History VideoGame / ZardysMaze

** By obtaining the key to the shed, a "gaming crossword" can be found pinned to one of the walls which appears to reference popular indie horror characters such as [[Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddys Freddy Fazbear]]. The purpose of this crossword is unknown, but it is presumed to serve plot relevance.
* ThrowItIn: Pumpkin Jack's walking animation in the final game is a glitched version of his actual walk cycle. However, it was kept because the result makes him seem stiff and unsettling.

* ArtificialBrilliance: Most adversaries have a very competent pathfinding system that will try its best to screw you over.

* BoringButPractical: Jumping is at first glance an absolutely useless skill, but it is required to avoid Pumpkin Crawlers and can be used to have a bird-view of the maze, helping you find spots to escape into if you ever come across a dead end.

** Zardy will both slit your neck and wack you to the ground using his hoe.
** The most brutal jumpscare comes from Cablecrow, not because of the jumpscare itself, but because they will use their grapple hook to ''send your character flying towards a wooden pole.''

* GuideDangIt: There are a ''lot'' of secrets in the game that are hidden in plain sight that are very easy to oversight.
** When the maze locks up after all vines have been destroyed, there will be a pixelated vine somewhere on the maize that you can climb to end the game and get a secret ending.
** The door to the shack in the beginning of Story Mode can only be found randomly in the challenge "Needle in a Haystack", which takes place in a pitch dark maize, the game doesn't tell you it even exists and provides no help in tracking it.
** Destroying a Pumpkin Crawler will make all nearby Pumpkin Jacks hiss, alerting you that they're underway, but what you probably wouldn't figure out through normal gameplay is that destroying a Pumpkin Crawler actually ''summons'' a new Pumpkin Jack too.
* GrapplingHookPistol: Cablecrows move via hitching a grappling hook onto different wooden poles located on the maze, and will kill you if you do come in contact with them. A later update introduced the Rattlers, robot-like enemies who weaponize said item by ''directly aiming it towards the player''. One hit from their grappling hooks and you're toast.

* LostInTheMaize: The entire game happens inside a labyrinthic cornfield. The player can utilize the corn itself to hide away from foes at the cost of a slower running speed. Stay too long inside, however, and Zardy will go out of his way to kill you.

* ScaryScarecrows: So, so many of them, at that. Zardy, Pumpkin Jack, Cablecrow, Brute, and Rattler are all made of varying combinations of burlap, straw, gardening tools, and wood.

** A face very reminiscent of Toad's face from Videogame/SuperMario64 can be found engraved into a tree as a reference to WebVideo/{{Simpleflips}}, streamer who caused said texture to achieve memetic status in the ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' community.

* UnexpectedGameplayChange: While not a gameplay change per-se, challenge "Needle in a Haystack" will start with the player only holding their flashlight on total darkness; their goal is to find their axe somewhere on the map and destroy a ''single'' vine. The only problem? The vine is extremely small, and there is no way to pinpoint its location until it's right in front of you, which can result in spending most of the challenge walking around looking for the damn thing.

** Beating the game through special requirements such as not picking up the flashlight or climbing an odd-looking vine will grant you a screen with an odd array of characters. Decoding these gave result to videos of a Pumpkin Jack performing the [[{{Videogame/Fortnite}} Default Dance]] uploaded by seemingly unrelated channels, however, these rather humorous videos lead hidden videos in [=SwankyBox=]'s official channel depicting situations such as a meteor falling and the unnamed farmer seemingly falling victim to a Pumpkin Jack whilst trying to investigate the situation.

* LimpAndLivid: Pumpkin Jack's arms hang slack at his sides, but

* SinisterScarecrows: So, so many of them, at that.

** Beating the story mode will award you with your screen slowly fading into white alongside some cryptic text. Beating the game through special requirements such as not picking up the flashlight or climbing an odd-looking vine will grant you a screen with an odd array of characters whose purpose is yet to be revealed.
** Completing the game in challenge mode will award you with a simple black screen reading "CHALLENGE COMPLETE".

* BigBad: Zardy is the only mobile character with a max count of 1, but unlike other characters, he is always aware of your location and will actively stalk and hunt you down.

* GrapplingHookPistol: Cablecrows move via hitching a grappling hook onto different wooden poles located on the maze, and will kill you if you do come in contact with them while moving. A later update introduced the Rattlers, robot-like enemies who weaponize said item by ''directly aiming it towards the player''. One hit from their grappling hooks and you're toast.

%%* ScaryScarecrows: Most if not all antagonists are scarecrows.

The game can be obtained for free on [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1484800/Zardys_Maze/ Steam]] - additionally, [=SwankyBox=] later released a ''Videogame/FridayNightFunkin'' GameMod with Zardy as the opponent, known as VideoGame/VSZardyFoolhardy, in collaboration with musician [[https://www.youtube.com/c/Rozebud Rozebud]] and artist [[https://twitter.com/StarnyArt StarnyArt]].

* UnexpectedGameplayChange: While not a gameplay change per-se, challenge "Needle in a Haystack" will start with the player only holding their flashlight on total darkness, their goal is to find their axe somewhere on the map and destroy a ''single'' vine, the only problem? ''The vine is extremely small'', there is no way to pinpoint its location until it's right in front of you, which can result in spending most of the challenge by walking around.

* TrialAndErrorGameplay: The game will provide ''zero'' hints as to how each mechanic work excepts for the flashlight and the axe. Either you die a thousand times to learn what each character does, or you look up a guide.

The game can be obtained for free on [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1484800/Zardys_Maze/ Steam]], additionally, the game received an official ''Videogame/FridayNightFunkin'' GameMod known as VideoGame/VSZardyFoolhardy in collaboration of musician [[https://www.youtube.com/c/Rozebud Rozebud]] and artist [[https://twitter.com/StarnyArt StarnyArt]].

The [[ExcusePlot story]] is simple to follow: You are a farmer trying to chop down strange weeds in your corn maze, this task is easier said than done, because the plants weren't the only things to break into your maze, in fact, several ScaryScarecrows are roaming the maze with the only goal of offing you on sight. Armed with just an axe and a flashlight, you must destroy the weeds and get out of the maze alive.

* ArtificialStupidity: ...Except for the Brutes, who are absurdly easy to lure into a spot to alter their patrol routine and make cutting vines much easier.
* BadassNormal: The player. They can humiliate a massive army of scarecrows by themselves and destroy giant-sized vines in just a matter of three hits.
* BigBad: Zardy. He's the only mobile character with a max count of 1, but unlike other characters, he is always aware of your location and will actively stalk and hunt you down.
* BoringButPractical: Jumping. At first glance it's an absolutely useless skill, but it is required to avoid Pumpkin Crawlers and can be used to have a bird-view of the maze, helping you find spots to escape into if you ever come across a dead end.

* EldritchLocation: Thanks to the mysterious vines, the maze itself. Whenever a vine is destroyed, roots will begin to sprout from the ground as the entire maze begins to shake, if the player does not escape through an exit in time, the maze will block itself using a green forcefield, and if they do manage to escape, said exit will be blocked off by yet another ominous vine.
* EvilSoundsDeep: In ''VS Zardy - Foolhardy'', Zardy has a low baritone whenever he sings, it evolves into trash metal-alike singing halfway through the song when his notes become more frenzied.
* GrapplingHookPistol: Cablecrows move by using these to go through different wooden poles located on the maze and will kill you if you do come in contact with them while moving. A later update introduced the Rattlers, robot-like enemies weaponize said item by ''directly aiming it towards the player''. One hit from their grappling hooks and you're toast.
* NintendoHard: To put it lightly, the game is ''brutal''. Multiple factors such as the randomly-generated map and enemy positions can screw you over, special mention to Pumpkin Crawlers, who can slow you down while navigating in the middle of a cornfield.

* ScaryScarecrows: ''And how.'' Most if not all antagonists are scarecrows.
* ShoutOut: Many, most of these are found by going through a secret path that leads to an area outside the maze ''plagued'' with [[EasterEgg Easter Eggs]].

** A silhouette of the youtuber ''[=TetraBitGaming=]''[='=]s logo can be found in a tree. There is also a message written in the floor wishing the youtuber ''[=8BitRyan=]'' good luck and the text "CAN THEY SOLVE IT?" near a silhouette of ''WebVideo/GameTheory''[='=]s logo as means of challenging them to crack the game's plot.
** A face very reminiscent of Toad's face from Videogame/SuperMario64 can be found engraved into a tree as a reference to ''{{WebVideo/Simpleflips}}'', streamer who caused said texture to achieve memetic status in the [=SM64=] community.
* TrialAndErrorGameplay: The game will provide ''zero'' hints as to how each mechanic work excepts for the flashlight and the axe, either you die a thousand times to learn what each character does or you look up for a guide in Youtube.

** A face very reminiscent of Toad's face from Videogame/SuperMario64 can be found engraved into a tree as a reference to ''WebVideo/Simpleflips'', streamer who caused said texture to achieve memetic status in the [=SM64=] community.

** A silhouette of the youtuber ''TetraBitGaming''[='=]s logo can be found in a tree. There is also a message written in the floor wishing the youtuber ''8BitRyan'' good luck and the text "CAN THEY SOLVE IT?" near a silhouette of ''WebVideo/GameTheory''[='=]s logo as means of challenging them to crack the game's plot.
** A face very reminiscent of Toad's face from Videogame/SuperMario64 can be found engraved into a tree as a reference to ''WebVideo/Simpleflips'', streamer who caused said texture to achieve memetic status in the SM64 community.

** A silhouette of the youtuber ''TetraBitGaming'''s logo can be found in a tree. There is also a message written in the floor wishing the youtuber ''8BitRyan'' good luck and the text "CAN THEY SOLVE IT?" near a silhouette of ''WebVideo/GameTheory'''s logo as means of challenging them to crack the game's plot.

* GoddamnedBats: Pumpkin Crawlers will appear as a green vine on the ground only visible through activating the flashlight, upon stepping on it, they will slow down the player and disable them from jumping. The only way to get rid of them is to kill them using the axe, which will alert any nearby Pumpkin Jacks and will also spawn a new Pumpkin Jack on death.

* AritificialStupidity: ...Except for the Brutes, who are absurdly easy to lure into a spot to alter their patrol routine and make cutting vines much easier.

* EldritchLocation: Thanks to the mysterious vines, the maze itself. Whenever a vine is destroyed, roots will begin to sprout from the ground as the entire maze begins to shake, if the player does not escape through an exit in time, the maze will block itself using a green forcefield, and if they do manage to escape, said exit will be blocked off by a vine.