Not the Way It Is Meant to Be Played

Some people will take a Video Game and do everything you can possibly imagine with it... except playing it as they were supposed to.

This is an index of the numerous ways the player community cleverly turns games on their heads, much for the creators' dismay. Over time, many of these subversions get acknowledged, expected, encouraged and finally assimilated into new games, becoming part of standard gameplay. Related to Metagame. Compare Scrub and the Stop Having Fun Guy, who play the game in their very idiosyncratic ways because they think they've found a more fun way of playing than anyone else, even the developers.

Related to Unexpected Reactions to This Index. See also Error Index for unintended things that happen against the player's will.

The entry name is based on a popular GPU manufacturer's slogan.

This is just a page listing the tropes. Please put examples into their proper pages.


 * Video Game Cheats: The most Egregious manifestation. Putting in place a different set of rules that change the game to give you an advantage.
 * Game Mod: Making changes to the original game, or employing its engine to derive new works.
 * Gameplay Derailment: Taking the game's built-in, unmodified mechanics and abusing them for fun and profit.
 * Good Bad Bugs: A glitch is found, exploited, and it actually improves the game to a point it becomes quite something else.
 * Self-Imposed Challenge: If you are already extremely good and utterly bored with the game, it might give you that taste of fresh air.
 * Sequence Breaking: Finding a way to do things in a different order than the game wanted you to do, or skip them entirely.
 * Video Game Cruelty Potential: Abusing the game to unleash your worst instincts, especially when it's not necessary for winning or even built into gameplay. For some reason, it is more popular and easier to pull off than its polar opposite, Video Game Caring Potential.
 * That's not to say Video Game Caring Potential is completely nonexistent, though. It is just harder to pull off from a developer's standpoint. Invoking a caring reaction from players requires appealing character designs and AI good enough to respond to care in a satisfying way. Lazy designs and Artificial Stupidity (which are naturally much easier to produce) tend to irritate players or make the characters seem less deserving of care.