Games are sneaky. Even when you anticipate a game for years and you think you know exactly what you're getting into, nothing can really compare to starting it up and making your first foray into the game world. Some developers are crafty. They know precisely what to do to keep you coming back for more, to have you planning strategies instead of focusing on work. They know how to saturate your dreams with images of gameplay, and how to make you desperate for success. Soon, you become hooked, driven by your desire to get "just a little further", to play for "five more minutes." In no particular order, here are 10 underhand ways video games get you hooked...
10. Multiple Endings
Many times have multiple endings been integrated into a game in an attempt to garner more replayability from the experience. The first game to feature multiple endings was 1986's Bubble Bobble. Taito kept it relatively simple, only implementing a good, bad, and super ending. Over the years, a plethora of conclusions have been tacked onto good and bad games alike, sporting various requirements the player needs to achieve in order to access them. Some of these requirements can be quite ridiculous and challenging, such as getting through a game with 100% completion, or defeating a superboss. The Super Nintendo hit Chrono Trigger possesses a massive thirteen endings, all dependent on how and when in the story the player chooses to tackle the main antagonist. Obviously in order to see all of these yourself, multiple playthroughs, or at the very least extensive trial and error, are required. Chrono Trigger is a classic, and with all this extra content, it's no small wonder that gamers come back to it time and time again after almost 18 years.