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!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16705053300.43309400 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.
->''"It just occurred to me''\\
''That I've been through this place again and again''\\
''And in the same spot, every time, I repeatedly die.''\\
''I never will give up, as I attempt to cross the disappearing tiles on the wall''\\
''But again, I'm falling off of them."''
-->-- '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjLouGft9kY I Can't Defeat Air Man]]''' (unofficial English version)
When a developer wants to up the difficulty level of their game, they have quite a few options.
This is a list of a few classic methods of making a game NintendoHard. We'll call them Classic Video Game Screw Yous, or, to avoid unnecessary swearing, "[[SarcasmMode Fun Units]]", hereafter [=FUs=] ([[FunWithAcronyms Geddit?]] [[DontExplainTheJoke Geddit?]]).
Differs from FakeDifficulty in that these can be fair. By definition, FakeDifficulty is completely unfair in some way; [[LuckBasedMission it requires good luck]], [[GuideDangIt it expects you to know things it didn't tell you]], etc. Screw Yous are designed to frustrate, but aren't always unreasonably out of the player's control.
Note that "Fun Units" is only partly sarcastic, by the way: a game that's too ''easy'' [[ItsEasySoItSucks can sometimes be less fun to play]] than one that's NintendoHard. In a way, they apply the RuleOfDrama to gameplay.
To keep this from degenerating into [[Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike complaining about examples of]] VideoGameDifficultyTropes [[Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike you don't like]], examples should be phrased as generically as possible, or explain exactly ''why'' this game is a well known example of this particular FU, or this FU is particularly unusual.
See also: ScrappyMechanic; TrialAndErrorGameplay. If it belongs, there is no need to put it here too unless it's shared by many games. ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' and other examples of PlatformHell are loaded with [=FUs=]. The antithesis to AntiFrustrationFeatures. See UnwinnableByDesign for when there's a way to make the game literally unbeatable.
----
!!Classic Fun Units
* MalevolentArchitecture where it doesn't make sense, including:
** SpikesOfDoom that spring out of otherwise nearly ordinary floors or walls when the player gets close.
** Labyrinthine formations of DeadlyWalls, especially with high-speed auto-scrolling, exacting time limits or VideoGameFlight.
** Bottomless pits mixed in with pits [[LeapOfFaith which you can jump down to get power-ups]] (or, worse, that you ''have'' to jump down to progress). Alternatively, bottomless pits that logically are only just a short distance above an area you were in moments before.
** [[TemporaryPlatform Vanishing or moving platforms]] are also excellent building blocks of an FU, especially when mixed with SpikesOfDoom or BottomlessPits.
** Extremely narrow platforms, especially when combined with LedgeBats, laggy controls, low friction, HitboxDissonance, and\or other Malevolent Architecture.
* Inescapable Death areas, which you can fall into and get hurt, but can't get back out of and have to wait until either your health or the timer runs out.
* Enemy types:
** GoddamnedBats and DemonicSpiders are among the most common [=FUs=]
** LedgeBats that make {{knockback}} during jumps a true frustration.
** {{Ambushing Enem|y}}ies don't typically fall into this, since there will usually be some recognizable form of portal that shows where these things tend to leap out at you... except for that one place where there ''isn't''.
* Enemy behavior:
** Any variation of [[TurnsRed Pissy Boss Mode]] where the boss becomes invincible, or enemies who do the same, is a favorite FU.
** The ability of an enemy to OneHitKill you when the game itself doesn't make you a OneHitPointWonder is a well known FU.
*** Can go further if some InstakillMook can inflict at TotalPartyKill via a [[HerdHittingAttack Herd-hitting]] OneHitKill.
** InvisibleMonsters.
** Enemies that can [[DepthPerplexion move and shoot through walls]] when you can't do either.
** In some old {{Platform Game}}s, the player lacks a useful GoombaStomp or other kind of downward attack, but enemies can fall or be pushed into small nooks in the floor, and then trying to climb into the nook would obviously be suicide by CollisionDamage or unblockable melee attack.
** Enemies, especially in shmups, that teleport after firing. More sadistic shmups make them fire faster the longer you take to kill them, so even a marginally laid back shmup can have a twinge of bullet hell. While they usually only take one or two hits to kill, a lot of the time they will be shielded, or have a tendency to pop up behind a sturdier foe and vanish before you can hit them. This may also often appear in 2D action-platformers, to similar results.
** Enemies whose shifting movement patterns box the player into corners, requiring the player to predict which way they will move next.
** Computer "players" [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard full-on breaking the rules.]]
** Enemies that lack any tells they're about to attack, especially in games that rely on melee combat. The point of fighting an enemy shouldn't be to arbitrarily guess when it's going to attack, but to figure out how to counter or work around tells the enemy gives you. A general rule of thumb is this; if an enemy hits you but has a consistent pattern regarding how it hits you (it runs at you first, it makes a series of jumps followed by its attack, it has a short animation it plays prior to the attack, etc.) then it is fully your fault when you fail to dodge. If an enemy simply attacks you without rhyme or reason (one moment the enemy is in its normal neutral position, the next frame you're getting decked, for example) then it is solidly this trope. This is ''depressingly'' common in old 8-bit games.
* Enemy placement:
** Allowing enemies to [[RespawningEnemies respawn]] [[TeleFrag right on top of you]] for massive CollisionDamage. Where the respawn points are invisible but fixed, you can probably spot them if you have a keen eye, but in other cases you can only pray for the RandomNumberGod not to smite you.
** Enemies that spawn near the end of a level exit just to kill you right before you can finish the level.
** Enemies in strategy games that camp directly ''on'' the LevelGoal square, forcing you to kill them.
** Enemies that spawn from behind you (in particular, in Shoot 'em ups that only allow you to fire in a forward facing direction; note that, in that particular case, this only qualifies as an FU, rather than FakeDifficulty, if the appearance of enemies from behind is well telegraphed).
* Idiosyncratic scrolling:
** The AutoScrollingLevel can easily be made into part of an FU, especially when mixed with Instant Death Areas, vanishing or moving platforms, {{Inconveniently Placed Conveyor Belt}}s, and/or GoddamnedBats. (Forcing you to choose between two paths, one of which is a dead end, is more FakeDifficulty than a true FU.)
** Deliberate use of RatchetScrolling that limits you from going back, causing you to miss pickups and giving less room to avoid attacks.
** Use of Ratchet, [[RiseToTheChallenge Auto,]] or [[FlipScreenScrolling Flip Screen]] scrolling on a climbing vertical level, which each have their own way of illogically killing you with bottomless pits.
* VideogameSettings:
** The [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Ice Level]] is another classic FU, where your character, and ''only'' your character, [[FrictionlessIce skids like crazy]], causing the SpikesOfDoom and GoddamnedBats to be much more difficult to avoid. Even worse if the level is full of tiny, icy platforms.
** Similarly, [[UnderTheSea underwater areas]] that hamper your character's mobility but leave enemies and traps ([[ArtisticLicensePhysics including fire-based traps]]) unhindered. Better yet, an underwater ice world that ignores how cold such water would be in the interest of combining these [=FUs=].
* VideogameObjectives:
** {{Timed Mission}}s can easily be used to make an FU. Especially when combined with obstacles or enemies who you have to wait for to get out of your way and/or EliteMooks who can soak lots of damage and have to be fought.
** {{Escort Mission}}s, especially when the person you're escorting has ArtificialStupidity.
* In games with power-ups (e.g. most space shooters), losing them all when you die is a nearly universal FU, and also an example of UnstableEquilibrium. AKA [[ContinuingIsPainful Gradius Syndrome]].
* Gravity.
** FallingDamage that makes falling from more than a certain height automatically fatal, especially if falling from an only slightly lesser height is entirely harmless and/or necessary to progress.
** [[SelectiveGravity Gravity that applies differently on you compared to enemies, power-ups, ledges, and so on. If it even applies at all!]]
* "Power-ups":
** [[PoisonMushroom Power Ups that can kill you/harm you/cancel out good Power Ups if accidentally collected, in conjunction with looking like normal power ups or being in the same container as the normal power ups.]]
** Enemies that randomly drop {{Poison Mushroom}}s when you kill them.
** {{Power up}}s that, while normally useful, [[PowerupLetdown can be counterproductive]], at least in specific situations (for example, a powerup that removes your ability to fly in exchange for faster running speed, in an area [[BottomlessPits without a floor]]). Obviously, the [=FUs=] are the situations where PowerupLetdown is in effect.
** Power ups that are legitimately useful, but are placed in such a way that you ''must'' take damage or die to collect them (for example, having them rest upon SpikesOfDoom).
** A BagOfSpilling effect for games that cause you to lose all power-ups or equipment at set points, such as after beating a level.
* Complete absence of MercyInvincibility, forcing you to instantly take action or allow one hit to become several (can lead to being juggled to death when combined with knockback).
* Ceiling Bumper Moments when a simple jump is made much more difficult for having to jump out from a low passage and chances are that you either hit the ceiling and bounce into the BottomlessPit or jump too late and fall into it anyway. Happens when JumpPhysics aren't made for those kinds of jumps.
** Passages where both the ceiling and floor are lined with Instant Death such as SpikesOfDoom. Bonus points if said passage is really narrow and you can easily bonk your head on the killer ceiling if you aren't ''extremely'' careful.
** A popular ceiling bumper moment is a tunnel where the end of the ground and ceiling line up with each other, and the only way to progress is to jump out of the tunnel, turn around in mid-air, and land on top of the ceiling.
* Reversal of progress:
** Warps that throw you many levels backwards; in linear games, these can wipe out a lot of progress.
** On games without bottomless pitfalls, this is usually what replaces them. And then, of course, there will come a few points where you have to choose the right one to fall through to continue...[[GuideDangIt Usually with no hints whatsoever]]. Some other examples might include pitfalls in roguelikes (moving you up or down a level), gaps in adventure-y platformers whether they be 2D or top-down, colour-coded teleporters, be they visible or not, [[KaizoTrap door/pipe/etc choices with no obvious hints]] such as the entire purpose behind the game Section Z (one notable choice near the 60% mark sending you back to the fourth room of the game!), or enemies such as wallmasters that serve a similar purpose. In this case, they aren't killable and the effect is immediate. (ie unlock a caged bird and he nabs you) The difference between the mentions here and in other categories being: Unavoidable once triggered and progress is always negative/similar to backtracking.
* Unidentified items in roguelikes. [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Take a wild guess why]]. Taken to the point of absurd comedy in Alphaman, a parodical post-apocalyptic roguelike with numerous pieces of crazy-lethal 'old world tech' lying around. Especially fun are potions after the start of a new game. (On the other hand, you don't ''have'' to use them, and most roguelikes with item randomization also give you ways to narrow down the range of possibilities for what an unknown item might be, at least to the point where you can be confident of whether or not it's safe to use unidentified.)
* Extremely finite resources in RealTimeStrategy games. While this is normally part of a 'stealth infiltration/probing' mission, some such as Earth 2150 and War Wind make it a bonafide consistent element, resulting in your final push failing because you upgraded too much or lost too many units early on, giving the game a minor touch of a puzzle element as well. (that is, you must max out the damage you do with the cheapest possible units at your disposal with the right upgrade tree)
* [[VentPhysics Wind physics]]:
** Unless the game is about flying a glider, wind is ''always'' going to screw with you. If it IS about flying a glider, wind is only against you 70% of the time. If it's an ArtilleryGame, wind will only ever benefit the CPU, because only the [[ComputersAreFast CPU has time to calculate the precise trajectory of every shot]] while the player has to make a more or less educated guess, especially if the wind changes between shots.
** In platforming games, wind can also screw with you. In stages with wind, the wind tends to push you around, but doesn't push enemies around. Wind can also be blowing so fast, you can only stay in spot by moving towards it, majorly hampering your ability to dodge attacks. The wind may also change direction; moving against the wind to avoid the spikes behind you may result in moving with the wind into the spikes in front of you.
* Forcing the sacrifice of VideoGameLives to progress, especially combined with abuse of RespawnOnTheSpot mechanics where you need to die within a room or sub-area to reach a position from which you can get through it.
-->'''Gabriel''': ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QMYnK_va44#t=2400s playing]] ''VideoGame/SmashTV'') ...Okay, did you see that? It walked me in, and then activated me ''on'' an enemy.\\
'''[[Creator/BenCroshaw Yahtzee:]]''' Fuck you, player, give us some money!
* A default party/equipment configuration so far from optimal that you aren't likely to survive for long if you don't immediately change it to something more sensible.
* In games with ScoringPoints, game-ending traps that arbitrarily deprive players of high score achievements they would otherwise be eligible for, either by NonStandardGameOver or by an UnwinnableByDesign situation that makes simply ending the game impossible without resetting.
* [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment Penalizing the player]] for shooting noncombatants that blithely stroll through the line of fire or run around like headless chickens rather than head for cover.
* BribingYourWayToVictory is one that pops up in most multiplayer (and some singleplayer) games. If it's in game money, it's exempt from this since all you usually need to do is grind the money, but if it uses real money...especially so if the game is heavily based in competitive play, high score contests included.
* Veering into FakeDifficulty:
** InterchangeableAntimatterKeys which are outnumbered by locks, so you can get stuck if you waste keys on the wrong locks. Is almost always a case of FakeDifficulty if there is no way to rectify this without SaveScumming or starting the level over.
** TrialAndErrorGameplay moments where death is essentially unavoidable on the first play. Note that this rapidly veers into FakeDifficulty, rather than a Fun Unit proper, if there [[CheckPointStarvation isn't a respawn point]] of some kind fairly close by.
** CheckPointStarvation, depending on just how starved the particular game is. If you're stuck going back 10 or more minutes of frustratingly difficult gameplay...
!!Examples of unusual "Fun Units" (See also: ScrappyMechanic)
* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'' has a BonusDungeon with a number of standard features (RandomlyGeneratedLevels, RestartAtLevelOne, and resetting pet levels), but also removal of all items not from blue chests. Since levels are random and blue chest items are usually needed equipment, you can run into an annoying amount of blue mimics.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'' is notable for having nearly every one of the listed above. [[UnstableEquilibrium Ammo does not regenerate on death]], enemies have massive amounts of [[MercyInvincibility Recovery Time]], two consecutive {{Marathon Level}}s with bosses who are willing to use nigh-unavoidable attacks at the drop of a hat... oh yeah. This is not a game for pansies.
* ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' has one almost every screen, and this is what actually makes it fun. For example, one screen has a falling ceiling of spikes, and one spot in the floor that is lower than the rest. Upon finally managing to reach that spot, you discover that the spike just grows longer to kill you. Other examples include the Delicious Fruit which can ''fall up'' and the evil save point which chases and kills you. And spring-loaded background couches underneath spiked ceilings. And clouds that spontaneously drop lightning bolts. And spike pits of doom that chase you. And the invisible wall maze. And that clusterchucking moon.
* And that's nothing compared to ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheFangame''. ''More'' spikes, ''more'' [[InvisibleBlock Invisible Blocks]], {{Telefrag}} portals, an AutoScrollingLevel, VideoGame/PacMan and the ghosts making ''common cause against you'', and a room where you have to navigate ''several cascades of GoddamnedBats''.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' games at least up to V were more than happy to allow you to [[TeleFrag teleport into solid rock]]. This resulted in the '''[[TotalPartyKill total loss]]''' of your party, [[{{Permadeath}} no resurrection attempts allowed]]. Oh, and if you play the games the way they're intended, there's no "reload game" upon this happening. You can also emerge high above the city and crash to the ground, or drown in the castle moat, but these "merely" kill your party as opposed to your losing them forever; you have a shot at resurrecting them in the latter two instances. Basically, be '''''very''''' careful when teleporting in Wizardry.
* Pretty much every inch of every ''VideoGame/DistortedTravesty'' game. In fact the trailer for the second game is made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tE199spGNk&list=PLSQLREUw9vwmE8HYXkE0uYgR6ur64hjIQ&index=6 entirely out of player deaths.]]
** The third game gives us Sigma, who pulls a few 'interesting' tricks, including [[spoiler:covering the walls in instant death spikes and sending flurries of force walls to push you into them]].
* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic: World of Xeen'' similarly allowed you to accidentally teleport off the edge of the world -- potentially before you realized the world ''had'' an edge.
* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress''. Thanks to the line "Losing is fun" in the instructions for the game, "Fun Units" is a very accurate term. No sarcasm needed. One of the main draws of the game.
** There are things referred to as Hidden Fun Stuff, or just HFS. In previous versions, if you [[spoiler:DugTooDeep, you could release a Balrog]]. Now, [[spoiler:Balrogs]] are out, and instead it's hordes of [[spoiler:demons]]. These ''are'' killable, but it's really hard, especially when they're [[KillItWithFire Spirits of Killing It With Fire]] (considering [[TooDumbToLive how dwarves react to being on fire]]). In the new version, [[spoiler:the horde of demons [[RespawningEnemies is infinite]].]] Basically, when you hit HFS, your fortress is dead. How fun.
** The [TRAPAVOID] tag. It's a delicate way of saying "You see these Orcs? They're immune to your lovingly crafted wall of traps. [[HaveANiceDeath Have a nice doom]]."
** The [NOFEAR] tag that they also happen to have turns most enemies into DemonicSpiders.
** Forgotten Beasts, Titans, and [[spoiler:demons]] are procedurally generated {{Kaiju}} that can come in a multitude of shapes and materials and toting any one of a number of possible special weapons, including fire, webs, and various kinds of deadly poison vapor. While many of these turn out to be pushovers like giant snowmen that crumble in one hit, you might also find yourself faced with, say, a web-spitting T-Rex made out of solid iron. And if the RandomNumberGod happens to be particularly vengeful that day, it might throw a BlobMonster at you with no weak points to attack. A blob made of steel, or even worse, [[{{Unobtainium}} Adamantine]], leaves you with no options short of trapping it in a cave-in, which kills everything.
** This being DF, one must remember that winning is impossible. There are lots and lots of ways for [[UnusualEuphemism !!Fun!!]] to happen, though. For example, doomsday devices and magma floods are a major source of !!Fun!!, as are tantrum spirals, carp, and elephants.
** Fortunately, this being DF, there is almost nothing that a well-prepared fortress cannot fight off. With enough skill and planning, even [[spoiler:TheLegionsOfHell]] can be held off indefinitely by your legendary dwarven warriors or layers upon layers of minecart-based traps. Most [[GameMod mods]] are built with the aim of adding even more challenge to the game.
* ''VideoGame/KaizoMarioWorld'':
** There are many [[InvisibleBlock invisible coin blocks]] located just where you think you need to jump, and hitting them will inevitably cause you to fall down a BottomlessPit.
** And just to up the ante, there's a big FU in the form of the infamous KaizoTrap, which ended a Special Stage that was already chock full of [=FUs=], not the very least of which was the [[TimedMission incredibly sadistic hundred-second time limit]].
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' had the same idea, only they were too cheap to actually give you a coin for your trouble. [[InvisibleBlock Invisible]] PoisonMushroom.
* ''Kid Kool'' also had invisible blocks to mess up jumps.
* ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'':
** When you die, all of your equipment is scattered around the place. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for losing them all forever if you die between blowing the reactor and getting the hell out of Dodge. (Some levels, which involve things like ''invisible death mechs'' with insanely powerful cannons, are even more charming).
** Level 6 has a fairly memorable FU where [[TeleportingKeycardSquad you pick up the red key and the walls open]] to reveal an ambush of ''six'' Class 1 Driller DemonicSpiders with instant-hit cannons. Most players, on their first try, will die before they even figure out what happened. It's even worse in the later levels.
** Level 9 has a MonsterCloset right at the start of the level that opens after you proceed forward a ways. Also bad are TeleportingKeycardSquad ambushes from multiple directions, spawning DemonicSpiders such as the aformentioned Drillers and Super Hulks. One level in ''Descent Maximum'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation has the yellow key placed between two Diamond Claw-generating {{Mook Maker}}s.
** The whole first game becomes a big Fun Unit on Insane difficulty after level 7. Between the random "roaming" of the enemies, the brutal AI, and your weakness vs their strength, it's for all practical purposes impossible.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Tetris}} Bastet]]'' has the piece generator designed so that the worst possible block for your situation is the one you get every time.[[note]]Or at least it seems that way. It would actually be possible for it to kill you with piece selection trivially easy, for instance by alternating S and Z pieces, so it's programmed to offer ''slightly'' kinder (and less repetitive) piece choices.[[/note]] However, this is the entire point of the game.
* In almost every 2D ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' game, there are fake walls, floors, and ceiling tiles. Some of these can be shot through, and others appear solid but aren't. The best Fun Unit is in the original Nintendo version, where the player enters a hallway with an Energy Tank near the end. Shortly before the tank is an invisible hole in the floor. Falling down through the hole doesn't kill you but forces you to go through tedious backtracking to reach the tank. ''[[VideoGameRemake Zero Mission]]'' does the same thing, but at least is nice enough to have an enemy travel up around the edges of the gap if you wait long enough, making it obvious there ''is'' a hole. ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' did it in between the two, as well. However, ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' threw that out the window before fighting Nightmare--there is a way to reach an Energy Tank you find just before the boss, but it's not the obvious Morph Ball tunnel that you see--that leads to a drop straight to the boss just before you can pick it up. You instead have to shoot the wall to find a tunnel just above it that drops you right on the tank. Granted, you can always backtrack to find the right way after Nightmare is defeated but by the time you get to do so you may as well be doing the last-minute powerup roundup.
* Some levels in ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'' have the lemmings enter over a lethal drop, forcing the player to act fast by making them Floaters. And some of those don't allow enough Floaters. There's a very fine line between a fall that will kill any Lemming and a fall that will do no harm. Specifically, Lemmings will die if they hit solid ground after falling 64 pixels; a 63-pixel fall is perfectly harmless. "We All Fall Down" is a lesson in this: you need to make every lemming into a Digger which is enough to make the long fall surviveable, but there's only so much ground that can be dug through and harder versions of this level can have up to 80 lemmings and require you to save all of them, forcing you to space them out wide enough that every lemming actually has enough ground under the their feet to dig through, but not so widely that the time runs out when you're only halfway through saving them.
-->"Remember, the difference between a Lemming going splat and a Lemming walking away from a fall can be a single pixel!"
-->'''Lemmings Instruction Manual'''
* ''VideoGame/GliderPRO'':
** There's a variation of the Ceiling Bumper scenario: though the game doesn't have jumping, the lift of an upward vent (normally the player's best friend) can extend right into a shelf or table above. At least ''Glider 4.0'' had a visible air option which would show this subterfuge.
** The paper shredder hidden behind a mirror or a picture was another common cruel joke.
** The room "Oh no... no way!" in ''Glider 4.0'' introduced the uniquely cruel trick of a basketball bouncing over a vital floor vent.
* The end of Mission 4 in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Allied Assault'', where mooks that [[TheAllSeeingAI can see you through the foliage]] (while you can't see them) are shooting at you from the front, and endless waves of mooks and [[DemonicSpiders Demonic Guard Dogs]] are [[TeleportingKeycardSquad spawning behind you]].
* ''VideoGame/TIEFighter'':
** There's the eponymous spacecraft. No shields, only two laser cannons for weapons, and no hyperdrive, which makes any long-term combat difficult but not unfair. At least you get better craft later in the game.
** ''TIE Fighter'' was a pretty challenging game in places. It was also a LOT more forgiving than its predecessor ''X-Wing''. In the predecessor, while you did have shields and a generally better fighter, it made your mission completions pointlessly hard, repetitive and very long training courses before you could earn any medals (you could play the missions, but not earn medals *facepalm*) and a lot of the time if you got shot down, you either were captured or killed with your character locked unless you sacrifice score for a revive or restore a backup. The missions were exceptionally hard in places, either putting you against vast numbers or against capital ships you couldn't hope to kill (X-Wing had no interest in locational damage or heavy missiles/bombs). Basically it was crazy tough, with TIE Fighter being fair in comparison.
*** To add to the "amusement" of ''VideoGame/XWing'', mission objectives were typically hidden from the player until completed, meaning you could do everything specified in the briefing and still not complete the mission. This was rectified in ''TIE Fighter'' both by providing a complete list of all but the bonus objectives to the player from the start of the mission[[labelnote:note]]occasionally at the risk of spoiling in-mission plot twists[[/labelnote]] and by simplifying objectives to conform more closely to the mission briefings, with many objectives that would have been mission-critical in ''X-Wing'' now listed as secondary or bonus objectives.
** On a related note, [=TIE=]s DO [[AllThereInTheManual function as your superiors and in-universe lore tell you they should]]. Only the A-wing and Assault Gunboat/Shuttle (slow as molasses but its turning radius can give you hell) can outmaneuver you until you get to the Imperial Rebellion arc. By contrast to the [=TIE=]s, shielded or non, you were basically expected to have to take hits in non-A-wing craft, especially the slovenly B-wing and Y-wing. The only truly !!FUN!! ship in Tie Fighter is the Tie Bomber, which is as much of a useless deathtrap as the B-wing, but without even any shields. Thankfully you only have to use it on battles that center around actual bombings and lightly defended stations, while in X-Wing you were expected to treat the B-wing as a main combat ship like the X-Wing.
* ''[[http://www.rrrrthats5rs.com/games/dont-shoot-the-puppy/ Don't Shoot the Puppy]]'' is barely a video game at all as you will trigger a sentry gun shooting a puppy if you so much as move the mouse, regardless of distractions like [[spoiler:messages that it's okay to move the mouse and the puppy seemingly stopping]]. As an extra middle finger to the player, [[spoiler:''not'' moving the mouse after one level can cause the game to time out]].
* The NES ''VideoGame/DirtyHarry'' video game randomly has a "trap room" that shows up when you enter a room; in place of a door, it has "HA HA HA" written on a blank wall. The only way out is to reset the game. The developers admitted that it was a joke they were playing on the players.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'':
** Escaping from battles, which is irritating at the best of times while irritating ''and'' next to impossible at the worst of times. Not only does it take quite a long time before you can manage to escape, but party members will each escape at different times all dictated at random and influenced by hidden "escape success" values that each character has. Characters who have yet to escape will be left to be ganged up on by the enemy, and since taking ''any'' action will prevent you from running until it completes it leaves them completely helpless while they're pummeled often to death by monsters. Since fleeing is what players do when they're weak and trying to survive, being overwhelmed by powerful enemies, or are simply trying to get through an area without being inconvenienced by battles, making this mechanic [[ScrappyMechanic unreliable and for all intents and purposes worthless]] certainly puts the "F" in "Final Fantasy".
** In a late section, players spend a section with one party member until they're able to reach another town. On the most direct path though, many enemies have an attack with 100% accuracy that causes the Zombie status, best thought of as "instant death meets confusion". If you didn't save the moment your feet hit the overworld, dying means you're kicked back to the start of half an hour of boss fights, cutscenes and fish catching. It's certainly not helped by the run mechanic being so unfeasible that the enemies ''will'' act at least once before you manage to escape.
* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'':
** Disappearing ladders.
** {{Bat|OutOfHell}}s are the same blue color as {{water|IsBlue}} and most background walls making already-annoying enemies near-impossible to spot.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** The original game did ''not'' make you immune to the SpikesOfDoom when you were flashing after taking damage. That means that, while the spikes were not technically an instant kill, if you fall in the middle of a large group, you'll lose your shield, then bounce over to more spikes and lose all of your rings, ''then'' bounce over onto another patch and ''die'', without a chance to realize your mistake and get off of them. This was entirely intentional; the developers [[http://info.sonicretro.org/Spike_damage_behavior intentionally coded spikes]] to ignore MercyInvincibility.
** Don't try to be clever and use Debug Mode either [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable unless you want to see Sonic bounce around on the spikes forever because he can't die while Debug mode is active, can't activate Debug movement while Sonic's in the process of getting hurt and the timer is disabled for other uses in the mode.]] You can only hope that the bounces [[HopeSpot randomly has Sonic fall in the same direction three times so he can fall off of the spikes]], [[YankTheDogsChain but more often than not Sonic will only make it to the row of spikes JUUUST before he would fall off and then decide to bounce back in the other direction.]]
** Also in the original ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', if you fall to the left or right of the spikes in Green Hill Zone, you will fall into a BottomlessPit that only exists because the grassy pillars are not solid, but work more like platforms.
** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' has a rather infamous example. In Mystic Cave Act 2, there's a drawbridge operated by a pulley. Miss the pulley and you'll fall into a pit with nothing but spikes for company. There's no way out of the pit and you just have to wait for the inevitable. If you're Super Sonic, you can at least jump just high enough to escape. Annoyingly even if you reach the pulley, you can still fall through the drawbridge if you let go too soon. If this happens, even Super Sonic will be trapped due to the bridge now acting as a lid on the pit.
*** The Master System version has something similar in the Scrambled Egg Zone Act 2. Choose badly when moving through the tubes, and one of them will carry you to a platform that unless you jump again fast into the tube will fall into a spike-filled pit where you can only wait for death.
*** In the 2013 mobile remaster, the pit is still there but rather than giving the player the ''Screw You'', instead you fall into the long-lost Hidden Palace Zone. This only occurs in the main game, as doing the same in Time Attack or Multiplayer mode will result in death (although the spikes have been removed and it now acts as a regular bottomless pit).
** While we're on the topic of this series, ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog3'' has the infamous Carnival Night Zone barrel: as soon as you approach it, a wall locks you in the room, and you must [[spoiler:press up and down repeatedly without jumping]] to move it out of the way. If you [[GuideDangIt can't figure it out]] due to [[DamnYouMuscleMemory being so used to having to]] [[spoiler:jump a bit]] to dispel obstacles like these, you have to wait for the timer to kill you... and then try again.
** Also, in ''Sonic 3'''s Ice Cap Zone, Act 1, there are a few places where you have to build up momentum to make a jump, but if you go back too far, a well-hidden spring will bounce you away, forcing you to spend the next minute getting back up there. Correctly positioning yourself to make the jumps requires incredible precision.
* The first ''VideoGame/MegaMan1'' game had the spikes ignore MercyInvincibility, which means instant death no matter what. In later games you could walk on spikes during MercyInvincibility.
* ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' is full of these.
** Get hit by someone's item and it's guaranteed that one or two other people that are passing you as you wipe out will use their items on you just to torment you further. Then there are those times where you fall off the track and are being towed back on, only to get shoved off by someone as they run you over and get knocked off again. And woe for any player that hears a Spiny Shell coming at them in the final lap.
** Then there's the ultimate AI cooperation attack, the rainbow shell assault: Green shell first, then red shell while you spin, and the final insult of a blue shell finishing you off before you can recover from either of the first two. Welcome to last place!
** Or, in one of the many [[MetropolisLevel highway/city courses]], getting beaned by a Spiny Shell right before a line of traffic comes barreling your way. [[CrushParade Have fun being roadkill!]]
* In the first game of the original ''[[VideoGame/TheBardsTaleTrilogy Bard's Tale]]'' trilogy, standing in front of one door leading to one room in the catacombs yielded the message that the escaping air smelled very stale. Entering this room froze the game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Carmageddon}}'' [=TDR2000=] had a trick jump leading to what looked like a bonus tunnel entrance which was only accessible by using the jump on command power-up. The tunnel was empty, and when you attempted to get back out, you'd run into an impenetrable barrier that said ''"Now you're stuck, [[ForTheEvulz SUCKER!]]"''. You could get out by respawning a number of times... spending money each time.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}: Soul Carnival 2'', just about every other treasure chest in the ''entire game'' has a bomb inside, which explodes when you open it, dealing damage and knocking you back. Stage 27 turns this up a notch; the chests are on platforms with raised sides, meaning that they're basically invisible. It is entirely possible to kill enemies with a treasure bomb, [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and is extremely satisfying when you do so,]] but you can still die in the middle of a combo because you accidentally opened a fake chest.
* Unusually early example: The Bat in the Atari 2600 ''VideoGame/{{Adventure}}''. It could not only grab the holy grail (the way you win) and fly off getting itself occasionally trapped in an area of the game you can't reach but it can ALSO take items right out of your hands and carry live dragons.
* The SlippySlideyIceWorld in ''VideoGame/SnakeRattleNRoll'', a game which already had very loose controls.
* ''VideoGame/DeadlyTowers'' has a lot of these:
** The hidden entrances to dungeons and Parallel Zones will frustrate players who are searching for them without a clue and frustrate players who aren't looking for them but stumble into them by accident. The reward for discovering a "secret room" in any of the towers is being immediately mobbed by a huge swarm of enemies, some of which cause unavoidable CollisionDamage by spawning directly on top of you.
** The game also has a caged enemy which takes all your money if you shoot it.
* ''VideoGame/SaturnBomberman'' has a few of these spread around:
** The one that jumps to mind most is in the Samurai World where the butterfly enemies can fly over pretty much anything. This makes getting trapped in the corner by one extremely common, to a frustrating degree.
** Another example, again from Samurai World, is the enemies who transform into invincible rocks, however more often than not they transform into harmless trees so it isn't so bad.
** The "Slow Down" power-up mixed in with normal power-up's is another.
* ''Videogame/BattleToads'' still stands today as one of the most infamous examples of developer cruelty, with the infamous Speeder Section requiring a level of reflex possessed by few gamers. Of course, this just prevented players from seeing the literally GameBreakingBug that popped up in later levels.
* ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'' has two sections that resemble ''Videogame/BattleToads'', but in 3D, with even ''more'' pitfalls, and shooting enemies to contend with as well. You can shoot back, but it's possible the explosions will cover some of the holes...
* The NES version of ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'' has a particularly frustrating one of these. In the final level, there are pipes which cannot be crossed, forcing the player to walk around them in a sort of maze. When the player dies, he respawns at the bottom of the screen. If you happen to die at one of the times where there is a loop of pipe at the bottom of the screen, it will be impossible to move after respawning. Note that this is the final level, after you have played for over an hour and have only a few more minutes before reaching the final boss...
* ''VideoGame/ToeJamAndEarl'':
** The Randomizer present fits nicely as an FU. Similar to a roguelike, the game has presents that won't identify themselves until you've opened one of that kind (i.e. all presents with the same wrapping have the same contents), or paid an [=NPC=] to identify them. So if you open a present and it kills you, it kind of sucks, but at least you'll know the next time you see a present with the same wrapping. The randomizer is a very good one to identify without opening, as opening it will randomize the contents of ''every'' present ''including the randomizer''. Time to start figuring out those present contents again! Even more fun: if all your presents are negative and you desperately need something to keep yourself alive, you can [[GodzillaThreshold use the randomizer to your "advantage" and open completely random presents]] in the hope they'll do more good than harm.
** The lack of MercyInvincibility is dangerous enough, but further to that, when Toe Jam or Earl fall off the edge of a level, they may fall right next to a powerful enemy. You might even harmlessly bounce off the enemy once or twice before landing.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has the NCR Ranger and Legionary Assassin hit squads, which show up within two days of gaining a negative reputation with the respective faction. They are ridiculously overpowered, being armed with the game's best weapons and having damage resistance much higher than the normal mooks. At least the NCR gives you a chance to improve your rep, while the Legionaries shoot first and ask questions later. They also tend to kill off important [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]], causing you to fail their quests.
* Aside from having some of the classic Screw Yous, most notably exits that would send you a few levels backwards, ''VideoGame/KidChameleon'' featured an auto-scrolling level with an AdvancingWallOfDoom. Near the end, you need to choose between an upper and lower route with no indication as to which one is better. Then at the end, one route leads to the exit while the other leads to a dead-end (and certain death) and a large billboard that reads "TOO BAD".
* ''VideoGame/{{Antichamber}}'': Some of the most difficult, hair-pulling puzzles in the game in the end don't advance you towards the exit, but reward you with an EasterEgg room or plop you somewhere you've been before. This is fine when you've already beaten the game, but annoying when you're still trying to figure out where to concentrate your work to finish the game for the first time (especially when [[spoiler:you still think]] there's a time limit, and therefore every second is gold: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC6g6pZ3Pek&t=8m40s this poor guy]] found one of those rooms with only 8 minutes left on the timer).
* A couple of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' hacks have an odd (but infuriating) example. Namely, sections where if you stop moving, you die on the spot, kind of like the bus from ''Film/{{Speed}}'' in human form. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W7_fqf6BI8 this Mario End Game level]] and a level called 'TAS' (aka Tool Assisted Speedrun) in a Japanese hack called OTL [something] has it too.
* ''VideoGame/TakeshisChallenge'' is deliberately crammed with [=FUs=], including a hang glider stage where you can accidentally shoot down the gusts of wind that help you fly.
* ''VideoGame/AlteredBeast'' is easy for the first couple of levels, albeit annoying when the power-up mook blithely dashes past you whilst you're laid out from {{Knockback}} and {{Collision Damage}}. Then comes two levels where the enemies are not only numerous but have greater attack reach, speed and power, and take two blocks of your fragile health each time. If you do manage to stay on your feet long enough to morph into your beast form, you find it has ''[[PowerUpLetdown reduced range and damage compared to your buff human form]]'' and exists only to unlock the boss. Level five at least gives you the original Wolf form back, but you'll be too busy dancing a {{Cycle Of Hurting}} due to a lack of {{Mercy Invincibility}} and [[DemonicSpiders stupidly fast enemies who have attack priority, punch you out of the air for 2/3rds of your health each time and flood the screen with them]] to even be able to stay alive for more than twenty seconds, let along try to power up.
* In ''VideoGame/KidGloves'', the total lack of warning regarding when and where enemies will spontaneously spawn does nothing to prevent you from [[CollisionDamage dying horribly on contact with any of them]].
* Invoked in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles4''. During mock battle between squads, the enemy commander hints she's not going to be playing fair, and she's absolutely right. The biggest example is her 2IC, who appears on a rooftop to act as an artillery spotter. Said rooftop is improbably tall (your artillery peaks too low to hit it), has no apparent access point in gameplay or story, has sandbags for her to hide behind, and is behind your starting lines. The game offers no explanation for this chicanery beyond "Squad F is fighting dirty".
** A traditional example appears in the map that introduces fire on the terrain. The game makes it very clear that infantry will die if they go anywhere near it... and the general who ambushes you in the second half of the mission has an order that allows his side to merrily ignore this. The game also forgets to mention that fire patches also count as hiding places for vehicles, which is not only something you'll probably only find out when your units can't target ThatOneBoss, but makes no sense in the lore (since waste heat management is the reason for the giant, exposed, [[AttackItsWeakPoint incredibly vulnerable]] radiators every vehicle has).
* The Nintendo DS port of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' has Rebirth Mode, which rearranges most of the item locations as well as mixing up the types of enemies you will face. Some rooms can have both zombies and crows and aiming for one or the other can be very finicky because the aiming system generally auto targets whoever is closer to you. The developers very likely did this intentionally to increase the difficulty. Another example of such a thing is in the area of the courtyard next to the waterfall where there are three zombie dogs and a lone shark that's flopping on the ground. The shark can't do anything to you since it's not in a body of water, but because it's alive, it can be targeted. The shark serves no purpose other than to screw up your aim when you're trying to target the dogs instead.
* The Sega Master System version of ''Alf'' allows you to waste your money on an item called the "Alf Book", which when used, mocks the player and sends you back to the title screen.
----
->''"It just occurred to me''\\
''That I've been through this place again and again''\\
''And in the same spot, every time, I repeatedly die.''\\
''I never will give up, as I attempt to cross the disappearing tiles on the wall''\\
''But again, I'm falling off of them."''
-->-- '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjLouGft9kY I Can't Defeat Air Man]]''' (unofficial English version)
When a developer wants to up the difficulty level of their game, they have quite a few options.
This is a list of a few classic methods of making a game NintendoHard. We'll call them Classic Video Game Screw Yous, or, to avoid unnecessary swearing, "[[SarcasmMode Fun Units]]", hereafter [=FUs=] ([[FunWithAcronyms Geddit?]] [[DontExplainTheJoke Geddit?]]).
Differs from FakeDifficulty in that these can be fair. By definition, FakeDifficulty is completely unfair in some way; [[LuckBasedMission it requires good luck]], [[GuideDangIt it expects you to know things it didn't tell you]], etc. Screw Yous are designed to frustrate, but aren't always unreasonably out of the player's control.
Note that "Fun Units" is only partly sarcastic, by the way: a game that's too ''easy'' [[ItsEasySoItSucks can sometimes be less fun to play]] than one that's NintendoHard. In a way, they apply the RuleOfDrama to gameplay.
To keep this from degenerating into [[Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike complaining about examples of]] VideoGameDifficultyTropes [[Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike you don't like]], examples should be phrased as generically as possible, or explain exactly ''why'' this game is a well known example of this particular FU, or this FU is particularly unusual.
See also: ScrappyMechanic; TrialAndErrorGameplay. If it belongs, there is no need to put it here too unless it's shared by many games. ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' and other examples of PlatformHell are loaded with [=FUs=]. The antithesis to AntiFrustrationFeatures. See UnwinnableByDesign for when there's a way to make the game literally unbeatable.
----
!!Classic Fun Units
* MalevolentArchitecture where it doesn't make sense, including:
** SpikesOfDoom that spring out of otherwise nearly ordinary floors or walls when the player gets close.
** Labyrinthine formations of DeadlyWalls, especially with high-speed auto-scrolling, exacting time limits or VideoGameFlight.
** Bottomless pits mixed in with pits [[LeapOfFaith which you can jump down to get power-ups]] (or, worse, that you ''have'' to jump down to progress). Alternatively, bottomless pits that logically are only just a short distance above an area you were in moments before.
** [[TemporaryPlatform Vanishing or moving platforms]] are also excellent building blocks of an FU, especially when mixed with SpikesOfDoom or BottomlessPits.
** Extremely narrow platforms, especially when combined with LedgeBats, laggy controls, low friction, HitboxDissonance, and\or other Malevolent Architecture.
* Inescapable Death areas, which you can fall into and get hurt, but can't get back out of and have to wait until either your health or the timer runs out.
* Enemy types:
** GoddamnedBats and DemonicSpiders are among the most common [=FUs=]
** LedgeBats that make {{knockback}} during jumps a true frustration.
** {{Ambushing Enem|y}}ies don't typically fall into this, since there will usually be some recognizable form of portal that shows where these things tend to leap out at you... except for that one place where there ''isn't''.
* Enemy behavior:
** Any variation of [[TurnsRed Pissy Boss Mode]] where the boss becomes invincible, or enemies who do the same, is a favorite FU.
** The ability of an enemy to OneHitKill you when the game itself doesn't make you a OneHitPointWonder is a well known FU.
*** Can go further if some InstakillMook can inflict at TotalPartyKill via a [[HerdHittingAttack Herd-hitting]] OneHitKill.
** InvisibleMonsters.
** Enemies that can [[DepthPerplexion move and shoot through walls]] when you can't do either.
** In some old {{Platform Game}}s, the player lacks a useful GoombaStomp or other kind of downward attack, but enemies can fall or be pushed into small nooks in the floor, and then trying to climb into the nook would obviously be suicide by CollisionDamage or unblockable melee attack.
** Enemies, especially in shmups, that teleport after firing. More sadistic shmups make them fire faster the longer you take to kill them, so even a marginally laid back shmup can have a twinge of bullet hell. While they usually only take one or two hits to kill, a lot of the time they will be shielded, or have a tendency to pop up behind a sturdier foe and vanish before you can hit them. This may also often appear in 2D action-platformers, to similar results.
** Enemies whose shifting movement patterns box the player into corners, requiring the player to predict which way they will move next.
** Computer "players" [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard full-on breaking the rules.]]
** Enemies that lack any tells they're about to attack, especially in games that rely on melee combat. The point of fighting an enemy shouldn't be to arbitrarily guess when it's going to attack, but to figure out how to counter or work around tells the enemy gives you. A general rule of thumb is this; if an enemy hits you but has a consistent pattern regarding how it hits you (it runs at you first, it makes a series of jumps followed by its attack, it has a short animation it plays prior to the attack, etc.) then it is fully your fault when you fail to dodge. If an enemy simply attacks you without rhyme or reason (one moment the enemy is in its normal neutral position, the next frame you're getting decked, for example) then it is solidly this trope. This is ''depressingly'' common in old 8-bit games.
* Enemy placement:
** Allowing enemies to [[RespawningEnemies respawn]] [[TeleFrag right on top of you]] for massive CollisionDamage. Where the respawn points are invisible but fixed, you can probably spot them if you have a keen eye, but in other cases you can only pray for the RandomNumberGod not to smite you.
** Enemies that spawn near the end of a level exit just to kill you right before you can finish the level.
** Enemies in strategy games that camp directly ''on'' the LevelGoal square, forcing you to kill them.
** Enemies that spawn from behind you (in particular, in Shoot 'em ups that only allow you to fire in a forward facing direction; note that, in that particular case, this only qualifies as an FU, rather than FakeDifficulty, if the appearance of enemies from behind is well telegraphed).
* Idiosyncratic scrolling:
** The AutoScrollingLevel can easily be made into part of an FU, especially when mixed with Instant Death Areas, vanishing or moving platforms, {{Inconveniently Placed Conveyor Belt}}s, and/or GoddamnedBats. (Forcing you to choose between two paths, one of which is a dead end, is more FakeDifficulty than a true FU.)
** Deliberate use of RatchetScrolling that limits you from going back, causing you to miss pickups and giving less room to avoid attacks.
** Use of Ratchet, [[RiseToTheChallenge Auto,]] or [[FlipScreenScrolling Flip Screen]] scrolling on a climbing vertical level, which each have their own way of illogically killing you with bottomless pits.
* VideogameSettings:
** The [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Ice Level]] is another classic FU, where your character, and ''only'' your character, [[FrictionlessIce skids like crazy]], causing the SpikesOfDoom and GoddamnedBats to be much more difficult to avoid. Even worse if the level is full of tiny, icy platforms.
** Similarly, [[UnderTheSea underwater areas]] that hamper your character's mobility but leave enemies and traps ([[ArtisticLicensePhysics including fire-based traps]]) unhindered. Better yet, an underwater ice world that ignores how cold such water would be in the interest of combining these [=FUs=].
* VideogameObjectives:
** {{Timed Mission}}s can easily be used to make an FU. Especially when combined with obstacles or enemies who you have to wait for to get out of your way and/or EliteMooks who can soak lots of damage and have to be fought.
** {{Escort Mission}}s, especially when the person you're escorting has ArtificialStupidity.
* In games with power-ups (e.g. most space shooters), losing them all when you die is a nearly universal FU, and also an example of UnstableEquilibrium. AKA [[ContinuingIsPainful Gradius Syndrome]].
* Gravity.
** FallingDamage that makes falling from more than a certain height automatically fatal, especially if falling from an only slightly lesser height is entirely harmless and/or necessary to progress.
** [[SelectiveGravity Gravity that applies differently on you compared to enemies, power-ups, ledges, and so on. If it even applies at all!]]
* "Power-ups":
** [[PoisonMushroom Power Ups that can kill you/harm you/cancel out good Power Ups if accidentally collected, in conjunction with looking like normal power ups or being in the same container as the normal power ups.]]
** Enemies that randomly drop {{Poison Mushroom}}s when you kill them.
** {{Power up}}s that, while normally useful, [[PowerupLetdown can be counterproductive]], at least in specific situations (for example, a powerup that removes your ability to fly in exchange for faster running speed, in an area [[BottomlessPits without a floor]]). Obviously, the [=FUs=] are the situations where PowerupLetdown is in effect.
** Power ups that are legitimately useful, but are placed in such a way that you ''must'' take damage or die to collect them (for example, having them rest upon SpikesOfDoom).
** A BagOfSpilling effect for games that cause you to lose all power-ups or equipment at set points, such as after beating a level.
* Complete absence of MercyInvincibility, forcing you to instantly take action or allow one hit to become several (can lead to being juggled to death when combined with knockback).
* Ceiling Bumper Moments when a simple jump is made much more difficult for having to jump out from a low passage and chances are that you either hit the ceiling and bounce into the BottomlessPit or jump too late and fall into it anyway. Happens when JumpPhysics aren't made for those kinds of jumps.
** Passages where both the ceiling and floor are lined with Instant Death such as SpikesOfDoom. Bonus points if said passage is really narrow and you can easily bonk your head on the killer ceiling if you aren't ''extremely'' careful.
** A popular ceiling bumper moment is a tunnel where the end of the ground and ceiling line up with each other, and the only way to progress is to jump out of the tunnel, turn around in mid-air, and land on top of the ceiling.
* Reversal of progress:
** Warps that throw you many levels backwards; in linear games, these can wipe out a lot of progress.
** On games without bottomless pitfalls, this is usually what replaces them. And then, of course, there will come a few points where you have to choose the right one to fall through to continue...[[GuideDangIt Usually with no hints whatsoever]]. Some other examples might include pitfalls in roguelikes (moving you up or down a level), gaps in adventure-y platformers whether they be 2D or top-down, colour-coded teleporters, be they visible or not, [[KaizoTrap door/pipe/etc choices with no obvious hints]] such as the entire purpose behind the game Section Z (one notable choice near the 60% mark sending you back to the fourth room of the game!), or enemies such as wallmasters that serve a similar purpose. In this case, they aren't killable and the effect is immediate. (ie unlock a caged bird and he nabs you) The difference between the mentions here and in other categories being: Unavoidable once triggered and progress is always negative/similar to backtracking.
* Unidentified items in roguelikes. [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Take a wild guess why]]. Taken to the point of absurd comedy in Alphaman, a parodical post-apocalyptic roguelike with numerous pieces of crazy-lethal 'old world tech' lying around. Especially fun are potions after the start of a new game. (On the other hand, you don't ''have'' to use them, and most roguelikes with item randomization also give you ways to narrow down the range of possibilities for what an unknown item might be, at least to the point where you can be confident of whether or not it's safe to use unidentified.)
* Extremely finite resources in RealTimeStrategy games. While this is normally part of a 'stealth infiltration/probing' mission, some such as Earth 2150 and War Wind make it a bonafide consistent element, resulting in your final push failing because you upgraded too much or lost too many units early on, giving the game a minor touch of a puzzle element as well. (that is, you must max out the damage you do with the cheapest possible units at your disposal with the right upgrade tree)
* [[VentPhysics Wind physics]]:
** Unless the game is about flying a glider, wind is ''always'' going to screw with you. If it IS about flying a glider, wind is only against you 70% of the time. If it's an ArtilleryGame, wind will only ever benefit the CPU, because only the [[ComputersAreFast CPU has time to calculate the precise trajectory of every shot]] while the player has to make a more or less educated guess, especially if the wind changes between shots.
** In platforming games, wind can also screw with you. In stages with wind, the wind tends to push you around, but doesn't push enemies around. Wind can also be blowing so fast, you can only stay in spot by moving towards it, majorly hampering your ability to dodge attacks. The wind may also change direction; moving against the wind to avoid the spikes behind you may result in moving with the wind into the spikes in front of you.
* Forcing the sacrifice of VideoGameLives to progress, especially combined with abuse of RespawnOnTheSpot mechanics where you need to die within a room or sub-area to reach a position from which you can get through it.
-->'''Gabriel''': ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QMYnK_va44#t=2400s playing]] ''VideoGame/SmashTV'') ...Okay, did you see that? It walked me in, and then activated me ''on'' an enemy.\\
'''[[Creator/BenCroshaw Yahtzee:]]''' Fuck you, player, give us some money!
* A default party/equipment configuration so far from optimal that you aren't likely to survive for long if you don't immediately change it to something more sensible.
* In games with ScoringPoints, game-ending traps that arbitrarily deprive players of high score achievements they would otherwise be eligible for, either by NonStandardGameOver or by an UnwinnableByDesign situation that makes simply ending the game impossible without resetting.
* [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment Penalizing the player]] for shooting noncombatants that blithely stroll through the line of fire or run around like headless chickens rather than head for cover.
* BribingYourWayToVictory is one that pops up in most multiplayer (and some singleplayer) games. If it's in game money, it's exempt from this since all you usually need to do is grind the money, but if it uses real money...especially so if the game is heavily based in competitive play, high score contests included.
* Veering into FakeDifficulty:
** InterchangeableAntimatterKeys which are outnumbered by locks, so you can get stuck if you waste keys on the wrong locks. Is almost always a case of FakeDifficulty if there is no way to rectify this without SaveScumming or starting the level over.
** TrialAndErrorGameplay moments where death is essentially unavoidable on the first play. Note that this rapidly veers into FakeDifficulty, rather than a Fun Unit proper, if there [[CheckPointStarvation isn't a respawn point]] of some kind fairly close by.
** CheckPointStarvation, depending on just how starved the particular game is. If you're stuck going back 10 or more minutes of frustratingly difficult gameplay...
!!Examples of unusual "Fun Units" (See also: ScrappyMechanic)
* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'' has a BonusDungeon with a number of standard features (RandomlyGeneratedLevels, RestartAtLevelOne, and resetting pet levels), but also removal of all items not from blue chests. Since levels are random and blue chest items are usually needed equipment, you can run into an annoying amount of blue mimics.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'' is notable for having nearly every one of the listed above. [[UnstableEquilibrium Ammo does not regenerate on death]], enemies have massive amounts of [[MercyInvincibility Recovery Time]], two consecutive {{Marathon Level}}s with bosses who are willing to use nigh-unavoidable attacks at the drop of a hat... oh yeah. This is not a game for pansies.
* ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' has one almost every screen, and this is what actually makes it fun. For example, one screen has a falling ceiling of spikes, and one spot in the floor that is lower than the rest. Upon finally managing to reach that spot, you discover that the spike just grows longer to kill you. Other examples include the Delicious Fruit which can ''fall up'' and the evil save point which chases and kills you. And spring-loaded background couches underneath spiked ceilings. And clouds that spontaneously drop lightning bolts. And spike pits of doom that chase you. And the invisible wall maze. And that clusterchucking moon.
* And that's nothing compared to ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheFangame''. ''More'' spikes, ''more'' [[InvisibleBlock Invisible Blocks]], {{Telefrag}} portals, an AutoScrollingLevel, VideoGame/PacMan and the ghosts making ''common cause against you'', and a room where you have to navigate ''several cascades of GoddamnedBats''.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' games at least up to V were more than happy to allow you to [[TeleFrag teleport into solid rock]]. This resulted in the '''[[TotalPartyKill total loss]]''' of your party, [[{{Permadeath}} no resurrection attempts allowed]]. Oh, and if you play the games the way they're intended, there's no "reload game" upon this happening. You can also emerge high above the city and crash to the ground, or drown in the castle moat, but these "merely" kill your party as opposed to your losing them forever; you have a shot at resurrecting them in the latter two instances. Basically, be '''''very''''' careful when teleporting in Wizardry.
* Pretty much every inch of every ''VideoGame/DistortedTravesty'' game. In fact the trailer for the second game is made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tE199spGNk&list=PLSQLREUw9vwmE8HYXkE0uYgR6ur64hjIQ&index=6 entirely out of player deaths.]]
** The third game gives us Sigma, who pulls a few 'interesting' tricks, including [[spoiler:covering the walls in instant death spikes and sending flurries of force walls to push you into them]].
* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic: World of Xeen'' similarly allowed you to accidentally teleport off the edge of the world -- potentially before you realized the world ''had'' an edge.
* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress''. Thanks to the line "Losing is fun" in the instructions for the game, "Fun Units" is a very accurate term. No sarcasm needed. One of the main draws of the game.
** There are things referred to as Hidden Fun Stuff, or just HFS. In previous versions, if you [[spoiler:DugTooDeep, you could release a Balrog]]. Now, [[spoiler:Balrogs]] are out, and instead it's hordes of [[spoiler:demons]]. These ''are'' killable, but it's really hard, especially when they're [[KillItWithFire Spirits of Killing It With Fire]] (considering [[TooDumbToLive how dwarves react to being on fire]]). In the new version, [[spoiler:the horde of demons [[RespawningEnemies is infinite]].]] Basically, when you hit HFS, your fortress is dead. How fun.
** The [TRAPAVOID] tag. It's a delicate way of saying "You see these Orcs? They're immune to your lovingly crafted wall of traps. [[HaveANiceDeath Have a nice doom]]."
** The [NOFEAR] tag that they also happen to have turns most enemies into DemonicSpiders.
** Forgotten Beasts, Titans, and [[spoiler:demons]] are procedurally generated {{Kaiju}} that can come in a multitude of shapes and materials and toting any one of a number of possible special weapons, including fire, webs, and various kinds of deadly poison vapor. While many of these turn out to be pushovers like giant snowmen that crumble in one hit, you might also find yourself faced with, say, a web-spitting T-Rex made out of solid iron. And if the RandomNumberGod happens to be particularly vengeful that day, it might throw a BlobMonster at you with no weak points to attack. A blob made of steel, or even worse, [[{{Unobtainium}} Adamantine]], leaves you with no options short of trapping it in a cave-in, which kills everything.
** This being DF, one must remember that winning is impossible. There are lots and lots of ways for [[UnusualEuphemism !!Fun!!]] to happen, though. For example, doomsday devices and magma floods are a major source of !!Fun!!, as are tantrum spirals, carp, and elephants.
** Fortunately, this being DF, there is almost nothing that a well-prepared fortress cannot fight off. With enough skill and planning, even [[spoiler:TheLegionsOfHell]] can be held off indefinitely by your legendary dwarven warriors or layers upon layers of minecart-based traps. Most [[GameMod mods]] are built with the aim of adding even more challenge to the game.
* ''VideoGame/KaizoMarioWorld'':
** There are many [[InvisibleBlock invisible coin blocks]] located just where you think you need to jump, and hitting them will inevitably cause you to fall down a BottomlessPit.
** And just to up the ante, there's a big FU in the form of the infamous KaizoTrap, which ended a Special Stage that was already chock full of [=FUs=], not the very least of which was the [[TimedMission incredibly sadistic hundred-second time limit]].
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' had the same idea, only they were too cheap to actually give you a coin for your trouble. [[InvisibleBlock Invisible]] PoisonMushroom.
* ''Kid Kool'' also had invisible blocks to mess up jumps.
* ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'':
** When you die, all of your equipment is scattered around the place. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for losing them all forever if you die between blowing the reactor and getting the hell out of Dodge. (Some levels, which involve things like ''invisible death mechs'' with insanely powerful cannons, are even more charming).
** Level 6 has a fairly memorable FU where [[TeleportingKeycardSquad you pick up the red key and the walls open]] to reveal an ambush of ''six'' Class 1 Driller DemonicSpiders with instant-hit cannons. Most players, on their first try, will die before they even figure out what happened. It's even worse in the later levels.
** Level 9 has a MonsterCloset right at the start of the level that opens after you proceed forward a ways. Also bad are TeleportingKeycardSquad ambushes from multiple directions, spawning DemonicSpiders such as the aformentioned Drillers and Super Hulks. One level in ''Descent Maximum'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation has the yellow key placed between two Diamond Claw-generating {{Mook Maker}}s.
** The whole first game becomes a big Fun Unit on Insane difficulty after level 7. Between the random "roaming" of the enemies, the brutal AI, and your weakness vs their strength, it's for all practical purposes impossible.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Tetris}} Bastet]]'' has the piece generator designed so that the worst possible block for your situation is the one you get every time.[[note]]Or at least it seems that way. It would actually be possible for it to kill you with piece selection trivially easy, for instance by alternating S and Z pieces, so it's programmed to offer ''slightly'' kinder (and less repetitive) piece choices.[[/note]] However, this is the entire point of the game.
* In almost every 2D ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' game, there are fake walls, floors, and ceiling tiles. Some of these can be shot through, and others appear solid but aren't. The best Fun Unit is in the original Nintendo version, where the player enters a hallway with an Energy Tank near the end. Shortly before the tank is an invisible hole in the floor. Falling down through the hole doesn't kill you but forces you to go through tedious backtracking to reach the tank. ''[[VideoGameRemake Zero Mission]]'' does the same thing, but at least is nice enough to have an enemy travel up around the edges of the gap if you wait long enough, making it obvious there ''is'' a hole. ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' did it in between the two, as well. However, ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' threw that out the window before fighting Nightmare--there is a way to reach an Energy Tank you find just before the boss, but it's not the obvious Morph Ball tunnel that you see--that leads to a drop straight to the boss just before you can pick it up. You instead have to shoot the wall to find a tunnel just above it that drops you right on the tank. Granted, you can always backtrack to find the right way after Nightmare is defeated but by the time you get to do so you may as well be doing the last-minute powerup roundup.
* Some levels in ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'' have the lemmings enter over a lethal drop, forcing the player to act fast by making them Floaters. And some of those don't allow enough Floaters. There's a very fine line between a fall that will kill any Lemming and a fall that will do no harm. Specifically, Lemmings will die if they hit solid ground after falling 64 pixels; a 63-pixel fall is perfectly harmless. "We All Fall Down" is a lesson in this: you need to make every lemming into a Digger which is enough to make the long fall surviveable, but there's only so much ground that can be dug through and harder versions of this level can have up to 80 lemmings and require you to save all of them, forcing you to space them out wide enough that every lemming actually has enough ground under the their feet to dig through, but not so widely that the time runs out when you're only halfway through saving them.
-->"Remember, the difference between a Lemming going splat and a Lemming walking away from a fall can be a single pixel!"
-->'''Lemmings Instruction Manual'''
* ''VideoGame/GliderPRO'':
** There's a variation of the Ceiling Bumper scenario: though the game doesn't have jumping, the lift of an upward vent (normally the player's best friend) can extend right into a shelf or table above. At least ''Glider 4.0'' had a visible air option which would show this subterfuge.
** The paper shredder hidden behind a mirror or a picture was another common cruel joke.
** The room "Oh no... no way!" in ''Glider 4.0'' introduced the uniquely cruel trick of a basketball bouncing over a vital floor vent.
* The end of Mission 4 in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Allied Assault'', where mooks that [[TheAllSeeingAI can see you through the foliage]] (while you can't see them) are shooting at you from the front, and endless waves of mooks and [[DemonicSpiders Demonic Guard Dogs]] are [[TeleportingKeycardSquad spawning behind you]].
* ''VideoGame/TIEFighter'':
** There's the eponymous spacecraft. No shields, only two laser cannons for weapons, and no hyperdrive, which makes any long-term combat difficult but not unfair. At least you get better craft later in the game.
** ''TIE Fighter'' was a pretty challenging game in places. It was also a LOT more forgiving than its predecessor ''X-Wing''. In the predecessor, while you did have shields and a generally better fighter, it made your mission completions pointlessly hard, repetitive and very long training courses before you could earn any medals (you could play the missions, but not earn medals *facepalm*) and a lot of the time if you got shot down, you either were captured or killed with your character locked unless you sacrifice score for a revive or restore a backup. The missions were exceptionally hard in places, either putting you against vast numbers or against capital ships you couldn't hope to kill (X-Wing had no interest in locational damage or heavy missiles/bombs). Basically it was crazy tough, with TIE Fighter being fair in comparison.
*** To add to the "amusement" of ''VideoGame/XWing'', mission objectives were typically hidden from the player until completed, meaning you could do everything specified in the briefing and still not complete the mission. This was rectified in ''TIE Fighter'' both by providing a complete list of all but the bonus objectives to the player from the start of the mission[[labelnote:note]]occasionally at the risk of spoiling in-mission plot twists[[/labelnote]] and by simplifying objectives to conform more closely to the mission briefings, with many objectives that would have been mission-critical in ''X-Wing'' now listed as secondary or bonus objectives.
** On a related note, [=TIE=]s DO [[AllThereInTheManual function as your superiors and in-universe lore tell you they should]]. Only the A-wing and Assault Gunboat/Shuttle (slow as molasses but its turning radius can give you hell) can outmaneuver you until you get to the Imperial Rebellion arc. By contrast to the [=TIE=]s, shielded or non, you were basically expected to have to take hits in non-A-wing craft, especially the slovenly B-wing and Y-wing. The only truly !!FUN!! ship in Tie Fighter is the Tie Bomber, which is as much of a useless deathtrap as the B-wing, but without even any shields. Thankfully you only have to use it on battles that center around actual bombings and lightly defended stations, while in X-Wing you were expected to treat the B-wing as a main combat ship like the X-Wing.
* ''[[http://www.rrrrthats5rs.com/games/dont-shoot-the-puppy/ Don't Shoot the Puppy]]'' is barely a video game at all as you will trigger a sentry gun shooting a puppy if you so much as move the mouse, regardless of distractions like [[spoiler:messages that it's okay to move the mouse and the puppy seemingly stopping]]. As an extra middle finger to the player, [[spoiler:''not'' moving the mouse after one level can cause the game to time out]].
* The NES ''VideoGame/DirtyHarry'' video game randomly has a "trap room" that shows up when you enter a room; in place of a door, it has "HA HA HA" written on a blank wall. The only way out is to reset the game. The developers admitted that it was a joke they were playing on the players.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'':
** Escaping from battles, which is irritating at the best of times while irritating ''and'' next to impossible at the worst of times. Not only does it take quite a long time before you can manage to escape, but party members will each escape at different times all dictated at random and influenced by hidden "escape success" values that each character has. Characters who have yet to escape will be left to be ganged up on by the enemy, and since taking ''any'' action will prevent you from running until it completes it leaves them completely helpless while they're pummeled often to death by monsters. Since fleeing is what players do when they're weak and trying to survive, being overwhelmed by powerful enemies, or are simply trying to get through an area without being inconvenienced by battles, making this mechanic [[ScrappyMechanic unreliable and for all intents and purposes worthless]] certainly puts the "F" in "Final Fantasy".
** In a late section, players spend a section with one party member until they're able to reach another town. On the most direct path though, many enemies have an attack with 100% accuracy that causes the Zombie status, best thought of as "instant death meets confusion". If you didn't save the moment your feet hit the overworld, dying means you're kicked back to the start of half an hour of boss fights, cutscenes and fish catching. It's certainly not helped by the run mechanic being so unfeasible that the enemies ''will'' act at least once before you manage to escape.
* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'':
** Disappearing ladders.
** {{Bat|OutOfHell}}s are the same blue color as {{water|IsBlue}} and most background walls making already-annoying enemies near-impossible to spot.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** The original game did ''not'' make you immune to the SpikesOfDoom when you were flashing after taking damage. That means that, while the spikes were not technically an instant kill, if you fall in the middle of a large group, you'll lose your shield, then bounce over to more spikes and lose all of your rings, ''then'' bounce over onto another patch and ''die'', without a chance to realize your mistake and get off of them. This was entirely intentional; the developers [[http://info.sonicretro.org/Spike_damage_behavior intentionally coded spikes]] to ignore MercyInvincibility.
** Don't try to be clever and use Debug Mode either [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable unless you want to see Sonic bounce around on the spikes forever because he can't die while Debug mode is active, can't activate Debug movement while Sonic's in the process of getting hurt and the timer is disabled for other uses in the mode.]] You can only hope that the bounces [[HopeSpot randomly has Sonic fall in the same direction three times so he can fall off of the spikes]], [[YankTheDogsChain but more often than not Sonic will only make it to the row of spikes JUUUST before he would fall off and then decide to bounce back in the other direction.]]
** Also in the original ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', if you fall to the left or right of the spikes in Green Hill Zone, you will fall into a BottomlessPit that only exists because the grassy pillars are not solid, but work more like platforms.
** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' has a rather infamous example. In Mystic Cave Act 2, there's a drawbridge operated by a pulley. Miss the pulley and you'll fall into a pit with nothing but spikes for company. There's no way out of the pit and you just have to wait for the inevitable. If you're Super Sonic, you can at least jump just high enough to escape. Annoyingly even if you reach the pulley, you can still fall through the drawbridge if you let go too soon. If this happens, even Super Sonic will be trapped due to the bridge now acting as a lid on the pit.
*** The Master System version has something similar in the Scrambled Egg Zone Act 2. Choose badly when moving through the tubes, and one of them will carry you to a platform that unless you jump again fast into the tube will fall into a spike-filled pit where you can only wait for death.
*** In the 2013 mobile remaster, the pit is still there but rather than giving the player the ''Screw You'', instead you fall into the long-lost Hidden Palace Zone. This only occurs in the main game, as doing the same in Time Attack or Multiplayer mode will result in death (although the spikes have been removed and it now acts as a regular bottomless pit).
** While we're on the topic of this series, ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog3'' has the infamous Carnival Night Zone barrel: as soon as you approach it, a wall locks you in the room, and you must [[spoiler:press up and down repeatedly without jumping]] to move it out of the way. If you [[GuideDangIt can't figure it out]] due to [[DamnYouMuscleMemory being so used to having to]] [[spoiler:jump a bit]] to dispel obstacles like these, you have to wait for the timer to kill you... and then try again.
** Also, in ''Sonic 3'''s Ice Cap Zone, Act 1, there are a few places where you have to build up momentum to make a jump, but if you go back too far, a well-hidden spring will bounce you away, forcing you to spend the next minute getting back up there. Correctly positioning yourself to make the jumps requires incredible precision.
* The first ''VideoGame/MegaMan1'' game had the spikes ignore MercyInvincibility, which means instant death no matter what. In later games you could walk on spikes during MercyInvincibility.
* ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' is full of these.
** Get hit by someone's item and it's guaranteed that one or two other people that are passing you as you wipe out will use their items on you just to torment you further. Then there are those times where you fall off the track and are being towed back on, only to get shoved off by someone as they run you over and get knocked off again. And woe for any player that hears a Spiny Shell coming at them in the final lap.
** Then there's the ultimate AI cooperation attack, the rainbow shell assault: Green shell first, then red shell while you spin, and the final insult of a blue shell finishing you off before you can recover from either of the first two. Welcome to last place!
** Or, in one of the many [[MetropolisLevel highway/city courses]], getting beaned by a Spiny Shell right before a line of traffic comes barreling your way. [[CrushParade Have fun being roadkill!]]
* In the first game of the original ''[[VideoGame/TheBardsTaleTrilogy Bard's Tale]]'' trilogy, standing in front of one door leading to one room in the catacombs yielded the message that the escaping air smelled very stale. Entering this room froze the game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Carmageddon}}'' [=TDR2000=] had a trick jump leading to what looked like a bonus tunnel entrance which was only accessible by using the jump on command power-up. The tunnel was empty, and when you attempted to get back out, you'd run into an impenetrable barrier that said ''"Now you're stuck, [[ForTheEvulz SUCKER!]]"''. You could get out by respawning a number of times... spending money each time.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}: Soul Carnival 2'', just about every other treasure chest in the ''entire game'' has a bomb inside, which explodes when you open it, dealing damage and knocking you back. Stage 27 turns this up a notch; the chests are on platforms with raised sides, meaning that they're basically invisible. It is entirely possible to kill enemies with a treasure bomb, [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and is extremely satisfying when you do so,]] but you can still die in the middle of a combo because you accidentally opened a fake chest.
* Unusually early example: The Bat in the Atari 2600 ''VideoGame/{{Adventure}}''. It could not only grab the holy grail (the way you win) and fly off getting itself occasionally trapped in an area of the game you can't reach but it can ALSO take items right out of your hands and carry live dragons.
* The SlippySlideyIceWorld in ''VideoGame/SnakeRattleNRoll'', a game which already had very loose controls.
* ''VideoGame/DeadlyTowers'' has a lot of these:
** The hidden entrances to dungeons and Parallel Zones will frustrate players who are searching for them without a clue and frustrate players who aren't looking for them but stumble into them by accident. The reward for discovering a "secret room" in any of the towers is being immediately mobbed by a huge swarm of enemies, some of which cause unavoidable CollisionDamage by spawning directly on top of you.
** The game also has a caged enemy which takes all your money if you shoot it.
* ''VideoGame/SaturnBomberman'' has a few of these spread around:
** The one that jumps to mind most is in the Samurai World where the butterfly enemies can fly over pretty much anything. This makes getting trapped in the corner by one extremely common, to a frustrating degree.
** Another example, again from Samurai World, is the enemies who transform into invincible rocks, however more often than not they transform into harmless trees so it isn't so bad.
** The "Slow Down" power-up mixed in with normal power-up's is another.
* ''Videogame/BattleToads'' still stands today as one of the most infamous examples of developer cruelty, with the infamous Speeder Section requiring a level of reflex possessed by few gamers. Of course, this just prevented players from seeing the literally GameBreakingBug that popped up in later levels.
* ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'' has two sections that resemble ''Videogame/BattleToads'', but in 3D, with even ''more'' pitfalls, and shooting enemies to contend with as well. You can shoot back, but it's possible the explosions will cover some of the holes...
* The NES version of ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'' has a particularly frustrating one of these. In the final level, there are pipes which cannot be crossed, forcing the player to walk around them in a sort of maze. When the player dies, he respawns at the bottom of the screen. If you happen to die at one of the times where there is a loop of pipe at the bottom of the screen, it will be impossible to move after respawning. Note that this is the final level, after you have played for over an hour and have only a few more minutes before reaching the final boss...
* ''VideoGame/ToeJamAndEarl'':
** The Randomizer present fits nicely as an FU. Similar to a roguelike, the game has presents that won't identify themselves until you've opened one of that kind (i.e. all presents with the same wrapping have the same contents), or paid an [=NPC=] to identify them. So if you open a present and it kills you, it kind of sucks, but at least you'll know the next time you see a present with the same wrapping. The randomizer is a very good one to identify without opening, as opening it will randomize the contents of ''every'' present ''including the randomizer''. Time to start figuring out those present contents again! Even more fun: if all your presents are negative and you desperately need something to keep yourself alive, you can [[GodzillaThreshold use the randomizer to your "advantage" and open completely random presents]] in the hope they'll do more good than harm.
** The lack of MercyInvincibility is dangerous enough, but further to that, when Toe Jam or Earl fall off the edge of a level, they may fall right next to a powerful enemy. You might even harmlessly bounce off the enemy once or twice before landing.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has the NCR Ranger and Legionary Assassin hit squads, which show up within two days of gaining a negative reputation with the respective faction. They are ridiculously overpowered, being armed with the game's best weapons and having damage resistance much higher than the normal mooks. At least the NCR gives you a chance to improve your rep, while the Legionaries shoot first and ask questions later. They also tend to kill off important [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]], causing you to fail their quests.
* Aside from having some of the classic Screw Yous, most notably exits that would send you a few levels backwards, ''VideoGame/KidChameleon'' featured an auto-scrolling level with an AdvancingWallOfDoom. Near the end, you need to choose between an upper and lower route with no indication as to which one is better. Then at the end, one route leads to the exit while the other leads to a dead-end (and certain death) and a large billboard that reads "TOO BAD".
* ''VideoGame/{{Antichamber}}'': Some of the most difficult, hair-pulling puzzles in the game in the end don't advance you towards the exit, but reward you with an EasterEgg room or plop you somewhere you've been before. This is fine when you've already beaten the game, but annoying when you're still trying to figure out where to concentrate your work to finish the game for the first time (especially when [[spoiler:you still think]] there's a time limit, and therefore every second is gold: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC6g6pZ3Pek&t=8m40s this poor guy]] found one of those rooms with only 8 minutes left on the timer).
* A couple of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' hacks have an odd (but infuriating) example. Namely, sections where if you stop moving, you die on the spot, kind of like the bus from ''Film/{{Speed}}'' in human form. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W7_fqf6BI8 this Mario End Game level]] and a level called 'TAS' (aka Tool Assisted Speedrun) in a Japanese hack called OTL [something] has it too.
* ''VideoGame/TakeshisChallenge'' is deliberately crammed with [=FUs=], including a hang glider stage where you can accidentally shoot down the gusts of wind that help you fly.
* ''VideoGame/AlteredBeast'' is easy for the first couple of levels, albeit annoying when the power-up mook blithely dashes past you whilst you're laid out from {{Knockback}} and {{Collision Damage}}. Then comes two levels where the enemies are not only numerous but have greater attack reach, speed and power, and take two blocks of your fragile health each time. If you do manage to stay on your feet long enough to morph into your beast form, you find it has ''[[PowerUpLetdown reduced range and damage compared to your buff human form]]'' and exists only to unlock the boss. Level five at least gives you the original Wolf form back, but you'll be too busy dancing a {{Cycle Of Hurting}} due to a lack of {{Mercy Invincibility}} and [[DemonicSpiders stupidly fast enemies who have attack priority, punch you out of the air for 2/3rds of your health each time and flood the screen with them]] to even be able to stay alive for more than twenty seconds, let along try to power up.
* In ''VideoGame/KidGloves'', the total lack of warning regarding when and where enemies will spontaneously spawn does nothing to prevent you from [[CollisionDamage dying horribly on contact with any of them]].
* Invoked in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles4''. During mock battle between squads, the enemy commander hints she's not going to be playing fair, and she's absolutely right. The biggest example is her 2IC, who appears on a rooftop to act as an artillery spotter. Said rooftop is improbably tall (your artillery peaks too low to hit it), has no apparent access point in gameplay or story, has sandbags for her to hide behind, and is behind your starting lines. The game offers no explanation for this chicanery beyond "Squad F is fighting dirty".
** A traditional example appears in the map that introduces fire on the terrain. The game makes it very clear that infantry will die if they go anywhere near it... and the general who ambushes you in the second half of the mission has an order that allows his side to merrily ignore this. The game also forgets to mention that fire patches also count as hiding places for vehicles, which is not only something you'll probably only find out when your units can't target ThatOneBoss, but makes no sense in the lore (since waste heat management is the reason for the giant, exposed, [[AttackItsWeakPoint incredibly vulnerable]] radiators every vehicle has).
* The Nintendo DS port of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' has Rebirth Mode, which rearranges most of the item locations as well as mixing up the types of enemies you will face. Some rooms can have both zombies and crows and aiming for one or the other can be very finicky because the aiming system generally auto targets whoever is closer to you. The developers very likely did this intentionally to increase the difficulty. Another example of such a thing is in the area of the courtyard next to the waterfall where there are three zombie dogs and a lone shark that's flopping on the ground. The shark can't do anything to you since it's not in a body of water, but because it's alive, it can be targeted. The shark serves no purpose other than to screw up your aim when you're trying to target the dogs instead.
* The Sega Master System version of ''Alf'' allows you to waste your money on an item called the "Alf Book", which when used, mocks the player and sends you back to the title screen.
----
to:
->''"It just occurred to me''\\
''That I've been through this place again and again''\\
''And in the same spot, every time, I repeatedly die.''\\
''I never will give up, as I attempt to cross the disappearing tiles on the wall''\\
''But again, I'm falling off of them."''
-->-- '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjLouGft9kY I Can't Defeat Air Man]]''' (unofficial English version)
When a developer wants to up the difficulty level of their game, they have quite a few options.
This is a list of a few classic methods of making a game NintendoHard. We'll call them Classic Video Game Screw Yous, or, to avoid unnecessary swearing, "[[SarcasmMode Fun Units]]", hereafter [=FUs=] ([[FunWithAcronyms Geddit?]] [[DontExplainTheJoke Geddit?]]).
Differs from FakeDifficulty in that these can be fair. By definition, FakeDifficulty is completely unfair in some way; [[LuckBasedMission it requires good luck]], [[GuideDangIt it expects you to know things it didn't tell you]], etc. Screw Yous are designed to frustrate, but aren't always unreasonably out of the player's control.
Note that "Fun Units" is only partly sarcastic, by the way: a game that's too ''easy'' [[ItsEasySoItSucks can sometimes be less fun to play]] than one that's NintendoHard. In a way, they apply the RuleOfDrama to gameplay.
To keep this from degenerating into [[Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike complaining about examples of]] VideoGameDifficultyTropes [[Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike you don't like]], examples should be phrased as generically as possible, or explain exactly ''why'' this game is a well known example of this particular FU, or this FU is particularly unusual.
See also: ScrappyMechanic; TrialAndErrorGameplay. If it belongs, there is no need to put it here too unless it's shared by many games. ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' and other examples of PlatformHell are loaded with [=FUs=]. The antithesis to AntiFrustrationFeatures. See UnwinnableByDesign for when there's a way to make the game literally unbeatable.
----
!!Classic Fun Units
* MalevolentArchitecture where it doesn't make sense, including:
** SpikesOfDoom that spring out of otherwise nearly ordinary floors or walls when the player gets close.
** Labyrinthine formations of DeadlyWalls, especially with high-speed auto-scrolling, exacting time limits or VideoGameFlight.
** Bottomless pits mixed in with pits [[LeapOfFaith which you can jump down to get power-ups]] (or, worse, that you ''have'' to jump down to progress). Alternatively, bottomless pits that logically are only just a short distance above an area you were in moments before.
** [[TemporaryPlatform Vanishing or moving platforms]] are also excellent building blocks of an FU, especially when mixed with SpikesOfDoom or BottomlessPits.
** Extremely narrow platforms, especially when combined with LedgeBats, laggy controls, low friction, HitboxDissonance, and\or other Malevolent Architecture.
* Inescapable Death areas, which you can fall into and get hurt, but can't get back out of and have to wait until either your health or the timer runs out.
* Enemy types:
** GoddamnedBats and DemonicSpiders are among the most common [=FUs=]
** LedgeBats that make {{knockback}} during jumps a true frustration.
** {{Ambushing Enem|y}}ies don't typically fall into this, since there will usually be some recognizable form of portal that shows where these things tend to leap out at you... except for that one place where there ''isn't''.
* Enemy behavior:
** Any variation of [[TurnsRed Pissy Boss Mode]] where the boss becomes invincible, or enemies who do the same, is a favorite FU.
** The ability of an enemy to OneHitKill you when the game itself doesn't make you a OneHitPointWonder is a well known FU.
*** Can go further if some InstakillMook can inflict at TotalPartyKill via a [[HerdHittingAttack Herd-hitting]] OneHitKill.
** InvisibleMonsters.
** Enemies that can [[DepthPerplexion move and shoot through walls]] when you can't do either.
** In some old {{Platform Game}}s, the player lacks a useful GoombaStomp or other kind of downward attack, but enemies can fall or be pushed into small nooks in the floor, and then trying to climb into the nook would obviously be suicide by CollisionDamage or unblockable melee attack.
** Enemies, especially in shmups, that teleport after firing. More sadistic shmups make them fire faster the longer you take to kill them, so even a marginally laid back shmup can have a twinge of bullet hell. While they usually only take one or two hits to kill, a lot of the time they will be shielded, or have a tendency to pop up behind a sturdier foe and vanish before you can hit them. This may also often appear in 2D action-platformers, to similar results.
** Enemies whose shifting movement patterns box the player into corners, requiring the player to predict which way they will move next.
** Computer "players" [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard full-on breaking the rules.]]
** Enemies that lack any tells they're about to attack, especially in games that rely on melee combat. The point of fighting an enemy shouldn't be to arbitrarily guess when it's going to attack, but to figure out how to counter or work around tells the enemy gives you. A general rule of thumb is this; if an enemy hits you but has a consistent pattern regarding how it hits you (it runs at you first, it makes a series of jumps followed by its attack, it has a short animation it plays prior to the attack, etc.) then it is fully your fault when you fail to dodge. If an enemy simply attacks you without rhyme or reason (one moment the enemy is in its normal neutral position, the next frame you're getting decked, for example) then it is solidly this trope. This is ''depressingly'' common in old 8-bit games.
* Enemy placement:
** Allowing enemies to [[RespawningEnemies respawn]] [[TeleFrag right on top of you]] for massive CollisionDamage. Where the respawn points are invisible but fixed, you can probably spot them if you have a keen eye, but in other cases you can only pray for the RandomNumberGod not to smite you.
** Enemies that spawn near the end of a level exit just to kill you right before you can finish the level.
** Enemies in strategy games that camp directly ''on'' the LevelGoal square, forcing you to kill them.
** Enemies that spawn from behind you (in particular, in Shoot 'em ups that only allow you to fire in a forward facing direction; note that, in that particular case, this only qualifies as an FU, rather than FakeDifficulty, if the appearance of enemies from behind is well telegraphed).
* Idiosyncratic scrolling:
** The AutoScrollingLevel can easily be made into part of an FU, especially when mixed with Instant Death Areas, vanishing or moving platforms, {{Inconveniently Placed Conveyor Belt}}s, and/or GoddamnedBats. (Forcing you to choose between two paths, one of which is a dead end, is more FakeDifficulty than a true FU.)
** Deliberate use of RatchetScrolling that limits you from going back, causing you to miss pickups and giving less room to avoid attacks.
** Use of Ratchet, [[RiseToTheChallenge Auto,]] or [[FlipScreenScrolling Flip Screen]] scrolling on a climbing vertical level, which each have their own way of illogically killing you with bottomless pits.
* VideogameSettings:
** The [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Ice Level]] is another classic FU, where your character, and ''only'' your character, [[FrictionlessIce skids like crazy]], causing the SpikesOfDoom and GoddamnedBats to be much more difficult to avoid. Even worse if the level is full of tiny, icy platforms.
** Similarly, [[UnderTheSea underwater areas]] that hamper your character's mobility but leave enemies and traps ([[ArtisticLicensePhysics including fire-based traps]]) unhindered. Better yet, an underwater ice world that ignores how cold such water would be in the interest of combining these [=FUs=].
* VideogameObjectives:
** {{Timed Mission}}s can easily be used to make an FU. Especially when combined with obstacles or enemies who you have to wait for to get out of your way and/or EliteMooks who can soak lots of damage and have to be fought.
** {{Escort Mission}}s, especially when the person you're escorting has ArtificialStupidity.
* In games with power-ups (e.g. most space shooters), losing them all when you die is a nearly universal FU, and also an example of UnstableEquilibrium. AKA [[ContinuingIsPainful Gradius Syndrome]].
* Gravity.
** FallingDamage that makes falling from more than a certain height automatically fatal, especially if falling from an only slightly lesser height is entirely harmless and/or necessary to progress.
** [[SelectiveGravity Gravity that applies differently on you compared to enemies, power-ups, ledges, and so on. If it even applies at all!]]
* "Power-ups":
** [[PoisonMushroom Power Ups that can kill you/harm you/cancel out good Power Ups if accidentally collected, in conjunction with looking like normal power ups or being in the same container as the normal power ups.]]
** Enemies that randomly drop {{Poison Mushroom}}s when you kill them.
** {{Power up}}s that, while normally useful, [[PowerupLetdown can be counterproductive]], at least in specific situations (for example, a powerup that removes your ability to fly in exchange for faster running speed, in an area [[BottomlessPits without a floor]]). Obviously, the [=FUs=] are the situations where PowerupLetdown is in effect.
** Power ups that are legitimately useful, but are placed in such a way that you ''must'' take damage or die to collect them (for example, having them rest upon SpikesOfDoom).
** A BagOfSpilling effect for games that cause you to lose all power-ups or equipment at set points, such as after beating a level.
* Complete absence of MercyInvincibility, forcing you to instantly take action or allow one hit to become several (can lead to being juggled to death when combined with knockback).
* Ceiling Bumper Moments when a simple jump is made much more difficult for having to jump out from a low passage and chances are that you either hit the ceiling and bounce into the BottomlessPit or jump too late and fall into it anyway. Happens when JumpPhysics aren't made for those kinds of jumps.
** Passages where both the ceiling and floor are lined with Instant Death such as SpikesOfDoom. Bonus points if said passage is really narrow and you can easily bonk your head on the killer ceiling if you aren't ''extremely'' careful.
** A popular ceiling bumper moment is a tunnel where the end of the ground and ceiling line up with each other, and the only way to progress is to jump out of the tunnel, turn around in mid-air, and land on top of the ceiling.
* Reversal of progress:
** Warps that throw you many levels backwards; in linear games, these can wipe out a lot of progress.
** On games without bottomless pitfalls, this is usually what replaces them. And then, of course, there will come a few points where you have to choose the right one to fall through to continue...[[GuideDangIt Usually with no hints whatsoever]]. Some other examples might include pitfalls in roguelikes (moving you up or down a level), gaps in adventure-y platformers whether they be 2D or top-down, colour-coded teleporters, be they visible or not, [[KaizoTrap door/pipe/etc choices with no obvious hints]] such as the entire purpose behind the game Section Z (one notable choice near the 60% mark sending you back to the fourth room of the game!), or enemies such as wallmasters that serve a similar purpose. In this case, they aren't killable and the effect is immediate. (ie unlock a caged bird and he nabs you) The difference between the mentions here and in other categories being: Unavoidable once triggered and progress is always negative/similar to backtracking.
* Unidentified items in roguelikes. [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Take a wild guess why]]. Taken to the point of absurd comedy in Alphaman, a parodical post-apocalyptic roguelike with numerous pieces of crazy-lethal 'old world tech' lying around. Especially fun are potions after the start of a new game. (On the other hand, you don't ''have'' to use them, and most roguelikes with item randomization also give you ways to narrow down the range of possibilities for what an unknown item might be, at least to the point where you can be confident of whether or not it's safe to use unidentified.)
* Extremely finite resources in RealTimeStrategy games. While this is normally part of a 'stealth infiltration/probing' mission, some such as Earth 2150 and War Wind make it a bonafide consistent element, resulting in your final push failing because you upgraded too much or lost too many units early on, giving the game a minor touch of a puzzle element as well. (that is, you must max out the damage you do with the cheapest possible units at your disposal with the right upgrade tree)
* [[VentPhysics Wind physics]]:
** Unless the game is about flying a glider, wind is ''always'' going to screw with you. If it IS about flying a glider, wind is only against you 70% of the time. If it's an ArtilleryGame, wind will only ever benefit the CPU, because only the [[ComputersAreFast CPU has time to calculate the precise trajectory of every shot]] while the player has to make a more or less educated guess, especially if the wind changes between shots.
** In platforming games, wind can also screw with you. In stages with wind, the wind tends to push you around, but doesn't push enemies around. Wind can also be blowing so fast, you can only stay in spot by moving towards it, majorly hampering your ability to dodge attacks. The wind may also change direction; moving against the wind to avoid the spikes behind you may result in moving with the wind into the spikes in front of you.
* Forcing the sacrifice of VideoGameLives to progress, especially combined with abuse of RespawnOnTheSpot mechanics where you need to die within a room or sub-area to reach a position from which you can get through it.
-->'''Gabriel''': ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QMYnK_va44#t=2400s playing]] ''VideoGame/SmashTV'') ...Okay, did you see that? It walked me in, and then activated me ''on'' an enemy.\\
'''[[Creator/BenCroshaw Yahtzee:]]''' Fuck you, player, give us some money!
* A default party/equipment configuration so far from optimal that you aren't likely to survive for long if you don't immediately change it to something more sensible.
* In games with ScoringPoints, game-ending traps that arbitrarily deprive players of high score achievements they would otherwise be eligible for, either by NonStandardGameOver or by an UnwinnableByDesign situation that makes simply ending the game impossible without resetting.
* [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment Penalizing the player]] for shooting noncombatants that blithely stroll through the line of fire or run around like headless chickens rather than head for cover.
* BribingYourWayToVictory is one that pops up in most multiplayer (and some singleplayer) games. If it's in game money, it's exempt from this since all you usually need to do is grind the money, but if it uses real money...especially so if the game is heavily based in competitive play, high score contests included.
* Veering into FakeDifficulty:
** InterchangeableAntimatterKeys which are outnumbered by locks, so you can get stuck if you waste keys on the wrong locks. Is almost always a case of FakeDifficulty if there is no way to rectify this without SaveScumming or starting the level over.
** TrialAndErrorGameplay moments where death is essentially unavoidable on the first play. Note that this rapidly veers into FakeDifficulty, rather than a Fun Unit proper, if there [[CheckPointStarvation isn't a respawn point]] of some kind fairly close by.
** CheckPointStarvation, depending on just how starved the particular game is. If you're stuck going back 10 or more minutes of frustratingly difficult gameplay...
!!Examples of unusual "Fun Units" (See also: ScrappyMechanic)
* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'' has a BonusDungeon with a number of standard features (RandomlyGeneratedLevels, RestartAtLevelOne, and resetting pet levels), but also removal of all items not from blue chests. Since levels are random and blue chest items are usually needed equipment, you can run into an annoying amount of blue mimics.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'' is notable for having nearly every one of the listed above. [[UnstableEquilibrium Ammo does not regenerate on death]], enemies have massive amounts of [[MercyInvincibility Recovery Time]], two consecutive {{Marathon Level}}s with bosses who are willing to use nigh-unavoidable attacks at the drop of a hat... oh yeah. This is not a game for pansies.
* ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' has one almost every screen, and this is what actually makes it fun. For example, one screen has a falling ceiling of spikes, and one spot in the floor that is lower than the rest. Upon finally managing to reach that spot, you discover that the spike just grows longer to kill you. Other examples include the Delicious Fruit which can ''fall up'' and the evil save point which chases and kills you. And spring-loaded background couches underneath spiked ceilings. And clouds that spontaneously drop lightning bolts. And spike pits of doom that chase you. And the invisible wall maze. And that clusterchucking moon.
* And that's nothing compared to ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheFangame''. ''More'' spikes, ''more'' [[InvisibleBlock Invisible Blocks]], {{Telefrag}} portals, an AutoScrollingLevel, VideoGame/PacMan and the ghosts making ''common cause against you'', and a room where you have to navigate ''several cascades of GoddamnedBats''.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' games at least up to V were more than happy to allow you to [[TeleFrag teleport into solid rock]]. This resulted in the '''[[TotalPartyKill total loss]]''' of your party, [[{{Permadeath}} no resurrection attempts allowed]]. Oh, and if you play the games the way they're intended, there's no "reload game" upon this happening. You can also emerge high above the city and crash to the ground, or drown in the castle moat, but these "merely" kill your party as opposed to your losing them forever; you have a shot at resurrecting them in the latter two instances. Basically, be '''''very''''' careful when teleporting in Wizardry.
* Pretty much every inch of every ''VideoGame/DistortedTravesty'' game. In fact the trailer for the second game is made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tE199spGNk&list=PLSQLREUw9vwmE8HYXkE0uYgR6ur64hjIQ&index=6 entirely out of player deaths.]]
** The third game gives us Sigma, who pulls a few 'interesting' tricks, including [[spoiler:covering the walls in instant death spikes and sending flurries of force walls to push you into them]].
* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic: World of Xeen'' similarly allowed you to accidentally teleport off the edge of the world -- potentially before you realized the world ''had'' an edge.
* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress''. Thanks to the line "Losing is fun" in the instructions for the game, "Fun Units" is a very accurate term. No sarcasm needed. One of the main draws of the game.
** There are things referred to as Hidden Fun Stuff, or just HFS. In previous versions, if you [[spoiler:DugTooDeep, you could release a Balrog]]. Now, [[spoiler:Balrogs]] are out, and instead it's hordes of [[spoiler:demons]]. These ''are'' killable, but it's really hard, especially when they're [[KillItWithFire Spirits of Killing It With Fire]] (considering [[TooDumbToLive how dwarves react to being on fire]]). In the new version, [[spoiler:the horde of demons [[RespawningEnemies is infinite]].]] Basically, when you hit HFS, your fortress is dead. How fun.
** The [TRAPAVOID] tag. It's a delicate way of saying "You see these Orcs? They're immune to your lovingly crafted wall of traps. [[HaveANiceDeath Have a nice doom]]."
** The [NOFEAR] tag that they also happen to have turns most enemies into DemonicSpiders.
** Forgotten Beasts, Titans, and [[spoiler:demons]] are procedurally generated {{Kaiju}} that can come in a multitude of shapes and materials and toting any one of a number of possible special weapons, including fire, webs, and various kinds of deadly poison vapor. While many of these turn out to be pushovers like giant snowmen that crumble in one hit, you might also find yourself faced with, say, a web-spitting T-Rex made out of solid iron. And if the RandomNumberGod happens to be particularly vengeful that day, it might throw a BlobMonster at you with no weak points to attack. A blob made of steel, or even worse, [[{{Unobtainium}} Adamantine]], leaves you with no options short of trapping it in a cave-in, which kills everything.
** This being DF, one must remember that winning is impossible. There are lots and lots of ways for [[UnusualEuphemism !!Fun!!]] to happen, though. For example, doomsday devices and magma floods are a major source of !!Fun!!, as are tantrum spirals, carp, and elephants.
** Fortunately, this being DF, there is almost nothing that a well-prepared fortress cannot fight off. With enough skill and planning, even [[spoiler:TheLegionsOfHell]] can be held off indefinitely by your legendary dwarven warriors or layers upon layers of minecart-based traps. Most [[GameMod mods]] are built with the aim of adding even more challenge to the game.
* ''VideoGame/KaizoMarioWorld'':
** There are many [[InvisibleBlock invisible coin blocks]] located just where you think you need to jump, and hitting them will inevitably cause you to fall down a BottomlessPit.
** And just to up the ante, there's a big FU in the form of the infamous KaizoTrap, which ended a Special Stage that was already chock full of [=FUs=], not the very least of which was the [[TimedMission incredibly sadistic hundred-second time limit]].
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' had the same idea, only they were too cheap to actually give you a coin for your trouble. [[InvisibleBlock Invisible]] PoisonMushroom.
* ''Kid Kool'' also had invisible blocks to mess up jumps.
* ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'':
** When you die, all of your equipment is scattered around the place. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for losing them all forever if you die between blowing the reactor and getting the hell out of Dodge. (Some levels, which involve things like ''invisible death mechs'' with insanely powerful cannons, are even more charming).
** Level 6 has a fairly memorable FU where [[TeleportingKeycardSquad you pick up the red key and the walls open]] to reveal an ambush of ''six'' Class 1 Driller DemonicSpiders with instant-hit cannons. Most players, on their first try, will die before they even figure out what happened. It's even worse in the later levels.
** Level 9 has a MonsterCloset right at the start of the level that opens after you proceed forward a ways. Also bad are TeleportingKeycardSquad ambushes from multiple directions, spawning DemonicSpiders such as the aformentioned Drillers and Super Hulks. One level in ''Descent Maximum'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation has the yellow key placed between two Diamond Claw-generating {{Mook Maker}}s.
** The whole first game becomes a big Fun Unit on Insane difficulty after level 7. Between the random "roaming" of the enemies, the brutal AI, and your weakness vs their strength, it's for all practical purposes impossible.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Tetris}} Bastet]]'' has the piece generator designed so that the worst possible block for your situation is the one you get every time.[[note]]Or at least it seems that way. It would actually be possible for it to kill you with piece selection trivially easy, for instance by alternating S and Z pieces, so it's programmed to offer ''slightly'' kinder (and less repetitive) piece choices.[[/note]] However, this is the entire point of the game.
* In almost every 2D ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' game, there are fake walls, floors, and ceiling tiles. Some of these can be shot through, and others appear solid but aren't. The best Fun Unit is in the original Nintendo version, where the player enters a hallway with an Energy Tank near the end. Shortly before the tank is an invisible hole in the floor. Falling down through the hole doesn't kill you but forces you to go through tedious backtracking to reach the tank. ''[[VideoGameRemake Zero Mission]]'' does the same thing, but at least is nice enough to have an enemy travel up around the edges of the gap if you wait long enough, making it obvious there ''is'' a hole. ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' did it in between the two, as well. However, ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' threw that out the window before fighting Nightmare--there is a way to reach an Energy Tank you find just before the boss, but it's not the obvious Morph Ball tunnel that you see--that leads to a drop straight to the boss just before you can pick it up. You instead have to shoot the wall to find a tunnel just above it that drops you right on the tank. Granted, you can always backtrack to find the right way after Nightmare is defeated but by the time you get to do so you may as well be doing the last-minute powerup roundup.
* Some levels in ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'' have the lemmings enter over a lethal drop, forcing the player to act fast by making them Floaters. And some of those don't allow enough Floaters. There's a very fine line between a fall that will kill any Lemming and a fall that will do no harm. Specifically, Lemmings will die if they hit solid ground after falling 64 pixels; a 63-pixel fall is perfectly harmless. "We All Fall Down" is a lesson in this: you need to make every lemming into a Digger which is enough to make the long fall surviveable, but there's only so much ground that can be dug through and harder versions of this level can have up to 80 lemmings and require you to save all of them, forcing you to space them out wide enough that every lemming actually has enough ground under the their feet to dig through, but not so widely that the time runs out when you're only halfway through saving them.
-->"Remember, the difference between a Lemming going splat and a Lemming walking away from a fall can be a single pixel!"
-->'''Lemmings Instruction Manual'''
* ''VideoGame/GliderPRO'':
** There's a variation of the Ceiling Bumper scenario: though the game doesn't have jumping, the lift of an upward vent (normally the player's best friend) can extend right into a shelf or table above. At least ''Glider 4.0'' had a visible air option which would show this subterfuge.
** The paper shredder hidden behind a mirror or a picture was another common cruel joke.
** The room "Oh no... no way!" in ''Glider 4.0'' introduced the uniquely cruel trick of a basketball bouncing over a vital floor vent.
* The end of Mission 4 in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Allied Assault'', where mooks that [[TheAllSeeingAI can see you through the foliage]] (while you can't see them) are shooting at you from the front, and endless waves of mooks and [[DemonicSpiders Demonic Guard Dogs]] are [[TeleportingKeycardSquad spawning behind you]].
* ''VideoGame/TIEFighter'':
** There's the eponymous spacecraft. No shields, only two laser cannons for weapons, and no hyperdrive, which makes any long-term combat difficult but not unfair. At least you get better craft later in the game.
** ''TIE Fighter'' was a pretty challenging game in places. It was also a LOT more forgiving than its predecessor ''X-Wing''. In the predecessor, while you did have shields and a generally better fighter, it made your mission completions pointlessly hard, repetitive and very long training courses before you could earn any medals (you could play the missions, but not earn medals *facepalm*) and a lot of the time if you got shot down, you either were captured or killed with your character locked unless you sacrifice score for a revive or restore a backup. The missions were exceptionally hard in places, either putting you against vast numbers or against capital ships you couldn't hope to kill (X-Wing had no interest in locational damage or heavy missiles/bombs). Basically it was crazy tough, with TIE Fighter being fair in comparison.
*** To add to the "amusement" of ''VideoGame/XWing'', mission objectives were typically hidden from the player until completed, meaning you could do everything specified in the briefing and still not complete the mission. This was rectified in ''TIE Fighter'' both by providing a complete list of all but the bonus objectives to the player from the start of the mission[[labelnote:note]]occasionally at the risk of spoiling in-mission plot twists[[/labelnote]] and by simplifying objectives to conform more closely to the mission briefings, with many objectives that would have been mission-critical in ''X-Wing'' now listed as secondary or bonus objectives.
** On a related note, [=TIE=]s DO [[AllThereInTheManual function as your superiors and in-universe lore tell you they should]]. Only the A-wing and Assault Gunboat/Shuttle (slow as molasses but its turning radius can give you hell) can outmaneuver you until you get to the Imperial Rebellion arc. By contrast to the [=TIE=]s, shielded or non, you were basically expected to have to take hits in non-A-wing craft, especially the slovenly B-wing and Y-wing. The only truly !!FUN!! ship in Tie Fighter is the Tie Bomber, which is as much of a useless deathtrap as the B-wing, but without even any shields. Thankfully you only have to use it on battles that center around actual bombings and lightly defended stations, while in X-Wing you were expected to treat the B-wing as a main combat ship like the X-Wing.
* ''[[http://www.rrrrthats5rs.com/games/dont-shoot-the-puppy/ Don't Shoot the Puppy]]'' is barely a video game at all as you will trigger a sentry gun shooting a puppy if you so much as move the mouse, regardless of distractions like [[spoiler:messages that it's okay to move the mouse and the puppy seemingly stopping]]. As an extra middle finger to the player, [[spoiler:''not'' moving the mouse after one level can cause the game to time out]].
* The NES ''VideoGame/DirtyHarry'' video game randomly has a "trap room" that shows up when you enter a room; in place of a door, it has "HA HA HA" written on a blank wall. The only way out is to reset the game. The developers admitted that it was a joke they were playing on the players.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'':
** Escaping from battles, which is irritating at the best of times while irritating ''and'' next to impossible at the worst of times. Not only does it take quite a long time before you can manage to escape, but party members will each escape at different times all dictated at random and influenced by hidden "escape success" values that each character has. Characters who have yet to escape will be left to be ganged up on by the enemy, and since taking ''any'' action will prevent you from running until it completes it leaves them completely helpless while they're pummeled often to death by monsters. Since fleeing is what players do when they're weak and trying to survive, being overwhelmed by powerful enemies, or are simply trying to get through an area without being inconvenienced by battles, making this mechanic [[ScrappyMechanic unreliable and for all intents and purposes worthless]] certainly puts the "F" in "Final Fantasy".
** In a late section, players spend a section with one party member until they're able to reach another town. On the most direct path though, many enemies have an attack with 100% accuracy that causes the Zombie status, best thought of as "instant death meets confusion". If you didn't save the moment your feet hit the overworld, dying means you're kicked back to the start of half an hour of boss fights, cutscenes and fish catching. It's certainly not helped by the run mechanic being so unfeasible that the enemies ''will'' act at least once before you manage to escape.
* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'':
** Disappearing ladders.
** {{Bat|OutOfHell}}s are the same blue color as {{water|IsBlue}} and most background walls making already-annoying enemies near-impossible to spot.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** The original game did ''not'' make you immune to the SpikesOfDoom when you were flashing after taking damage. That means that, while the spikes were not technically an instant kill, if you fall in the middle of a large group, you'll lose your shield, then bounce over to more spikes and lose all of your rings, ''then'' bounce over onto another patch and ''die'', without a chance to realize your mistake and get off of them. This was entirely intentional; the developers [[http://info.sonicretro.org/Spike_damage_behavior intentionally coded spikes]] to ignore MercyInvincibility.
** Don't try to be clever and use Debug Mode either [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable unless you want to see Sonic bounce around on the spikes forever because he can't die while Debug mode is active, can't activate Debug movement while Sonic's in the process of getting hurt and the timer is disabled for other uses in the mode.]] You can only hope that the bounces [[HopeSpot randomly has Sonic fall in the same direction three times so he can fall off of the spikes]], [[YankTheDogsChain but more often than not Sonic will only make it to the row of spikes JUUUST before he would fall off and then decide to bounce back in the other direction.]]
** Also in the original ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', if you fall to the left or right of the spikes in Green Hill Zone, you will fall into a BottomlessPit that only exists because the grassy pillars are not solid, but work more like platforms.
** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' has a rather infamous example. In Mystic Cave Act 2, there's a drawbridge operated by a pulley. Miss the pulley and you'll fall into a pit with nothing but spikes for company. There's no way out of the pit and you just have to wait for the inevitable. If you're Super Sonic, you can at least jump just high enough to escape. Annoyingly even if you reach the pulley, you can still fall through the drawbridge if you let go too soon. If this happens, even Super Sonic will be trapped due to the bridge now acting as a lid on the pit.
*** The Master System version has something similar in the Scrambled Egg Zone Act 2. Choose badly when moving through the tubes, and one of them will carry you to a platform that unless you jump again fast into the tube will fall into a spike-filled pit where you can only wait for death.
*** In the 2013 mobile remaster, the pit is still there but rather than giving the player the ''Screw You'', instead you fall into the long-lost Hidden Palace Zone. This only occurs in the main game, as doing the same in Time Attack or Multiplayer mode will result in death (although the spikes have been removed and it now acts as a regular bottomless pit).
** While we're on the topic of this series, ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog3'' has the infamous Carnival Night Zone barrel: as soon as you approach it, a wall locks you in the room, and you must [[spoiler:press up and down repeatedly without jumping]] to move it out of the way. If you [[GuideDangIt can't figure it out]] due to [[DamnYouMuscleMemory being so used to having to]] [[spoiler:jump a bit]] to dispel obstacles like these, you have to wait for the timer to kill you... and then try again.
** Also, in ''Sonic 3'''s Ice Cap Zone, Act 1, there are a few places where you have to build up momentum to make a jump, but if you go back too far, a well-hidden spring will bounce you away, forcing you to spend the next minute getting back up there. Correctly positioning yourself to make the jumps requires incredible precision.
* The first ''VideoGame/MegaMan1'' game had the spikes ignore MercyInvincibility, which means instant death no matter what. In later games you could walk on spikes during MercyInvincibility.
* ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' is full of these.
** Get hit by someone's item and it's guaranteed that one or two other people that are passing you as you wipe out will use their items on you just to torment you further. Then there are those times where you fall off the track and are being towed back on, only to get shoved off by someone as they run you over and get knocked off again. And woe for any player that hears a Spiny Shell coming at them in the final lap.
** Then there's the ultimate AI cooperation attack, the rainbow shell assault: Green shell first, then red shell while you spin, and the final insult of a blue shell finishing you off before you can recover from either of the first two. Welcome to last place!
** Or, in one of the many [[MetropolisLevel highway/city courses]], getting beaned by a Spiny Shell right before a line of traffic comes barreling your way. [[CrushParade Have fun being roadkill!]]
* In the first game of the original ''[[VideoGame/TheBardsTaleTrilogy Bard's Tale]]'' trilogy, standing in front of one door leading to one room in the catacombs yielded the message that the escaping air smelled very stale. Entering this room froze the game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Carmageddon}}'' [=TDR2000=] had a trick jump leading to what looked like a bonus tunnel entrance which was only accessible by using the jump on command power-up. The tunnel was empty, and when you attempted to get back out, you'd run into an impenetrable barrier that said ''"Now you're stuck, [[ForTheEvulz SUCKER!]]"''. You could get out by respawning a number of times... spending money each time.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}: Soul Carnival 2'', just about every other treasure chest in the ''entire game'' has a bomb inside, which explodes when you open it, dealing damage and knocking you back. Stage 27 turns this up a notch; the chests are on platforms with raised sides, meaning that they're basically invisible. It is entirely possible to kill enemies with a treasure bomb, [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and is extremely satisfying when you do so,]] but you can still die in the middle of a combo because you accidentally opened a fake chest.
* Unusually early example: The Bat in the Atari 2600 ''VideoGame/{{Adventure}}''. It could not only grab the holy grail (the way you win) and fly off getting itself occasionally trapped in an area of the game you can't reach but it can ALSO take items right out of your hands and carry live dragons.
* The SlippySlideyIceWorld in ''VideoGame/SnakeRattleNRoll'', a game which already had very loose controls.
* ''VideoGame/DeadlyTowers'' has a lot of these:
** The hidden entrances to dungeons and Parallel Zones will frustrate players who are searching for them without a clue and frustrate players who aren't looking for them but stumble into them by accident. The reward for discovering a "secret room" in any of the towers is being immediately mobbed by a huge swarm of enemies, some of which cause unavoidable CollisionDamage by spawning directly on top of you.
** The game also has a caged enemy which takes all your money if you shoot it.
* ''VideoGame/SaturnBomberman'' has a few of these spread around:
** The one that jumps to mind most is in the Samurai World where the butterfly enemies can fly over pretty much anything. This makes getting trapped in the corner by one extremely common, to a frustrating degree.
** Another example, again from Samurai World, is the enemies who transform into invincible rocks, however more often than not they transform into harmless trees so it isn't so bad.
** The "Slow Down" power-up mixed in with normal power-up's is another.
* ''Videogame/BattleToads'' still stands today as one of the most infamous examples of developer cruelty, with the infamous Speeder Section requiring a level of reflex possessed by few gamers. Of course, this just prevented players from seeing the literally GameBreakingBug that popped up in later levels.
* ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'' has two sections that resemble ''Videogame/BattleToads'', but in 3D, with even ''more'' pitfalls, and shooting enemies to contend with as well. You can shoot back, but it's possible the explosions will cover some of the holes...
* The NES version of ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'' has a particularly frustrating one of these. In the final level, there are pipes which cannot be crossed, forcing the player to walk around them in a sort of maze. When the player dies, he respawns at the bottom of the screen. If you happen to die at one of the times where there is a loop of pipe at the bottom of the screen, it will be impossible to move after respawning. Note that this is the final level, after you have played for over an hour and have only a few more minutes before reaching the final boss...
* ''VideoGame/ToeJamAndEarl'':
** The Randomizer present fits nicely as an FU. Similar to a roguelike, the game has presents that won't identify themselves until you've opened one of that kind (i.e. all presents with the same wrapping have the same contents), or paid an [=NPC=] to identify them. So if you open a present and it kills you, it kind of sucks, but at least you'll know the next time you see a present with the same wrapping. The randomizer is a very good one to identify without opening, as opening it will randomize the contents of ''every'' present ''including the randomizer''. Time to start figuring out those present contents again! Even more fun: if all your presents are negative and you desperately need something to keep yourself alive, you can [[GodzillaThreshold use the randomizer to your "advantage" and open completely random presents]] in the hope they'll do more good than harm.
** The lack of MercyInvincibility is dangerous enough, but further to that, when Toe Jam or Earl fall off the edge of a level, they may fall right next to a powerful enemy. You might even harmlessly bounce off the enemy once or twice before landing.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has the NCR Ranger and Legionary Assassin hit squads, which show up within two days of gaining a negative reputation with the respective faction. They are ridiculously overpowered, being armed with the game's best weapons and having damage resistance much higher than the normal mooks. At least the NCR gives you a chance to improve your rep, while the Legionaries shoot first and ask questions later. They also tend to kill off important [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]], causing you to fail their quests.
* Aside from having some of the classic Screw Yous, most notably exits that would send you a few levels backwards, ''VideoGame/KidChameleon'' featured an auto-scrolling level with an AdvancingWallOfDoom. Near the end, you need to choose between an upper and lower route with no indication as to which one is better. Then at the end, one route leads to the exit while the other leads to a dead-end (and certain death) and a large billboard that reads "TOO BAD".
* ''VideoGame/{{Antichamber}}'': Some of the most difficult, hair-pulling puzzles in the game in the end don't advance you towards the exit, but reward you with an EasterEgg room or plop you somewhere you've been before. This is fine when you've already beaten the game, but annoying when you're still trying to figure out where to concentrate your work to finish the game for the first time (especially when [[spoiler:you still think]] there's a time limit, and therefore every second is gold: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC6g6pZ3Pek&t=8m40s this poor guy]] found one of those rooms with only 8 minutes left on the timer).
* A couple of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' hacks have an odd (but infuriating) example. Namely, sections where if you stop moving, you die on the spot, kind of like the bus from ''Film/{{Speed}}'' in human form. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W7_fqf6BI8 this Mario End Game level]] and a level called 'TAS' (aka Tool Assisted Speedrun) in a Japanese hack called OTL [something] has it too.
* ''VideoGame/TakeshisChallenge'' is deliberately crammed with [=FUs=], including a hang glider stage where you can accidentally shoot down the gusts of wind that help you fly.
* ''VideoGame/AlteredBeast'' is easy for the first couple of levels, albeit annoying when the power-up mook blithely dashes past you whilst you're laid out from {{Knockback}} and {{Collision Damage}}. Then comes two levels where the enemies are not only numerous but have greater attack reach, speed and power, and take two blocks of your fragile health each time. If you do manage to stay on your feet long enough to morph into your beast form, you find it has ''[[PowerUpLetdown reduced range and damage compared to your buff human form]]'' and exists only to unlock the boss. Level five at least gives you the original Wolf form back, but you'll be too busy dancing a {{Cycle Of Hurting}} due to a lack of {{Mercy Invincibility}} and [[DemonicSpiders stupidly fast enemies who have attack priority, punch you out of the air for 2/3rds of your health each time and flood the screen with them]] to even be able to stay alive for more than twenty seconds, let along try to power up.
* In ''VideoGame/KidGloves'', the total lack of warning regarding when and where enemies will spontaneously spawn does nothing to prevent you from [[CollisionDamage dying horribly on contact with any of them]].
* Invoked in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles4''. During mock battle between squads, the enemy commander hints she's not going to be playing fair, and she's absolutely right. The biggest example is her 2IC, who appears on a rooftop to act as an artillery spotter. Said rooftop is improbably tall (your artillery peaks too low to hit it), has no apparent access point in gameplay or story, has sandbags for her to hide behind, and is behind your starting lines. The game offers no explanation for this chicanery beyond "Squad F is fighting dirty".
** A traditional example appears in the map that introduces fire on the terrain. The game makes it very clear that infantry will die if they go anywhere near it... and the general who ambushes you in the second half of the mission has an order that allows his side to merrily ignore this. The game also forgets to mention that fire patches also count as hiding places for vehicles, which is not only something you'll probably only find out when your units can't target ThatOneBoss, but makes no sense in the lore (since waste heat management is the reason for the giant, exposed, [[AttackItsWeakPoint incredibly vulnerable]] radiators every vehicle has).
* The Nintendo DS port of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' has Rebirth Mode, which rearranges most of the item locations as well as mixing up the types of enemies you will face. Some rooms can have both zombies and crows and aiming for one or the other can be very finicky because the aiming system generally auto targets whoever is closer to you. The developers very likely did this intentionally to increase the difficulty. Another example of such a thing is in the area of the courtyard next to the waterfall where there are three zombie dogs and a lone shark that's flopping on the ground. The shark can't do anything to you since it's not in a body of water, but because it's alive, it can be targeted. The shark serves no purpose other than to screw up your aim when you're trying to target the dogs instead.
* The Sega Master System version of ''Alf'' allows you to waste your money on an item called the "Alf Book", which when used, mocks the player and sends you back to the title screen.
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!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16705053300.43309400 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.
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*** Possibly taken UpToEleven if some InstakillMook can inflict at TotalPartyKill via a [[HerdHittingAttack Herd-hitting]] OneHitKill.
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*** Possibly taken UpToEleven Can go further if some InstakillMook can inflict at TotalPartyKill via a [[HerdHittingAttack Herd-hitting]] OneHitKill.
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* Taken UpToEleven with ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'', which has two sections that resemble ''Videogame/BattleToads'', but in 3D, with even ''more'' pitfalls, and shooting enemies to contend with as well. You can shoot back, but it's possible the explosions will cover some of the holes...
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* Taken UpToEleven with ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'', which ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'' has two sections that resemble ''Videogame/BattleToads'', but in 3D, with even ''more'' pitfalls, and shooting enemies to contend with as well. You can shoot back, but it's possible the explosions will cover some of the holes...
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** Or how about-in one of the many [[MetropolisLevel highway/city courses]]-getting beaned by a Spiny Shell right before a line of traffic comes barreling your way. [[CrushParade Have fun being roadkill!]]
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** Or how about-in Or, in one of the many [[MetropolisLevel highway/city courses]]-getting courses]], getting beaned by a Spiny Shell right before a line of traffic comes barreling your way. [[CrushParade Have fun being roadkill!]]
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** Or how about-in one of the many [[MetropolisLevel highway/city courses]]-getting beaned by a Spiny Shell right before a line of traffic comes barreling your way. [[CrushParade Have fun being roadkill!]]
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** {{Ambushing Enem|y}}es don't typically fall into this, since there will usually be some recognizable form of portal that shows where these things tend to leap out at you... except for that one place where there ''isn't''.
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** {{Ambushing Enem|y}}es Enem|y}}ies don't typically fall into this, since there will usually be some recognizable form of portal that shows where these things tend to leap out at you... except for that one place where there ''isn't''.
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When a developer wants to up the difficulty level of his game, they have quite a few options.
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When a developer wants to up the difficulty level of his their game, they have quite a few options.
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When a developer wants to up the difficulty level of his game, he has quite a few options.
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When a developer wants to up the difficulty level of his game, he has they have quite a few options.
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*** Possibly taken UpToEleven if some InstakillMook can inflict at TotalPartyKill via a [[HerdHittingAttack Herd-hitting]]OneHitKill.
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*** Possibly taken UpToEleven if some InstakillMook can inflict at TotalPartyKill via a [[HerdHittingAttack Herd-hitting]]OneHitKill.Herd-hitting]] OneHitKill.
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** [[GoddamnBats Bats]] are the same blue color as [[WaterIsBlue water]] and most background walls making already-annoying enemies near-impossible to spot.
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** [[GoddamnBats Bats]] {{Bat|OutOfHell}}s are the same blue color as [[WaterIsBlue water]] {{water|IsBlue}} and most background walls making already-annoying enemies near-impossible to spot.
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** Don't try to be clever and use Debug Mode either [[UnwinnableByMistake unless you want to see Sonic bounce around on the spikes forever because he can't die while Debug mode is active, can't activate Debug movement while Sonic's in the process of getting hurt and the timer is disabled for other uses in the mode.]] You can only hope that the bounces [[HopeSpot randomly has Sonic fall in the same direction three times so he can fall off of the spikes]], [[YankTheDogsChain but more often than not Sonic will only make it to the row of spikes JUUUST before he would fall off and then decide to bounce back in the other direction.]]
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** Don't try to be clever and use Debug Mode either [[UnwinnableByMistake [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable unless you want to see Sonic bounce around on the spikes forever because he can't die while Debug mode is active, can't activate Debug movement while Sonic's in the process of getting hurt and the timer is disabled for other uses in the mode.]] You can only hope that the bounces [[HopeSpot randomly has Sonic fall in the same direction three times so he can fall off of the spikes]], [[YankTheDogsChain but more often than not Sonic will only make it to the row of spikes JUUUST before he would fall off and then decide to bounce back in the other direction.]]
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* In ''Kid Gloves'', the total lack of warning regarding when and where enemies will spontaneously spawn does nothing to prevent you from [[CollisionDamage dying horribly on contact with any of them]].
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* In ''Kid Gloves'', ''VideoGame/KidGloves'', the total lack of warning regarding when and where enemies will spontaneously spawn does nothing to prevent you from [[CollisionDamage dying horribly on contact with any of them]].
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dewicking Final Death per trs
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* The ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' games at least up to V were more than happy to allow you to [[TeleFrag teleport into solid rock]]. This resulted in the '''[[TotalPartyKill total loss]]''' of your party, [[FinalDeath no resurrection attempts allowed]]. Oh, and if you play the games the way they're intended, there's no "reload game" upon this happening. You can also emerge high above the city and crash to the ground, or drown in the castle moat, but these "merely" kill your party as opposed to your losing them forever; you have a shot at resurrecting them in the latter two instances. Basically, be '''''very''''' careful when teleporting in Wizardry.
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* The ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' games at least up to V were more than happy to allow you to [[TeleFrag teleport into solid rock]]. This resulted in the '''[[TotalPartyKill total loss]]''' of your party, [[FinalDeath [[{{Permadeath}} no resurrection attempts allowed]]. Oh, and if you play the games the way they're intended, there's no "reload game" upon this happening. You can also emerge high above the city and crash to the ground, or drown in the castle moat, but these "merely" kill your party as opposed to your losing them forever; you have a shot at resurrecting them in the latter two instances. Basically, be '''''very''''' careful when teleporting in Wizardry.
