15 Video Games That REWARD YOU For Playing Badly

Some games are intentionally hard for your average gamer (*cough* Dark Souls), and the reward for finally traversing a frustrating platform level or felling that controller-throwing boss (*cough* Ornstein and Smough) is simply the knowledge that you've bested your newest mortal enemy, never needing to do it again.

Others, meanwhile, are not designed to be as insanely difficult, or to require skill way beyond the capabilities of half-awake or drunk versions of ourselves. Let's face it, Mario Kart is frequently an alcohol-fuelled experience.

Should we still manage to suck at these games, however, they may be nice enough to throw us a lifeline, or perhaps a unique unlockable that would otherwise be missed if you were dull enough to actually be good at the game.

Alternatively, they may further our embarrassment by reminding us we're completely crap, using an achievement or other in-game accolade that will forever remain tied to our accounts as a badge of shame.

When it comes to these examples, the best things come to those that fail. Please, nobody check our trophy list...

The Simpsons: Hit and Run is one of the best Grand Theft Auto games of all time, despite having no connection to the franchise whatsoever. Its original storyline, amusing easter eggs and cast of recognisable, heavily jaundiced characters are sure to entertain both a gamer and a Simpsons fan alike.

Perhaps understanding that these two might sometimes be mutually exclusive, developer Vivendi Universal added a "skip mission" feature to the game in order to aid those struggling players who can't get past a particular point. Understandably, the final mission isn't skippable, but almost every other in the main story is.

This means that players of all skill levels will be able to advance to the later worlds and play as other characters without suffering too much on one particular sticking point; the option appears after failing a few times.

This is, of course, exploitable, especially by any-percent speedrunners. Primarily, though, it's a nice hand up for a casual or younger player who doesn't want to miss out on the full experience of this wondrous creation.