My Favorite “Think Outside the Box” Moments in Games
One cool thing about games is that we feel smart when we reach a solution by thinking outside the box.
Over the years, a few games have really taken me by surprise with the ingenious solutions they offer towards a problem. My favorite ones are:
Danganronpa 2 — Mikan’s Pose
Now hold your horses. I know what y’all thinking: “Isn’t this just pointless fan service?? What the hell is it doing here!?”
Yes… Yes… You’re right that this is fan service (even the game knows that). But rest assured, I promise you that there’s more to it than just fan service.
This seemingly innocuous scene is actually a piece of vital evidence used to condemn a murderer.
Let me explain:
The premise of Danganronpa is a group of talented high school students are trapped inside a school and forced to participate in ‘the killing game’, a battle royale where the only way to to survive is to kill another student and not get caught.
After a murder, a class trial is held in order to find the culprit. If the class is wrong, everyone besides the killer dies. If they are right, only the killer does.
The mechanic in this game is similar to the Ace Attorney series, where the player has to point to evidence that contradicts statements made by the characters.
In this particular case, the culprit managed to commit a murder by causing a blackout during a party, going under the floorboards and stabbing the victim with a skewer from beneath the floor. Because of the blackout, Mikan trips over something and ends up in this ridiculous pose.
The player is provided ‘truth bullets’ — evidence used to contradict character statements (e.g. a bloody knife, a bloody table cloth, character testimonies and alibis). However, one of the truth bullets, “Mikan’s pose,” was so out of place that most people thought the game was just trying to be funny.
But in order to prove that the suspect was guilty, the player must point to Mikan’s pose and ask the suspect “how was Mikan positioned when the lights were turned on?” A pose like this wouldn’t be forgotten so easily, especially not by someone who is a pervert (the killer). Since the killer was unable to recall the pose, he was therefore found guilty.
Portal 2 Co-op Mode
Many gamers have already played Portal, but for those who haven’t, here’s a quick rundown of the game’s mechanics:
The player has a portal gun that can shoot entry and exit portals on certain surfaces. The portals allow them to go back and forth from each other, which allows them to get to areas they can’t normally reach.
One of the tricks that the player learns very early on is by using gravity, they can get to certain places they can’t reach. By shooting a portal at the bottom of a cliff and jumping into it, the player would fly through the other portal with the same momentum. Here’s a diagram showing it:
The co-op mode has the same rules, except there are two players who both can shoot two portals AND they’re allowed to enter/exit each other’s portals. This creates very interesting dynamics.
The tricky puzzle
Throughout the game the players are gradually introduced to new concepts and tricks on how to use portals. But they eventually reach a dead end (course 3 chamber 8) where all the tricks don’t work. No matter what they try, they cannot solve this level without thinking outside the box and using something other than portals.
What was that something?
They had to use their own bodies. By launching themselves, they must collide with each other mid-air and land at the goal.
(the room starts at 2:47)
I remember when we solved this puzzle (which took us a long time), we felt like Einsteins, gave each other an (in-game) hug and moved on to the next puzzle.
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis — Stealth or Guns Blazing?
Operation Flashpoint is an open world military game where you accomplish missions on a large island. The player has freedom on taking the mission or choosing another by going to a different section on the island.
In one of the missions of Operation Flashpoint, the player is tasked with destroying a nuclear SCUD launcher which is heavily guarded with soldiers and tanks. Two options are presented: the player can do it stealthily, or they can go in guns blazing. The player also has the option of calling in air support from an attack helicopter (equipped with missiles) to help them carry out their plans.
Problem is, neither of these methods seem to work. The squad is greatly outnumbered so it’s impossible to win using either of these methods..
There are many ways to beat this level, but they all require some thinking outside of the box.
One of the easiest ways to win is by realizing the most powerful asset was the attack helicopter, but the AI controlling it was horrible.
In order to have a chance, the players have to find where the helicopters located. You can tell which direction they come from when you call for an air-strike, otherwise the map is too big to random search for a helicopter. Steal a helicopter, and take things into your own hands by launching your own air strike. No more relying on stupid AI!
Although the method isn’t foolproof, the player will have a much better chance with this method than the previous ones (which are near 0%).
All in all, games are most memorable when they allow the player to feel clever by thinking unconventionally. Out of all the (100+) rooms in Portal 2, it was that one room that stuck out the most.
Have you ever felt this way about games? If so, which ones?