7 Games You Can Fail Before They Even Start

[@kyralynn]

In Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal, saying no when it asks you to agree that the events of the game are fictional has the narrator tell you that you're not allowed to partake of the game and then kicks you back to the start screen.

[@tw1tchyhjf]

I was going to say the same thing it's kinda funny

[@daniellelondon439]

I have this game and totally forgot that this is a thing that happens!

[@bellarmire]

Igor is NOT dealing with Joker’s nonsense today

[@gabib.6190]

lol yeah I did that on my first try of the game... good times :)

[@medusathedecepticon]

Oh wow 😂

[@RanMouri82]

Wow, never knew Doki Doki had a game over for deleting Monika before starting, but the reaction from Sayori makes a lot of sense. Without Monika, Sayori becomes the new class president with the same overwhelming 4th wall knowledge, and it breaks her instantly.

[@Vinemaple]

OHHHHHH! Thank you for explaining that, I'm familiar with DDLC from videos like this, but I've never played it, so I missed that little tidbit, now the secret game over makes more sense!

[@relieved860]

If you boot the game back up after the crash it deletes all the characters and a still image with sayori hung on a white background is shown

[@K-MasterGirl]

@@relieved860 I remember that. Definitely more terrifying that’s 99% of the games in the USA

[@Vinemaple]

@@relieved860 Yikes... I think that might show up in my dreams tonight...

[@pachicore]

@@K-MasterGirl ddlc is a USA made game just for your knowledge

[@michaeltalpas]

The DDLC one is so meta. You delete Monika, but then Sayori realizes she’s in a game and starts freaking out. Showing that Monika was strong enough to handle the knowledge, which of course, Sayori is not. Edited because I misspelled Sayori as Sayuri.

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

I didn't see anything that necessitates the conclusion that she's aware of any details. Watching this I came to the conclusion that Monika and the Club had a significant part of her life and the deletion results in an impact on her psyche. Does she really know what is missing? I think that she just knows that something important is gone. Which is a more horrific form of existential dread. Obviously your mileage varies.

[@Kiss_My_Aspergers]

@Nicol Bolas That *could* be the case, except for one specific, easily-overlooked line: *_"What am I?!"_* That's not something you ask just because you have amnesia. Y'know? Not to be disrespectful; I still like your idea despite that. I just don't believe it's canonical.

[@michaeltalpas]

@@MorinehtarTheBlue Also an interesting idea.

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

@@Kiss_My_Aspergers You're right. And I haven't seen DDLC content in a bit. I forgot, or perhaps didn't even see as it was a let's play, that Sayuri becomes the Club's leader which causes her to become self-aware as a result. Though I will object to her not being strong enough. She was in a bad place at the beginning of the game. She seems to handle it just find when she becomes leader of the Club after the events of the game.

[@Kiss_My_Aspergers]

@@MorinehtarTheBlue Well, in the good ending. She still goes insane and Monika has to save you in the bad ending.

[@Kaya226]

fun fact, the reason why Sayori says that in DDCL is because she is the vice-president of the club, with Monika as the president. however, the president has the knowledge of the fourth wall in this game, so without Monika in it Sayori then becomes the president; this means Sayori now knows about the fourth wall and begins to freak out and say what can be seen from this video, ending in the original game's first ending except you must completely restart the game after this instead of continuing the game like you normally would.

[@Sorain1]

One has to wonder, if the position of president was removed, would the vice-president carry on normally, unaware of the situation? What about that position seems to necessitate/cause awareness?

[@Kaya226]

@Sorain1 from small pieces of evidence within the game you can only assume the knowledge is due to a joint protagonist role in the game, so if you did as you suggest and removed the president role entirely then either the vice-president would still then become self-aware, or both the president and protagonist would have their roles revoked, making the game unplayable.

[@stardustpie1992]

It’s also because video games sometimes have someone who explains the game mechanics to you, hence why Monika is the one who reminds you to save. But it doesn’t usually make sense narrative wise when you think about it, since if you’re not aware you’re in a video game, you’d have no reason to actively mention the controls.

[@StarkSpider24]

Every time I play a visual Novel, the first ending I ever get *without fail* is the “failed to complete any route” path 😅

[@RedSpade37]

Even Long Live the Queen? Or, especially Long Live the Queen?

[@Kiss_My_Aspergers]

*[Gets drunk and falls off a roof]*

I wonder how that would play out in DDLC.

[@sinteleon]

Except in Zero Escape, Virtue's Last Reward, where the first ending you get is always the Golden ending, winning the coin toss and letting you live on with no repercussions. (endgame spoiler below, do not read unless you don't care about spoilers or already completed the game) Except not really, because a future you will hijack said ending, meaning for this ending you very definatively die in the actual golden ending where the future you lives on. But still!

[@groofay]

Good ol' Katawa Shoujo

[@djdomain]

There was a Flash game called DSYP (Don't Shit Your Pants), based on those early DOS adventure games where you type prompts to do things but there were visuals too. The game at the splash screen tells you to type 'start' to begin, you can type 'shit pants' instead, and the game gives you an achievement for failing the game before you even started it.

[@omegahaxors9-11]

The guy who made that did a sequel where you play in the life of Rebecca Black and if you try to use the toilet you just shit your pants with the game chastising you with a "Did you not know who made this game?" The actual function of the toilet is to wash your clothing in the bowl, so yes, a lot of the same type of sardonic stabbing at DOS adventure games as the original.

[@limegreenelevator]

@@omegahaxors9-11 I've yet to see that one. What's it called?

[@omegahaxors9-11]

@@limegreenelevator I'm not sure if you can find it due to flash shutting down.

[@limegreenelevator]

@@omegahaxors9-11 dang

[@Marc_Araujo]

It's not at the very very start, but in Super Paper Mario you can refuse Merlon's request to take on the game's quest proper, and after refusing like 3 times, you get a "Game Over" screen.

[@phenton91]

This reminds of the Brotherly Love video lmfao

[@scottkamps1270]

I have a fancomic of that, comparing Nintendo RPGs to Japanese and Western RPGs. The first two either a)loop 'the question'(wanna save the world?) until you say 'yes', or b)lock you in your starting village until you say 'yes' to it. Then the Nintendo RPG comes along... "Hey Mario, wanna save the world?" "I'll pass." "Alright." o.O "Wait...what did you...?" GAME OVER!

[@nyperold7530]

I would count it, since it happens before you can even do anything besides get through dialogue. The Prey example counts less than this.

[@kyleward3914]

This was all the further I got in the game. I was playing a friend's copy, and, after finding out this could happen, I never did get around to starting it for real.

[@Marc_Araujo]

@@kyleward3914 You missed out. Super Paper Mario is the best one in the series.

[@Toby-Wan-Kenobi]

In Super Paper Mario you can just refuse to save the world and immediately get a game over. This forces you to watch the entire opening cutscene again.

[@globbo2225]

Was waiting for someone to mention this, it’s a very funny moment.

[@friskaioi]

"world's in danger and i'm the only hope? nah, i can't be bothered."

[@GrabnarDaCzar]

This was the exact thing I was going to say. I am playing through it right now and I did this haha!

[@TGVBT640]

it was such a great game 🔥

[@mariorockersxd4919]

That’s…how saving WORK

[@jameswaumsley7701]

In Disco Elysium you can give your character a heart attack in the first screen by trying to grab your necktie. It's a pretty good indicator of what's to come.

[@merepseu]

And now they have a difficult choice: Do they put this in the commenter's edition or do they put it in "7 Weirdest Speedrun Categories" because you're describing the critical path for Death%?

[@BrainStain88]

Came here to say this. I "game overed" on the hanged man screen, riiight after getting out of the hotel. Pretty much anything can end your game in DE.

[@merepseu]

@@BrainStain88 That uncomfortable chair felt like a boss battle.

[@thebigmystery7841]

I nearly thought Id done myself in trying to get away from the hotel guy and fleeing on my bill... 💀 if ya know the scene...

[@MarkEmerAndersonII]

That's not the only way either - you can get it turning on the lights too.

[@goldenmightyena2479]

I'm so disappointed you didn't mention the beginning of Harvest Moon DS, where you can (at least, it's heavily implied, to keep the E age rating) kill the mayor in cold blood by both using your farm tools on him and not stopping your dog from brutally attacking him, which then rolls the credits and kicks you to menu screen. It's downright hilarious to discover that the first time you play, since it's payback for the Mayor insulting you and your inherited farm.

[@xyannail4678]

Can you legit do this or are you over overexaggerating?

[@xyannail4678]

Ayo wtf I just looked it up what did I just witness/see 💀 and this is suppossed to be a 'kid's game'.

[@goldenmightyena2479]

@Xyan Nail I was slow to reply but y e a h you can, I'm not exaggerating at all lol

[@kleverkitsune4363]

I actually died to the helicopter blade in Prey. It was quite funny until I had to rewatch the opening scene.

[@cmdr.jabozerstorer3968]

Me too. I tried it recently (not knowng the outcome but knowing full well the whole scene was fake) and was laughing my head off that they included it in game.

[@SwirlyPinwheel]

The instinct to duck when boarding a helicopter despite knowing the blades are safely high above your head is so incredibly real.

[@mattf5935]

Did this on my first play through just trying to test how realistic things were going to be. Got off to a promising start, 😂. Since I’d never played before, going through the opening scene again wasn’t a big deal.

[@augustaseptemberova5664]

hehe .. same .. the death screen "never showed up for work" x)

[@incredibleflameboy]

I did it in the demo. I figured I'd hit an invisible ceiling but got an achievement for a stupid death

[@lanabanana8265]

There was a PS2 game called Metal Saga where during the starting dialogue, before you'd had a chance to move your character or do anything else, your parents ask if you're really sure you want to become a hunter... and you can say "No", after which your character decides to pick up a normal job being a mechanic. It has its own epilogue and then you go right to credits.

[@evandavis5223]

My brother told me about this one but I couldn't remember the game.

[@Bullman422]

Yeah I picked Mechanic on my very first game run expecting it to keep asking the same question again and again (like so many other games always did) until I eventually gave the correct answer but instead getting the early credits as well. Totally LMAO when I got otherwise

[@pacomatic9833]

bruh

[@troqu]

The game has so many good early endings. My personal favorite is if you propose to the daughter of the mechanic in the next town over and you end up running an illegal munitions trade.

[@bonczy5990]

but that is "completing the game without starting it" (i am referring to the comment, not replies)

[@aidanfolkes]

In the hitchhiker's guide text adventure from yonks ago, if you choose to "sleep" on the first turn, you wake to your house being bulldozed to build a bypass and then the Vogons destroy the planet, leading to the game telling you "Next time, try turning on the light."

[@carolinelabbott2451]

I remember that game fondly. Simultaneously really fun and frustrating.

[@crystalfire5564]

Getting the Babel fish was extremely complicated

[@JasuchinFaron]

@Alex Wolfie An HTML5 version of the game is playable for free on BBC's website

[@TimHendrickson]

There were so many ways to stupidly die in this game.

[@rosykindbunny1313]

THERE'S A GAME FOR HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE?

[@Th3G4m3F4n]

In Chicory: A Colorful Tale, you can end the game without even painting anything. After all the color is wiped from the world and you find the magical paintbrush on the floor, you can simply refuse to take it over and over. Eventually, the game starts the credits in front of blank screens and in complete silence, making you try again.

[@Wh173c0c0]

Starting Hardcore Mode in Kingdom Come: Deliverance comes with a roughly 90% chance of dying before you even get out of the menu, mentioning that you died to numerous medieval ailments (in birth, famine, plague, etc.) before the game could start. New attempts decrease the chance to about 70%, then 50%, and finally 30% before you actually "live" and get to start the game in earnest.

[@roguishpaladin]

Additionally, though perhaps not quite as immediate as your example, it's also possible to get arrested by the town guard and trapped in jail without doing any of the tutorial activities spread across Skalitz.

[@OptimusSledge]

Freaky deaky.

[@CantankerousDave]

So it’s basically Luke’s medieval choose-your-own-adventure, where every choice leads to death.

[@ShadowOfCicero]

There was an old game called MegaTraveler where you were playing as an ex-military bounty hunter. But that meant as part of character creation, you had to scope out how your military career went. It was therefore possible to die in character generation.

[@OrangeDragon04]

You read my freaking mind!

[@minkhollow]

Honorable *really* old-school mention: It's possible to die in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game before Earth is destroyed (not quite 'before you even start,' but effectively so for story purposes). The fun twist here is that it's a text-adventure game, so you have to continue putting in inputs to pass another three or so turns before the Vogons blow everything up... and the game responds with "You keep out of this, you're dead."

[@lazykbys]

I forget the exact words, but there was one response that said something like "You should be working on developing your rigor mortis." Good times. :)

[@oistinmanning7530]

In We Happy Few you can choose to take the pill that makes you see everything as wonderful, ignoring the memories that otherwise begin the game

[@MickiLJ]

I chose that option XD Just to see what happens. Got an achievement for it though so I guess there's that too

[@freshcupofangst]

If you name yourself Gaster in either Undertale or Deltarune, the game will immediately return to the opening cutscene

[@Not-Great-at-Gaming]

Fallout 4 - If you don't go to the vault in the pre-war intro, you'll witness the power of Atom first hand.

[@TheTorturer666]

no, stay and you get the secret pre-war open world. Try it.

[@azuredragoon2054]

Covered already in another recent vid, something about "punished for exploring" I think.

[@armelior4610]

Who's Atom ?

[@Not-Great-at-Gaming]

@@armelior4610 Speak to confessor cromwell in Fallout 3.

[@armelior4610]

I didn't realise the bomb in 3 was literally called Atom, but I know you don't ask about their god to religious nutjobs if you don't have the afternoon free, so I'll pass ^^

[@KeiMidori_]

One that comes to mind is Mystic Messenger that has 2 prologue bad ends. One is that you get kidnapped after repeatedly lying about not seeing a lock. The funnier one is when you just show no interest in taking part of whatever is going on and the game then shows a scene where a few days later, the police apparently arrested a whole cult

[@ACrossTheKnight]

Good Ending? The Protagonist refuses to protagonist

[@OmegaDoesThings]

In Golden Sun, say "no" after going through the Sol Sanctum sequence, and then leave the sanctuary. You get a secret game over screen that says Weyard fell into ruin.

[@PeacefulPagoda]

I never knew this! And I've played 1 and 2 multiple times!

[@ajzephyros7454]

I remember that one! My first experience with such a game mechanic

[@patrickj]

This actually got me back then, I was so used to games looping through the same dialogue over and over, until you agree, so I always tried this to see the - at times hilarious - extra dialogue. Didn't expect that one...

[@randomthunk]

I was going to comment with this, haha. I found it out the hard way - and by hard way I mean on like my third playthrough, not realizing I'd have to re-play like half an hour of the game.

[@Puckaboo]

I immediately thought of that one too! I love the golden sun series, glad to see other people remembering this gem!

[@v0idbird705]

in Drawn to Life, a DS game where you draw your character and a lot of major items yourself, you can get an instant game over by just saying no when youre asked for help at the beginning!

[@meviques9490]

looked for this comment thank you

[@scottlil01]

The jump scare warnings on the Five Nights at Freddy's entry were greatly appreciated.

[@garinarayne5810]

Seconded. Especially as I was washing up while watching. No broken dishes today!

[@oxfanblink4115]

It was great of Ellen 😃 Even though majority of gamers have experienced the jumpscares in some way. Could of been a interesting fear academy if it wasn’t too like Poppy Playtime as well as Ellen genuinely finding jump scares frustrating if they’re too similar after the initial unexpected ones get her. Like Huggy Wuggy’s initial one or Lisa’s first attack due to accidentally loading Andy’s old P.T. save before starting properly

[@benrgrogan]

Yes I appreciated this so much, I hate when I'm watching a random video or oxboxtra list video and an unexpected jumpscare happens

[@daniellelondon439]

Indeed they were, thank you Ellen.

[@daveincognito]

They are much appreciated. I wear headphones, and I don't want my ears to bleed.

[@rickimaru915]

The opening credits music in Prey is an absolute banger. It’s even called ‘Everything Is Going To Be Ok’, which is definitely the vibe it gives off, starting you off on a high note, before everything goes to hell

[@MoonPrincess28]

The fact that you have the option to punch anything and everything, even in the menu of Takechi's challenge has to be one of my favorite things ever.

[@omegahaxors9-11]

They did the game a serious injustice by not pointing out that "punch" is a recurring joke, appearing in every single chat box and always resulting in an instant game over.

[@derpi94]

There might be a grain of truth to the "punch 30720 times on the title screen and beat Takeshi's Challenge" thing: the number 30720 is divisible by 256 (the 8-bit integer limit), so it's not infeasible that the game not only tracks how many times you punch, but also tracks how many times that counter rolls over. It would certainly fit everything else about this game.

[@electricspider2267]

The limit is 255 = FF. 256 is 0100 (or 0001 depending on byte order)

[@electricspider2267]

There are 256 values in a byte. But the limit is 255 because it starts with 0

[@Kaytsune]

When I saw FNAF on here, I wasn't expecting the 1987 easter egg. I was actually expecting the *extremely* low chance that on the first night, before the animatronics even start really moving you *can* get the Golden Freddy jumpscare... if you're incredibly unlucky.

[@xenxander]

I thought that was just a myth started and perpetuated. Never confirmed by the creator and people wasted countless 100's of hours collectively trying to make it happen.

[@kyomado]

@@xenxander Pretty sure it was confirmed to be real after someone datamined the game.

[@Robospy1]

@@xenxander I actually saw someone happen to get the Golden Freddy jumpscare at school when I was little, and it wasn't from the 1987 thing. I've never played FNAF so I didn't know how rare that was until now. I remember he went around showing everyone.

[@DingDangJon]

In Outer Wilds, you can get a game over if you somehow manage to get yourself killed before visiting the Nomai statue in the museum on the starting planet.

[@eleanorgreywolfe5142]

I woke up and saw the campfire and immediately stood in said campfire, and fun fact, fire does indeed burn.

[@keplersdad9058]

I skipped that but tried to fly the model spaceship then immediately jumped in a lethal geyser and got the game over

[@cearnicus]

Speaking of the 80s, there was a game called Global Thermonuclear Warfare. It's a bit of a strange game, where the only way to win is not to play.

[@rjfrost7090]

Saw that movie.

[@ishrod_tweaks]

Good reference!

[@colinmerritt7645]

I remember that game!

[@NemoConsequentae]

_Do you want to play a game?_

[@The_Absolute_Dog]

Sweet WarGames reference.

[@JamesBa08]

In We Happy Few, you can choose to take joy in the opening scene and it ends pretty much immediately.

[@sadpotatochip5930]

Fun fact: In the console version of DDLC, if you delete Monika before starting a new game (only possible after playing through at least once), after the Sayori scene that plays out shown here, instead of crashing, you get a new 'END' screen with a black and white image of Sayori hanging herself again.

[@StriderOwO]

That's also in the original game, however I imagine they didn't show it due to either respect for mental health or due to KZbin being, well, KZbin.

[@ichijofestival2576]

@@StriderOwO Admittedly, some of the imagery in that game is disturbing AF.

[@TornaitSuperBird]

@@ichijofestival2576 More like "most".

[@majinnbuu9363]

I thought that was the real ending, plat through to monika and you alone, delete her go back see ending as she restores the others, reset the "game" delete her again the real ending, reset the "game" again and start over (I have played it on switch like 12 times, still can't unlock like 6 pages/art in it)

[@neoman4426]

@@StriderOwO If I recall you have to reopen it after the "crash" on the original version to get the image. Then if you wait around for a few minutes on that screen text saying "Now everyone can be happy" comes up

[@RainWelsh]

“Mr Takeshi of Takeshi’s Castle made a video game?!” “… nearly impossible to complete…” “Ah, yes.” God I love OG Takeshi’s Castle, sheer insanity the whole way through.

[@SakariWolf13]

Me too!! I used to love listening to Craig Charles' commentary 😂😂

[@MunchKING]

Another game similar to the Matrix one was Star Trek: Borg. In that one Q asks you if you want to go back in time and figure out what happened to your dad, or if you want to obey your commanding officer's orders and evacuate to a safe space station. If you pick the suitcase, he's a bit disgusted with you, but acknowledges your choice and lets you end the game without doing any of the cool time travel Borg fighting you bought the game for.

[@duck-cc4qu]

never played the game but that sounds pretty cool also the speedruns

[@blockeontheleafeon]

I did not expect that failing before the game properly begins unlocks a more difficult campaign. That is an AWESOME little detail I wish more people put in their games. It's a great way to unlock stuff that I never even considered until now.

[@burgermike92]

In the NES game Karateka, you start the game next to the edge of a cliff. You can take one step to the left and get an instant game over. It's downright hilarious.

[@monnamonsta]

I would say it's downleft hilarious tbh

[@pjw5328]

I had the Apple II version and you could do the same on that one. My eight year old self found it endlessly funny. Also, if you tried to just run past the first guard without stopping to fight he’d kill you instantly with one punch.

[@catspawcreates]

Wow I remember that! 😂

[@deraykrause4517]

haha I had the C64 version and it was the same. Also, at the very end, if you approached the chick you were supposed to save and you were in the fighting stance, she'd kick you and you'd immediately die.

[@bryanekers3472]

Related, in the Apple version at least, if you approach Mariko in a fighting stance - boom - instant death.

[@nzephier]

As a kid I did the path of neo one just to see what would happen. I was shocked the game legit went "ok, don't play then..." lol

[@TheManInTheLongBlackCoat]

“The 1980’s weren’t as great as Stranger Things and the powerful hairspray lobby would have you believe,” said L’Oreal’s best customer.

[@valiroime]

The ‘90s were even more lame than the ‘80s (which is saying something).

[@Just4Fun-Zocker]

The 80's were actually a great time. Great music, many great movies and you actually could afford a house and a car with only one person from the family having a job.

[@crax83]

@@valiroime wait! What? The 90's were amazing!

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

People are just nostalgic for the '80s because they emphasize things like Ghostbusters, Duran Duran and the C64, but downplay things like Thatcher, rampant bigotry and the constant potential threat of thermonuclear war.

[@TSD4027]

@@TheSmart-CasualGamer There's always one person who has to bring politics into it. I'm guessing you don't get invited to a lot of parties.

[@captainvaliant]

In the story mode of "Nice: A genetics survival game" you can actually die in the tutorial before Adam even gets to meet Eve, you unlock a rare achievement if you do that.

[@XonyMudd]

I’ve done this before. I wanted to see what would happen if I just never left the starting island

[@dallydaydream]

Luke: [flees] Achievement unlocked! Justin Bailout!

[@matthewrowlett1564]

This needs to be in a game. Perhaps the next Metroid Prime will have an Achievement System of some kind on the main screen, That unlocks bonus content or something, And they'll use This.

[@enavy04]

Nice!😂

[@gamepassghost]

GOLD.

[@n8i8c8k8i8]

Shadows Over Loathing, the new West of Loathing sequel, gives you the ability to do this as well. You start new games with a newspaper stuck on your face, and you need to enter a diner to remove it (and choose your face). However, you can instead choose to walk into the road and get hit by a car before your character even has a face or a name. A hilarious start to the game.

[@lightyoshiman]

not sure if this counts but in luigi's mansion 3 at the very start of the game when King boo reveals he capture mario and the others if your not careful he can actually catch luigi in a painting and you get a game over right there before you even truly start the game its honestly one of the more depressing and quite frankly scary game over screens as far as mario games goes

[@drawingdragon]

I failed it the first time goofing around and was honestly shocked. The Luigi's Mansions games go hard sometimes

[@thevioletbee5879]

I failed my first attempt for some reason. It’s actually pretty tight.

[@tiacat11]

Nintendo making the first Luigi's Mansion: So we have this extremely depressing Bad End image, showing that Luigi failed to rescue Mario and kind of implying that he may now be cursed by the ghosts... hm you're right, this is too dark, it might scare kids. Let's keep it clean and child-friendly! Nintendo, making the third game: Actually,

[@AngieEnder]

Can we talk about how they put warnings before the jumpscares? As an extremely skittish and easily startled person, those warnings were a lifesaver and I so appreciate them!

[@NutmegBGB]

I agree, it was a wonderful touch

[@Pyrothepyro1]

haha imagine not being completly imune to jumpscares by watching scaryvideos when you were five and scarring yourself💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@lozey8317]

In ''Return Of the Obra Dinn'' you are supposed to row a small boat out to a suspiciously empty ship to investigate why all the crew disappeared. Except that you can decide it's not worth the hassle, get back into the row boat and leave immediately, failing the investigation.

[@shadowmancy9183]

There's also an achievement for just blaming the captain for everything without actually investigating.

[@Vinemaple]

I damn near did that in my first playthrough, not on purpose, but just overthinking how to find a clue I'd missed, which was stalling my progress. Probably one of the more hidden sets of present-day remains.

[@flershnork]

I recently learned that in Outer Wilds you can get a game over, which you can normally only get by disabling the Ash Twin Project and then dying, by dying before you ever link to the nomai statue.

[@mewcrun6764]

You can also game over by causing a paradox in a few places, which gives you a sped-up version of the credits with the best track on the OST, “A Terrible Fate”

[@nonspiderweb]

I would have included Night Trap, where you can "fail" the opening cinematic because it suddenly throws you into gameplay with no heads-up.

[@doctaflo]

THANK YOU for the jump scare warnings!! (for real, I watch this to wind down on my way to sleep)

[@Rosie-fk1xs]

In a similar vein to DDLC, Cafe Enchante has one of my favorite first choice game overs. What makes it special is the feeling of horror and dread when you take a moment to think about the consquences of this ending because at first it just seems like a normal bad ending. The main character inherits her grandfather's cafe and goes there to see what it is like. Players are presented the choice whether or not to flip the sign to open at the back of the cafe. Flipping the sign to open starts the supernatureal cafe romance that slowly becomes more horrifying as the story goes on. Not flipping the sign open, the main character returns to her job where she is constantly overworked and verbally abused. Now that doesn't seem terrible otome bad endings concerned, Orlock's bad ending is far more traumatizing, but what happens to the other characters. Canus is forced to keep killing, as part of a never ending cycle to keep the world tree from eating everyone. Faries still being sacfriced to be the World Tree's Bride. Ignis is stuck with the person who is quietly manipulating him to become a world devoring monster, while Ignis is trying to prove that killing does not need to be the way. Rindo is unable to talk anyone about the grief about his sister's incident, while Mikado experiements on himself in an effort to turn Rindo's sister, Mikado's girlfriend, back human after she was transformed into a slimly life force sucking non human. Il is trapped constantly watching the gateway to the cafe hiding for the Heavenly World's hunts where he will either waste away or be captured and brainwashed to be a mindless, emotionless killing machine once again. Myisr is trapped alone in a world where only he and the world are the only things that can survive there. Myisr's touch forever turning everything to dust, surrounded by the people that died when the arrived in that world. AND that's ignoring the oncoming end of the world as The End of the World, the world Myisr is on, is obssessed with the main character constantly trying to reach her which is breaking the fabric of reality. Worlds slowly start to disinagrate even if The End of the World doesn't want that to happen. And what does the End of the World want with the main character... To destroy her human form and combine both of their conscious until they are one being, so he will never be alone again. YEAH its a pretty bad ending for all involved.

[@GeoNeilUK]

Hush Hush: Only Your Love Can Save Them is kind of like this. You can say nay to the goddesses at the start and get an ending that in and of itself has implications. You don't go to Subrosa. You don't meet the Destined Girls. You don't save the Destined Girls. Dorian kills them all, including his sister. Same thing happens if you choose to go straight to the airport instead of facing off with Dorian. You get to take *ONE* of the girls home with you. But Dorian's still alive and the other four Destined (and any future Destined) are still at his mercy. Face off with him and you take none of the girls home and they forget your contact details. You never see any of them again. It's was just holiday romances.

[@Vinemaple]

Wow, Jesse Jerdak hit the nail on the head when he said, "you don't write the story, you write the story that will happen if the players don't involve themselves," and this takes that to the next level. Also, how did you manage to post this without any of it being auto-hidden?

[@Rosie-fk1xs]

@@Vinemaple Congratulations! You activated my literature nerd trap card. As a surprise, you get a mini essay as I actually wrote a paper on how visual novels, especially otomes, can push storytelling in new directions. Also I have no idea how it isn’t auto hidden, I barely comment on KZbin. So I think with otomes, dating games for women, they need to have either a good story or good characters to make people want to play. As much as I hate to say it, some mobile otome games really understand this. The high stakes whether be for the character or world makes people want a happy ending. Many console otome games are 40-60 hours long so it has to keep players invested. The writer of Cafe Enchante has a love for mixing philosophical and social questions into their dating games but there are plenty of otomes with narratives that go beyond dating (I am still mentally recovering from Collar X Malice and both Psychedelica games). There are two games I would highlight that understood “writing the story without the player” way too well. Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk actually forces the player into playing the ending of what would happen without the player before you can get any of the bittersweet good endings. Somehow the sequel to a dating game that is an examination of grief can get even more depressing. Sadly a mobile one but Mr Love Queen’s Choice is actually a meta narrative on storytelling in video games, so it actually explores that idea. It also forces players to read what happens without involvement and has it be a canon part of the story, yippee for time death loops but also how did this start of as a let’s save my father’s company game.

[@Vinemaple]

@@Rosie-fk1xs Wow, thank you! it may be hard to believe, but that was fascinating!

[@Sorain1]

@@Vinemaple That pretty much applies to TTRPG scenario writing. "If no player intervention: Than what?" lets one keep it consistent once players get involved and the fun begins.

[@rysterproductionsdoinyurmom]

another game I that has something like these is Drawn to Life, a game where you draw and play as your own hero, in the beginning the town is surrounded by darkness, everyone has left and a character called Mari begs for your help in which you can actually say "no", then she just says "then I guess it's all over" and you go back to the title screen before you even got to make the hero

[@foxmind2490]

In “Kingdom Come Deliverance” right after you finish talking with your mother, you can skip talking to your father and go attack the local guard. If you agree to go to jail, you get a cutscene of your jail cell being lit on fire as the town outside also burns during a raid.

[@torgranael]

I was surprised when I got that. Honestly just expected a simpler game over screen or a time skip.

[@foxmind2490]

@@torgranael Same here. It was actually the moment I realized I had to start playing this game very differently. A tad more realistic, and a little less Arcady Play style

[@colemanroberts1102]

In Nethack, one of the grandaddies of the rogulike genre, it's possible to die on turn 1 if you happen to make a chaotic character with a fragile class like wizard or tourist and have autoloot turned on in the settings. There's a 1 in 3 million chance of the game spawning a holy sword at your feet, which you automatically pick up. It, being lawful and intelligent, then beats you to death like the evil doer you are.

[@cynthiaedith4122]

Wizard:Now Time to start my adventure ohh a sword best grab It Sword:Oh hell naw

[@EricJohnson-vg1sz]

Best I ever did is turn 2. Took a step, rock trap as a wizard, death.

[@mychatpalace]

you can fail "we happy few" if you take your medication when Arthur begins to remember his brother Percy from a newspaper article. less than five minutes into the game.

[@princeami7344]

My favorite is GhostMaster. During the opening some teens use a Ouija Board and ask "is anybody there?" You use it to name your save profile but if you say no, the game closes.

[@aliceg3184]

On the very first screen of Space Quest 2, you can die by stepping off of the ship whose exterior you're cleaning and floating away into the void of space. Ahh, good ol' Sierra games.

[@baileywatts1304]

you can also type "win game" in the first screen and immediately trigger the ending cinematic

[@pjw5328]

@@baileywatts1304 Ha ha, that reminds me of the Monty Python and the Holy Grail PC game. One of the options on the main menu screen was “Collect Grail.” If you click it a bunch of bells start ringing like you hit a slot machine jackpot, the Narrator heartily congratulates you for winning the game and thanks you for playing, and you get kicked right back out to the DOS prompt. That’s like the opposite of this video’s list though - “Games you can beat before they even start.”

[@cericat]

That's basically every AGI Sierra game, step out of the closet at the wrong moment in SQ1 shot, too long you die as the Sariens leave. Leisure Suit Larry 1, step into the street and boom. Police Quest 1, don't have a shower and dress in time. King's Quest 1, IIRC you could walk into the moat on the first screen and drown but it's been 30 years so I could be misremembering. Quest for Glory, aka Hero Quest 1 you can get smacked down by the sheriff's goon... Some of the SCI remakes and later entries at least toned down the ease of failure but generally still had room 1 ways to die/fail. Also PQ generally failing to read the manual was a good way to fail fast because you failed to follow procedure.

[@MatthewMorris6148]

Oneshot: In the 2014 version (and this is the only “game over” possible in any version) closing the game doesn’t save your progress. Instead, when you reopen the game you’re treated to a main menu that looks a bit different. Niko is missing, with just their scarf and hat remaining, and the lightbulb in the title is destroyed. If you try to continue the game, you get sent to the starting area, no Niko or anyway to move the camera, and then after a minute you get a pop up telling you that Niko is dead. Then the game crashes. Repeat every single time you try to start the game. There is no way to continue. Except file editing, but who counts that.

[@mantis638]

In Nier automata, you get a few different endings for dying during the tutorial. You could also just wander off to get endings as well.

[@rivenoak]

ending w aka broken [w]ings you may fail within first minute or so

[@smokyprogg]

Golden Sun has a great one where you get past the tutorial and have a typical "are you ready for your quest?" style dialogue with a town priest. If you refuse to accept enough times, eventually the screen fades to grey with a dialogue about the world slipping into destruction and it boots you to the main menu

[@phofire77]

I listen to a lot of KZbin videos while at work. But I had to pull the phone out rewind it just to see how adorable Ellen was dodging fake bullets in the chair.

[@gsgaming6976]

Just to see how adorable Ellen is *all the freakin time* Fixed that for you.

[@zooropa04]

Star Trek: TNG for SNES had a code where every planet was uninhabitable and transit time was instant. I swear I once figured out a pattern to it all, only to face endless swarms of Chodak spaceships that eventually wore me down.

[@Paledem]

Not sure if this is early enough, but in Dishonored, you can walk off a ledge onto a guard's head before you reach the empress. This triggers a game over before you've even hit the combat tutorial. (I believe the ledge is near where Campbell is standing for his portrait, but it's been a few years.)

[@ErikratKhandnalie]

I remember doing that! I have a habit of over-exploring tutorial/starting areas in a new game, and I killed myself a couple times in that starting area before I got bored and moved on towards the empress.

[@1337m4n]

In Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok, you can pass out from exhaustion during the combat tutorial. This being one of those games that has a unique message for every possible way you can get a game over, the game has a bit of snark for you if you do this.

[@mrleehoi]

Bit of a throwback, but in 1987's Grange Hill: the Computer Game for the ZX Spectrum & Commodore 64, you can immediately die by walking left, instead of right on the first screen.

[@0ceanicify]

Just say No!

[@CaptainATG]

@@0ceanicify “Oh, Gonch…Gonch. You’re never going to get that acting job in EastEnders now.” -Ashens

[@thelastchannelonyoutube]

Surprised you didn’t mention how the original pc version of Quake required you to preform increasingly difficult platfroming tasks to choose a difficultly, with the highest difficulty requiring you to jump over lava.

[@dmcgee3]

Well now I have several questions about Luke’s memorable Christmas party

[@alexmacdonald5087]

I feel like it wasn't actually memorable though, in that all I can think of as explanation is very large quantities of alcohol, so maybe video evidence exists somewhere as blackmail, but no one has any memories of the time in question...

[@homidahroun8486]

One of my favorite game overs before the game starts is at the beginning of Torment: Tides of Numenera. You start off answering text chains which can lead to you pancaking yourself as you fall from the heavens. I'll admit, I did this quite organically the first time I played the game.

[@synthetic240]

In Tormet: Tides of Numenera, an isometric CRPG, right after you create a new character the narrator tells you that you're falling from a great height (perhaps sub-orbital) and are hurtling towards the ground. If you choose to continue falling as fast as possible, you will splatter before being able to actually move your character around or make any other choice. Then again, I probably heard about it on this very channel before I tried it myself...

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

I saw Noah Antwiler do this the first attempt of a Live Wire

[@Lynemn]

Don't forget that you get an achievement for dying in this way, and it's one of the few deaths that results in an actual game over.

[@AoD1Ble]

In the survival horror adventure game "Don't Shit Your Pants" (2009) you direct and try to save a balding man in pyjamas via text commands from a most perilous situation. You are supposed to start the game by typing "start" after which you have about 30 seconds to complete your task. You don't have to type "start" though … and you get an award for that!

[@Katitude-do5mu]

What about Kingdom Come Deliverance? Negative perks at the start of the hardcore mode can mean you've bled out or died in your sleep before you've even started!

[@PlsDrea]

I didn't even need negative perks to do that lmaoooooo

[@shadowmancy9183]

@@PlsDrea I got burned with my mother for her being a witch on normal mode. Didn't even make it out of childhood.

[@OriginsOfSkye]

I can't believe they didn't include the hardcore mode of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Where it's possible to die as a baby before the game even starts in order to simulate the harsh realities of living in medieval times. xD

[@SuperLlama42]

An important fact in Doki Doki Literature Club (spoilers) After you delete Monika and restore things to normal, Sayori becomes the head of the literature club and gains all of Monika's self-awareness (Monika was aware that she's a video game character, by the way. It's implied that it comes with the position.) and goes crazy like she did unless you got every CG in the game. So if you delete Monika before the game even starts, Sayori gains self-awareness early. Oh, and Sayori's already VERY depressed at the start of the game, so if you boot the game up after it crashes, she's killed herself and destroyed the game.

[@Ilsezwarts]

Ok, but dying on the menu screen in Takeshis Challenge is really funny xD

[@gruggerduggerhoose]

6:33 the fact that we have never seen this mysterious “monica” on the channel can only mean one thing… she is still stuck in that bin on the 4th floor the poor thing. Or she’s been snatched up by lou bega i guess🤷🏻‍♂️

[@torgranael]

At least with the latter she won't be alone.

[@KernelLeak]

Just Monika

[@MasterKingSirPlease]

"Heads up, jumpscare in 5 seconds" *proceeds to get jumpscared*

[@Michael_Lindell]

Well done! You didn't fail to start this video! You did start this video, right?

[@sandymangamin7159]

What video?

[@Michael_Lindell]

@@sandymangamin7159 Oh dear... Not again.

[@ichijofestival2576]

Where am I? Last I recall, I was opening an oddly large briefcase in an apartment outside of a political convention. And now I'm in a KZbin comment section, and appear to have had a very messy jam sandwich.

[@christophcookit6334]

Game over or should I say not even started?

[@ThomasVvV]

Actually not, I paused the ad to read the comments :DDD

[@joshuah4952]

Not sure if this counts, but in The Stanley Parable, one of the endings is just to close your office door

[@Luwis1337]

I would say it counts because Stanley Parable is about choices and the choice between the two doors is where the game normaly starts, yet locking yourself in makes you finish the story line before it even begun

[@waffleking6871]

Shadows over Loathing has an option on the first screen to "give up" which takes you back to the main menu.

[@LazloRTR]

Or getting run over by a car, you died and it's game over

[@Tekdruid]

Classic example: NetHack. You can fail the quest by escaping the dungeon on your first turn. You might also get yourself instantly killed by falling off your horse or using certain magic potions, scrolls, or wands in an unfortunate way.

[@sengokunadekochan]

In Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, when Takakura asks if you want to try farming during the opening scene, choose "No". There will be a short scene which shows your character walking away and then Takakura briefly talking and then you are kicked back to the title screen.

[@jbz4788]

And in Harvest Moon Ds you can game over by letting your dog maul Thomas

[@xenxander]

That harvest moon was the worst harvest moon. I played it through and was so let down.. and 'another wonderful life' is the exact same game just as a female. There isn't even a free play mode, so after three 'years'.. year one, get married, year two have a kid, year three, have him pick a profession.. then game over, start again.. from scratch. Most of the more interesting content was cut and put as a linked 'friends of mineral town' connection, that you had to have the GBA + linking cable to the game cube + the friends of mineral town GBA game.. then the game actually has content worth investigating and the game is a lot better. That was NIntendo creating their own version of locking content behind paywalls. Friends of mineral town could have easily been added as content to the original game.. but.. nope.

[@sinteleon]

Need a sequel: Games you can win before you even start. :P

[@breakinggreens]

Unironically, thanks for the heads up on the jump scare, there's something about FNAF screams that makes me wince more than other jumpscares.

[@diablotry5154]

@LTNetjak no

[@shadowmancy9183]

It's how mechanical they are, but still seem human.

[@breakinggreens]

@LTNetjak I don't watch let's plays, and I don't even play the games, but most of the screams in fnaf still freak me the hell out.

[@scarymeunster9095]

@@breakinggreens Might be that the sound clips from the first game are derived from a byte of a real child screaming. Not sure about the context, but you can find the original full clip if you search a little.

[@Aviation667]

In “we happy few” you can choose to take joy upon starting the game, instantly showing the credits.

[@dummy_vicc2976]

In pillars of eternity 2, if you refuse Berath's request to stop Eothas twice, she goes through with her threat and return's the Watcher's soul to the Wheel, essentially killing the player character

[@armelior4610]

Same at the end. I love games that makes possible to play a Darwin awards winner character (well for a little while at least)

[@Breadcrumbbz]

I did this in my first playthrough and was honestly laughing so hard, I didn't think it would let me

[@dummy_vicc2976]

@@Breadcrumbbz same lol

[@azrealducain3123]

That Metroid code suddenly being said in complete seriousness at 13:24 made me burst out laughing.

[@Cohult]

King's Quest 6 starts you off on a beach post shipwreck. I promptly decided to see if I could swim. I just as promptly had to start a new game.

[@MarkDeSade100]

The King's Quest series (and other Sierra properties like Space Quest) made it easy to get your character killed in numerous ways. One of the things that made them fun was trying to find every possible way the main character could die (there were some you really had to go out of your way for).

[@snickerdoodlez9210]

YO A FELLOW KING’S QUEST FAN I SEE YOU ARE A FELLOW OF CULTURE

[@vgpowerlord]

The original Dragon Quest game feels like it would do this, but instead it invented the "But thou must!" trope where it refuses to accept your No for an answer.

[@JevinJohnson-CloudShift]

Very kind to mention when the jumpscares are! Much appreciated!

[@RGC_animation]

Actually those kinds of endings aren't even that rare in short indie horror games where you can get a bad ending immediately. How it usually work is like "Do you want to wake up and go to school?" and if you select no, you get a peaceful but albeit unsatisfying ending.

[@ItsJustToe]

Reminds me of the text based Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Get out of bed. Open the door. *You trip over and break your neck in the dark.*

[@Sliver]

Zero Time Dilemma is the third game in the trilogy and has the entire death game that the game is about depend on a coin flip If you actually guess correctly, the host ends the game and releases you right there and the credits roll.

[@slashplane]

This comment randomly reminded me of a game, a VN i think where it starts off MC walking to school, hears a odd sound in the bushes and a guy invites him to take a shortcut to the school through an abandoned hidden bunker (That leads into the school). If you decline you can get an ending "MC haf a normal life at a normal scholl the end" and miss the whole game.

[@JakeSnake07]

In Katawa Shoujo the opening section is basically a tutorial, where you meet all of the major characters, and make introductions. However, in the event that you anger, annoy, or otherwise fail to meet the prerequisites to start a game path with any of them, you get an ending where you fall off a roof and die.

[@stealthy25_]

That’s not a fail, that’s the best version of the game Maybe romancing Kenji was the true goal

[@matthewferguson6524]

@@stealthy25_ * shiver *

[@moodymoosh]

Don't suppose it counts as failing really, considering you just come right back, but in splatoon 3's lobby you can get splatted by the copy machine before the round even starts.

[@lordzeppelin3824]

So the story behind Justin Bailey is actually interesting. See Bailey was actually an old form of one piece bathing suit used in the early 1900’s when swimming started to take off as a leisurely pastime. So when you enter the code “Justin Bailey”, you’re actually saying “Just In Bailey” since you’re in a bathing suit.

[@azuredragoon2054]

Part of what makes this even more glorious is that it IS possible to strip Samus down to a bikini in the NES game. I believe it requires beating the game in the Zero Suit (the "Bailey" outfit at the time) in a short enough time and during the end sequence Samus will be in a bikini and waving at you.

[@NivMizzet89]

Nice save, Justin, but we all know that's not the real reason.

[@DFloyd84]

@@azuredragoon2054 You didn't need a special password, I recall, just beating the game fast enough got you the bikini sprite in the ending.

[@MWSin1]

Common misconception, but it really is just a coincidence of the password system. George Hoover Puddle Head10 Also starts you with the leotard.

[@macgeek2004]

It's not exactly a _losing_ Game Over, but at the beginning of Far Cry 4, if you actually wait the 15 minutes Pagin Min tells you to, when he comes back, you'll automatically win the game and be able to scatter your dead mother's ashes without even firing a shot. XD

[@shinyagumon7015]

Finally some games that cater to my skill level! Also I'm pretty sure that bit about Ellen failing to do the bullet time limbo (you did your best) was not scripted.

[@Zoso14892]

Someone reminded Ellen that she was born in the 80s. That's a standard response, to be honest.

[@wisecatstudioz]

as an honorable mention I'd also like to mention Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors where if you choose the Impossible difficulty you get killed in the opening cutscene, although it technically is an unreleased title as the developers went out of business before it could be released but it ended up circulating the internet around 2005

[@mykal4779]

damn they weren't kidding huh

[@dividendjohnson4327]

Not a video game, but there is a sci-fi TTRPG called Traveller that required you to roll randomly to find out about your character's origins and abilities in the game. The original edition, and I think a few subsequent ones, were infamous for you being able to roll a sequence of events that would cause your character to die, DURING CHARGEN, and then needing you to roll up a new one before the first session even began.

[@Vinemaple]

Oh, Traveler. Never change.

[@jamestriche5480]

MegaTraveller: The Zhodani Conspiracy was an early PC game from the license and it too had that quirky generation methodology, choosing an early career and deciding how long to risk it (affecting stats and income and rank) and you could certainly die easily if you got greedy or a negative circumstance in your rolls, but it didn't end the whole game, just that particular character.

[@gatherer818]

If you're playing with additional splatbooks, not just the core rulebook, you can also die during character creation in HackMaster. Randomly rolling for things that happened in your character's backstory can result in things like "Injured in a training accident, lose 2 Con" on a character that rolled poor Con to start with...

[@DTgamer_Shiver-is-best-waifu]

It's funny how in Super Paper Mario, you can reject the first Pure Heart from Merlon. You don't even move ONCE. Not to mention that Count Bleck defets Mario at the very beginning of the game. He just gets knocked out. The Count kidnappes everyone else for the wedding 😂

[@skarmorydx2989]

Live-A-Live has a fun thing, dont know if to count it for this list but if you choose "The Infiltrator" chapter (Or in the select screen "Ninja/Twilight of Edo Japan") if you decide to walk away from scene, once the chapter lets you move, the game will ask you 3 times to confirm you really wanna leave. If you say Yes all 3 times, a secret "ending" will play out, which ultimately ends in a game over no matter how things go.

[@lnt305]

I bought my dad Subnautica, because he had been really into Fallout 76, so I thought he'd enjoy it. He later told me, he couldn't make it out of the emergency pod without dying in the fire. I didn't even know you could die in that bit

[@PloverTechOfficial]

In Outer wilds by Mobius Digital, you can roll death credits if you fall in the fire where you wake up if you haven’t been put in the time loop yet. Edit: I love hearing everyone’s death screens stories in the replies : )

[@darkprogram]

Or you fall down a high place in the village.

[@Cnvvj]

I ended up being launched to my death by one of the geysers in Timber Hearth to score a pre-game Game Over.

[@chowzan9477]

I jumped into one of the geyser holes out of curiosity and drowned.

[@nightmarethrenody8232]

I died five times before even finding out about the time loop.

[@charleswillhite5375]

@@chowzan9477 same

[@hanablack2495]

In Mystic Messenger, you can end the game in the tutorial by repeatedly refusing to go to the apartment, and being incredibly snarky to Unknown.

[@Amctrovada]

Similar to the Matrix game, if you take your “Joy” in We Happy Few at the beginning it of the game it also ends.

[@MrFairhill]

Let's not forget Super Paper Mario where if you says no three times to recieve the first Pure Heart by Merlon after the intro cutscene, he mutters a line and you get a game over. One of many instances where you can game over by saying no.