Random Video Games That Secretly Reward You For Cheating (13 items)

(#9) NieR: Automata
- 2017
For all those completionists out there, you may want to look away; this one might hurt. Some people spend hundreds of hours on each game trying to earn trophies that are sort of meta-achievements in next gen games - they aren't required to beat the game, but they're a fun (and time sucking) way to feel like you've really accomplished something.
Getting trophies can vary a lot in terms of difficulty. In some series, almost no one can collect all the achievements. In NieR: Automata, however, pretty much everyone can earn every trophy easily, provided they have enough cash. Once you've beaten the game three times, a secret vendor will become available in the Resistance Camp, the Strange Resistance Woman, who will sell you every trophy the game has to offer for in-game currency.
(#12) Kingdom Hearts II
- 2005
Not a fan of the Pridelands? Could you do without Halloween Town? No problem. In Kingdom Hearts II, there are a couple worlds that you can skip entirely with no penalty (other than missing out on unique items therein). There's really not much of a trick to it, you just don't go there. A lot of people don't know that you can just opt not to go to Pridelands, Halloween Town, Atlantis, Agrabah, or Hollow Bastion. If you're on a speed run, just breeze on by those.
(#5) The Witness
- Jan 01 2012
The Witness is a next gen puzzle game heavily inspired by Myst. The largely solemn experience is just a series of progressively more difficult puzzles. When you first start the game, you're introduced to the very easiest "puzzles" (which at this point is no more than tracing lines), allowing you to open a couple doors and walk out into glorious sunshine.
This is one case when you should look directly into that sun, because if you do so from a certain angle, you'll notice it aligns with a gate, creating a similar traceable line puzzle. You can use this to unlock that gate and you immediately walk into the final area of the game. Less than two minutes later, you'll stumble onto the final scene.
(#4) Mario Kart 64
- Dec 14 1996
Pretty much every game in the Mario Kart franchise is full of shortcuts - some by design and some unintentional - but Mario Kart 64 might take the cake with 12 of its 16 courses offering a shortcut in some form or another. On one end of the spectrum there's the relatively innocuous cave behind the waterfall on Koopa Troopa Beach, which requires using a mushroom off a conspicuously placed ramp.
On the other hand, there's Rainbow Road, by far the longest (and arguably most treacherous) track in the game, but shortly after the beginning of the course, you can jump off the edge of the track, landing on it far below, virtually cutting out half the course. It's a risky maneuver, but if you pull it off, you pretty much can't lose.
(#10) Star Fox 64
- Jan 01 1997
In the classic Star Fox 64, you may remember a train boss battle where you face-off against the whimsically named Mechbeth. You could always try to take down Mechbeth the old fashioned way, trying to blast him with smart bombs as he sways back and forth with perfect timing.
Or you could ignore Mechbeth entirely, and still take him out. There are eight switch flags and a final "switcher," as Peppy puts it, throughout the level. If you hit all of these as you progress through the stage, you change the train's course before the end of the level, sending it hurtling into a weapons facility and destroying the boss for you.
(#7) Super Metroid
- Jan 01 1994
Power Bombs are extremely powerful weapons in Super Metroid. So much so, only a few exist throughout the game. As such, you have to wait a while before you come across your first one. That is, unless you use the shortcut. In the Norfair area, there's a tall shaft you'll come across you might entirely avoid, but if you can manage a series of wall jumps while avoiding some enemies and finally taking a well-timed shot at one block in the ceiling, you can make your way up into an advanced area. It'll take you through just a couple platform stages until you reach the first Power Bomb, normally unavailable until hours later in the game.