History Main / LuckbasedMission

* ''VideoGame/StarFox''

[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' is one big Luck-Based Game, justified since it's a [[BoardGames digital board game]] and most of the physical versions of them have a luck factor, and the game is designed to be mindless fun with your friends and not something competitive.

*** Panel Panic. The minigame has the four characters chosen select one out of the ten floating tiles available, all numbered from 1 to 10. After everyone has chosen their tile, the rest of the playable cast plus Bowser will show up and everyone will have to roll a dice, with the numbers rolled indicating which tiles will be destroyed and which characters will fall to the abyss, being eliminated from that round. For each tile destroyed, a number is removed from the dice block. The cycle continues until only one character is left or until everyone has been eliminated.

*** At the end of Story Mode, it's you, an AI partner that hates you, and two smarter than your partner AIs that, if they win, make you start the level ALL over. The kicker, the Boss minigames (the ones with the most mini-star value) are pure dice rolling. Expect Shyguy and Magikoopa to have improbable luck and win both of these while your "partner" ruins your chances of winning by getting you fourth and then getting third themselves.

* ''[[VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery ADOM]]''

* While most {{roguelike}}s (like say ''VideoGame/NetHack'') have a fair bit of luck involved in winning, ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'' takes this to the extreme in the early portions of the game. All classes start out woefully under-equipped (mages don't even carry a backup weapon) for a long expedition, and worse, survival early on relies heavily on two things: being lucky enough to find some special equipment (finding something like a dagger of venom can help immensely), and being lucky enough not to encounter any of the many unique enemies you can encounter from level 2 of the dungeon onward (it would not be unusual to see Sigmund as well as another unique enemy on the same level). Once you've levelled up a bit and built up equipment, it gets a bit more manageable, but the early game can be outright unwinnable if it decides to screw you over because of how limited your options for escape are.

* The poker section from the original ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest''. You do badly, it's game over. Fortunately, the VGA remake makes it skippable.

* In the ''[[VideoGame/PoliceQuest Police Quest: SWAT 2]]''

* There are times where the only way to move forward in a Sudoku game is to guess. Fortunately, there is no losing in Sudoku, just having to backtrack to undo the incorrect guess.

* The 2012 reboot ''VideoGame/XComEnemyUnknown'' has become memetic for how players react to the chances to hit based upon the RandomNumberGod, complaining about soldiers missing 90% chances to hit or even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK4ouRWGHHI&ab_channel=4eyedBlok 99% chances to hit]], while aliens crit with 30% chances, for great frustration during a playthroughs. A common catchphrase is "that's X-com, baby!" to ironically deal with such accidents. Expect also a lot of SaveScumming except in IronMan mode. Often, players will complain that they missed four 75% shots in a row, expecting that they would have at least hit 3 out of 4 times. This is actualy a case of people incurring in the GamblersFallacy.

** ''VideoGame/MarioParty2'': The game started the tradition of featuring several minigames that are mechanically identical to RussianRoulette with four players, beginning with "Bowser's Big Blast," where four players press down plungers, one of which will cause the Bowser head to explode. Subsequent installments in the series would introduce minigames like like "Stacked Deck" in the third game (twelve cards on the table, four are hiding Bowser symbols) or "Pier Pressure" in the ninth (ten fishing rods, three have hooked sea urchins).

** ''VideoGame/MarioParty3'': The minigame Merry-Go-Chomp operates in a similar way to a gambling roulette. The four players are in a circus where they approach a spinning circular platform divided into five colored segments. Each player has to select one of the segments and stand there, meaning that four areas will be filled and the fifth one will be empty. The platform then starts spinning, and when it stops a Chain Chomp will grab the player that stands in front of it, disqualifying them from the minigame.[[note]]If the segment in front of the Chomp is the one that's empty, then the platform will spin once again for another try.[[/note]] The remaining players form a row once again to choose their next spot in the platform (which will now be divided into one area fewer than before) so they're in position and the platform spins again, and the cycle continues until only one player remains. There's no way to predict the moment when the circle stops spinning, so only luck will make the winner prevail.
** Two [=LPers=] of the game - in their third round - came up with a hidden block on the first turn. Containing a star. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOMdwC8fKZ0 It went downhill from there.]]
*** LetsPlay/TheRunawayGuys had what is arguably the biggest stroke of luck in regards to hidden stars ever recorded: LetsPlay/ChuggaaConroy has found 2, LetsPlay/NintendoCapriSun has found 1, and LetsPlay/ProtonJon found THREE STARS IN ONE 20-TURN GAME. The latter only needed to buy ONE star in the entire game, at which point he ended up with SIX.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVsgOKu7uZk Watch]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCqKF3pqj5Y this]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzxekOFa6ew game]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvkczDuLVdI here.]] Rawrzaur wins the ENTIRE game without EVER buying a star himself. He won through nothing but sheer dumb luck, and the reactions of his friends who were playing alongside him are as would be expected.

* Some locations in ''VideoGame/GrowingUp'' are only unlocked in certain routes, such as the Sky Tower Observation Deck in Jake's route and the Alley Way in Charles' route[[note]]until a patch update on December 20, 2021 added the latter in Alex's and Wendy's routes[[/note]]. Since the classmates you'll meet are randomized with every playthrough and you can only meet three in one life cycle, you better hope you meet the one you want if you plan to learn the skills offered by these exclusive locations. Even then, you have to make the right dialogue choices to unlock them.

* In the primitive strategy game ''Bokosuka Wars'', combat wins and losses are based on what is essentially a dice roll.

* ''VideoGame/EpicCoaster'': Trying to get a good perfect jump combo relies on luck to a certain extent, for example if a platform spawns right under another one, it will be impossible to continue the streak as you'll fall in the middle.

* Family Game Night 3 featured video game versions of various Hasbro games, one of which was Mouse Trap. ANY achievement related to Mouse Trap was innately luck-based as Mouse Trap is simply rolling dice until someone wins.

* For the longest time, {{Pinball}} was accused of being in the same league as gambling machines due to being believed to rely on luck more than player skill, resulting in pinball being [[BannedInChina banned in various U.S. cities]]. It wasn't until a court case in which Creator/RogerSharpe made a SkillShot that he openly predicted that the ban was reversed.

* ''TabletopGame/BloodBowl'' gets accused of this. Almost every action more complicated than moving across open ground requires a dice roll, and almost every type of dice role has a CriticalFailure outcome that immediately ends the player's turn. It's to the point where Nuffle, the god of chance, is venerated InUniverse for his influence over the game. The truth is the player has control over which rolls to take and what order to do them in, and prioritizing which chances to take first is a key part of any team's strategy.

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16924408110.48789400 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

* Averted with ''VideoGame/PlagueInc'' where, while Madagascar would still close their everything if a dog so much as sneezed, you ''still'' had options to get in. One such way was with the parasite: one such evolvable trait turned it into a PuppeteerParasite that could slam an infected plane into Madagasgar regardless of their border status. Even if your disease lacked an ability to get into a country, there was also always the chance you'd get lucky and get a popup reading "the disease has somehow infected [a country]!" -- basically the game's way of saying [[AntiFrustrationFeatures you have no way of getting into this country now so we gave you a freebie]].

** In ''Gran Turismo 5'', a lot of the seasonal challenges feature a single lap to a difficult track (Nurburgring Nordschleife or Suzuka are the regulars) in which you start last and have to finish first. This can become, either {{Unwinnable}} if the car starting first is a fast one or EasierThanEasy if it's a turtle, helding back all the others.

*** Panel Panic. The minigame has the four characters chosen select one out of the ten floating tiles available, all numbered from 1 to 10. After everyone has chosen their tile, the rest of the playable cast plus Bowser will show up and everyone will have to roll a dice, with the numbers roled indicating which tiles will be destroyed and which characters will fall to the abyss, being eliminated from that round. For each tile destroyed, a number is removed from the dice block. The cycle continues until only one character is left or until everyone has been eliminated.

*** The minigame Deck Hands has all four players play with a deck of 13 cards, each having a specific number that indicates its value (the numbers go from 1 to 13). Each player has to pick a card, and the number shown in it will determine how many points that character earns. There's no way to tell how much a given card is worth, so every choice is blind no matter what. In the end, each player will get up to three cards, leaving one unchosen, and whoever has the highest total score wins. What makes the luck factor of thise minigame so concerning is that this is a ''battle'' minigame, so if you're too unlucky you may end up choosing the lowest-valued cards and remain in last place, making you lose all the money wagered as a result.

** ''VideoGame/MarioPartyDS'': The minigame Chips and Dips, fittingly for its gambling-based theme, relies solely on luck. Each player selects a facedown card from a scattered deck; when everybody makes their choice, one by one the cards are flipped, and the number shown by each card will determine how many chips will be stacked on the spot corresponding to the character who chose it. The next deck comes to distribute the next batch of cards and the process is repeated, and so on during three rounds. In the last one, one of the cards will show Bowser's face, and if someone inadvertedly chooses it then the number of chips in their stack will be reduced to half (plus one if the total is odd-numbered). When the minigame ends, whoever got the highest stack of chips wins.

** ''VideoGame/MarioPartyIslandTour'': The minigame Pachinko Wizard has each character try to guess where a Spiny Egg from Lakitu will fall, and then choose a different spot to stand in the hopes that the falling object won't hit them. Since one of the rows of spherical obstacles is waving left and right, it's almost impossible to predict where the Spiny Egg will fall, so it's ultimately a matter of being lucky. Whoever gets hit will be disqualified, and the remaining three characters have to repeat the procedure until only one remains (and as fewer characters remain, so will the number of spots, which will therefoew grow bigger in width and thus make the predictions riskier). The last remaining player wins.

* The latest version of Solitaire (Klondike, specifically) that comes ensuite with Windows Vista has the audacity to inform you that you've lost, even when it deals you a literally unwinnable game. It doesn't help that it now keeps a running tally of wins and losses.

* The entire game of ''VideoGame/TrashPanic'' on PSN is luck based. It is a physics based Tetris style game, but the objects do not have uniform dimensions like the blocks of tetris, but consist of things like guitars and toilet bowls, making this game [[NintendoHard very very difficult]].

** Especially near the beginning, some quests and objectives are genuinely uncompletable with bad luck because they have failure conditions or are almost guaranteed to kill a character who gets unlucky in a specific way, usually both. (And no SaveScumming in the original mode of this game; dead is dead.) Trying to reach all possible objectives right at the beginning requires a very unlikely string of lucky breaks: Find the Goblin Camp in a random wilderness encounter before reaching level 3. (And by the way, moving around the wilderness consumes game time very fast, affecting the last item on this list.) Go to the Small Cave and find the stairs down and the waterproof blanket before reaching a too high level and/or dying -- the difficulty rises all the time with each level. Kill Kranach the raider lord in a random wilderness encounter before reaching level 6. Rescue the cute dog in the Puppy Cave before four days have passed.

* The king's justice system in "Literature/TheLadyOrTheTiger" is a simple DoorRoulette -- open one door and a tiger springs out and kills you; open the other and a woman walks out who becomes your new wife. It's "fair" in the sense that you have a 50% chance of acquittal, but it's unfair in the sense that your life depends on blind chance. (And incidentally, if you're already married, that's just too bad -- you have a new wife now).

*** This was turned on its head in the 1990 version with Patrick Wayne, where you had to also find a hidden Tic-Tac-Dough pattern, but this time, you chose which symbol to try to find, and stopped the shuffling Xs and Os to set up the game; the first successful pick (where the chosen symbol was found) added $500 to the pot, with each subsequent occurrence doubling the pot (the opposite one added nothing). The dragon still cost everything, but if the pattern was found with the chosen symbol, the game and the pot and the prize(s) were won; if the dragonslayer turned up, the pot was doubled and the prize package was awarded. If the dragonslayer was found off the top, however, the player won $1000. Sometimes, however, one would need the dragonslayer to win, because the shuffling could [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable leave the player with no way to make a Tic-Tac-Dough with the chosen symbol]]. This version was [[Main/TheyChangedItNowItSucks derided]], however, for having a dragon and dragonslayer that rapped their purposes (given that it was 1990 when it was on, and rap music was big then).

* ''Creator/BruceForsyth's Series/HotStreak'', a short-lived '86 ABC game with the host's name in the title, had the format of having to pass a word down a line of 5 teammates (male or female) by describing it so each player can guess; the luck here comes from that fact that players were not allowed to repeat any important words that were used before, nor could they pantomime, or even say the word or any part of it, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNf53qdtNS0 as one unlucky ladies' side did here on this broadcast, which cost them a chance to win the game]], and also, the other teammates had headphones on before their turns in the line, so they had no way of knowing what words were used, which led, quite a few times, to unintentionally using words that those players did not know were used (if a player used a word that was already used, or committed any other violation, the ''Series/FamilyFeud'' buzz-in sound played, and a light bar flashed on the team's podium to indicate thereto). Compounding all of this was the fact that only the winning side kept what was earned in the game, so if you were unlucky enough to commit a violation or run out of time, the scoring stopped right then; the other side could then be lucky enough to hit a Hot Streak (the show's description of a perfect round, with all four teammates getting the word with no violations) or get further along in the line. Also, whichever side played a word only had [[Main/TimedMission 40 seconds]] to do it in, increasing the pressure, so fast thinking and memory were required.

* ''Creator/BruceForsyth's Series/HotStreak'', a short-lived '86 ABC game with the host's name in the title, had the format of having to pass a word down a line of 5 teammates (male or female) by describing it so each player can guess; the luck here comes from that fact that players were not allowed to repeat any important words that were used before, nor could they pantomime, or even say the word or any part of it, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNf53qdtNS0 as one unlucky ladies' side did here on this broadcast, which cost them a chance to win the game]], and also, the other teammates had headphones on before their turns in the line, so they had no way of knowing what words were used, which led, quite a few times, to unintentionally using words that those players did not know were used (if a player used a word that was already used, or committed any other violation, the ''Series/FamilyFeud'' buzz-in sound played, and a light bar flashed on the team's podium to indicate thereto). Compounding all of this was the fact that only the winning side kept what was earned in the game, so if you were unlucky enough to commit a violation or run out of time, the scoring stopped right then; the other side could then be lucky enough to hit a Hot Streak (the show's description of a perfect round, with all four teammates getting the word with no violations) or get further along in the line.

* ''Lionel Trains Presents: Trans-Con!'' is an EdutainmentGame dealing with the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. The player has a choice of which side to start building from: Central Pacific or Union Pacific. Central Pacific has a much shorter route, however the player is required to blast through mountainous terrain with dynamite to place the tracks. Using said dynamite has a very high chance of injuring workers in the blast, and you have to make multiple blasts to cut through even one bit of terrain. It's entirely possible the player will lose all his workers (and therefore lose the game) in the first level, before even ''finishing one tunnel''.
* ''VideoGame/BuzzyTheKnowledgeBug: Let's Explore the Airport'' got '''very''' carried away with this. It has an arcade-styled minigame called Lost Luggage, where the goal is to get each correctly colored suitcase into its matching bin. You would do this by taking control of conveyor belts and other mechanisms. The game's 99th and final level, being a developer-induced KillScreen, plays this trope straight. It has six chutes all of the same kind, where if you put a suitcase down a chute it could come out of any of the other five in any four directions. There are several unchangeable conveyor belts that will lead it into a bin. If the wrong color lands in it, you have to restart the level. The problem is, you have no control over where it goes, and every odd is stacked against you in every possible way. Didn't think this could get worse? You have to be this lucky ''four times''. Even worse, if you do get past it somehow, you [[NoEnding won't get a victory screen]] [[AWinnerIsYou or anything new and exciting to celebrate beating the whole thing]]. Instead, you'll be sent back to Level 1, while being able to play any level you want since beating the penultimate level.

* ''Creator/BruceForsyth's Series/HotStreak'', a short-lived '86 ABC game with the host's name in the title, had the format of having to pass a word down a line of 5 teammates (male or female) by describing it so each player can guess; the luck here comes from that fact that players were not allowed to repeat any important words that were used before, nor could they pantomime, or even say the word or any part of it, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNf53qdtNS0 as one unlucky ladies' side did here on this broadcast, which cost them a chance to win the game]], and also, the other teammates had headphones on before their turns in the line, so they had no way of knowing what words were used, which led, quite a few times, to unintentionally using words that those players did not know were used (if a player used a word that was already used, the ''Series/FamilyFeud'' buzz-in sound played, and a light bar flashed on the team's podium to indicate thereto). Compounding all of this was the fact that only the winning side kept what was earned in the game, so if you were unlucky enough to commit a violation or run out of time, the scoring stopped right then; the other side could then be lucky enough to hit a Hot Streak (the show's description of a perfect round, with all four teammates getting the word with no violations) or get further along in the line.

** Subverted several times in ''VideoGame/AceCombat7'': several times you are more or less forced into a fight with "Orange Wingtips", Mihaly, the enemy ace pilot. Every one of these fights is a "fair" fight, but Mihaly is a such a good pilot that he can dodge your missiles or even shoot them down. However, if ''you're'' good enough, you can still hit him, even repeatedly. The subversion is that hitting him [[spoiler: ''does nothing'': all of his appearances except the last one are scripted. The first time you encounter him, hitting him twice will force him to withdraw, but he'll also leave after a few minutes anyway. By his final appearance, you're mostly likely waiting for something to happen that ends the battle, but it's actually an ''entirely'' fair fight...[[OhCrap and he's just as hard to hit as he was before.]]]]

* Happens a good deal in ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys''. Bonnie and Chica might wander away soon after they show up at your door or they might decide to camp out there for a while, forcing you to expend power keeping them out. Foxy may rush your door several times even if you check on him frequently, draining your power in the process. Freddy might take his sweet time playing an OminousMusicBoxTune before jumpscaring you when [[LightsOffSomebodyDies the power goes out]] (giving the clock the chance to [[InstantWinCondition tick over to 6 AM]]), or he might cut it off early, and in the later nights he may or may not stay on stage for a while and not bother you for the beginning of the night. It's especially noticeable in [[HarderThanHard 20/20/20/20 mode]], where even if you ''do'' play perfectly, you're going to have to rely on the animatronics playing nice to survive (and if you don't play perfectly, [[JumpScare you're not gonna live to run out of power]]). It's been analyzed in-depth by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujg0Y5IziiY this data miner]] who has concluded practically ''everything'' about how the animatronics move is luck-based: it's actually theoretically possible on Night 1 for Chica or Bonnie to move straight to the hallway at break-neck speed and then refuse to leave until you run out of power (if they moved at every random chance until they reached the office, and then didn't move at every random chance to leave) or for Freddy to get into your office and never attack (once he's inside he'll only attack 25% of the time every second if the camera is down). "Theoretically" in that it's as unlikely as winning the lottery jackpot, mind you. He also theorizes that 20/19/19/20 mode would actually be [[NonIndicativeDifficulty harder]] than 4/20 mode, as 4/20 mode means animatronics always move at every available opportunity including their next opportunity to leave the doorway (thus allowing you to know exactly how long they'll stick around), unlike in 20/19/19/20 mode where there's a chance they'll remain for longer.

** There is a trick that works fairly reliably in situations like this; position the cursor on the opposite side of the direction you want the Lemmings to act (e.g. if you want them to bash/build left, put the cursor to the right), and far enough away where it will not detect the Lemming until it is already in the process of bumping the wall and turning around into the direction you want them to go. Getting the cursor into position is still tricky, as you basically only have about a pixel's worth of leeway, but once you have the position down, luck is mostly removed from the equation and it's just a matter of mashing the button until one of the Lemmings gets assigned the job.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Minesweeper}}'', since the boards are psuedo-{{randomly generated|Levels}}, you can easily end up with situations where there's no way to [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A337097 logically determine]] where the remaining mines are, and whichever square you click has an equal chance of containing a mine. Since the board is fixed after the first click of the mouse, you don't even get the mercy of SchrodingersGun. On top of that, some bootleg versions of the game are luck-based ''right from the very beginning'' -- as the field is entirely obscured at first, it's perfectly possible to step on a mine in your first move.
** In the standard Windows version of Minesweeper, the game is configured so that you cannot possibly hit a mine on your first move (i.e. the playing field is generated based on your first move to avoid generating a mine there). This is easy to see when the number of mines greatly exceeds 50% of the playing area when custom fields are generated, yet you still can never lose until the second click. Other renditions, however, are not always so fortunate. Regardless, any moves other than the first can easily be luck based.
** Some incarnations of Minesweeper go the other way and avert this trope entirely: they generate the board based on your first click and ensure that there is a logical solution.

* ''Creator/BruceForsyth's Series/HotStreak'', a short-lived '86 ABC game with the host's name in the title, had the format of having to pass a word down a line of 5 teammates (male or female) by describing it so each player can guess; the luck here comes from that fact that players were not allowed to repeat any important words that were used before, nor could they pantomime, and also, the other teammates had headphones on before their turns in the line, so they had no way of knowing what words were used, which led, quite a few times, to unintentionally using words that those players did not know were used (if a player used a word that was already used, the ''Series/FamilyFeud'' buzz-in sound played, and a light bar flashed on the team's podium to indicate thereto). Compounding all of this was the fact that only the winning side kept what was earned in the game, so if you were unlucky enough to commit a violation or run out of time, the scoring stopped right then; the other side could then be lucky enough to hit a Hot Streak (the show's description of a perfect round, with all four teammates getting the word with no violations) or get further along in the line.

* In ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' Area 5, the boss of the Area (the Technodrome) can be at the end of one of three caves. You have no way of knowing which one it'll be in short of trying each one and hoping it's there. Making this even worse is the fact that it's most likely (a one-in-two chance) to be at the end of the furthest, most difficult cave.