Developers like to be sneaky and think outside the box at times, challenging players with unexpected tasks, obstacles, or shortcuts that don’t necessarily focus on playing the game normally. Some titles have subtle or hidden little tricks for anyone to try out.

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It’s rare for games to do that. Often, a title will have players overcome an obstacle by playing the title more. However, there’s something special about having a person do something like dig into the game files, insert an additional game cartridge, or browse a specific website online. Then there are the times when things get meta, ready to throw an unsuspecting player off-guard! So, what titles come to mind here?

1 Martian Buddy (DOOM 3)

A Real Website Was Created That Offered Players A Hint To Access Powerful Equipment Early

The need to listen through audio logs and skim across written emails to find codes and doors for lockers was a bit of a divisive detail in DOOM 3. It did bolster the lore and storytelling aspects of the title, yet it became a lengthy chore for some.

A clever idea id Software pulled off was to include spam adverts for a fictional company called Martian Buddy. A few company-owned lockers can be found in Administration and Delta Labs (Level 2B), which can only be unlocked with a four-digit code on a now-defunct Marian Buddy website. It turns out someone knew of the unfolding events and smuggled in a chaingun and a BFG9000 for someone to use against the forces of Hell. In DOOM 3: BFG Edition, the code was written in the title of an email sent to a specific scientist’s PDA. Either way, players can use this code to get powerful guns earlier than normal.

2 Meryl’s Codec Code (Metal Gear Solid)

Meryl Has Her Codec Number On The Back Of The Game’s Case

“You should contact Meryl. Wasn’t her frequency written on the back of the CD case?” What on Earth was Hideo Kojima thinking about this devious fourth-wall breaker for the acclaimed stealth-action title Metal Gear Solid? This hint puzzled and befuddled players back in 1999, as the game could only progress once Colonel Campbell’s niece was called right after the boss battle with Revolver Ocelot.

While some players just went through random codec frequencies, others figured out what was being said here. A screenshot was deliberately added to the back of the game’s box art with Snake on-call with Meryl, even saying her name to confirm it for keen-eyed readers.

3 Delete Files To Complete The Game (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

The Only Way To Complete The Story Is To Delete Game Files

No one thought Doki Doki Literature Club! was going to be nearly as scary as it turned out to be. That was a huge part of it becoming a global phenomenon with a fanbase counting in the millions.

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In the final act of the game, the facade of a cheery, wholesome visual novel involving dating cute girls is completely shattered, and the player is left with just the Literature Club leader, Monika, gazing directly at the player in her room. No dialogue branches or several game restarts will free the player from this mousetrap. The only way out is, as she hints, to delete her character file from the game’s documents. And that’s but one of the many intricate details in this game.

4 Play Super Mario Galaxy For A Faster Unlock (Mario Kart Wii)

An Existing Save Copy Of Super Mario Galaxy Will Reward Mario Kart Wii Players With An Early Unlock

Mario Kart Wii had more than its fair share of difficult unlocks. Take Rosalina, for example. She can be unlocked by acquiring Mirror Mode first. That can be done by completing each of the challenging 150cc cups. After that, one must get a one-star rating on each of the Mirror Mode Grand Prix cups, which is even more demanding and tricky, as it requires almost perfect scores across the board.

There was a shortcut implemented, however. Being a character who debuted in Super Mario Galaxy, having a save game present on the console would offer a much faster shortcut to acquire Rosalina as a racer. Simply play 50 races, regardless of the outcome. Those who so happened to complete that task and then get a save state on the system before booting up Mario Kart Wii would be greeted with a sudden surprise unlock!

5 A Witch’s Secret Commentary (The House In Fata Morgana)

Reading The Dialogue History Back In The Fourth Tale Reveals Secret Dialogue

Visual novels tend to include a feature that allows players to re-read previously-spoken dialogue or narrations. It’s a helpful inclusion if one needs to look back and revisit previous messages for any particular reason. The highly-praised gothic horror VNThe House in Fata Morgana even utilized this feature quite cleverly.

The game spends a considerable amount of time revealing tragic stories that take place in the central part of the game: a mansion. The fourth story reads more like a fairy tale, interestingly. If one was to read the dialogue history during it, it would reveal additional text written in red. This hidden dialogue is spoken by the main antagonist, scolding and laughing at the protagonist as the tale unfolds. It’s yet another clever detail only keen-eyed players will stumble upon.

6 Secret Records For Mona’s Fans (WarioWare: Touched)

Playing The Game With A Copy Of WarioWare: Twisted On The DS Console Unlocks A Bonus Record

WarioWare: Twisted was a fantastic GBA game that experimented with motion controls for the first time in the series, and it certainly paid off. It was also home to a stellar tune sung by the ever-so-talented teenager Mona. Based on the restaurant named after her, "Mona Pizza" is a peppy, catchy track about the delicious food on their menu.

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In WarioWare: Touched, fans who played the game with a WarioWare: Twisted cartridge on their DS will be treated with a bonus record to play on the unlockable in-game music player: a vinyl of the "Mona Pizza" single that can be played in-game! It even works on PAL versions of the game as well, despite it never being released in Europe and the UK.

7 Hallucinations (Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem)

When The Sanity Meter Is Low, The Game Will Occasionally Break The Fourth Wall To Throw Off Players

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem was a unique title that implemented clever meta tricks that royally spooked players aplenty upon release. Being a survival horror title, if the sanity meter was to drop, trippy effects would start to affect the game. Some of these would even break the fourth wall.

For example, the TV may turn black while the player shouts in pain from enemy attacks, the game will abruptly end and hint at a faux sequel, and so on. The cheekiest trick is when it "accidentally" deletes all data when one attempts to save the game. Each of these results in a flash of light that resets everything back to as things were originally, with the protagonist exclaiming aloud that “this can’t be happening!”

8 Secret DLC Code (Borderlands 3)

Secret Numbers And Letters Are Hidden In The Artwork Of The Game, Which Can Be Used To Unlock Additional Loot In The Second Game

Gearbox had a clever idea to keep sleuthing players busy. Through editing techniques, people discovered that the crafty developers were slipping in secret messages in the form of letters and numbers on Borderlands 3’s artwork among all the guns and weapons. What could this seemingly random cluster of digits possibly equate to, exactly?

If used on the Borderlands website with a SWiFT account, it would unlock Maya’s "Closing Time" head and "Last Call" skin to decorate her with in Borderlands 2. Fans also uncovered additional messages alongside this, like “Who is the Destroyer?” (the final boss of the first game) and “Where is the first Vault Hunter?” Supposedly, more hidden messages are hidden within the art of Borderlands 3, yet to be uncovered…

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