History Main / RewardingInactivity

Contrast GuiltBasedGaming, in which the game tries to make you feel bad for being idle or gone for a while. Despite the title, this is [[IThoughtItMeant ''not'']] WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing, as the latter case does not happen on purpose.

Contrast GuiltBasedGaming, in which the game tries to make you feel bad for being idle or gone for a while.

** In the GameBoyAdvance re-release, Cecil is given some extra Paladin tasks to do in the BonusDungeon. One of them is standing guard in front of a door. No matter what kind of interesting, profitable, threatening or otherwise just plain funky things happen in front of you, you fail the quest if you step away.

* This is the entire premise of ''[[http://www.kongregate.com/games/Aragagg/dont-shoot-the-puppy Don't Shoot The Puppy]]''.

* ''SuikodenII'', ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Dark Forces: Mysteries Of The Sith]]'', ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', and ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' all feature fights where you're supposed to do nothing but defend until your opponent gives up. Fighting back results in failure (or blocking off the best ending).

* Some secret items in ''[[VideoGame/ShadowHearts Koudelka]]'' [[GuideDangIt can only be acquired]] with a certain number of items in your inventory, and a saved game saved at ''precisely'' a certain point of time in the game timer; the really good items require you to wait longer than it takes to beat the entire game.
* One of the hidden paths in ''VideoGame/WarioLand 2'' requires you to have Wario sleep in, by simply not pressing a button to wake him up at the start of the first level. After a few seconds (thirty seconds if this your first time playing the level), the stage ends and you get the new story.

** In the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' stage on ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros. Brawl'', one of the microgames that may pop up is to stand still and do nothing. However, stomping over this trope with steel-shod boots, it's sometimes better to suck down any punishment handed out for failing the Microgame... by landing some seriously heavy hits on your static opponents, since even the AI tries to follow the game's instruction to stay still. ''Falcon '''PUNCH!'''''

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} Uncharted 4]]'' adds relics to an offline bank each day you don't play, to a maximum of 250. Each match you play gives you 20 relics from the bank, 10 if only 50 remain in bank, and 5 from 25 onwards.

Contrast GuiltBasedGaming, in which the game tries to make you feel bad for being gone for a while.

* ''VideoGame/AntiIdleTheGame'' is already a game that lets you progress even without making input, but it takes it a step further with REST bonuses: If you close the game and come back to it at least an hour later, you will gain "Offline Progress" in the form of EXP, Coins, and other resources, and you will also go into REST mode, in which various things are buffed for as long as the REST timer is ticking down. The longer you're away, the more REST time you'll have, up to 99:59:59. Or, you can just purchase REST time with Blue Coins or White Coins, but the cost is not trivial.

* Some secret items in ''[[VideoGame/ShadowHearts Koudelka]]'' can only be acquired [[GuideDangIt with a certain number of items in your inventory; and a saved game saved at ''precisely'' a certain point of time in the game timer]]; the really good items requiring you to wait longer than it takes to beat the entire game.

* If you think of The Game, you lose. Thus by not playing it, you win.

* One of the hidden paths in ''VideoGame/WarioLand 2'' requires you to have Wario sleep in, by simply not pressing a button to wake him up at the start of the first level. After a few seconds, the stage ends and you get the new story.

* The only way to open one of the locked corridors in ''TheGuardianLegend'' is to wait for a specified amount of time.

* ''LostOdyssey'' includes a battle in which the BigBad turns one of your own party members into a [[PeoplePuppets People Puppet]] and forces him to attack you. There's no way to break the villain's control, and killing your friend results in an immediate GameOver, so the only option is to simply not act.

* In HarvestMoon: Magical Melody, you acquire the Stationary Note by simply standing still for a minute.
* One of the achievements for "TheSaboteur" is for Sean to smoke fifty cigarettes. You can make him smoke by clicking the thumbstick, but Sean will light up if he's idle for a moment, so you can put the controller down and walk away for an hour.

* In ''SwordOfTheStars'', it is inadvisable to destroy Von Neumann ships, as this leads to attacks by the more powerful Berserkers.

See also IdleGame, a genre of games in automatic progress without the player's input is a core mechanic.

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' One of the bosses [[spoiler:The End]] dies of old age (should the player wait too long before resuming the game mid-battle, or change the PlayStation 2's internal clock), Snake will feel guilty for letting him down, since The guy's dying wish was to fight him. Zero will also comment that Snake's mission is "not a game."

** In the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' stage on ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros. Brawl'', one of the microgames that may pop up is to stand still and do nothing. However, stomping over this trope with steel-shod boots it's sometimes better to suck down any punishment handed out for failing the Microgame... By landing some seriously heavy hits on your static opponents. ''Falcon '''PAWNCH!'''''
*** The AI will actually try to follow the do nothing rule, unless you attack them.

->''"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?"''
-->-- '''JOSHUA''', ''Film/WarGames''

* Similarly, in ''SakuraTaisen'' you frequently have to choose from a list of three things you can make your character say, and in several cases the best choice is actually to say none of them.

* A SegaGenesis ''[[Series/BarneyAndFriends Barney]]'' game had Barney complete the level himself if you didn't touch anything for awhile.

* There was a brilliant ''{{Foxtrot}}'' comic a while back in which Jason was trying to figure out how to beat this huge boss in a video game, and it turned out all that was necessary was to ''walk past it''. Hilarity ensued.

** Also in ''Videogame/{{Pokemon}}'', the door to Regice's chamber in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' is unlocked by reading a braille message, which tells you to stand there for two minutes.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', Cecil's class change pits him with his Dark Knight alter ego. The idea is that Cecil must not insist to violently reject or destroy his dark self, meaning he has to stay on guard until the shadow recedes on it own.