History UnwinnableByDesign / Infocom

** Even more infamous -- if only because it's early enough in the game that more people see it before giving up -- is the notorious "Babel Fish Dispenser" puzzle, wherein the player must use a pile of junk mail picked up at his doorstep back on Earth. By then, the planet Earth has been blown up, forcing players who forgot the junk mail (which is likely -- if they take too long trying to pick things up, then they'll be flattened by a bulldozer) to restart their games for any chance of a satisfactory ending. What makes the puzzle even more ridiculous is that in order to obtain the Babel Fish, the items available must be used in a variety of ways, each way non-obvious until you dispense another fish, and the latest method of failure gives you a hint for a new necessary step -- but if you proceed step-by-step according to the hints (using the junk mail in the right manner), the dispenser will run out of fish at the last (otherwise successful) attempt. At least here you can reload and use what you've learned.

[[folder: Tough examples]]

[[folder: Nasty examples]]

[[folder: Cruel examples]]

* Even their EASY difficulty games can do this, like ''VideoGame/{{Wishbringer}}''. Fail to pick up your 3D glasses that are always the first item tossed on the floor by your captor [[spoiler: before you even get the chance to give him the violet note to make him leave,]] before pulling the lever to send the princess back home like she's begging you to? The 3D glasses get sent back with her, and you are then trapped, in one of the most ridiculous puzzles ever created. [[spoiler:The room you saw when you watched the 3D movie earlier with those glasses is just as fuzzy when you are there for real as it was before you put the glasses on in the theater, and requires those 3D glasses to see anything in it, or even leave at all! You don't know this at the time the glasses vanish, but you will find out very soon. The good news is you DO know where you went wrong. The thought process goes "Okay. I'm in Fuzziness. I can't see anything. I can't go back up. Hmmm. Oh yeah. The theater screen was fuzzy without the glasses. I'll just put them on. Uh oh, I don't have them. Well, I'll just restore my save and pick them up... They aren't there... They vanished when I pulled that lever? and I saved after there... What? SERIOUSLY?!?! And this is Easy?" Bad news, well, you might have to start all over because you overwrote your save. The other way most experimenting adventurers would make the game unwinnable (disturbing the trap that later traps the princess) the game is kind enough to warn you before you try it, and afterwards tells you that your score went DOWN (yes in all caps).]] That one is merely Tough, bordering on Polite. Realizing you even need the glasses there is a bit of a MoonLogicPuzzle, and you might have discarded them after you watched the movie, rendering the game Unwinnable long before you realize it (there's no way to get back to where you put them after your capture). The princess/lever/3d glasses problem was rectified in Version 69 though.

* ''[[Journey1989 Journey]]'' is the epitome of Cruel. It won't inform you of your mistakes until the very end of the game, long after you have made them. And it won't tell you all of them either. forcing you to replay over and over until you get it right. At least it does warn you of this fact. Hopefully you have a save from before your earliest mistake?

* Journey is the epitome of Cruel. It won't inform you of your mistakes until the very end of the game, long after you have made them. And it won't tell you all of them either. forcing you to replay over and over until you get it right. At least it does warn you of this fact. Hopefully you have a save from before your earliest mistake?

It should be emphasized that this applies to the whole game, and not just a narrow aspect of it. E.g. if part is Cruel but it's Merciful otherwise, the game is Cruel.
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* Then there's ''Dungeon'', the precursor to the Zork Trilogy. In version 3.2b, you use the rope in two different locations. Here's the rub. When you tie the rope to the railing in the Dome Room, then slide down into the Torch Room, (you can't get back up the rope) the thief can (but doesn't always) steal the rope right off the railing, then, after you've left the Torch Room via the one-way hole, he can drop the rope in the Torch Room, Tiny Room, or Dreary Room, where you can't retrieve it. In other words, you'd need the rope to get to the rope. So if this happens, you can't re-use the rope in the Slide Room, and you can't get the red sphere. You're stymied. This one might be UnintentionallyUnwinnable, though.

* Then there's ''Dungeon'', the precursor to the Zork Trilogy. In version 32b, you use the rope in two different locations. Here's the rub. When you tie the rope to the railing in the Dome Room, then slide down into the Torch Room, (you can't get back up the rope) the thief can (but doesn't always) steal the rope right off the railing, then, after you've left the Torch Room via the one-way hole, he can drop the rope in the Torch Room, Tiny Room, or Dreary Room, where you can't retrieve it. In other words, you'd need the rope to get to the rope. So if this happens, you can't re-use the rope in the Slide Room, and you can't get the red sphere. You're stymied. This one might be UnintentionallyUnwinnable, though.

* The ''[[VideoGame/TheSpellCastingSeries Spellcasting X01]]'' series of games was phenomenally restrictive about what you had to do and when you had to do it; if a day passed by without one tiny thing being taken care of, the game became unwinnable.

* ‘’VideoGame/{{Starcross}}’’

* ‘’VideoGame/{{Starcross))’’

* ‘’Starcross:’’

** If you didn't solidify the rainbow using the scepter, then you are going to be stuck if you go down the river to retrieve the scarab and emerald. And you cannot carry the scepter onto the raft, as it will puncture the raft.[[spoiler: There's a way around this. Go down the river and get only the emerald, then go west to White Cliffs Beach, then go back to the Living Room. Come back later for the scarab by climbing down from the Canyon View with the scepter, solidify the rainbow, cross it, then go north and get the scarab.]] You can also [[spoiler: carefully PUT the scepter into the raft so you don't poke it while climbing in, then take it back out and wave to solidify the rainbow]]

** You MUST visit the Roc's nest BEFORE climbing the mountain to visit the hermit in his flimsy hut since you can only ascend the mountain once. Otherwise, the game's unwinnable. [[spoiler: You must get the caskly spell scroll from the Roc's nest so you can magically rebuild the hut so you can get the cube which supported the hut before you cast caskly on it. It's easy to get this wrong the first time you play the game since ''Spellbreaker'' intimidates you on your first attempt to enter the Midair room, which leads to the Roc's nest (unless you are aware of and exploit the Fill Bug.]]

** You MUST visit the Roc's nest BEFORE climbing the mountain to visit the hermit in his flimsy hut since you can only ascend the mountain once. Otherwise, the game's unwinnable. [[spoiler: You must get the caskly spell scroll from the Roc's nest so you can magically rebuild the hut so you can get the cube which supported the hut before you cast caskly on it. It's easy to get this wrong the first time you play the game since ''Spellbreaker'' intimidates you on your first attempt to enter the Midair room, which leads to the Roc's nest.]]

** If you didn't solidify the rainbow using the scepter, then you are going to be stuck if you go down the river to retrieve the scarab and emerald. And you cannot carry the scepter onto the raft, as it will puncture the raft.[[spoiler: There's a way around this. Go down the river and get only the emerald, then go west to White Cliffs Beach, then go back to the Living Room. Come back later for the scarab by climbing down from the Canyon View with the scepter, solidify the rainbow, cross it, then go north and get the scarab.]] You can also [[spoiler: carefully PUT it into the raft so you don't poke it while climbing in, then take it back out and wave to solidify the rainbow]]

** There is a large button on the wall, with a sign above it that says 'Inorganic Vaporizer Ray'. When you push it, all your stuff gets vaporized, and you can't finish the game.

** The same as Tough, only there's no sign. You will only find out what the button does upon pressing it and noticing that your inventory is now gone.
* '''Cruel''': There is no immediate indication that your game has become unwinnable. You think "I should have kept the save I overwrote three hours ago. Now I'll have to start over." Multiple save files are required.

* ''VideoGame/ReturnToZork'' can be made unwinnable in ''so'' many ways; that said, the game will outright warn you if have locked yourself out of finishing the game, making it one of their most merciful examples of using this trope and almost putting it in line with NonStandardGameOver if it weren't for the fact the game lets you keep going anyway:

* Even their EASY difficulty games can do this, like ''VideoGame/{{Wishbringer}}''. Fail to pick up your 3D glasses that are always the first item tossed on the floor by your captor [[spoiler: before you even get the chance to give him the violet note to make him leave,]] before pulling the lever to send the princess back home like she's begging you to? The 3D glasses get sent back with her, and you are then trapped, in one of the most ridiculous puzzles ever created. [[spoiler:The room you saw when you watched the 3D movie earlier with those glasses is just as fuzzy when you are there for real as it was before you put the glasses on in the theater, and requires those 3D glasses to see anything in it, or even leave at all! You don't know this at the time the glasses vanish, but you will find out very soon. The good news is you DO know where you went wrong. The thought process goes "Okay. I'm in Fuzziness. I can't see anything. I can't go back up. Hmmm. Oh yeah. The theater screen was fuzzy without the glasses. I'll just put them on. Uh oh, I don't have them. Well, I'll just restore my save and pick them up... They aren't there... They vanished when I pulled that lever? and I saved after there... What? SERIOUSLY?!?! And this is Easy?" Bad news, well, you might have to start all over because you overwrote your save. The other way most experimenting adventurers would make the game unwinnable (disturbing the trap that later traps the princess) the game is kind enough to warn you before you try it, and afterwards tells you that your score went DOWN (yes in all caps).]] That one is merely Tough. Realizing you even need the glasses there is a bit of a MoonLogicPuzzle, and you might have discarded them after you watched the movie, rendering the game Unwinnable long before you realize it (there's no way to get back to where you put them after your capture). The princess/lever/3d glasses problem was rectified in Version 69 though.

*** There are other things you can eat or drink as well. Again, because you never actually get hungry or thirsty, you shouldn't eat the sandwich or drink the water. Those two actions won't make the game unwinnable though, as there's an alternate solution to the puzzle requiring them. The existence of alternate solutions actually makes the game more cruel overall, because it's more difficult to know if your mistake is recoverable or not.

* '''Polite''': You only need one save game, but if you do something fatally wrong, you won't be given a chance to overwrite it.

* '''Tough''': There are things you can do which you'll have to save before doing. But you'll think "Ah, I'd better save before I do this."

* '''Nasty''': There are things you can do which you'll have to save before doing. After you do one, you'll think "[[TrialAndErrorGameplay Oh, bugger, I should have saved before I did that.]]"

* '''Cruel''': There is no immediate indication that your game has become unwinnable. You think "I should have kept the save I overwrote three hours ago. Now I'll have to start over."

*** There are other things you can eat or drink as well. Again, because you never actually get hungry or thirsty, you shouldn't eat the sandwich or drink the water. Those two actions won't make the game unwinnable though, as there's an alternate solution to the puzzle requiring them.
** If you fail in the exorcism twice, you can't try again--or if you let the candles burn out, you're out of luck. And they burn out VERY rapidly if you are holding the torch, which you almost certainly got just before you got the candles.
** If you puncture the boat, you can't get the large emerald. You can repair it once with the gunk, if you have it, but if you puncture it again, unwinnable.
** If you didn't solidify the rainbow using the scepter, then you are going to be stuck if you go down the river to retrieve the scarab and emerald. And you cannot bring the scepter on the raft, as it will puncture the raft.[[spoiler: There's a way around this. Go down the river and get only the emerald, then go west to White Cliffs Beach, then go back to the Living Room. Come back later for the scarab by climbing down from the Canyon View with the scepter, solidify the rainbow, cross it, then go north and get the scarab.]]
** If your lantern runs out before you reach the Coal Mines, the room full of gas will explode (as it's the only non-flame-based light source). If it runs out ''and'' the candles burn out ''and'' the thief steals the torch, you will lose due to having no light sources to repel the grues.
** If you push the wrong button and fill up the maintenance room at the dam with water, you can't retrieve the wrench and screwdriver, thus preventing you from getting the treasure chest and the diamond.

* Even their EASY difficulty games can do this, like ''VideoGame/{{Wishbringer}}''. Fail to pick up your 3D glasses that are always the first item tossed on the floor by your captor [[spoiler: before you even get the chance to give him the violet note to make him leave,]] before pulling the lever to send the princess back home like she's begging you to? The 3D glasses get sent back with her, and you are then trapped, in one of the most ridiculous puzzles ever created. [[spoiler:The room you saw when you watched the 3D movie earlier with those glasses is just as fuzzy when you are there for real as it was before you put the glasses on in the theater, and requires those 3D glasses to see anything in it, or even leave at all! You don't know this at the time the glasses vanish, but you will find out very soon. The good news is you DO know where you went wrong. The thought process goes "Okay. I'm in Fuzziness. I can't see anything. I can't go back up. Hmmm. Oh yeah. The theater screen was fuzzy without the glasses. I'll just put them on. Uh oh, I don't have them. Well, I'll just restore my save and pick them up... They aren't there... They vanished when I pulled that lever? and I saved after there... What? SERIOUSLY?!?! And this is Easy?" Bad news, well, you might have to start all over because you overwrote your save. The other way most experimenting adventurers would make the game unwinnable (disturbing the trap that later traps the princess) the game is kind enough to warn you before you try it, and afterwards tells you that your score went DOWN (yes in all caps).]] Realizing you even need the glasses there is a bit of a MoonLogicPuzzle, and you might have discarded them after you watched the movie, rendering the game Unwinnable long before you realize it (there's no way to get back to where you put them after your capture). The princess/lever/3d glasses problem was rectified in Version 69 though.
** The game does warn you at a few specific points that it might be a good idea to save your game, but the reason for the warning (that you are approaching a point of no return and there may be an item you want that you will be unable to get if you go on) is never told to you, so it's easy to dismiss it, or overwrite the save if you think you have made progress. It never tells you that you should keep the save file that you just made just in case you need to go back to it.

** The game does warn you at a few specific points that it might be a good idea to save your game, but the reason for the warning (that you are approaching a point of no return and there may be an item you want that you will be unable to get if you go on) is never told to you, so it's easy to dismiss it, or overwrite the save if you think you have made progress.

* ''VideoGame/ReturnToZork'' can be made unwinnable in ''so'' many ways:
** Visit Witch Itah without Ben's love note.
** Give the token to the ferryman on the way to Canuk's island (unless you are carrying [[spoiler:the whistle]]).
** [[spoiler:Turn Canuk back into a duck]] before you've gotten the disc piece from the bottle. [[spoiler:If you leave the bottle without the disc piece, Evil Canuk will just grunt, but he won't try to duck you, and you can ask (sweet) Canuk about the bottle again.]]
** Without asking Canuk about the bottle, threaten him while holding the mirror.
** Get in trouble with the Guardian and lose your items. Even if you avoid losing items by dropping them first, you can still render the game unwinnable if you kill or anger a character who still serves some purpose. This can be achieved in the following ways (to name a few):
*** Harming any character with your knife or sword.
*** Taking the bra box from in front of Pugney's Ranch ''before'' he tells you that you can "take that ludicrous box out there too."
** Lose important items by chucking them in the incinerator, although that ought to be an obvious don't [[spoiler:(except for the one item you DO need to chuck in there!)]].
** In the ''very'' first area in the game, there is a bonding plant. You need to take the bonding plant and keep it alive throughout the entire game. If you hold onto a dead bonding plant, then [[spoiler:you can't get into the comedy club,]] which makes the game unwinnable. It's RIDICULOUSLY easy to kill the bonding plant. Thankfully, there's a way around this, [[GuideDangIt but it's not very obvious]]: if you destroy the dead bonding plant, a new one will regrow in the Valley of the Vultures, and you can use [[spoiler:the whistle]] to get it.

* ''[[VideoGame/AstekaIITemploDelSol Tombs & Treasure]]'' on the NES:

** More generally, the game as a whole is on an ''extremely'' strict timer with a very rigid schedule of events that will happen at specific times, rendering parts of the map inaccessible. Spending too many turns doing the wrong things can render the game unwinnable with no indication of what you did wrong.

[[folder: Polite examples]]
* Infocom's ''VideoGame/{{Suspended}}'' can be made unwinnable before the first move. Setting "Impossible" difficulty makes the player's Sun go nova a few minutes into the game, so there's not much point trying to find the right-length wire to fix the complex's systems, is there?
[[/folder]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Enchanter}}'', the KULCAD scroll can only be used once. It cancels magic. Since every puzzle you encounter is basically a magical trap, the spell allows you to "cheat" your way past any one puzzle in the game. Except that at the endgame you need the KULCAD spell to win. There is a slight warning when you do use it at the wrong time at least--you get a headache, then Belboz appears and warns you about the consequences of such careless use of this powerful scroll.

* Even their EASY difficulty games can do this, like ''VideoGame/{{Wishbringer}}''. Fail to pick up your 3D glasses that are always the first item tossed on the floor by your captor [[spoiler: before you even get the chance to give him the violet note to make him leave,]] before pulling the lever to send the princess back home like she's begging you to? The 3D glasses get sent back with her, and you are then trapped, in one of the most ridiculous puzzles ever created. [[spoiler:The room you saw when you watched the 3D movie earlier with those glasses is just as fuzzy when you are there for real as it was before you put the glasses on in the theater, and requires those 3D glasses to see anything in it, or even leave at all! You don't know this at the time the glasses vanish, but you will find out very soon. The good news is you DO know where you went wrong. The thought process goes "Okay. I'm in Fuzziness. I can't see anything. I can't go back up. Hmmm. Oh yeah. The theater screen was fuzzy without the glasses. I'll just put them on. Uh oh, I don't have them. Well, I'll just restore my save and pick them up... They aren't there... They vanished when I pulled that lever? and I saved after there... What? SERIOUSLY?!?! And this is Easy?" Bad news, well, you might have to start all over because you overwrote your save. The other way most experimenting adventurers would make the game unwinnable (disturbing the trap that later traps the princess) the game is kind enough to warn you before you try it, and afterwards tells you that your score went DOWN (yes in all caps). This one counts as UnwinnableByInsanity if you continue on.]] Realizing you even need the glasses there is a bit of a MoonLogicPuzzle, and you might have discarded them after you watched the movie, rendering the game Unwinnable long before you realize it (there's no way to get back to where you put them after your capture). The princess/lever/3d glasses problem was rectified in Version 69 though.

** Without asking Canuk about the bottle, smash it (though that's really UnwinnableByInsanity).

* Then there's ''Dungeon'', the precursor to the Zork Trilogy. In version 32b, you use the rope in two different locations. Here's the rub. When you tie the rope to the railing in the Dome Room, then slide down into the Torch Room, (you can't get back up the rope) the thief can (but doesn't always) steal the rope right off the railing, then, after you've left the Torch Room via the one-way hole, he can drop the rope in the Torch Room, Tiny Room, or Dreary Room, where you can't retrieve it. In other words, you'd need the rope to get to the rope. So if this happens, you can't re-use the rope in the Slide Room, and you can't get the red sphere. You're stymied. This one might be UnwinnableByMistake, though.