other teams, +1 to +7 with solos
Hidden Star in Four Seasons Lunatic Reimu or Marisa, Winter or Autumn, +1 for Aya or Cirno, +3 for Spring or Summer
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature Lunatic Otter, +2 for Wolf, +3 for Eagle, +5 for Youmu Eagle
Unconnected Marketeers ExNB (cards) Reimu
Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream Hard Reimu or Yumemi
Mystic Square ExNB Mima
Subterranean Animism ExNB Reimu A
16 Phantasmagoria of Flower View Lunatic Reimu, -10 for Aya or Medicine, -1 to +5 with others
Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost LNB (charges) Seiran, varies greatly depending on shot type
Mountain of Faith Lunatic Reimu B, -8 for Marisa B 3 power glitch
Subterranean Animism Hard Reimu A
Lotus Land Story ExNB Marisa A
Perfect Cherry Blossom PhNBNBB Reimu B or Sakuya B
15 Double Dealing Character Hard Reimu A or Sakuya A
Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom Hard Reisen
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature Hard Marisa Otter
Unconnected Marketeers Hard Reimu
The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil ExNB Reimu B
Perfect Cherry Blossom ExNBNBB Reimu B or Sakuya B
Mountain of Faith ExNB Reimu B
Undefined Fantastic Object ExNBNV Sanae B
14 Lotus Land Story Lunatic Marisa A
Story of Eastern Wonderland Hard Reimu A or Reimu B
Perfect Cherry Blossom PhNB (border breaks)
Undefined Fantastic Object ExNB Sanae B
13 Highly Responsive to Prayers Hard
Mystic Square Hard Mima
Hidden Star in Four Seasons Hard Reimu or Marisa, Winter or Autumn
Perfect Cherry Blossom ExNB Reimu B or Sakuya B
Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom Extra Reisen
12 Seihou Kioh Gyoku 1cc Marie
Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost Lunatic With the more broken shot types, could be up to +8 with others
Phantasmagoria of Flower View Hard Reimu
Ten Desires Hard Reimu
Subterranean Animism Normal Reimu A
Undefined Fantastic Object Normal Reimu A or Sanae B
Story of Eastern Wonderland Extra
Mystic Square Extra Mima
Subterranean Animism Extra Reimu A
11 Perfect Cherry Blossom Hard Reimu B, Sakuya A, or Sakuya B
Imperishable Night Hard Border Team, Final A
Mountain of Faith Hard Reimu B
Undefined Fantastic Object Extra Sanae B
Ten Desires Extra Reimu
Hidden Star in Four Seasons ExNBNR Reimu
10 Lotus Land Story Hard Marisa A
The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil Hard Reimu B or Marisa B
Double Dealing Character Normal Reimu A or Sakuya A
Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom Normal Reisen
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature ExNBNH Marisa Wolf
Hidden Star in Four Seasons ExNB Reimu
Phantasmagoria of Flower View Extra Komachi
Double Dealing Character Extra Reimu A
Unconnected Marketeers Extra Reimu
9 Story of Eastern Wonderland Normal Reimu A or Reimu B
Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream Normal Reimu or Yumemi
Unconnected Marketeers Normal Reimu
Lotus Land Story Extra Marisa A
The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil Extra Reimu B or Marisa A, +1 for others
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature ExNB Otter
8 Highly Responsive to Prayers Normal
The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil Normal Reimu B or Marisa B
Perfect Cherry Blossom Extra Reimu B, Sakuya A, or Sakuya B
Perfect Cherry Blossom Phantasm Reimu B, Sakuya A, or Sakuya B
Imperishable Night Extra Border Team
Mountain of Faith Extra Reimu B
7 Mystic Square Normal Mima
Hidden Star in Four Seasons Normal Reimu or Marisa, Winter or Autumn
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature Normal Marisa Otter
Hidden Star in Four Seasons Extra Reimu
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature Extra Otter
6 Lotus Land Story Normal Marisa A
Phantasmagoria of Flower View Normal Reimu
Mountain of Faith Normal Reimu B
Ten Desires Normal Reimu
Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom Easy Reisen
5 Perfect Cherry Blossom Normal Reimu B, Sakuya A, or Sakuya B
Imperishable Night Normal Border Team, Final A
Subterranean Animism Easy Reimu A
Undefined Fantastic Object Easy Reimu A or Sanae B
4 Perfect Cherry Blossom Easy Reimu B, Sakuya A, or Sakuya B
Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream Easy Reimu or Yumemi
3 VIVIT-99 1st Place +2 for Hirano
Highly Responsive to Prayers Easy
Story of Eastern Wonderland Easy
Mystic Square Easy
The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil Easy Reimu B or Marisa B
Double Dealing Character Easy Reimu A or Sakuya B
Unconnected Marketeers Easy Reimu
2 Lotus Land Story Marisa A
Phantasmagoria of Flower View Easy
Mountain of Faith Easy Reimu B
Ten Desires Easy
Hidden Star in Four Seasons Easy Reimu or Marisa, Winter or Autumn
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature Easy Otter
1 Imperishable Night Easy Border Team, Final A
Breakdown By Game
HRtP SoEW PoDD LLS MS EoSD PCB IN
Easy 3 Easy 3 Easy 4 Easy 2 Easy 3 Easy 3 Easy 4 Easy 1
Normal 8 Normal 9 Normal 9 Normal 6 Normal 7 Normal 8 Normal 5 Normal 5
Hard 13 Hard 14 Hard 17 Hard 10 Hard 13 Hard 10 Hard 11 Hard 11
Lunatic 18 Lunatic 21 Lunatic 23 Lunatic 14 Lunatic 18 Lunatic 21 Lunatic 18 Lunatic 17
LNB LNB LNB LNB 23 LNB 24 LNB 29 LNB 26 LNB 28
LNBNBB 29
Extra 12 Extra 9 Extra 12 Extra 9 Extra 8 Extra 8
Phantasm 8
ExNB ExNB 16 ExNB 17 ExNB 15 ExNB 13 ExNB 18
ExNBNBB 15
PhNB 14
PhNBNBB 16
PoFV MoF SA UFO GFW TD DDC LoLK
Easy 2 Easy 2 Easy 5 Easy 5 Easy Easy 2 Easy 3 Easy 6
Normal 6 Normal 6 Normal 12 Normal 12 Normal Normal 6 Normal 10 Normal 10
Hard 12 Hard 11 Hard 16 Hard 18 Hard Hard 12 Hard 15 Hard 15
Lunatic 16 Lunatic 16 Lunatic 21 Lunatic 23 Lunatic 18 Lunatic 19 Lunatic 21 Lunatic 20
LNC 18 LNB 28 LNB 28 LNB 32 LNB 24 LNB 24 LNB LNB 32
LNBNV 37 LNBNT 27
Extra 10 Extra 8 Extra 12 Extra 11 Extra Extra 11 Extra 10 Extra 13
ExNC 20 ExNB 15 ExNB 17 ExNB 14 ExNB ExNB 19 ExNB 20 ExNB
ExNBNV 15 ExNBNT 21
HSiFS WBaWC UM UDoALG
Easy 2 Easy 2 Easy 3 Easy
Normal 7 Normal 7 Normal 9 Normal
Hard 13 Hard 15 Hard 15 Hard
Lunatic 17 Lunatic 17 Lunatic 19 Lunatic 12
LNB LNB LNB 27 LNB 16
LNBNR 30 LNBNH LNBNC 34 LNBNC
Extra 7 Extra 7 Extra 10
ExNB 10 ExNB 9 ExNB 17
ExNBNR 11 ExNBNH 10 ExNBNC
Update History

2023/11/03:
New ratings added:
  • UDoALG Lunatic: 12
  • UDoALG LNB: 16
  • UM ExNB: 17 (No Cards is still unrated)
  • GFW Lunatic: 18
  • GFW LNB: 24

    • 2021/06/19:
    New ratings added:
  • HSiFS LNBNR: 30
  • UM LNBNC: 34
  • UM LNB: 27 (21 if Eirin/Eiki's cards are used)

    • 2021/05/31:
  • Added ratings for Unconnected Marketeers
  • HSiFS Lunatic moved (19 -> 17)

    • 2021/01/15:
  • Added breakdowns by game and by difficulty

    • 2021/01/04:
  • Work started on moving the list to my personal website

    • 2020/03/27:
  • MoF LNB moved (30 -> 28)
  • SA Lunatic moved (22 -> 21)
  • Added ratings for EoSD Lunatic 1cc (21), HSiFS Hard 1cc (13), and TD Normal 1cc (6)

    • 2020/02/19:
  • List made public on a New MoTK forum post