History Main / TrialandErrorGameplay

* Many of the instant-kill traps in ''VideoGame/{{Demonophobia}}'' are only obvious in hindsight. For example, interacting with a bunch of unassuming vines causes you to be pulled feet-first into a meat grinder. The game's ending outright assumes that you've died several times at the very least.

* The ''Franchise/TombRaider'' series dips in and out of this trope a lot, even between levels; some levels have many dangerous traps but are fair as long as you don't blindly run into everything (or show some haste when you do) and pay a modicum of attention to the surroundings, while others spring fatal (or at least very damaging) traps that are near-unavoidable with very little warning. TR 3 is probably the peak of this, with some levels having a seemingly sadistic desire to throw death-traps at you around every corner (the [[SaveGameLimits limited save system]] if you are on the [=PlayStation=] version also doesn't help).

** Quite possibly the most bizarre example of this is in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestV'', where one defeats a yeti by... [[spoiler:throwing a pie at it]]. And there are many more outrageous puzzles of this nature to be found in the game.
*** This is made even worse by Graham having the option to [[spoiler:eat the pie when he's about to starve]] instead of [[spoiler:eating (part) of a leg of lamb (which you may not have)]] so you ''can't'' defeat the yeti. This makes the game UnwinnableByDesign, with your only recourse to ''restart the game''. To top it off, the game never tells you that it's a lost cause to continue, either.

* Finding your way to the True End of ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'' requires choosing different doors at several branching paths and going through several potential endings. [[spoiler:You can't get the real ending on the first try - Akane needs the information she gathers from each trial run to figure out the correct path that will save her life.]]

** Mima in ''Story of Eastern Wonderland'' has a pattern where she'll briefly charge... then ram the area below her. You're not fast enough to get out of the way after she's started moving.
** Yuuka is fond of this in ''Lotus Land Story''. As a stage five boss, she'll stop and charge up... then hit 90% of the screen with an undodgeable laser (at least undodgeable if you don't know that it's coming). In stage six, one of her patterns puts a circle under the player. Following action-game instinct and moving away will kill you, since it's actually the safe spot.
** ''Subterranean Animism'' is quite fond of this. Examples include Parsee's midboss spell card,[[note]]A homing bullet spawn point. Mis-handling leads to boxing yourself in,[[/note]] Parsee's second boss spell card[[note]]She creates a clone of herself that swamps the screen with bullets when shot.[[/note]] Yuugi's last spell card[[note]]being toward the bottom of the screen will kill you,[[/note]] and basically all of stage 5. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epKT3XdiOK4 (See the annotations for this video.)]] Memorizing what to do is fairly helpful in all of the games, but SA is really the worst, at least outside the [[BonusDungeon Extra Stages]].
** The systems for gaining more lives and bombs in ''Undefined Fantastic Object'' and ''Ten Desires'', while not ''requiring'' memorization, strongly encourage it.
** Anything with infinite lives will be shameless about their use of this trope. Including ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'', which has on option to play with lives instead of checkpoints.

* ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' has a few games where the player can make a guess, is shown what they got right, and can try again. The best example is Clock Game, which is about guessing the value of the prize, being told it's higher or lower, and repeating until getting it right on the dollar before the clock runs out. Three other examples, Race Game, Bonkers, and Time is Money, involve the player having to make a guess (either placing price tags on four items, markers on whether digits in a given price are higher or lower than those of the actual price, and arranging grocery items into three price ranges), and then run to and press a button to see if they are correct before going back to try again. Race Game has a sign stating how many prices are in the correct spot, but the other two only say if the given guess is correct or not.

Amusingly, in {{Edutainment Game}}s or Puzzle games, trial and error may actually be the puzzle itself. These count, but barely, because you may not be punished for getting it wrong; since the entire ''point'' is Trial and Error until you get the solution right. There are also in fact entire games dedicated around this concept too, although to be fair, these games generally tend to give you clues after you make an incorrect guess. Generally speaking, games based around this will generally have the "Trials" be the player learning how the game pieces work and interact with one another - and as a result, it does not take a lot of time to try again if you fail. Often these test skills such as recognizing patterns and testing a hypothesis. This goes to show that Administrivia/TropesAreTools - it ''can'' be made fair, it's just generally difficult.

This is not limited to NintendoHard games. It does not necessarily result from EverythingTryingToKillYou. Even ordinary games can abuse the non-permanence of death. If it affects the game's plot, it may also challenge the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief and CharacterDevelopment, because when the game's protagonist finally breaks through, in-universe it looks like [[IJustKnew he just knew what was coming]]. It can feel much worse in games that have [[VideogameSetPiece set pieces]], voice acting, or (heaven forbid) unskippable {{cutscene}}s that do/say/show the exact same thing every time like a skipping record playing a song you can't get out of your head.

This is much worse when combined with CheckPointStarvation. That said, it is possible to reduce the difficulty by watching and closely studying Website/YouTube videos of [[LetsPlay it being done right. Or wrong]].

Compare TryEverything and CharacterSelectForcing. This trope is ubiquitous in [[GroundhogDayLoop Groundhog Day Loop]] stories.

* ''{{Defcon 5}}'' invokes this trope due to massive use of GuideDangIt; you're plopped down in the game's setting (a Mars colony ready to be opened) with no idea of what you're supposed to do, a map that only lets you cover your immediate area, and the requirement of picking up data pads scattered around the compound for items and info on your next mission (which are so vague you practically need a strategy guide to make heads or tails of).

* The ''VideoGame/HalfQuake'' series of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' mods is full of this, along with at least one instance of {{Unwinnable}}. This is quite bluntly lampshaded in the first of them with the Hazard Course being replaced with an object lesson in sadism, and [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the game being intended to punish the player character, torturing and eventually killing them.

* ''Surviving High School'' is also big on this. Most choices reveal a character's personality...AFTER you make them. Especially on dating. Luckily, it's friendly with them. Oh, and the actual system for leveling attributes is pretty mean.
* On ''Aztec Challenge'' on the Commodore 64, one of the levels is a room with booby-trapped floor titles. You have to step on the right ones in the right order, or else you get shot through with arrows. As one would imagine, this level usually takes several attempts before the player is successful.
* Invoked in VideoGame/TakeshisChallenge. The correct sequence of actions in order to complete the game is utterly counterintuitive. A few of the actions (like repeatedly singing the same song at karaoke) don't even qualify as MoonLogicPuzzle; the game doesn't even try to pretend the solutions make sense.

* One puzzle in ''VideoGame/TheSpaceBar'' revolves around predicting the assignments of [[strike:guard dogs]] [[CallARabbitASmeerp queeps]]. The game kind of implies that it's possible to figure it out through logic, but it's a thousand times easier and more reliable to just reload.

* ''Videogame/AloneInTheDark1992'' has quite a few:

* ''Videogame/AloneInTheDark2008'' is also rife with moments like this, such as the part where you have to scale the side of an exploding building. Such instances are often due to shoddy game design.
* The author of ''[=BOH=]'' doesn't mind this, and answered it in the [[http://www.bohthegame.com/faq.html#Q10 FAQ.]]
* The TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu-based adventure game ''Shadow of the Comet'' has a bit where your character visits a labyrinth-like crypt. After you meet a giant slug-like monster, you have to escape from the crypt as it chases you. Unless you had the good sense to draw a map, the beast will tear you to pieces dozens of times as you try to find the right route. Actually, just ''reaching'' said slug monster invokes this trope, as the crypt features multiple doors that will either kill you or warp you to the beginning of the maze, neither of which are distinguishable from the correct ones. That's not even touching on the insta-kill traps scattered about.

* ''VideoGame/ClockTower 2'' / 3. Open a cupboard? You die. Look at a painting. Die. Look at a statue? Die. It doesn't help that the deaths are very unimpressive. You can button bash to avoid death, but it's quicker to just continue.
* Many of the instant-kill traps in ''Demonophobia'' are only obvious in hindsight. For example, interacting with a bunch of unassuming vines causes you to be pulled feet-first into a meat grinder. The game's ending outright assumes that you've died several times at the very least.

* Bringing the wrong gun to the boss fights of ''VideoGame/RoboCopVersusTheTerminator'' can turn them into twenty minute [[Main/DeathOfAThousandCuts battles of attrition]], or just be flat-out unwinnable if all you have is the base Auto-9, which doesn't do ANY damage to some bosses. A good portion of the game is figuring out which gun is required against which boss, and then holding onto that gun ''at all costs'' (until you can swap it for the next "correct" gun for the UPCOMING boss, of course.)

* Many ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' 2D games are like this. Try running full speed ahead, what many perceive to be the whole point of the series, only to crash into an enemy as a result of having mere milliseconds to react to it once it appears. This is, however, by design as series creator, [[Creator/YujiNaka Yuji Naka]], had a fascination with memorizing levels to find the fastest route and this love of speedrunning was the inspiration for Sonic's mechanics and level design.

* ''Voltorometer Recharged'', for no good reason, suddenly decides to throw '''hidden bottomless pits''' at you during the escape sequence that happens after the final boss.

** The sequel, Super Scribblenauts, takes it to another level by having many seemingly open-ended puzzles that can only be solved in very specific ways. Getting to the front of a queue? No amount of stealth, force or other silly solutions will do, you have to [[spoiler:give the other people in the queue an item they're interested in which somehow makes them leave the queue]]. Putting a child to sleep? None of your regular methods of putting anything to sleep will fulfill the criteria, despite making the child sleep. The solution is to [[spoiler:give the child something like a teddy bear]], which in any other circumstance would have no such effect.

* ''Nauticrawl'' has you figure how to even control the vehicle you ended up on, which features absolutely zero labeling and no manual. Your first few deaths will probably happen even before you can properly start the engine. This is justified by the fact that you're a slave worker escaping with a machine that's purposefully designed without any button labeling, specifically to prevent the scenario that you're pulling off. After all, if you're trained to operate it, labeling would be unnecessary.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' games feature dialogue wheels with options that often don't sound like what Shepard says in result. It could be very possible to be doing a Paragon playthrough, only to pick an option that looks like a harsh chastising and suddenly reloading yourself after Shepard blasted the other end of the conversation.

** Sometimes the series uses this trope to the detriment of the game. As of the third generation (namely ''Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate''), the monsters' AI has become noticeable more random in their attack combinations, leaving very few openings to get in reliable attacks and causing frustration for players while turning some fights into guessing games. Brachydios, for instance, can spam as few as one or as many as four fist slams at any moment, after almost any attack; meanwhile, other attacks, such as the "standing horn slam", cause random sets of fixed explosions in order from closest to furthest from him, giving the player no good understanding of when to attack. But you have to attack at some point, because you're on a time limit every quest. Therefore, you must risk damage/death at a moment's notice just to get some simple damage in during certain parts of the fight. It isn't always a problem for all weapon classes on all monsters, but particular weapons are clearly inferior to others in a fight due to this trope occurring.

* The C64 shoot-em-up ''Delta'' is pretty much the embodiment of this trope. Enemy waves will quickly scroll across the screen, usually before the player can hope to kill them with their pea-shooter of a gun, and will inevitably destroy the OneHitPointWonder player ship. A post on a C64 forum described it as an "interactive memory test disguised as a game".
* ''Last Hope'' by NG:DEV.TEAM is a good modern example. It's even more memorization-heavy than ''R-Type'', to the point where even getting past the first level requires you to plan and memorize a path through the entire stage.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'':

* Also the entire point of ''TableTopGame/{{Battleship}}'', where both players try to destroy the other players' fleet by guessing a random square on the grid, and then being told whether or not they hit a ship or missed it, and if you hit, you have to guess what adjacent squares contain a ship as well.

* ''VisualNovel/KaraNoShoujo'': While few people try it, preferring to rely on walkthroughs, correctly mapping out how to find the various side routes and special endings requires trying every option, writing down what happens, and then reloading to try the other ones. Most of the main plot can be reached through common sense deductions. Side routes require collecting every optional appearance of that particular character in order to unlock the final scenes, and there is literally ''no'' way to know where and when those characters will appear other than visiting every place on the map and making notes of who's present on that date.

* The UsefulNotes/Commodore64 game ''VideoGame/TheCastlesOfDoctorCreep'' occasionally features this trope. Perhaps the most infamous is the left "[[BlackoutBasement black room]]" in Alternation. The room features conveyor belts that need to be switched off...and most of the switches are over these moving conveyor belts. Further, because the floors are black, you can't see the conveyor belts (which are also black). The belts need to be switched off in a certain order. Pick the wrong switch, and you get pulled past the switch and into a spot you can't escape, forcing you to [[PressXToDie Hit Restore to Die]]. Puzzles like this are why the game has an Unlimited Lives option.

* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' has some elements of this:
** There are many traps and powerful enemies, and players need to be cautious and observant in order to survive them all. As well, the player is ''expected'' to die to bosses on their first (several) attempts, as the game uses death itself as a learning mechanic: get killed by a boss's attack, learn its telegraph, dodge it the next time only to be killed by a different attack, rinse and repeat. Even a highly skilled player who is playing through the game a second time is likely be to killed if they're ever caught off-guard. Players can leave messages to one another to warn about upcoming dangers, but beware, for {{Troll}}s like leaving fake messages as well. There is a great reason "Git Gud" is a meme for these games.

*** The Hellkite Dragon/Bridge Wyvern/Red Drake at the cusp of Undead Parish, after defeating the Taurus Demon. At the level that it is encountered at, it can kill the player in a mere one or two attacks, and blocks the way into the Parish. And unless you [[RunOrDie make a break]] for [[CorridorCubbyholeRun the safe spot in the middle of the bridge]] before it gets a chance to roast the length of the bridge, chances are you'll die and have to go through the entire Upper Undead Burg all over again just to unlock the shortcut back to the bonfire. And this isn't even getting into actually fighting the creature itself.

*** Blighttown. The descent down to the bottom is otherwise rather painless, were it not for the almost perfectly-camouflaged blowdart snipers with uncanny range and accuracy who inflict severe Toxic, enough to kill most players in mere seconds if they don't have Toxic curing consumables. In order to survive the level, players will have to equip a poison-blocking shield (that's a missable pick-up), immunize themselves with Dung Pies (which gives them the Toxic status effect but drains HP much more slowly), or try to find and counter-snipe them (which requires having enough Strength/Dexterity to use a bow). Thankfully, the snipers don't respawn, so killing them just once is enough.

*** The Lost Sinner can be one of the harder early-game bosses to beat without proper preparations. When fighting her head-on, the poor lighting in the room will reduce the player's lock-on range, making it easy for her to simply jump over you, break target lock and bring her greatsword into your back while you're wondering where the hell she went. So you'll have to light the torches outside of the arena first, which proves impossible without the Bastille Key (which, in the original [=PS3=]/360/DX9 version, requires beating an optional boss to get).

*** The (optional) Ancient Dragon boss is widely considered one of the most frustrating bosses to beat in the base game. The first time the player encounters this fight they will have no way of knowing that practically any attack suffered will cause instant death to the player. If the player tries to block with any shield other than the Gyrm's Greatshield, almost maxed out with max stamina, then all fire attacks will break the players guard and instantly kill them. Alternatively the boss's flying, fire breath attack tracks the player for the first 30% of the attack and has massive AOE (area of effect) damage that will instantly kill the player. As a result if the player is not under 25% weight encumbrance they simply are not fast enough to always dodge the breath attack.

*** The Bloodletting Beast often starts the fight launching a difficult to avoid punch that can easily one-hit kill the player. Its easy to see the charge up but almost impossible to know the exact timing of the punch until he is fought a few times meaning the likelihood of many deaths. Also many of his standard attacks can instantly kill low HP builds without forewarning.

*** Cathedral of the Deep is perhaps one of the most well-designed levels in the game, however it is also one of the more frustrating areas to navigate due to checkpointing and difficulty. The rooftops are full of crossbow archers who launch multiple volleys at the player from range, the inside of the cathedral proper is guarded by two giant slaves whose attacks can easily shave off half a player's health bar in one hit, the lower floors are guarded by extremely tough Cathedral Knights and riddled with all sorts of poison traps, and there is only '''one''' bonfire in the entire cathedral, requiring the player to progressively unlock shortcuts back to the main chapel area.
*** Irithyll Dungeon has earned a deserved reputation as pain incarnate. Beyond the layout of the dungeon itself, it's filled with Jailer enemies that will reduce quickly your health just by looking at you (read: not deal continuous damage to you, but ''lower the maximum number so that you can't heal it back''. If you're not careful and run headfirst into a Jailer, expect him to stun-lock you with his branding iron, and then proceed to kill you in one hit thanks to having reduced your HP down to double digits after chasing you down, sending you back to start.

* ''VideoGame/{{Siren}}'' . Your characters have extremely limited health, are rarely armed and are placed in near pitch dark surroundings with enemies who are much stronger, and crack shots with firearms. Oh - and they're immortal zombies. So if you do manage to beat one in combat, it'll revive after a few seconds and come looking for you.

* ''VideoGame/{{Siren}}'' (Known as Forbidden Siren in some regions). Your characters have extremely limited health, are rarely armed and are placed in near pitch dark surroundings with enemies who are much stronger, and crack shots with firearms. Oh - and they're immortal zombies. So if you do manage to beat one in combat, it'll revive after a few seconds and come looking for you.