History GuideDangIt / Other

* And then there's ''Solaris''. It was a fun little shooter for the Atari 2600, had amazing graphics for it's day, a couple of you might remember it: you flew a little triangle in levels that looked to be psuedo 3D, in a 3rd person view. Considering that virtually all other home shooters at the time were top down or side on, this was amazing. Anyway, this game actually had an ending. Yes, someone actually BEAT this game, and it IS beatable. They had to hack the ROM to do it, and then write down all of the grids they went to and the time they did, but they did beat the game. Guide is [[http://skintigh.tripod.com/atari/solaris.html here]].

* ''VideoGame/RevolutionX'' is guilty of this. There's special items you can get called "Wings", which you get when you find a member of Aerosmith. You want to get these because not only do you get a score multiplier at the end of every stage after you find Wings, but you also need to collect all five to get the game's best ending. And typically, the way you find them is you need to [[RewardingVandalism destroy parts of the stage]] to trigger a sequence to get them. Herein though lies the problem: due to the fact that [[DieChairDie nearly ANYTHING can be destroyed]] and also the fact that other actions NOT connected to destroying parts of the stage must be undertaken to find a member of Aerosmith (noting which way the screen scrolled so you can go the right direction, destroying something AND collecting the power-up), almost no one would get lucky and figure it out. The order of destroying certain parts of the stage also has to be done in a specific manner, or else you won't get to retrieve those Wings. It's especially frustrating because the FIRST STAGE has TWO Wings in it, and a first-time player would have no clue of their existence until they completed it.

* GundemoniumRecollection is a BulletHell game in which one of the achievements is locked behind the form of the final boss. The problem is that the final form never seems to appear, no matter how hard you try. As it turns out, the final form of the final boss is dependant on an end-game point counter that keeps track of an invisible point total that typically won't exceed 200 and often will hover around 100. It drops and raises for specific actions such as killing bosses or dying, and getting a game-over resets it to 0, even if a player continues. The final form of the final boss requires 100 points exactly, and if you fail, which is likely the '''''only''''' way this scenario will play out, you just fight the final boss as normal. This means you have to keep a mental track of the points, which is downright near impossible, and ''never'' get a game over during your attempt, otherwise you just have to reset and start over. Even if you know how to get this final form, nothing except for a step-by-step explanation of how to do it is going to do anything except throw you into pure madness and make you decide to quit and do something else.

* You'd think that if ''WiiFit'' was intended for people who are looking to get more exercise (i.e., aren't ''already'' working out), it'd do a better job of explaining which muscles are your "core muscles" (the abdominals, side abdominals, and lower back), instead of just telling people to "use" them in keeping their balance during certain exercises.

* All of ‘’VideoGame/RPGMaker’’ is this trope. The only people who [[QuicksandBox would know what they’re doing]] without watching a tutorial on Website/YouTube are those who are knowledgeable enough about programming that they could code a game themselves. Though there ‘’is’’ an in-game manual, it fails to explain ‘’anything’’.

*** It later turns out that there actually is a second method of getting to god tier that is even more obscure, but if you know about it, is much easier. [[spoiler: You have to die on your Sacrificial Slab.]] This is easier than the other method because [[spoiler: the Sacrifical Slabs]] are much easier to find since they always in the same places in the game [[spoiler: inside the moons of Prospit and Derse]], and unlike the first method, it is not required that both your dreamself and your original body still be alive. This is much more of a GuideDangIt because there are no hints at all of this, unlike the first method which does have a few hints the players can get from the consorts, and [[spoiler: the inside of the moons]] is a place that players probably would not think of going to without this knowledge

** A similar trick takes place in Level 4-12 in Maiden difficulty. The player must assemble what's basically a PlayboyBunny outfit, and the most important parts are the Bunny Girl suit and the Bunny Ears. The Suit is an absolute requirement to pass the stage (yay for having to craft it to even think of going forward!), and trying to replace the Ears with anything similar will ''severely'' lower the final score (yay for also having to craft it to get at least a B or an A!).

* ''[[VideoGame/BackyardSports Backyard Slateboarding]]'' has coins scattere across every level, and [[GottaCatchEmAll collecting all of them]] unlocks a [[AndYourRewardIsClothes shirt]]. The medieval level Merry Olde Englandland places a few of these on towers that look completely inaccessible, which is particularly bad because things like this are usually accessed with hard-to-see power lines. How do you access these? You jump into ''completely normal looking rocks'' that teleport you to the towers. There is absolutely no hint in the entire game that you are supposed to do this, and it doesn't even work on all of the rocks! If you don't know about this, your only other option is to exploit a GoodBadBug that allows you to infinitely jump in mid-air.

* ''DELTAZEAL'' has two Stage 3's and two Stage 5's. The game doesn't inform you that the variant chosen is determined by which vertical half of the screen your ship is on when the stage transition takes place.

* ''DELTAZEAL'' has two Stage 3's and two Stage 5's. The game doesn't inform you that the variant chosen is determined by which vertical half of the screen your ship is on when the stage transition ntakes place.

* ''DELTAZEAL'' has two Stage 3's and two Stage 5's. The game doesn't inform you that the variant chosen is determined by which vertical half of the screen your ship is on when the stage transitio ntakes place.

*** It later turns out that there actually is a second method of getting to god tier that is even more obscure, but if you know about it, is much easier. [[spoiler: You have to die on your Sacrificial Slab.]] This is easier than the other method because [[spoiler: the Sacrifical Slabs]] are much easier to find since they always in the same places in the game [[spoiler: inside the moons of Prospit and Derse]], and unlike the first method, it is not required that both your dreamself and your original body still be alive. This is much more of a GuideDangIt because there are no hints at all of this, unlike the first method which does have a few hints the players can get from the consorts, and [[spoiler: the inside of the moons]] is a place that players probably would not think of going to without this knowledge.

* In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhReshefOfDestruction'', obtaining the power of Ra's Phoenix Mode requires you to input a password at Grandpa's shop. The password is not hinted at at all in the game, and must be found either online or by looking at a physical Winged Dragon of Ra card and reading its numbers.

* The tie-in ''2010 FIFA WorldCup South Africa'' game has achievements requiring you to use specific teams, but unless you were a master of World Cup trivia, there's no way to figure it out which ones from the information in game. For example the achievement "Second Trip, First Goal" requires you to qualify with a team that has made it to the World Cup in the past without scoring once, and then score. [[labelnote:Give up?]]Trinidad & Tobago, China, Canada, Greece, Congo, and Indonesia.[[/labelnote]]

** For example: ascending to God Tier. Nothing in the game tells you it can even be done, and the method is extremely unintuitive: you have to ''die.'' But not just anywhere, no! [[spoiler:On your Quest Bed.]] Bear in mind that Sburb generates enormous worlds, and that one's [[spoiler:Quest Bed]] is the comparative size of a dust mote in a swimming pool. And that [[spoiler:one's Quest Bed is not given any particular importance in the game. It's an ornate, personally designed spawn point for your avatar, and that's about it.]]

* Inserting a USB plug into the socket is described as a serious problem by people, resulting in broken USB sockets, broken pendrives, and some MemeticMutation on various sites claiming you have to turn the plug 3 times and etc. There is often a logo on the "top" of the plug, but it's not always easy to see, and not all sockets line up the same way.
* In RealLife, socializing can be this. Taking the wrong [[ShrinkingViolet Flaw]]/[[UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome Disadvantage]] at character creation (or being given a particular backstory by the RandomNumberGod) can result in one character taking ages to learn what other players know by instinct.
** Life's alchemy system (called 'science') is also this. The outcome of synthesizing materials varies depending on climate, surroundings, and tool quality. If other players don't feel like helping you, you'll never get anywhere! (Though some have built in-game libraries to store alchemy information, and the Teacher profession can also be very helpful.)
*** Even more confusingly, some alchemical ideas and methods could, in fact, be completely wrong, and if your profession is Scientist, it's your job to work out which ones are right and which ones aren't. Good luck!
* Job interviews, especially the dreaded "Where do you see yourself in five years?" question.
* Any freelance job based around "pitching," particularly freelance journalism, is essentially just a game of trial-and-error based on random hunches and theories about what editors will like — and, often just as importantly, randomly favorable conditions at the publication. A perfectly decent story idea, for instance, could be rejected because someone in house has already begun working on an identical one. Or because the publication has reached its budgetary limit for freelance stories that month.
* Ride/ActionPark showed the [[DeconstructedTrope ramifications]] of this trope in RealLife. For one, many of the Waterworld areas had ''really'' cold water, causing people to freak out when they hit the water.[[note]]This caused a ''death'' in the Tarzan Swing area, since the person in question had a heart attack from shock.[[/note]] The only way to know this was to find out for yourself.
* The number of PhysicalPinballTables released with a full set of instructions on how to play the game is in the single-digits. Normally, the manual only comes with assembly instructions, safety guidelines, and the manufacturer's contact information. This is in spite of some serious SerialEscalation in regards to the complexity of these tables in the 80s and 90s, to where you may play the same machine for years and still not know all the rules. Luckily, with the rise of the Internet, most popular tables now have rules written by players, but unless it's phenomenally popular like ''Pinball/TheAddamsFamily'' or ''Pinball/TheSimpsonsPinballParty'', they'll likely be incomplete, and most will be filled with so much pinball jargon that it won't make any sense to anyone not accustomed to pinball.
* In web design, this is known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_meat_navigation mystery meat navigation]]--web interfaces where it's difficult to navigate your way around without [[TryEverything hovering all over the place]].

* Online gaming in ''general''. Very few games that offer a tutorial do more than simply explain the control scheme and a few other things such as what a stat may do or what a class role is. They are rarely updated for the ever-changing {{Metagame}}. Many of the tools available to you may have caveats or advantages that are not obviously clear or plain difficult to know about without reading into information discovered by intrepid data miners. And sure enough, players expect you to know all of the metagame rules if you don't want to find yourself kicked or repeatedly cussed out by StopHavingFunGuys and [[ArrogantKungFuGuy arrogant players]].
** The {{MOBA}} genre is ''especially'' prone to this. The practice modes don't tell you anything of what you can expect ''players'' to do. The players claim this is a "steep learning curve", but really, we can call this more of "Denial of crucial information". And if you're new to the genre in general, you probably don't wanna play unless you like getting cussed out, kicked, or suffering a leaver while losing a lot - the tutorials that ''are'' available on third-party sites are often full of jargon that is never defined. Combined with the players' tendencies to [[SuffersNewbiesPoorly chase newbies out of the game]], this is very ''very'' frustrating.
* [=MMORPGs=] that don't offer clear quest directions often necessitate consulting a website. Even if the in-game descriptions are clear enough, some aspect of the game will be better described on an external website.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' has incredibly vague quest descriptions and game mechanics that would otherwise be hidden from the player.

* Every song in ''DanceCentral'' has its own "finishing move," which the game neglects to teach you in the Break Down. Because of this, it is impossible to get 100% on a song your first time unless you look up said move on youtube or are really good at guessing what exactly the move will be based on the flashcards.
* If a WideOpenSandbox or {{Metroidvania}} game doesn't give the player a stable idea of where to go, then it'll certainly feel like this after the player dinks around enough and happens to find where they were supposed to go.

* The finished but still-current Franchise/{{Neopets}} 'plot' quest in Altador is absolutely impossible without using a guide: Some of the requirements make you click A SINGLE PIXEL in an image which it was never specified to do so, and go to locations in a certain order which seemingly had ''absolutely nothing'' to do with the plot. Some of the 'puzzle' varieties in the games consisted of pressing switches in the right combination-- for the second-last combination puzzle, '''there were over 1,000 possible combinations''' and you had to try ''every single one''. All this for some measly items per day while the plot is still relevant, which don't even amount to much cash right now (but will in, say, 10 years) so it's useless to most players of the game. The cool site theme is the only thing worth doing it for.

* Online gaming in ''general''. Very few games that offer a tutorial do more than simply explain the control scheme and a few other things such as what a stat may do or what a class role is. They are rarely updated for the ever-changing {{Metagame}}. And sure enough, players expect you to know all of the metagame rules if you don't want to find yourself kicked or repeatedly cussed out by StopHavingFunGuys and [[ArrogantKungFuGuy arrogant players]].

* The finished but still-current Franchise/{{Neopets}} 'plot' quest called Altador is absolutely impossible without using a guide: Some of the requirements make you click A SINGLE PIXEL in an image which it was never specified to do so, and go to locations in a certain order which seemingly had ''absolutely nothing'' to do with the plot. Some of the 'puzzle' varieties in the games consisted of pressing switches in the right combination-- for the second-last combination puzzle, '''there were over 1,000 possible combinations''' and you had to try ''every single one''. All this for some measly items per day while the plot is still relevant, which don't even amount to much cash right now (but will in, say, 10 years) so it's useless to most players of the game.

* Bemani managed to avoid this for 14 PS2 iterations of ''VideoGame/{{Beatmania}} IIDX''. Then DJ TROOPERS came along with their Unknown Targets secretly hidden in the extra stage system. There is no way you would figure out that in order to unlock all of the Unknown Target songs (which, unless you knew '''exactly''' what was going on, seemed to [[RandomEncounters appear randomly]] inside the Military Splash extra stage system) you'd need to fulfill any 5 of 6 criteria:

* Any freelance job based around "pitching," particularly freelance journalism, is essentially just a game of trial-and-error based on random hunches and theories about what editors will like — and, often just as importantly, what is going on at the publication behind-the-scenes. A perfectly decent story idea, for instance, could be rejected because someone in house has already begun working on an identical one. Or because the publication has reached its budgetary limit for freelance stories that month.