History Main / AlphabetSoupCans

* The ''VideoGame/ReaderRabbit''/''ClueFinders'' series. And, from the same company, the ''VideoGame/SuperSolvers'' series.

* The ''ReaderRabbit''/''ClueFinders'' series. And, from the same company, the ''SuperSolvers'' series.

* Fatina's Gym in Hearthome City in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' has to be navigated with math problems. Not only are the problems incredibly easy, but the game provides you with a working calculator. The problems are so easy that if you get any wrong, the trainers assume you're getting them wrong on purpose and will comment on it.

* Sidescroller ''WordRescue'' had literal alphabet soup cans, unsurprising since the entire aim of the game was to save words from being stolen by evil gruzzles. Something similar happened with its sister game, MathRescue.

** "Great Chase through time" zig-zags this. Sometimes this is justifaible a bit in that you are doing something that the culture you are visiting ''did'' do, like keep track of all the surplus food and supplies in the Incans (using their accounting systems), and rehearsing the openings of Beethoven's symphonies because he is busy writing down the notes to the ''full'' ones in another room. A few times it seems a little more contrived; like how guards will not let you in a season themed room until Renee Sance's kimono matches the theme of the room. (apparently they can't just ''ask'' the guards to adjust the mirror. Either way that's one ''strange'' duty they have.)

* In IMMeen, the player advances at certain points by...fixing grammatical mistakes in texts.

** {{Parodied}} by WebAnimation/HomestarRunner with "Rabbit Algebra." Solve for X!

* ''MischiefMakers'' has a sports competition about halfway through the game in the form of a series of mini-games. Strangely the penultimate game is called "Mathfun," and involves rapidly solving simple math problems before your opponent can. No explanation as to given as to why this event was chosen over Skipping Rope, which was stated to not be in the festival this year.

* Many of the early ''{{Microzine}}'' Twistaplot and Twistadventure games had some form of AlphabetSoupCans. They would later switch to more traditional puzzles.

* The {{Konami}} game ''Monkey Academy'' had the player jump around platform levels and pull down numbers to find the solution to an elementary arithmetic problem.

** Both ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' and ''MassEffect'' feature the famous TowersOfHanoi puzzle, and it's only skippable in the latter for a very high [[AppliedPhlebotinum omni-gel]] cost.

* ''AgentUSA'' consists of the eponymous character traveling to train stations in the U.S. fighting off a pseudo ZombieApocalypse. However, you can only track the plague through various info booths, and those can only be found in...state capitals! How convenient!

* The ''JumpStart'' series. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in ''JumpStart3rdGrade'' considering that the villainess is a [[InsufferableGenius smarty-pants]] third grader.

* The entire gameplay of ''VideoGame/MarioIsMissing!''. You must return artifacts to their proper places by jumping on (literally) harmless Koopa Troopas, in the hopes that they will drop one of the three {{MacGuffin}}s you're looking for in that area. ''Then'', you have to answer trivia questions ''about'' the item to "prove" you have the real thing so they'll take it back. You ''also'' have to ask the locals various questions to try to figure out where you are so that, once you've returned all the artifacts, you can leave on Yoshi's back. Do this with three cities in each chamber, and you get to [[CurbStompBattle "fight"]] one of Bowser's kids. Do ''that'' whole mess three times, and you [[CutsceneBoss "fight"]] Bowser. Congrats. You win. ''woo-hoo.''

* The entire gameplay of ''VideoGame/MarioIsMissing!''. You must return artifacts to their proper places by jumping on (literally) harmless Koopa Troopas, in the hopes that they will drop one of the three {{MacGuffin}}s you're looking for in that area. ''Then'', you have to answer trivia questions ''about'' the item to "prove" you have the real thing so they'll take it back. You ''also'' have to ask the locals various questions to try to figure out where you are so that, once you've returned all the artifacts, you can leave on Yoshi's back. Do this with three cities in each chamber, and you get to [[CurbStompBattle "fight"]] one of Bowser's kids. Do ''that'' whole mess three times, and you [[CutsceneBoss "fight"]] Bowser. Congrats. You win. woo-hoo.

* The entire gameplay of ''VideoGame/MarioIsMissing!''. You must return artifacts to their proper places by jumping on (literally) harmless Koopa Troopas, in the hopes that they will drop one of the three {{MacGuffin}}s you're looking for in that area. ''Then'', you have to answer trivia questions ''about'' the item to "prove" you have the real thing so they'll take it back. You ''also'' have to ask the locals various questions to try to figure out where you are so that, once you've returned all the artifacts, you can leave on Yoshi's back. Do this with three cities in each chamber, and you get to [[CurbStompBattle "fight"]] one of Bowser's kids. Do ''that'' whole mess three times, and you [[CutsceneBoss "fight"]] Bowser. Congrats. You win. [[SarcasmMode Woo-hoo]].

* The original TropeNamer puzzle for SolveTheSoupCans from ''TheSeventhGuest'' used literal AlphabetSoupCans, which had to be rearranged to spell a message. The puzzle was made somewhat excruciating by the fact that ''there were no vowels''. The trick: [[spoiler:in English, the letter "Y" counts as a vowel if there are no other vowels in the syllable - think "shy" or "crypt" or "why".]] The player could also check the in-game hintbook, which offers a hint that makes the puzzle much easier to solve with a thesaurus.
* The various ''{{Myst}}'' games force you to learn both a written language (at least in part) and a numerical system. Justified in that they are both needed to solve various puzzles.

* The ''ProfessorLayton'' series. Puzzles can require anything from basic arithmetic all the way up to geometry.

* In ''ParasiteEve'', in the Museum stage, Aya has to answer several questions about prehistory and fossils.They're not needed to advance the plot, but by answering them right she can get much needed ammo and medicines.

** "Great Chase through time" zig-zags this. Sometimes this is justifaible a bit in that you are doing something that the culture you are visiting ''did'' do, like keep track of all the surplus food and supplies in the Incans (using their accounting systems), and rehearsing the openings of Beethoven's symphonies because he is busy writing down the notes to the ''full'' ones in another room. A few times it seems a little more contrived; like how guards will not let you in a season themed room until Renee Sance's kimono matches the theme of the room. (apparently they can't just ''ask'' the guards to adjust the mirror. Either way that's one ''strange'' duty they have.)
* In the ''[[VideoGame/BlasterSeries Math/Reading Blaster]]'' series, you fight intergalactic villains with mathematics and language arts.

* In [[IMMeen I. M. Meen]], the player advances at certain points by...fixing grammatical mistakes in texts.

* In ''Math Dungeon'' you navigated a dungeon in which locked doors could be opened only by solving math problems, although there was no penalty for failing. However you only had one shot to get the answer right on the gems lying on the ground or else a spider would come down and steal it, and if you went too long without a gem, a dragon would eat you. Talk about {{tough love}}.

** Both ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' and ''MassEffect'' feature the famous {{Towers of Hanoi}} puzzle, and it's only skippable in the latter for a very high [[AppliedPhlebotinum omni-gel]] cost.

** They often [[JustifiedTrope justify]] this by having Nancy do an errand for someone that involves following directions that turn out to be a puzzle in order for them to help you. In one (Warnings at Waverly Academy) it's even more justified because you're asked to do some peoples' homework so they'll help you.

** Blaine's Gym in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' was doing the quiz-gym first, although the questions were related to Pokemon rather than anything educational.

** ''Exile'' justifies educational type puzzles with the fact that the setting was originally created as a training course for Atrus' sons. The age of J'nanin specifically is a course on the types of energy an age can draw on - Kinetic (Amateria), Natural (Edanna) and Mechanical (Voltaic) - culminating in a civilized age (Narayan) where all three forms of energy are being brought into balance. In Riven, that's not a puzzle so much as an in-universe version of AlphabetSoupCans.

* In ''SilentHill3'', when playing on the hard puzzle difficulty, one of the first puzzles you encounter tests your knowledge of {{Shakespeare}}.
* The entire gameplay of ''[[VideoGame/MarioIsMissing Mario is Missing!]]''. You must return artifacts to their proper places by jumping on (literally) harmless Koopa Troopas, in the hopes that they will drop one of the three {{MacGuffin}}s you're looking for in that area. ''Then'', you have to answer trivia questions ''about'' the item to "prove" you have the real thing so they'll take it back. You ''also'' have to ask the locals various questions to try to figure out where you are so that, once you've returned all the artifacts, you can leave on Yoshi's back. Do this with three cities in each chamber, and you get to [[CurbStompBattle "fight"]] one of Bowser's kids. Do ''that'' whole mess three times, and you [[CutsceneBoss "fight"]] Bowser. Congrats. You win. [[SarcasmMode Woo-hoo]].

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*** Amusingly, in ''5th grade adventures'', Owen [[{{Lampshaded}} points out]] that they always seem to find gigantic pits to cross wherever they go.

** Considering your character is carrying a keyboard and not a gun...

* [[http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/07/sega-announces-english-of-the-dead-for-ds/ English of the Dead.]] That is all.
** But Typing of the Dead was an awesome concept. Nothing like killing a zombie with the word "Panties."
*** And many other ostensibly English words and phrases like "Police dog with no nose", "Shooting abroad", and "Splodge"! And that's before the Emperor asks you questions about yourself.

** I think it was a demonstration of science vs magic, pointing out that science can be unexpectedly useful in magic-aligned Arcadia. No verdict on the 'sucked into a calculator' thing though. Maybe he thought he could study it better from inside?
*** You meet him in the sequel, where he says that getting sucked in was entirely out of his control, and he more or less had to do this to get out (I forget exactly the level of mathematics he said he had to learn to conquer the thing, but it was pretty hefty).

* The Library Island Arc of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' had the {{Baka}} Rangers running from a living statue, while their way kept being blocked by doors with math and english problems on them. Naturally, [[LampshadeHanging they're baffled]] as to why the hell these things are their way. After the fact [[spoiler: it's implied that the Headmaster [[BatmanGambit set the whole thing]] up to get them to study for their finals]].

* The original TropeNamer puzzle for SolveTheSoupCans from ''TheSeventhGuest'' used literal AlphabetSoupCans, which had to be rearranged to spell a message. The puzzle was made somewhat excruciating by the fact that ''there were no vowels''. The trick: [[spoiler:in English, the letter "Y" counts as a vowel if there are no other vowels in the syllable - think "shy" or "crypt" or "quickly".]] The player could also check the in-game hintbook, which offers a hint that makes the puzzle much easier to solve with a thesaurus.

* Justified in the earlier games of the ''CarmenSandiego'' series. In these games, you had to chase globe-hopping crooks around the world by using clues to figure out where they went next. Later games in the series, however, embraced Alphabet Soup Cans more fully.

** But Typing of the Dead was [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome an awesome concept]]. Nothing like killing a zombie with the word "Panties."

** ''Exile'' justifies educational type puzzles with the fact that the setting was originally created as a training course for Atrus' sons. And the number puzzle in ''Riven'' is justified by being in a classroom (although its importance is elsewhere).
**** J'nanin being specifically a course on the types of energy an age can draw on - Kinetic (Amateria), Natural (Edanna) and Mechanical (Voltaic) - culminating in a civilized age (Narayan) where all three forms of energy are being brought into balance. In Riven, that's not a puzzle so much as an in-universe version of AlphabetSoupCans.
*** The number system is randomized, so you can't skip it.
**** The places where the number system is ''needed'' are randomized, not the system itself. To the benefit and continued sanity of gamers and walkthroughers everywhere.
** ''Revelation'' requires you to learn a few words in a primitive monkey language, and also recognise the tracks of various animals (there are guides for both of these elsewhere in the Age). Earlier, a puzzle requires you to transliterate the D'ni alphabet, using Yeesha's homework as a guide.
* At least one dungeon in ''VideoGame/{{Boktai}}'' randomly includes math problems you have to solve.
** Though its challenge comes from the block pushing.

* In ParasiteEve, in the Museum stage, Aya has to answer several questions about prehistory and fossils.They're not needed to advance the plot, but by answering them right she can get much needed ammo and medicines.

* In ''The Longest Journey'' your first 'boss' type battle is beaten by using a calculator, to prove that you can do math and he can't. Or at least, you can do it faster. Afterward, the mage guy gets sucked into the calculator, for reasons unexplained.

* What, no FreddiFish?

** This was more or less the plot of the PBS kids' show {{Cyberchase}}. The protagonists would usually end up using a simple math-related technique (like a Venn diagram, the principle of ratios, or the ability to measure things) to nab the villain and save the day.

* In the ''[[BlasterSeries Math/Reading Blaster]]'' series, you fight intergalactic villains with mathematics and language arts.

* In ''FinalFantasyIV'' on the DS, Rydia's minigame for leveling up Whyt (a summon who can be used in battle and multiplayer mode) is to perform various mathematical operations on four numbers in order to get the end result to equal ten. Worse, you need to do this as many times as possible in one minute. Other final fantasy games have similar Easter Eggs, some of which are plot relevant.

* Fatina's Gym in Hearthome City in ''PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' has to be navigated with math problems. Not only are the problems incredibly easy, but the game provides you with a working calculator. The problems are so easy that if you get any wrong, the trainers assume you're getting them wrong on purpose and will comment on it.

* Every character in ''{{Anachronox}}'' has a "world skill" that can be used to further the plot or score rare items; to use it, you have to play timed minigames. From Rho's Analyse (match pictures to form a domino chain) to Sly's Lockpick (figure out a series of numbers) to Democratus' Tractor Beam (prevent the rest of the council from filing too many votes against using the beam... by ''yelling'' at them).

* The Library Island Arc of ''MahouSenseiNegima'' had the {{Baka}} Rangers running from a living statue, while their way kept being blocked by doors with math and english problems on them. Naturally, [[LampshadeHanging they're baffled]] as to why the hell these things are their way. After the fact [[spoiler: it's implied that the Headmaster [[BatmanGambit set the whole thing]] up to get them to study for their finals]].

* At least one dungeon in ''{{Boktai}}'' randomly includes math problems you have to solve.

* These pop up on television, too. For instance, DoraTheExplorer can't cross a bridge until she picks out the right planks to fill in the missing holes, and asks the viewer for help - however the gaps in the bridge are plenty small for even a stubby-legged explorer like Dora to step right over and move along.