10 Video Games That REWARD You For Failing

You don't always have to get good.

By Zoë Miskelly /

Ever since the phrase "git gud" was said about gaming, players have been desperately trying to be the best that they could be.

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Whether it's catching them all, getting all possible achievements, or finishing a game on its highest difficulty setting, we work tirelessly to feel like we're talented at our favourite franchises.

But with this care, can come surprising amounts of tragedy. Nobody plays a game to feel like they're bad at it, and getting beat down when you wanted to feel like a champ can really knock the wind out of your sails.

This is why, sometimes, a game will opt to help you out when you're stuck in the proverbial mud. This doesn't have to involve handholding, as often it's a simple matter of a player missing where they were supposed to go, or not quite getting a mechanic of the game itself.

As such, most issues can be fixed with just a couple tweaks to give you a little extra kick when things are rough - like when Assassin's Creed infamously had the last section of your health count for much more than the rest.

And really, this benefits everyone, even in multiplayer games. Because what's a game of Mario Kart where nobody comes near challenging your lead the whole game? Boring, that's what.

10. The Pity Smash - Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Now, before you start, the Pity Smash is not the title for when the game feels so bad that you lost, it decides to sleep with you.

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It's also not the title for when you lose your mind at an "unfair" loss and smash your poor long-suffering console to pieces.

Instead, the Pity Smash is given to players unfortunate enough to have been knocked out several times without knocking anyone else out in that time. Sensing that you're having a rough experience, Brawl gives you a free Final Smash, which you can then use to absolutely annihilate someone at least once. For your dignity, if nothing else.

That said, this was no doubt used by some older siblings in order to absolutely trounce their younger brothers and sisters after giving them a false sense of winning the match. So it can also be used for evil, without a shadow of a doubt.

This was also the game where Lucario was given a mechanic that specifically powered him up the more damage he took, so this instalment definitely had a stronger focus on evening the odds than other Smash iterations.

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