History Main / WaitingPuzzle

* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', the 'password' to Belch's base is standing in a waterfall and doing nothing for three minutes.
** Later on, the only way to complete Poo's Mu training is to sit in one spot and ignore the [=NPCs=] urge you to get down. Fitting, as "Mu" means "Nothingness".

** The PuzzleBoss fight against Gogo in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''. He is a mimic — if you attack him physically, he'll counter with an overwhelming physical attack. If you attack with magic, he'll counter with an overwhelming magical attack. The only way to beat him is to do absolutely nothing for nearly a minute before he gives up, which may be irritating since you're, at the time, racing against a clock and trying to avoid being drown fighting underwater.

* One of the endings of ''VideoGame/TheWitchsHouse'' involves this. To get it, [[spoiler: after the game starts, simply wait where you are for one hour. The roses will wither and die, and you leave.]]

* However, even that is topped by ''Don't Shoot the Puppy'' Flash game, in which ''any'' interaction with the PC (no even involving the Flash object in the browser) will shoot the eponymous puppy for an immediate GameOver.

* Antichamber involves a puzzle in which the player's path is blocked by a door with a mysterious eye on it that will eventually grow tired and fall asleep in what amounts to a staring contest. This seems trivial in a normal playthrough, however you can see the annoyance on speedrunners' faces when they're forced to sit and do nothing for about half a minute.

* Almost any time you're captured and imprisoned in a ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' game, one of the options to escaping is to wait for someone to bust you out.

** In a way, [[spoiler:the fights against Toriel, Papyrus, the Mad Dummy, and Muffet are this, assuming you want to solve things peacefully. For Toriel, you explicitly have to Spare her multiple times before she stops fighting, but for Papyrus, the Mad Dummy, and Muffet, you just have to wait and survive their attacks until they give up or something else happens[[note]]although in Muffet's case she can be spared sooner or even skipped if you use an item from the Spider Bake Sale in the Ruins during the battle or buy one of the overpriced items from her own sale respectively.[[/note]]. Doubly so for the Mad Dummy as this is the ''only'' way you can beat them - they're immune to your attacks and cannot be Spared.]]

** In a way, [[spoiler:the fights against Toriel, Papyrus, the Mad Dummy, and Muffet are this, assuming you want to solve things peacefully. For Toriel, you explicitly have to Spare her multiple times before she stops fighting, but for Papyrus, the Mad Dummy, and Muffet, you just have to wait and survive their attacks until they give up or something else happens. Doubly so for the Mad Dummy as this is the ''only'' way you can beat him - he's immune to your attacks and cannot be Spared.]]

* A variation occurs in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', during the DuelBoss fight against Xemnas. The battle begins with Sora and Xemnas running up/down a building towards each other, mirroring how Roxas and Riku did the same in the "Another Side, Another Story" secret movie. A Reaction Command "Clash" will pop up, which will do no damage to Xemnas when used. Wait a second, though, and the command will change to "Break Through", which deals a little damage. Wait another second and it changes to "Finish", which causes Sora to slam Xemnas into the side of the building and do quite a bit of damage. Since most players will hammer Triangle as soon as they see the prompt, this counts as a WaitingPuzzle and a bit of a GuideDangIt as well.

** Another variant is the dentist situation. The most considerate thing you can do is to do ''nothing at all''. Don't touch any buttons (except the button that controls your left arm to raise your hands, as the dentist told the player character to raise your hands when you feel pain) when the dentist drills the player character's teeth, especially a button that controls the player character's right arm.

** Another variant is the dentist situation. The most considerate thing you can do is to do ''nothing at all''. Don't touch any buttons when the dentist drills the player character's teeth, especially a button that controls the player character's right arm.

* Idle RPG chatrooms are counterintuitive chatrooms,where you gain experience (and levels) for not saying or doing anything in the chat room. Typing anything in the chat room will typically cause you to lose all experience you've gained since the last level.

* One of the quests in the Ancient Arabia section of LegendMUD involves giving a belly dancer a bottle of perfume in exchange for a status award and some pretty decent basic equipment. Unfortunately, you have to give her a bottle for ''each'' item in the five-piece set and it can take up to several ''hours'' for her to randomly make an offer to trade. Savvy players tend to set up a macro triggered by a phrase from her offer dialogue, "follow dancer" and then go read a book or something.

** Additionally, in the "Stickmin Space Resort" route of ''Completing ghr Mission'', the second correct choice is to, again, let the timer run out while dealing with two Toppat guards. Henry plows right through one of them and continues up the ramp to the rocket.

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3'' [[spoiler: the characters find out that they are part of an endless series of killing games that exist only because people like us (see BreakingTheFourthWall) want this as entertainment. The Mastermind insists the protagonist choose between Despair and Hope (the CentralTheme of the series), but the protagonist urges everyone not to vote. Thus, the solution is to choose neither option but instead to let the timer run out.]]

** Additionally, in the "Stickmin Space Resort" route of ''Completing The Mission'', the second correct choice is to, again, let the timer run out while dealing with two Toppat guards. Henry plows right through one of them and continues up the ramp to the rocket.

A form of RewardingInactivity. See also WeWait and YouWereTryingTooHard.

* ''Series/SupermarketSweep'' would give a $100 bonus (later $200) to any contestant who had the patience to idle and allow a 1 oz. bag of coffee to be ground for them during the Big Sweep. To prevent people from running off to collect other groceries while the grinding happened, they had to hold the button down the whole time. It only took ten seconds, but in a game show setting with an average of only two minutes to maximize your score, it was a hefty time sink.

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', in order to get to Regice, you examine a wall that has a message in Braille, and then wait for two minutes.
** For this one, you may even open the door while decoding the riddle itself.

* Almost any time you're captured and imprisoned in a ''Franchise/MetalGear'' game, one of the options to escaping is to wait for someone to bust you out.