10 Video Games That Mock Bad Players

When talking about obtuse puzzle solving, point and clicks are one thing but the classic text based RPG is in its own realm. The 1984 adaptation of Douglas Adams’ classic sci-fi comedy novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a prime example of the genre being devilishly difficult and having no qualms about it.

Heck, the first puzzle of the game is a string of inputs that are almost impossible to guess. This one doesn’t kill the player but it does stop them from finishing the game later as they missed their one chance at grabbing the automatic language translating Babelfish item.

When players do die during the course of their journey through space, in some instances the game carries on without them. If the player attempts to intervene in the story or make any contribution, the game will simply write back: “you keep out of this, you’re dead”.

Much like the books, the video game feels like it has a mind of its own and it’s disturbingly easy to picture it laughing at you as it carries on its merry way without the player. If you think about it too much it’s a rather concerning lesson about perceived control. Where you’d expect the game to end, at your own demise, it does not and mockingly goes on without you.