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openPointless little object interactions. Videogame
Ok, despite the title, this can often add flavour to the atmosphere of a game, but pragmatically speaking, it's pointless. The type of thing I'm talking about here is, for example, when a game lets you open and close the (empty) drawers, turn the lights on and off, etc, and this has no impact on anything or any apparent purpose beyond just existing.
openLevel End Bonus Videogame
Where once you complete the level objective, you have a chance to increase your final score before the level ends. (Not a separate stage)
The Big Rock Ending on Rock Band songs, where the band members have a chance to freestyle to rack up extra points
Some Merge Dragons levels drop items across the board after the objective has been met and allow you to merge them for a few extra seconds before the level officially ends
Some classic Sonic The Hedgehog games allow you to collect bonus points with a goal post as long as you can manage to keep it airborne.
openCharacter(s) was Replaced by Another Character(s) Videogame
A single or pair of character(s) that were originally present in a video game were later replaced by a different character(s).
The specific example I'm thinking of is a tutorial character who showed off how a game mechanic worked then was later replaced by a completely different character who still preformed the same function. Any mention of the previous character was also replaced.
openItem to beat final boss Videogame
Is there a trope for items or powers your character get in early- or middle-game and which almost never used except during the Final Battle? Examples would be The Legend Of Zelda The Minish Cap's Cane of Pacci, that you use 2 times in the whole game: in the Temple of Flames (2nd dungeon)... and during the battle against Vaati's Wrath. or Mega Man 3's Top Spin that you obtain in the first part of the game, is Awesome, but Impractical during most of the game... and is the quickest means to kill Gamma, the final boss.
Edited by FrenchDudeopenCertain Phase When Boss is in its weakened state Videogame
So Turns Red is the trope where the boss becomes more aggressive / powerful after reaching a certain HP threshold, or during special scripted occasions. What is the opposite of this trope?
I am looking for the trope where the boss enters a weakened state where it receives more damage from the players, and deals lesser damage to the player. It is usually when the boss has just reached the limit of its Turns Red status, where it can only go berserk for a limited time, and after that it will be very vulnerable for a certain duration.
openOutside the Walls Videogame
This hypothetical trope is fairly specific to top-down 2D games, especially JRP Gs. You're given a large outdoor area surrounded by walls, like a castle, and you're placed at the only entrance, like a drawbridge. It seems obvious that everything interesting is inside the walls, but if you notice that there's a little space to explore the outside without zoning to a different area, you'll discover something interesting. The first instance of this I know of is the original Dragon Quest, but it's been used plenty of times since. Is this a known trope?
openMultiple Types of Character Levels Videogame
Most games with multiple characters have a system where the character gains Experience Points and gains levels after certain thresholds. However, especially on Mobile Phone Games, developers have started doing a thing where there's more than one way to power up your character. I think that Heroes Charge pioneered this system, so I'll use its terminology as an example:
- Character Level: gained via EXP. Old Hat.
- "Evolution Level" / Star Rating / Rarity: Heroes Charge is a game where you pick up multiple copies of the same character (or, technically, multiple "soul stones" or whatever that allow you to recruit the character). Once you have enough extras, you can increase the character's stats by infusing them with the extra Soul Stones. In Heroes Charge, doing this increases how many STR / AGI / HP / etc the character gains every time they gain a level.
- "Promotions" / Color: these are accomplished by finding additional macguffins out in the game world. In Heroes Charge they are pieces of equipment, but I've seen Follow the Leader rip-offs use magical runes instead. Once you finish equipping the character with all the EQ you need, the character consumes the EQ (?!) and immediately gains a one-time boost to their stats. Additionally, this changes the color of their portrait, typically along the color/rarity combos first laid out by WoW and Diablo.
In Heroes Charge, this goes hand-in-hand with their main Revenue-Enhancing Device: Forced Level-Grinding. All of the Green Rocks described above are Random Drops from campaign levels, which you typically have to repeat over and over. To facilitate this, Heroes Charge introduced "Auto Battle": once you've beaten the campaign level thoroughly enough (3 stars), you can just press a button and have the game AI its way through the level. Heck, sometimes it doesn't even bother showing the fights; it just rolls up the loot and saves time!
I'm not sure which came first, "Auto Battle" or this idea of Multiple Character-Level Axes (as in, "the plural of axis"), but they go together really well; more importantly, they've become some of the most fundamental game-design tropes in the mobile-games space.
Do we have tropes for any of the things I've described?
Edited by slvstrChungopenLying about the genre of a minigame ? Videogame
I'm looking for a trope where a creator lies about the genre of a minigame. For instance, in the PSP adaptation of the Geronimo Stilton: Kingdom of Fantasy series (this was basically Professor Layton with a license slapped on it), there was a minigame that claimed to be a rhythm game, but it was actually more like Simon. This is pretty egregious, as the game has an ACTUAL rhythm game later on!
openBoss who gets harder gradually Videogame
What's the trope for a boss who gradually gets harder? i.e not like Turns Red more like a boss who say, gets a little harder with every hit. (Example: the final boss on Sonic The Hedgehog 4 episode 2)
openDead character as member of party that wins battle gains no EXP. Videogame
Is that a trope at all?
Experience Penalty doesn't have any such examples, neither does Death Is a Slap on the Wrist?
openFrenzy Mode in Idle Games Videogame
A special mode in Idle Games where after filling up a meter by collecting a certain amount of items, you enter a "frenzy" where collecting them gives you more of the same item. IIRC this was in Cookie Clicker, where its Frenzy Mode gives you even more cookies, but it's also in other Idle Games to encourage the player to actively play by collecting the onscreen items.
openWater of Shame Videogame
A type of Soft Water that exists in platform games, in which there is little to no reason to ever be in the water unless you fall off a series a platforms. There are no secrets in the water, and all you can do is go back to the start of the platforming section and try again.
An example of the distinction: In Mario 64 all the water is Soft Water, however, the water in the carousel area of Boo's haunted mansion serves no purpose but to prevent you from taking fall damage. The only thing there is to do in this water is to go back through the basement area to where you were before you fell.
openSave Deletion Threat Videogame
An entity (or the game itself) threatens to delete your save data, but most often does not go through with it
openPreemptive Strike in RPGs Videogame
In turn-based RPGs such as Mario & Luigi and Save the Light, you can hit the enemy in the overworld to damage them before the battle begins. If the enemy hits you instead, you get a small penalty in battle: you get stunned in the former game or start the battle with less Star Points in the latter.
openDying Is Useful? Making Use of Your Own Corpse? Videogame
Is there a trope for when death is a useful option or directly brings a positive outcome?
I recall an online platformer game where dying is an essential mechanic, you have to die at certain places for your corpses to make a safe platform on spikes, to hold a button down, etc. Your last self's corpse remains where it died as you return to the Respawn Point every time.
I'm wondering if there could be non-video game examples, or instances that don't involve using your corpse as a tool. If there's a trope for that action in particular, I'd be happy to learn about it too.
Edited by BlackFaithStaropenEnclosing Arena Videogame
Do we have a trope for when a game goes into overtime/time is running out, and the game's play area begins to shrink? Like the blocks filling the arena in Bomberman or the electrical wall surrounding & funneling players together in PUBG?
openPrevious villain mentoring current hero Videogame
A scenario where, at the end of the game, the Big Bad pulls a Heel–Face Turn and becomes a good guy. Come the next game, the former antagonist is now in charge of training that game's protagonist. Because, hey, who's a better person to train them in defeating the Army of Ultimate Evil than the person who previously led said army. Bonus points if the setting is magic-based, and their area of expertise is dark magic.
Edited by Gofastmikeopengame starts with a boss fight Videogame
Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Usually a Warm-Up Boss for obvious reasons. Example: Chaos 0 on Sonic Adventure.
openDeleted Content Videogame
A game has something in it, but it's cut out in a later update. What trope is this?

Is there a trope for boss battles in which the boss is able to destroy or otherwise remove parts of the ground on which the Player Character stands? The idea here is that you need to defeat the boss before you run out of floor or get trapped.
Examples include Sonic the Hedgehog 1's Spring Yard boss, in which Eggman picks up floor tiles and destroys them; Petetronic in Epic Mickey, in which he flings gobs of Thinner to dissolve pieces of the floor, the final boss of Super Mario 64 in which Bowser removes the edges of the floating platform Mario is on to make it harder to throw him into the bombs outside, and the second boss battle against Zavok in Sonic Lost World, which is set on a Zavok's snake-like robot, of which segments get destroyed as the battle progresses.