Line #3 Main/AlphabetSoupCans


1	[[quoteright:1000:[[VideoGame/JumpStartAdventures3rdGradeMysteryMountain https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/js3gkd.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:1000:This combination lock can only be cracked with the knowledge of third-grade math!]]
3	In {{Edutainment Game}}s, there have to be obstacles that are... well, educational. And there are... whether it makes any sense within the context of the game or not. It isn't just a case of SolveTheSoupCans, they're Alphabet Soup Cans!
4
5	So, why does the BigBad always challenge you with fifth grade math problems? Because you need to work on your long division! He's thoughtful that way. Still, you'd think that if he ''really'' wanted to outsmart people, he'd come up with something more difficult.
6
7	Often a result of GameplayAndStorySegregation. Not to be confused with FunWithAlphabetSoup, the trope for actual alphabet soup.
8	----
9	%%This examples list has been alphabetized. Please add your example in alphabetical order. Thank you!
10	!!Examples:
11
12	[[AC:Video Games]]
13	* ''VideoGame/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!
14	* Every character in ''VideoGame/{{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).
15	* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' and ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal'', among the hack'n'slashing, spell-slinging fights, there are a few places where the only way to move forward is... solving math and logic problems. The Circus Tent quest on Waukeen's Promenade and the riddling imp in Watcher's Keep come to mind.
16	* ''VideoGame/{{Boktai}}'': At least one dungeon randomly includes math problems you have to solve. However, its challenge comes from the block pushing.
17	* ''Franchise/CarmenSandiego'': {{Justified\|Trope}} in the earlier games of the series. In these games, you had to chase globe-hopping crooks around the world by using clues to figure out where they went next. (With some rather bizarre hints that seem rather contrived.) Later games in the series, however, embraced Alphabet Soup Cans more fully.
18	** ''VideoGame/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego1997'' zig-zags this. Sometimes this is justifiable 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 for 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.)
19	** ''VideoGame/CarmenSandiegoWordDetective'' {{Hand Wave}}s the grammar, word search and spelling puzzles as decoding passwords. ''VideoGame/CarmenSandiegoMathDetective'' does much the same with its mathematical puzzles.
20	** In ''VideoGame/CarmenSandiegosThinkQuickChallenge'', Carmen has created a fleet of [=KnowBots=] to [[IntangibleTheft steal various types of knowledge from the world]]. With that premise, it follows somewhat logically that you defeat the [=KnowBots=] by answering their educational questions. Still, the [=KnowBots=] seem, at times, more interested in teaching you than in outsmarting you.
21	* In the PBS kids' show WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}, OncePerEpisode there would be some sort of problem in Cyberspace, usually caused by the BigBad or a MonsterOfTheWeek. It is always something that the protagonists are able to resolve by utilizing a simple math-related technique, like a Venn diagram, the principle of ratios, or the ability to measure things. Later seasons shift the subject from math to science, while otherwise keeping the formula of the episodes the same.
22	* These pop up on television, too. For instance, WesternAnimation/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.
23	* ''VideoGame/ElroyGoesBugzerk'' has a couple of doors that only open if the player answers a question about bugs.
24	* [[http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/07/sega-announces-english-of-the-dead-for-ds/ English of the Dead.]] Translate words. Kill Zombies.
25	* In ''VideoGame/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.
26	* Website/FunBrain is a website with an "arcade" consisting of 100% alphabet soup cans that let the player, say, perform long division to get a freethrow in basketball, unlock an Egyptian tomb or even drag a dandelion seed onto a flower.
27	* The ''VideoGame/JumpStart'' series.
28	** The earliest games for younger players often took place in a school setting, which occasionally justified their use.
29	** Somewhat {{justified\|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/JumpStartAdventures3rdGradeMysteryMountain'' considering that the villainess is a [[InsufferableGenius smarty-pants]] third grader who puts obstacles like this to make herself look smarter.
30	** ''VideoGame/JumpStartAdventures4thGradeHauntedIsland'' had the ExpositionFairy Flap state in a throwaway line that Mrs. Grunkel set these up all over her island so that she could finally get her little monsters to be able to learn. After all, she IS a SadistTeacher.
31	** ''VideoGame/JumpStartAdventures5thGradeJoHammetKidDetective'' combined these with plot-sensitive tasks. Those crossword notes Jo has to solve are Martin's way of secretly informing her where Dr. X will strike next without calling attention to it. Getting the NoodleImplements involve doing things like mixing drinks or recovering artifacts. The most obvious use of this trope is when Jo has to pick the door locks by solving math equations.
32	** ''VideoGame/JumpStartAdventures6thGradeMissionEarthquest'' is the biggest offender. Most of the activities in this game could essentially be boiled down to a glorified multiple choice exam while being chased by hostile robots, rendering most if not all the educational content out of context.
33	* In ''VideoGame/IMMeen'', the player advances at certain points by... fixing grammatical mistakes in texts.
34	* Almost half the puzzles in ''The Island of Dr Brain'' are Alphabet Soup Cans. It eventually gets pretty annoying especially since the first game had much more variety in its puzzles, and while they were all SolveTheSoupCans puzzles as well, they still made more sense in the context of the game.
35	* These sorts of puzzles -- specifically, math problems -- were the entire point of the text adventure ''The Lantern of D'Gamma.''
36	* All of the activities in the ''VideoGame/LearningVoyage'' series of games. For example, in one activity, you need to find the predicate in a sentence in order to make a monkey climb a tree. Once you've figured them all out, the monkey will dive into a puddle of water.
37	* 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 ToughLove.
38	* In the ''[[VideoGame/BlasterSeries Math/Reading Blaster]]'' series, you fight intergalactic villains with mathematics and language arts.
39	** {{Lampshaded}} at the end of ''VideoGame/MathBlasterAges912'' in which the main characters pretend to leave their RobotBuddy Spot behind and Spot, who isn't in on it, protests "But what about all those years of solving math problems together!"
40	* 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.
41	* ''Mean City'', a language-training game from the late nineties, features this in full force - and it would almost be justified considering the main antagonist is a former language teacher driven insane by her students, if not for the fact that you don't actually get most of your challenges from her at all, and instead you have to solve word problems just to ''exchange money at the bank''.
42	* ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends 2'' has a minigame where you can get various items by answering various questions related to history, science & other subjects (thankfully, this isn't necessary, as the one item you actually need can also be bought). What makes this a particularily glaring example of GameplayAndStorySegregation is that the Legends series is supposed to take place AfterTheEnd, where most of humanity's history has been lost.
43	* Many of the early ''{{Microzine}}'' Twistaplot and Twistadventure games had some form of Alphabet Soup Cans. They would later switch to more traditional puzzles.
44	* ''VideoGame/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.
45	* The Creator/{{Konami}} game ''Monkey Academy'' had the player jump around platform levels and pull down numbers to find the solution to an elementary arithmetic problem.
46	* The various ''VideoGame/{{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.
47	** The device that you can use to learn ''VideoGame/{{Riven}}'''s numerical system is justified by being in a classroom (although its importance is elsewhere).
48	** ''VideoGame/MystIIIExile'' 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.
49	** ''VideoGame/MystIVRevelation'' requires you to learn a few words in a primitive monkey language, and also recognize 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.
50	* ''NumberMaze Challenge'' was pretty much the same thing, except without gems, spiders, or dragons.
51	* The ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' games are actually pretty good at averting this. You need to know some type of skill for each game, but more times than not, it was something a little more esoteric, like Braille or Morse Code.
52	** 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.
53	* The Library Island Arc of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' 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 in 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]].
54	* In ''VideoGame/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.
55	* The ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' series. Puzzles can require anything from basic arithmetic all the way up to geometry. (Sometimes, however, these are subverted, when a puzzle that seems to involve math actually has a simpler answer. ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'' demonstrates [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/pythagorean-fear-em here]])
56	* In a desperate measure to avoid actual [[ProgrammingGame programming minigames]] or the traditional ''VideoGame/PipeDream''-style [[HackingMinigame alternative]] and yet still have some kind of thematically fitting puzzle for computer [[HollywoodHacking cracking]], ''[[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic KoTOR]]'''s developers inserted simple math quizzes using the dialog system.
57	** Both ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' and ''Franchise/MassEffect'' feature the famous TowersOfHanoi puzzle, and it's only skippable in the latter for a very high [[AppliedPhlebotinum omni-gel]] cost.
58	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
59	** Fantina'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.
60	** Blaine's Gym in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' was doing the quiz-gym first, although the questions were related to Pokemon rather than anything educational. If you answered wrong, you had to defeat Blaine's employees before you could face Blaine. Of course, winning more battles meant getting more experience and money, so unless you were doing a speedrun, you had incentive not to skip the fights.
61	* On ''VideoGame/{{Poptropica}}'''s Mythology Island, you need Aphrodite's magic mirror to travel around easier. She'll only give it to you if you solve a Hangman game involving the names of various Greek gods.
62	* A game called "Quarter Mile Math" had you solving math problems to make your horse (or racecar) go faster, in what may be a unique example of an educational racing game.
63	* The ''VideoGame/ReaderRabbit''/''VideoGame/TheClueFinders'' series.
64	** Sometimes justifiable regarding ''VideoGame/TheClueFinders'', in which some challenges simply have you doing somebody a favour to get a reward, such as cutting bolts of fabric into fractions, helping a barista put coffee on a tray, assembling proper data for a Librarian's book, or putting a fence around a pit so a monkey can't fall into it. But other times, they're simply just locked doors you have to answer word problems or [[TrialAndErrorGameplay hypothesize what the password is]], or building bridges to cross pits. Either by spelling words, answering word problems, or linking tiles together to form a chain to the end. (In the latter, you're never told ''what'' the pattern is, usually beyond one of the characters saying "There's got to be a pattern here...")
65	*** One challenge actually forms a bit of FridgeHorror. The Biosphere chambers are a simple Predator-Prey simulation deal. [[spoiler: But the aliens eat brains...the experiments are to tell them ''how many'' they need before going back. And considering the final tank has humans...]]
66	** {{Parodied}} by ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' with "Rabbit Algebra." Solve for X!
67	%%* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' has plenty of these. Math problems included.
68	* The original TropeNamer puzzle for SolveTheSoupCans from ''VideoGame/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 hint book, which offers a hint that makes the puzzle much easier to solve with a thesaurus.
69	* Many of the ''VideoGame/SuperSolvers'' puzzles had actual context in the game.
70	** ''Midnight Rescue!'' had Morty leave random notes lying around as clues, but many of the notes were related to Morty's backstory, the school that was being painted invisible and the students who attended there, as well as other things going on in the town of Shady Glen; the additional passages from novels are more in line with out-of-context.
71	** ''[=OutNumbered=]!'' took place inside a television station, and puzzles were generally about how much one won during a game show or how many supplies there were in a closet, or how many minutes of footage were cut; the equation drilling with Telly to get the room code was less in context.
72	** ''Spellbound!'' was made up of nothing but spelling practice drills because the whole plot revolved around Morty challenging the Super Solvers to a spelling bee.
73	** Played straighter in ''Gizmos & Gadgets!'' and ''Mission: T.H.I.N.K.'', with the locked puzzle doors that made up the bulk of the game. The end challenges, vehicle races and strategy games respectively, were more in context as those were Morty's conditions for beating him.
74	** The ''Super Seekers'' titles for younger players would play this straight. ''Treasure Mountain!'' and ''Treasure Cove!'' has the player catching elves and starfish, respectively, to solve simple puzzles and thus get clues on where to find treasure. ''Cove'' somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] the problem by having the starfish ''want'' to help you, only to be enchanted by Morty to "talk only in riddles," so they're physically unable to tell you where to look unless you solve their challenges. ''Treasure [=MathStorm=]!'' and ''Treasure Galaxy!'' added to this by granting currency for solving various math-related tasks, but still retained the soup-can-style problems for treasure retrieval.
75	** The DolledUpInstallment ''Operation Neptune'' focused on math problems, but each one given was themed in relation to your undersea salvage mission. Played straighter with the end-level resupply station locks.
76	* Justified on some occasions when the cans are used as an interface (such as ''[[VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead Typing of the Dead]]'', where the player's typing makes them shoot the zombies rather than have the zombies being killed by typing words).
77	* Sidescroller ''VideoGame/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.
78

Context Main / AlphabetSoupCans