There are few games that are as punishing and as unique as Escape From Tarkov. It is a title that rewards game knowledge, dedication, and the ability to persevere against all challenges. However, things don’t always work out and can leave you feeling exceptionally frustrated.

Many people use humor as a coping mechanism, and with the quality of Tarkov-specific memes, it seems many people use them as a way to get over the pain of a good run gone bad. While some memes come and go with changes, others are timeless and will always be relevant. For those of you who need a quick laugh after a tough raid, look no further and enjoy the best Tarkov memes around.

10 Jaeger’s Insane Quests

Jaeger is the newest trader in Tarkov and he is by far the most curious of the bunch as seen in this meme courtesy of Reddit user I_furthermore_grace. While other traders want you to complete tasks that would make sense in the Tarkov setting such as finding certain items or killing Scavs, Jaeger is different. He has this tendency to take a normal quest and add a twist that makes players go crazy.

Nobody knows why surviving for 5 minutes while dehydrated is relevant to making your way in the rough lands of Tarkov, but the crazy man in the woods thinks it’s impressive and the Fence won’t let you get your Kappa container without doing it so it has to be done. Anyone who has played Tarkov has scratched their head at one or two of Jaeger’s quests.

9 You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

Tarkov has unrivaled gun customization. If it can be done in real life, chances are it can be done in the game. That doesn’t always mean that it should. Here, courtesy of Reddit user Schobie1, we see someone asking for a Vudu sniper scope to use, only to be told that they have one at home. The one at home ends up just being a normal optic attached in front of the ring mount where the Vudu would go.

While it aesthetically resembles a sniper-esque sight, its practicality leaves more than a little to be desired. However, it does showcase the modding possibilities and is a quick introduction to just how ridiculous they can get.

8 Squad Problems

Most modern FPS games have some sort of way to indicate a friend from a foe, or even remove friendly fire so that it isn’t a problem at all. Tarkov doesn’t have anything like this. Courtesy of Reddit user SimoHayha95, this meme shows the single most commonly uttered phrase when teaming up with a friend or two.

“Is that you?” is a phrase said by every teammate while they try to determine if they should open fire on you or not. While constantly asking if “that” is “you” may save your teammate’s life every so often, it ends up being the end of yours if it isn’t them and they don’t answer fast enough. Either way, the constant “Is that you?” comms spam isn’t going away any time soon.

7 The Tarkov Oil Crisis Of 2021

A relatively new experiment, the Escape From Tarkov developers are testing the impact of a resource shortage. Overnight, fuel became rare to find, trader prices rose, and as a result flea market prices skyrocketed. Courtesy of Reddit user iambennycz, we can see the parallels between this oil crisis and the 1973 Oil Crisis.

Fuel is essential in Tarkov. It powers your hideout, which in turn powers your bitcoin farm. A bitcoin farm provides a huge financial safety net and profit, with bitcoin’s selling for around half a million rubles each. High demand and low supply leads to funny real-world comparisons and helps the game feel more real and immersive.

6 The Power Of The Sun

This meme, courtesy of Reddit user TonyBamboni_, shows just how powerful flashlights are. Whether it’s a difference in flashlights between North America and Russia, or if its new flashlight technology developed in the future, one thing is for certain. Flashlights in Tarkov are blinding. It often feels like you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage by using one, but just remember that the people you’re pointing at are somehow even more blind.

It wouldn’t be surprising if flashlights either got toned down a bit in the future or started to do eye damage to the user or the enemies with how powerful they are. Perhaps they intend to be hyper-realistic and do damage the players’ real eyes. Only time will tell.

5 It Always Hurts

There are very few instances where a player will feel bad about killing another player. The most common one is when you’re a high-level player using some of your best gear and you kill sub-level 10’s. This meme, courtesy of Reddit user iR0cket, perfectly illustrates how every player feels upon killing a new player.

Everybody remembers being new to the game and just how difficult it was to make any sort of progress. Thankfully, many veterans of the game will hide the low-level player’s gear so that they can hopefully get their stuff back in insurance. It’s hard to make money as a new player and hiding their gear is the right thing to do. Until they’re past level 10. Then there is no mercy.

4 Military Time Is Hard

Every map in Tarkov has two times they can be played at that are 12 hours apart and are constantly moving forward. Except for Factory. As shown in this meme, courtesy of Reddit user LiteralLemon, Factory can be played at 3 AM or 3 PM. If you aren’t used to using a 24-hour clock, it’s a pretty common mistake to click 3 AM by mistake instead of 15.

On most maps, picking nighttime by accident can be rough, but not unplayable as the moon provides some light and you can generally avoid people more easily at night. Factory is indoors and completely dark. To make matters worse it’s hard to hide from people in Factory because the people queuing up at nighttime Factory usually have night vision and the map is the smallest of the bunch. It’s a mistake everyone makes, hopefully just once.

3 The Most Stressful Eternity

Many firearms in Tarkov can be breech loaded instead of using magazines. The upsides are that you save space and don’t lose mags full of ammo upon death. The downside, as expressed in this meme courtesy of Reddit user cheeseslurpy, is how long it takes to reload. In some guns like the Mosin-Nagant, it isn’t too big of a deal since you’re reloading 5 rounds at maximum and each bullet is very powerful. The SKS, however, is a different story.

It can hold up to 35 rounds at once and shoots much faster than the Mosin does. Hearing the click of an empty weapon and then having to spend time reloading in the middle of a firefight feels like a lifetime. There aren’t many things as stressful as trying to get some ammo into your SKS before you get rushed down by a guy who reloaded in 2 seconds. It truly does feel like time has stopped for you.

2 Big Boy Loot

No other map in the game has more loot potential than Labs does. Everything from loose loot spawns and locked doors, to Raiders and players is worth an abundance of rubles. As pointed out in this meme, courtesy of Reddit user frieslan_bertha, extracting from Labs with tons of loot and gear really does feel like you’re carrying a massive bag.

The presence of the Mountain in the image further strikes home just how ludicrous a good loot run can be. You would need to be very, very strong to carry out the hordes of loot you can get during a Labs run. The Mountain’s satisfied smirk is the perfect cherry on top of an already solid meme.

1 The Art Of The Trade

There are four main ways to get items in Tarkov. You can find them in a raid, buy them from traders, buy them off of the flea market, and finally, you can barter items for them. The idea of your PMC showing up to a trader’s shop and throwing down a slew of items for a good weapon is perfectly captured in this meme, courtesy of Reddit user CourierCoyote. While extremely cute, trading knives for an MP5 is the least ridiculous trade.

When you start to think about how your player can show up to ragman and give him some soap and toilet paper, the game becomes quite funny. It really does show what people value in an active warzone after all.

NEXT: 15 FPS To Play If You Like Escape From Tarkov