History Main / SelfImposedChallenge

* The LetsPlay/PartyCrashers have added so many wacky gimmicks into their ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' sessions that they needed [[SelfImposedChallenge/PartyCrashers their own page]].

* ''VideoGame/FreeCell'': The most obvious one is reducing the number of free cells, sometimes even to zero (which is possible in 69 out of the original Microsoft 32,000). Some software implementations will have this as an option. Another is to make the biggest "flourish" you can, referring to the process of the cards automatically going to the home row at the end of the game -- in a few games, it's possible to set up a 52-card flourish, taking the home row from empty to full in one move flat.

** ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'': It's possible to complete the game without ever getting Blue Onion, though you still do need to use Blue Pikmin in some sense -- there's a flower that allows you to transform a handful of Pikmin into blues, but they only appear at very rare points in the game.

* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' has two official challenges: Ironman (cannot meaningfully interact with other players, meaning no multiplayer minigames, no group bossing, and no trading among other things) and Hardcore Ironman (ironman, but you lose the account if you die). As an ironman/hardcore ironman, you get a unique title, and hardcore ironmen have their deaths announced to the entire server when they do die.

** For an even tougher challenge, try mixing and matching the aforementioned challenges. Seemingly easy levels can become incredibly difficult when you can't fly, suck up enemies, or use copy abilities.

** In ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'', the "minimum Kirby run" requires you to complete every objective -- including [[ThatOneAchievement Gold Star Champion]], which requires you to [[NoDamageRun beating every level and boss without taking damage]] -- with as few Kirbies as possible in each level. And you can't gain any more Kirbies, even if some are defeated along the way. As this requires you to dodge all the fruit in every area to prevent the creation of other Kirbies, it doubles as a low score run.
** In games that contain the Wheel ability, such as ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' and ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'', try to see how many levels you can get through while turned into a wheel. This challenge is often used by speedrunners to get through the levels faster.
** In ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', [[ShmuckBait try beating the entire game by yourself with only one player.]] That includes [[spoiler:[[ThisIsGonnaSuck EX-Mode and the True Arena.]]]] For added fun, try doing it ''without'' ever switching characters, and never having Kirby use an absorbed power to attack an enemy, which means only using powers to complete necessary puzzles in order to obtain Energy Spheres. It's also possible to beat the game without jumping; certain abilities allow Kirby to move upwards without pressing the jump button, and he can also ride other characters for an extra boost.
** In ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', you can [[NotTheWayItIsMeantToBePlayed beat the entirety of story mode without jumping, double jumping, flying, or doing anything involving pressing A midair]] after the first screen of the first stage. All jumps too high for Kirby to normally complete are made possible by stacking or throwing players and using certain moves from various abilities, like the Upward Slash move from the Sword ability.
** One of the most common challenges in ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' is to try to beat the game without using allies. This is mostly achievable, with the exception of the Friend Segments. However, it can make the game harder, especially during the boss fights.

* The ''LetsPlay/PartyCrashers'' have added so many unique challenges and crazy gimmicks to their ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' sessions that they needed [[SelfImposedChallenge/PartyCrashers their own page]].

* A popular ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' challenge is the NUR (No Upgrades Run) which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Less famous but even more sadistic is the Pain+ run[[note]]Hardest difficulty, no upgrades, no weapons aside from the Blades, no magic (unless forced to in a tutorial), no chests, and no special items (like the Amulet of Fate or Golden Fleece).[[/note]]. This has been done for every game in the series by various authors on Website/YouTube.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/user/AltimaMantoid One speedrunner]] has a series on his Website/YouTube channel called "Trials of a Doomgod", where he does crazy self-imposed challenges on various ''Doom'' maps, some of which include:

*** The Twitch Souls challenge run, where he can only see the game in his {{Website/Twitch}} window, complete with a 13-second visual delay;

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': There are many "no-hit runs" on Website/YouTube, where players defeat bosses without taking any damage. No-Hit [[spoiler:Sans]] and No-Hit [[spoiler:Photoshop Flowey]] are particularly popular. Toby Fox, the creator, didn't think the latter was even ''possible''.

** "Class-Only Playthroughs," where the player is ''only'' allowed to use weapons and armors that revolve around Melee, Ranged, Magic, or Summon damage. While the game provides benefits to sticking with one class by having armor sets that synergize only with one type of weapon, these challenges take it further and completely ban the use of anything other than the one selected class, including the Copper Swordsword characters start with. Summoner is especially popular because of the lack of that much gear [[EarlyGameHell early on.]]
** There have also been restricted world size playthroughs where the world is only a certain number of blocks wide or tall. They range from a relatively sane 117 block wide all the way to '''nine''' blocks tall.

* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'': "Class-Only Playthroughs," where the player is ''only'' allowed to use weapons and armors that revolve around Melee, Ranged, Magic, or Summon damage. While the game provides benefits to sticking with one class by having armor sets that synergize only with one type of weapon, these challenges take it further and completely ban the use of anything other than the one selected class, including the Copper Swordsword characters start with. Summoner is especially popular because of the lack of that much gear [[EarlyGameHell early on.]]

* WebVideo/TheSpiffingBrit does self-imposed challenges like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro2d4yWrIwk "Crusader kings 2 But I have Zero Stats?? 0 Stat Man Challenge"]].

* UsefulNotes/NaNoWriMo is a popular self-imposed challenge where participants write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. It doesn't have to be ''good'' -- it just has to be ''done''. The point of the challenge is to spur creativity in people who might have great ideas for stories but are intimidated by how long it takes to write it.
* The Let's Play ''WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemon'' gathers the Internet on a Twitch stream and asks them to play a ''Pokémon'' game one button input at a time, as dictated through the chat. It's utter chaos, but not only have games been beaten, they've been beaten in truly improbable circumstances. Players have started imposing their own challenges, such as catching Zapdos with the Master Ball in Red, getting Mew via trade in [=FireRed=], and evolving no Pokemon at all in Black.

** {{Discussed|Trope}} in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UzTf0Qo37A Boot Sector Games]]", where programmers challenge themselves to write a game onto a disk's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_sector boot sector]], which is only 512 ''bytes'' large.

* ''WebVideo/{{Highcraft}}'': While most of the challenges are built in to the map being played, "2b2stoned" has challenges fitting to the 2b2t server that are self-imposed.

** Later ''Superman'' comics that [[ReimaginingTheArtifact address Superman working as a newspaper reporter]] show that Clark Kent particularly enjoys his job because he can't rely on his superpowers to actually write something good enough to be printed in a major newspaper -- which gives him a rare and welcome challenge.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', Rick is found to have turned himself into a pickle. He 'claims' that he did it as a self-imposed challenge so that he could see if he could turn himself back into a human. But that explanation is quickly torpedoed when Morty notices the contraption hanging on top of him with a timer and anti-pickle serum in it. The real reason he did it was to avoid having to go to family therapy.

*** With 4 White Mages, you [[StoneWall practically won't ever die.]] (But even with that much healing power, you will run out of MP in no time if you keep casting Blink.) Honestly, in the ''Dawn of Souls'' version, this becomes pretty easy. Since spells do more damage based on Intelligence, as soon as you get access to the spell-casting items, White Magea become viable fighters. And since they changed to an MP system rather than a Charge/Level system, you get extremely enhanced longevity out of the Cures and such. It's been done by ''many'' people on the NES version (which was by far the hardest and buggiest version of the game). ''Dawn of Souls'' White Mages have it easy by comparison.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Cecil-only challenge]]. Due to his lack of utility, he can't heal as effectively or deal multi-target damage to enemies once he becomes a Paladin. God help you in [[ThatOneLevel the Sealed Cave]] because Trap Doors have a OneHitKill ability called Dimension 9.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Cecil-only challenge]]. God help you in [[ThatOneLevel the Sealed Cave]].

** When developing ''Planet X2'' for the UsefulNotes/Commodore64, David deliberately chose to limit the game's size to 64 kilobytes to allow it to fit onto the entirety of the C64's RAM. In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB_VBl7ut9Y documentary covering the game's development]], he said the RAM limitation was behind practically every design decision, as David wanted to avoid saving and loading during gameplay as much as possible.

** Beating any of the single-player campaigns without using your main weapon(s), relying only on subweapons, specials, and the occsional accidentally helpful mook.
** The Squidless Challenge, where you attempt to beat a campaign by turning into your character's squid/octo form as few times as possible.