10 Video Games That Rewarded You For Losing

Secret video game items & rewards! Mario, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid...

By Jack Pooley /

Generally speaking most video games will reward you for playing well, for demonstrating your over-the-odds skills and proving yourself worthy of a shiny new upgrade or two.

Advertisement

But not all games have quite the same approach to this risk-reward system, and there are those precious few which will actually treat you like a king for playing badly and even flat-out getting your ass killed.

Accessibility is an important part of gaming, of course, and these 10 games took that mantra to unexpected lengths by ensuring struggling players were offered a helping hand.

For players who died or failed consistently, these games gifted them something majorly advantageous - helpful enough, even, that most skilled players probably wished they had them too.

Rather than leave players angry and frustrated, these 10 games had some handy back-up mechanics to ensure even the most unskilled of players could make it through in one piece.

Purists might sneer at the idea of a game holding the player's hand quite so blatantly, but aren't games about fun above all else at the end of the day?...

10. Spawn King Mickey By Dying To Certain Bosses - Kingdom Hearts II

Kingdom Hearts II is no picnic of a game, but if you find yourself struggling with some of its bosses, Square Enix will lend you some aid direct from the House of Mouse.

Advertisement

If Sora dies during certain boss fights throughout the game, you're given the option to tag in King Mickey Mouse, who will temporarily become the new player character, giving you another opportunity to wail away on the boss.

Mickey will stick around until he either revives Sora or dies himself, though given that Mickey generally isn't able to finish the bosses off, you'll need to get Sora back in the action at some point.

Still, considering that Mickey is a mighty fighter, this is a massive help for those in trouble. Keep in mind, though, that while Mickey can show up multiple times per boss encounter, the chance of him doing so decreases each time that Sora dies.

Advertisement