Basic Trope: You must do something incorrect before you can do something right in a video game.
- Straight: In the game The Life of Alice, one level involves trying to cheer up Alice's crying toddler brother, Bob. The reason he's crying is because he's hungry and should be given a cookie, but the player must first click on Bob's bed to discover he doesn't need a nap before clicking on the cookie.
- Exaggerated: Only the cookie can cheer up Bob, but before clicking on it, the player must try the bed, the TV, the first aid kit, a glass of water, the bathtub, the toilet, and all of Bob's toys first.
- Downplayed: You can give Bob the cookie right away, but putting him to bed first gives you more points despite Bob never actually being tired in the first place.
- Justified: Even though the player might know better, it's in Alice's character to assume Bob is tired whenever he's in a bad mood, so the player is forced to do what Alice would do.
- Inverted: Only Smart People May Pass.
- Subverted: It seems as though you have to click on Bob's bed before you can give him the cookie, but that's only for the first few moments. If you wait for a while, you can give him the cookie without having to click on the bed.
- Double Subverted: ...but Alice's next task is feeding Charlie the dog, and you must look in the pantry first before you can unlock the fridge, where the dog food actually is.
- Parodied: The game is adapted into a movie, in which Alice is The Ditz and always does the wrong thing before doing the right thing.
- Zigzagged: At first, it seems like you must assume Bob needs a nap and put him to bed before you can give him a cookie, but if you wait for a bit, you can give it to him first. However, then when you go to feed Charlie, you must look in the pantry before you can open the fridge... unless you have the secret code, that is. Obtaining the secret code, however, involves looking in the attic before you can look in the basement.
- Averted: You have the option of feeding Bob the cookie right away.
- Enforced: The programmers designed the game that way so that the players would remember where Bob's bedroom was when it becomes more important.
- Lampshaded: "I don't know why I have to do that. It's not even his usual nap time!"
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Alice, possibly using her foresight or being a time traveler, can opt to go for the cookie instead, completely skipping having to go for the bed or anything else.
- Discussed:
- Conversed:Player 1: "It's not letting me click on the cookie!"Player 2: "You need to click on the bed before you can click on the cookie."Player 1: "The bed? But I know he isn't tired! This game is dumb!"
- Implied:
- Deconstructed:
- Reconstructed:
- Played for Laughs: Before clicking on the cookie, the player must hand Bob silly items, like a rubber chicken.
- Played for Drama:
- Played for Horror: Bob has become a werewolf, and you need to click on other things before the antidote.
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