History Main / GimmickLevel

* ''VideoGame/TinyToonAdventures'' on the SNES is mainly regular platform levels of one sort of another, but halfway through the game it has an American-style football stage where you have to run, jump and tackle your way with the ball to the goal line within the time limit. There's also a Tiny Toons sports game on Genesis where each level has a different gimmick. Besides a basic gym, there is a field with spots where the characters can trip, Monty's house has vehicles hit you, etc.

* ''{{VideoGame/Gauntlet}} II'' has stages where the walls were invisible. The first game has a whole ''world'' of invisible-wall stages, though only a small chunk of said stages actually have invisible walls.
* ''VideoGame/DiabloII'' has the Secret Cow Level. It's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a secret level, full of cows]]. They are armed with halberds, walk on two legs and there are lots of them. In ''VideoGame/Diablo1997'', there were rumours of a secret cow level that did not actually exist. So they made one for Diablo 2 to shut the fans up.[[note]]This joke made it to ''Starcraft'', where typing "there is no cow level" on the in-game chat during a single player game will instantly complete the current mission.[[/note]]
* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'':
** The game has [[SugarBowl Whimsyshire]], an extension of a previous TakeThat to complaints that the more colorful visuals in III would "ruin the atmosphere" of the game and series.
** Set dungeons are designed around class armors which modify how skills function and are meant to test a player's ability to exploit these changes. As a result they have unique objectives which require more finesse than usual.
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'': The game features the motorbike sequences in the last two standard stages (the ones respectively leading to the Rank 2 and Rank 1 fights). Travis has to defeat his enemies by running over them instead of slashing them with his beam katana. The Rank 1 scene also has an area where you have to exit from [[TheLostWoods an illusory forest]], killing more enemies in the process.
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'': The Rank 23 stage is a StealthBasedMission, though being spotted doesn't make you fail the level - you simply have to deal with enemies much earlier than planned.
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'': Parodied. The Rank 3 boss attempts this for his fight against Travis by changing the rules of the game: Instead of a real-time, fast paced HackAndSlash fight, it is now a turn-based RPG where each action spends a turn for the current character. While it's theoretically possible to face the boss under these rules, his large amount of HP would drag the battle for ''very'' long. So Travis, being the GenreSavvy otaku he is, disables this nonsense by [[spoiler:attacking the RPG menus and interface instead of the boss himself, since he wouldn't be under the RPG rules if they were deleted from the screen]]. Once he succeeds, the battle between the two switches back to the game's default genre.

* ''VideoGame/MarioParty2'':
** Horror Land is unique among the other boards in the game (and those of the rest of the series excluding the sixth game) for having a day-and-night system, which will affect what things can be done in the board during the current turn (for example, the hidden Big Boo will only lend his stealing services when it's night). The transition between day and night occurs once every two turns, though certain board events can make it happen immediately. This board returns in ''VideoGame/MarioPartySuperstars'', retaining this gimmick.
** Bowser Land has some unique mechanics that make it stand out: It's the only board whose Event Spaces can trigger two different actions (the other boards in the game trigger only one), the Bank has a different owner (Koopa Kid) who gives money to anyone who passes by but will charge the debt to whoever lands exactly on the Bank space (the opposite happens in all the other boards, where the Bank's owner is a friendly Koopa). But most importantly, every five turns a Bowser-related event will happen, namely the Bowser Parade (which has mooks marching across the board and making character flee and gradually lose coins if they're on the parade's way); this idea isn't seen again the series until the seventh game, which adds a bigger variety of possible Bowser events for the same period of turns.
* ''VideoGame/MarioParty6'' is the first game in the ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' series to feature boards with unique methods to obtain Stars. The first two boards (Towering Treetop and E. Gadd's Garage) retain the classic concept of getting to the Star to buy it and having the next one placed randomly in another part, but the next ones toy with it:
** Faire Square has the Stars always available in the central plaza, and it's possible to buy more than one (up to five) if the player has enough money to do so. However, while the price for each Star remains the same during day (30 coins), during night their price is chosen randomly with a dice (this is because Brighton sells the Stars during day and puts the same price, while Twila sells them during night and uses the dice to change the price).
** Snowflake Lake gives each player five Stars from the start, and there are no spots within to buy more. Instead, each player can use Chain Chomps to ride them across the board and steal a Star from any approached rival by stomping onto them.
** Castaway Bay uses a mildly updated version of a gimmick seen in Mario's Rainbow Castle from the original ''VideoGame/MarioParty1''. Sailing the waters surrounded by the board's islands are two boats: One piloted by Donkey Kong and the other by Bowser. If the player reaches the end of the last island when DK is around, he'll sell a Star for 20 Coins; if it's Bowser who is nearby, he'll give them a Ztar which reduces the number of Stars by one.
** Clockwork Castle has Donkey Kong move across the board like the other players do during day, as has Bowser replace him during night. If the gorilla reaches a player (or is reached by them), he can sell them a Star for 20 Coins; but if it's the case of the Koopa King whom a players comes across, he'll give them a Ztar.
* ''VideoGame/MarioParty7'': Grand Canal is the only board that involves the players chasing down a Star as is traditional. The other boards all have a different gimmick:
** Pagoda Peak is a linear board with the Star Space at the very end. Each player who reaches the top can buy a Star, but the price goes up 10 coins every time someone buys it. It starts at 10 coins and goes up to a maximum of 40 before returning to 10, but the stage has several gongs that the player can ring to change the price to any of the four values - if they can land on the ? Space to trigger one.
** Pyramid Park uses the same gimmick as Snowflake Lake, as each player will begin the game with 5 stars, and the board has no Star spaces. In order to get Stars, you have to pay Chain Chomps, who will let you ride them and steal Stars from any other players you pass.
** Windmillville features several windmills, each worth 1, 2, or 3 stars, that the players can invest in. The player who's put the most coins into a windmill owns it and is considered to have its Stars.
** Neon Peak features three treasure boxes guarded by Koopa Kids on the board instead of Star spaces, and you can pay 10 coins upon passing one to open it. One will contain the Star, one has coins, and the last one drops a Bob-omb on you, launching you back to the starting area of the board. You have no way of knowing which one contains what until you buy one, so it comes down to luck.
** Bowser's Enchanted Inferno, at first, looks like it brings back the traditional method of reaching the Star to buy it and then looking for the next one elsewhere, and for the most part that's true. However, there's a catch: Every five turns, wherever the current Star is will sink into the lava, taking not only the Star itself with it but also burning all players present there and sending them back to the board's start with their coin budget halved; the Star is then relocated in another region. This also means Bowser Time is entirely dedicated to this gimmick, so Bowser won't do anything else in this board.
* ''VideoGame/MarioParty8'': The game features boards with unique obtainment methods for Stars. The only board that uses the classic format seen in the older games is DK's Treetop Jungle:
** Goomba's Booty Boardwalk and Shy Guy's Perplex Express share the concept of having a linear path to the Star, whose location is always the same (much like Pagoda Peak). Whereas in the former the Star is granted by a Goomba pirate and for free (the Coins are usually invested on the dolphins who place a player closer to the goal), in the latter it's sold by the Shy Guy who is driving the train for 20 Coins. The other main difference is that Kamek sometimes shuffles the arrangement of the wagons in the latter board.
** King Boo's Haunting Hideaway is a randomly-generated mansion whose rooms and passageways are arranged in a specific order every time a character gets to King Boo to purchase a Star. It's also possible to get a Star from DK, but it's reliant on a difficult strategy (landing on a DK space and finding the gorilla before someone gets King Boo's Star or someone lands on a Bowser space).
** Koopa's Tycoon Town employs a more advanced version of the gimmick seen in the seventh game's Windmillville. There are several hotels across the city, and investing Coins in them will make the player its owner. The number of Stars that metaphorically indicate the hotel's tier is also literally added to the player's Star count; the more Coins a player invests in a hotel, the higher its tier will be and thus the more Stars it'll be granted to the player, though another character can invest more money on that hotel to steal ownership.
** In Bowser's Warped Orbit, each player begins with five Stars (or more if there's a handicap feature enabled), and the objective is to steal other characters' Stars by using Bowser or Bullet Candies that allow a player to rob anyone passed by. It's the same gimmick from both Snowflake Lake and Pyramid Park.
* ''VideoGame/MarioPartyDS'': This is done much less prominently than in the post-''5'' installments, but some boards still shake up the Star obtainment formula: Toadette's Music Room has sentient musical notes that sell the Stars for a different price each, and when one is bought the next is for sale by a different note in a different spot in the board (the order goes from the music that puts the lowest price to the one who puts the highest, eventually reseting); DK's Stone Statue has the Star always placed in the upper left corner, and a player can buy more than one if they have enough money to do so (like in Faire Square from ''Mario Party 6'' minus the five-a-purchase limit); and Kamek's Library has three winged green pots which hide each a different content, only of them guarding the Star (like in Neon Heights from ''Mario Party 7''). The other two boards (Wiggler's Garden and Bowser's Pinball Machine) opt to use the classic idea of "find the Star and pay 20 Coins to get it".
* ''VideoGame/MarioPartyIslandTour'': Most boards share the central idea of reaching the goal line first, with a few variations in each case to keep the idea fresh. However, Star-Crossed Skyway stands out because reaching the end won't be enough: the objective for each player is to gather more Mini-Stars than the rest (much like in the boards of ''VideoGame/MarioParty9''). Another exception is Bowser's Peculiar Peak, where the objective is to be the ''last'' player to reach the goal line, since the ones reaching first will be punished by Bowser (this also requires ''losing'' the minigames to the fullest extent possible).

** The Platform/GameBoy GaidenGame, ''Donkey Kong Land III'', averts this by having no gimmick levels at all, possibly due to engine limitations.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' examples:

* ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}''
** A level with a first half where you can't stop running and its second half where the controls are reversed.
** There is, in addition, the level with the clearly evil clone that followed your every move several seconds behind.

* ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' has quite a few of these in the series, with most of the levels in general introducing a new gimmick needed to proceed. Such as the board game and casino levels in ''VideoGame/WarioLand4'' and ''[[VideoGame/WarioLandShakeIt Shake It!]]'', and also Launchpad Labyrinth in said ''Shake It!'' game.

* ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' on the SNES is mainly regular platform levels of one sort of another, but halfway through the game it has an American-style football stage where you have to run, jump and tackle your way with the ball to the goal line within the time limit. There's also a Tiny Toons sports game on Genesis where each level has a different gimmick. Besides a basic gym, there is a field with spots where the characters can trip, Monty's house has vehicles hit you, etc.

* ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' features this in the form of "Speedway" levels.
* This turns up fairly frequently in the main ''[[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man]]'' series.

* A common feature in early UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem titles was a level to show off the fact that the system's hardware handled rotating backgrounds. Such levels included:

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII: The Frozen Throne'' has a bonus level inspired by the custom-made "Tower Defense" maps. Instead of building a base as normal, you have to line up special towers only available in that mission along a maze to shoot down attackers. 2 regular levels also took inspiration from custom maps to mix things up. And then there was the Orc campaign, which was an RPG. A rather simple one since it still used the same interface, but still pretty good. And that is just the (official) tip of the iceberg of uses of the game's engine and powerful editor, which people have used to create all sorts of games. One of them, Defense of the Ancients, has become a game of its own.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has the Fade sequence, which drops the player into DreamLand. Much hated by many players for being very difficult if you ignore the gimmick, the trick is that the player is granted special shapeshifting powers needed for both solving puzzles and surviving the battles. Each form has its strengths and weaknesses, and players must learn which form and powers are appropriate for each situation.

[[folder:Shoot ‘Em Ups]]
* ''VideoGame/InTheHunt'' has the Channel stage, a river running through a city overrun with [[MechaMooks death machines]]. Trouble is, your character is a submarine limited to the water, and unlike all the other stages, the water in the channel is very shallow. You will have to utilize your UsefulNotes/SuperiorFirepowerSurfaceToAirMissiles to the max here as almost all the enemies, including the [[StationaryBoss boss]], will appear above the water.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' is fairly consistent stealth gameplay with some quirks, but the ''VR Missions''/''Special Missions''/''Integral'' expansion pushes the engine to its limits so the player can do things possible by coding but virtually impossible to actually perform in the game - especially the Variety Mode, Puzzle Mode and NG Selection. One stage requires the player to blow up surveillance cameras by attaching C-4 to guards and detonating it when they pass under the cameras. Another requires the player to solve a [[StockPuzzle Lights Out puzzle]] involving throwing grenades at distant columns to make them grow or shrink. Another stage has a single (robot) guard in it whose vision cone is super large, requiring the player to slip past by putting the box on, inching forward when he turns his back, and repeating. There's another where you have to punch guards into each other so they all fall over like a string of dominoes. There are also multiple murder mystery missions, a mission where you are the Ninja, a mission involving shooting down a UFO (although the gameplay itself is quite conventional) and one involving goading two kaiju into fighting each other to save Meryl.

* The final case of the first ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' game is a bonus stage of sorts; it wasn't included in the original UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance version. When ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' was planned to be re-released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, the fifth case was added which allowed players to dust for prints and closely examine evidence.

** The UsefulNotes/GameBoy GaidenGame, ''Donkey Kong Land III'', averts this by having no gimmick levels at all, possibly due to engine limitations.

* ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' has quite a few of these in the series, with most of the levels in general introducing a new gimmick needed to proceed. Such as the board game and casino levels in Wario Land 4 and Shake Dimension, and also Launchpad Labyrinth in said Shake Dimension game.

* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} II'' has the Secret Cow Level. It's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a secret level, full of cows]]. They are armed with halberds, walk on two legs and there are lots of them. In the original Diablo, there were rumours of a secret cow level that did not actually exist. So they made one for Diablo 2 to shut the fans up.[[note]]This joke made it to ''Starcraft'', where typing "there is no cow level" on the in-game chat during a single player game will instantly complete the current mission.[[/note]]

*** Despite not being based on a real-life city, Piranha Plant Cove from ''Mario Kart Tour'' adopts their idea of layout combination for its racetrack in ''8 Deluxe'', incorporating the routes of Piranha Plant Cove 1, 2 and 3 into one unified track where each lap takes place into one of them.

** Stages 2 and 5 (the top-down levels) in ''[[VideoGame/{{Contra}} Contra III: The Alien Wars]]''.

*** [=N64=] Kalimari Desert in ''Deluxe'' combines both it and Kalimari Desert 2 from Tour into one, with the first lap being the original route and the second and third laps being both sections of Kalimari Desert 2.

** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'': By the time this game came out, the traditional levels began being in the minority. Some of DKC3's more memorable examples include a mostly swimming level where your left/right controls are reversed while in the water, a level with significantly decreased gravity, a level where through the entire thing an offscreen enemy is shooting at you, a difficult level where lightning is constantly trying to strike you, and a level where a hungry fish is constantly following you and have to feed normal fish enemies to him to keep him from attacking. Even the "normal" platform levels in DKC3 usually feature some sort of one-off gimmicky enemy seen nowhere else in the game.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* Shifty Station in ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' is a multiplayer stage that changes its layout for each Splatfest event, always prominently featuring at least one of several gimmicks that range from relatively normal to bizarre. Among the many gimmicks that have been featured are simple [[FloatingPlatforms moving platforms]], [[GrindBoots ride rails]] to grind on, [[SpringsSpringsEverywhere bounce pads]], {{Invisible Block}}s, patrolling [[InvincibleMinorMinion Flooders]], glass domes that seal off parts of the stage, giant tentacles that can be destroyed to open gates... one layout even features a surprise appearance by {{Idol Singer}}s Pearl and Marina! While Shifty Station was initially [[TemporaryOnlineContent only playable during a Splatfest]], all previous variations of the stage were made available in Private Battle mode after the conclusion of the game's Splatfest events.

-->--'''Manual description of The Villi People/Jim's Now a Blind Cave Salamande''', ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim 2''

-->--'''Manual description of The Villi People/Jim's Now a Blind Cave Salamande''', ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim2''

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'', being a GameMaker, is naturally chock-full of them. Even the built-in levels have a few gimmicks. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker2'' has even more, thanks to Story Mode.

*** Mount Wario, [=N64=] Rainbow Road, and [[VideoGame/FZero Big Blue]] are raced across in one lap or A-to-B session, similar to certain ''Mario Kart 7'' tracks (including its Rainbow Road, which was also added to ''Deluxe'' as DLC).

*** Several city-related tracks from ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' have been brought back as part of the Booster Course Pass of ''Deluxe'' in an interesting way: rather than just bringing a single variant of the cities to ''Deluxe'', all variants have been combined into a single track, allowing players to race through different paths per lap. In turn, whereas most of these tracks simply have the racers go through different sections per lap, others go even further and exploit the concept in unique ways, like Paris Promenade being played entirely backwards during the third lap, Singapore Speedway being actually raced in two laps (since the second employs a section-based approach like the A-to-B or single-lap courses, thus having the second half of that layout as the "third" lap), or Berlin Byways using the ''first'' variant of its original ''Tour'' version (instead of the third or even second like most other city tracks) for the final lap.

* The ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' games have levels where the player has to run away from a rolling object of death and [[CameraScrew towards the camera]]. The series has also the character riding atop ever-running animals, and vehicle levels.

** Pyramid Park has each player begin the game with 5 stars, and the board has no Star spaces. In order to get Stars, you have to pay Chain Chomps, who will let you ride them and steal Stars from any other players you pass.

** Goomba's Booty Boardwalk and Shy Guy's Perplex Express share the concept of having a linear path to the Star, whose location is always the same. Whereas in the former the Star is granted by a Goomba pirate and for free (the Coins are usually invested on the dolphins who place a player closer to the goal), in the latter it's sold by the Shy Guy who is driving the train for 20 Coins. The other main difference is that Kamek sometimes shuffles the arrangement of the wagons in the latter board.

** In Bowser's Warped Orbit, each player begins with five Stars (or more if there's a handicap feature enabled), and the objective is to steal other characters' Stars by using Bowser or Bullet Candies that allow a player to rob anyone passed by.
* ''VideoGame/MarioPartyDS'': This is done much less prominently than in the post-''5'' installments, but some boards still shake up the Star obtainment formula: Toadette's Music Room has sentient musical notes that sell the Stars for a different price each, and when one is bought the next is for sale by a different note in a different spot in the board (the order goes from the music that puts the lowest price to the one who puts the highest, eventually reseting); DK's Stone Statue has the Star always placed in the upper left corner, and a player can buy more than one if they have enough money to do so (like in Faire Square from ''Mario Party 6''); and Kamek's Library has three winged green pots which hide each a different content, only of them guarding the Star (like in Neon Heights from ''Mario Party 7''). The other two boards (Wiggler's Garden and Bowser's Pinball Machine) opt to use the classic idea of "find the Star and pay 20 Coins to get it".

** Bowser Land has some unique mechanics that make it stand out: It's the only board whose Event Spaces can trigger two different actions (the other boards in the game trigger only one), the Bank has a different owner (Koopa Kid) who gives money to anyone who passes by but will charge the debt to whoever lands exactly on the Bank space (the opposite happens in all the other boards, where the Bank's owner is a friendly Koopa). But most importantly, every five turns a Bowser-related event will happen, namely the Bowser Parade (which has mooks marching across the board and making character flee and lgradually lose coins if they're on the parade's way); this idea isn't seen again the series until the seventh game, which adds a bigger variety of possible Bowser events for the same period of turns.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* In the 21st Century (and late 20th Century), North American professional sports leagues and NCAA schools have scheduled special event contests in atypical locales as publicity stunts. On some occasions, rules must be modified as well to suit the conditions. Examples include:
** Major League Baseball hosting games in at a custom stadium in an Iowa cornfield to honor the anniversary of the film [[FieldOfDreams Field of Dreams]], complete with players entering from among the stalks.
** National Football League and Major League Baseball playing matches at association football stadia in London and Mexico.
** The National Basketball Association attempted one game at Indian Wells tennis arena. They did not repeat the attempt.
** The National Hockey League may be the codifier in this subcategory, playing outdoor matches at numerous football and baseball stadia, and - when attendance had to be minimal due to COVID-19 considerations - at a golf course in Lake Tahoe. Some of these games have had to be delayed due to wet weather, warm weather or sun making the ice unusable.
** NCAA football matches in Major League Baseball-designed stadiums and the infield of a NASCAR track.
*** The Virgina Tech-Tennessee "Battle at Bristol" set an attendance record that no existing football stadia can match.
*** Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park now host annual post-season bowl games.
*** Even though Wrigley Field had once been shared with the Chicago Bears, later upgrades caused problems when Northwestern first tried to host a game; not only did the ivy walls require safety pads, but only one set of goal posts could be installed, requiring relocation of the ball before any kicking play.
** NCAA basketball now regularly has an early season game on the deck of an aircraft carrier to commemorate Veteran's Day. Teams often wear camo-inspired uniforms, and active duty service members not only sing the anthem, but even take over a segment of the play-by-play commentary.
** Although NASCAR's roots include odd races early on (such as a beach in Daytona), most modern day races have been in superspeedway stadia.

** Bowser Land has some unique mechanics that make it stand out: It's the only board whose Event Spaces can trigger two different actions (the other boards in the game trigger only one), the Bank has a different owner (Koopa Kid) who gives money to anyone who passes by but will charge the debt to whoever lands exactly on the Bank space (the opposite happens in all the other boards, where the Bank's owner is a friendly Koopa). But most importantly, every five turns a Bowser-related event will happen, namely the Bowser Parade (which has mooks marching across the board and making character flee and gradually lose coins if they're on the parade's way); this idea isn't seen again the series until the seventh game, which adds a bigger variety of possible Bowser events for the same period of turns.

** Bowser Land has some unique mechanics that make it stand out: It's the only board whose Event Spaces can trigger two different actions (the other boards in the game trigger only one), the Bank has a different owner (Koopa Kid) who gives money to anyone who passes by but will charge the debt to whoever lands exactly on the Bank space (the opposite happens in all the other boards, where the Bank's owner is a friendly Koopa). But most importantly, every five turns a Bowser-related event will happen, namely the Bowser Parade (which has mooks marching across the board and making character flee and lgradually lose coins if they're on the parade's way); this idea isn't seen again the series until the seventh game, which adds a bigger variety of possible Bowser events for the same period of turns.

[[folder:Real Life - Sports]]
* North American professional sports leagues and university sports programs in the 21st Century have begun scheduling contests in atypical venues as publicity stunts, often requiring a change in rules or tactics.
** Major League Baseball
*** Field of Dreams
*** International Series
** National Football League
*** The NFL has scheduled games at association football stadiums in the UK and Mexico
*** Beginning in 2023, the Pro Bowl (all-star game), was replaced by the skills competition and a three-game series of 7-on-7 Flag Football Games.
** National Basketball Association
*** From 2008-2010, the Phoenix Suns hosted one preseason game at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden near Palm Springs California. In the first one, 60 degree temperatures and brisk winds lead to a lack of 3-pointers and a 77-72 score.
*** To complete the 2019-2020 season interrupted by the COVID-19 epidemic, 22 teams decamped to an isolated "Disney Bubble" at vacant Walt Disney World hotels and multiple nearby courts for an abridged regular season and the playoffs.
*** The WNBA played its entire abridged season at a Florida sports academy under similar conditions.
** National Hockey League
*** After a trial in 2003, from 2008-2023 the NHL has held 36 outdoor games, mostly at baseball or football stadiums (including those at University of Michigan and the US Naval Academy). These are billed as Winter Classics (New Year's Day), Heritage Classics (Tied to a historic date), or Stadium Series (just for the TV ratings). Intermissions are usually extended for musical performances, goalies often need tinted visors and if there is a sun advantage, teams may swap goals mid-period.
*** The no-attendance games in the immediated aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak lead to the weirdest of these in 2021, a pair of games at a golf course on the shores of Lake Tahoe, hoping to substitute natural backdrops for the fans unable to attend. However direct sunlight softened the ice, forcing the afternoon game to be rescheduled to dusk and the late game to well after dark when only the rink was visible.
*** Beginning in 2016 the NHL All-Star Game switched from a standard 5-on-5 (+Goalies) game to a tournament of four divisional teams in three 20 minute 3-on-3 games (the format used in overtimes).
*** The 2022 All-Stars skills competition in Las Vegas added two outdoor target shooting events, one on platforms in the fountains of the Bellagio Casino, and one playing blackjack with oversized card targets.
*** The Skills Competitions have also invited members of the US and Canadian national women's hockey teams as participants.
** NASCAR is a late but agressive participant, adding gimmick races in three years
*** In 2021, Harkening back to its roots, NASCAR had the Bristol track covered for one of its two races to become the Food City Dirt Race
*** In 2022, the pre-season Clash became the "Clash at the Colisseum" inside the LA Coliseum used for Olympics, American Football, and Soccer. The track was so small, that a heats-and-final format had to be used to reduce the number of cars on the track at any one time. (NASCAR's last race in a non-racing specific stadium was 1956 in Soldier Field)
*** In 2023, NASCAR will attempt a Chicago Street Race on Independence Day weekend. Although other racing series have conducted on-street circuits, this is the first for NASCAR or Chicago. Cars are being required to use mufflers in response to complaints from residents, and an art museum and aquarium close to the course.
** NCAA Football
*** Baseball Stadia
*** Battle at Bristol NASCAR Track
** NCAA Basketball
*** Football Domes for Final Four
*** Air Craft Carrier
**
**
**


[[/folder]]

*** International Series

*** The no-attendance games in the immediated aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak lead to the weirdest of these in 2021, a pair of games at a golf course on the shores of Lake Tahoe, hoping to substitute natural backdrops for the fans unable to attend. However direct sunlight softened the ice, forcing the afternoon game to be rescheduled to dusk and the late game to well after dark when only the rink was visible.

*** All Star Weekend Las Vegas

*** Indian Wells
*** Disney Bubble

*** Outdoor Series
*** Outdoor Series in Tahoe