Self-Imposed Challenge: Difference between revisions

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Pastime reserved for the hardcore. You see, most gamers don't have unlimited funds, and are disappointed if their most recent $50 investment doesn't require and reward a month's worth of attention. However, thanks to the gradual demise of [[Nintendo Hard]] over the years, it's becoming increasingly difficult to milk that kind of commitment out of most new games, which can be completed in a weekend without much effort (well, by the hardcore).
 
Enter the [['''Self-Imposed Challenge]]'''.
 
A [['''Self-Imposed Challenge]]''' is a playthrough of a game wherein the player plays under a restriction not required by the game itself in an attempt to increase the difficulty (or immersion) and replay value. These restrictions can range from the fairly simple (a refusal to make use of a [[Game Breaker]], for example) to the near-impossible ("Hey, can you beat ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' without [http://tasvideos.org/1332M.html pressing the "B" button]?"). Check a message board for a game that's been out for a while and you'll undoubtedly find players reporting on their progress in various exotic Self-Imposed Challenges.
 
Gamers will occasionally record these runs and post them on various archive sites. As noted above, the rise of Casual Gamers make these even more of a dedicated pastime than ever before.
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Some of these can overlap.
 
This type of gameplay is one of the staples of the [[Challenge Gamer]]. See also [[House Rules]]. [[I Am Not Left-Handed]] is an in-universe example of this, or rather, an in-universe example of giving up on a [['''Self-Imposed Challenge]]'''.
{{examples}}
 
== [[Action Adventure]] ==
* ''[[Cave Story]]'' has a number of these, mainly the 3 Life challenge which is done by not picking up any [[Heart Container|Heart Containers]]s, and the Basic Weapons challenge, which forces you to only use the three weapons you can't avoid getting throughout the entire game. There is also a timer for Speedruns in the bonus level. By finishing the last level in under 3 minutes you unlock a bonus song heard nowhere else in the game. Completing the last level is in itself an achievement, but finishing it with Minimum Health, Basic Weapons and under the time limit is almost impossible and very much luck-oriented - there is a section where blocks start falling from the ceiling and their locations are completely random. Doing this challenge has been known to test the sanity of some people.
** What's particularly insane is that Pixel (the developer) seems to have expected people to try the Minimal HP run because every single boss in the Normal Ending Final Boss Rush has attacks that do 1 or 2 damage. That normally wouldn't bother the player, having 40 to 50 HP, but with only 3 HP, these attacks really hurt.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask]]'' has the three-day-only challenge, where you can only play the Song Of Time once, and that's when you get the Ocarina of Time from the Skull Kid from the first time loop. For a game that's pretty much made of [[Sidequest|sidequestssidequest]]s, it leaves you with barely much to face the final boss with. Did we mention that you'll be rolling and spinning '''everywhere'''? And let's not get started on the Zora eggs...
** [http://www.archive.org/details/MajorasMask_6DC It's been done, too.] ''With the entire 2nd Night and Final Day to spare''.
** Think that's good? Try it ''[http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9BE435004584413C gathering SEVENTEEN non-transformation masks]''.
** A significantly less insane one is, once all the masks and [[Heart Container|Heart Containers]]s have been collected, [[Video Game Caring Potential|to try and help as many people as possible in one cycle]]. It helps that, once Link completes a dungeon, he can go straight to the boss on subsequent visits.
** Also in this game, beating the boss Twinmold using only the sword (no Giant's Mask).
** Another popular challenge for ''most'' of the ''Zelda'' games is the three-heart challenge (impossible in some of the games in the series, as you are forced to collect some heart fragments), which is exactly what it sounds like: beat the game ''without'' collecting any of the [[Heart Container|Heart Containers]]s that increase Link's [[Life Meter]]. This is easy at first, but quickly gets more difficult as you tackle later dungeons and the game expects you to be able to take more damage than you can...
*** A friend of mine did this on his first playthrough of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]''. Without using any faeries. Including the Cave of Ordeals. He had to quit without saving (losing progress) quite a few times to avoid collecting heart fragments in chest...
*** The hardest challenge for ''Twilight Princess'' would be as follows: 3 hearts, no shield (burn the wooden one as soon as you can and never get a metal one), always using the ordon sword (except for the 2 fights where you NEED the master sword) no hidden skills (besides ending blow), nothing in your bottles, never take off the Zora Armor (anything fire/ice pretty much one-shots you) no bomb/arrow upgrades, no arrows except during bosses and puzzles that specifically require arrows, and lastly, ''[[No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom]]''.
** It was theorized that the original ''[[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' could be beaten WITHOUT USING THE SWORD (because you have to get it yourself). This is actually impossible, although it is possible to beat the entire game except the final boss (for whom a sword of any sort is required). Using the sword only on Ganon has remained a popular challenge. A [http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=32B36810E3EA465E three hearts, minimal sword] challenge turns this [[Up to Eleven]].
*** ''[[Link to The Past]]'' is a good example of a game in which to attempt this, and due to an easter egg, when the Master Sword is seemingly required to deflect Aghanim's beam back at him, one can use the Bug-Catching net instead.
** Also, completing a Zelda game without ever dying is a challenge, because some games such as ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past]]'' have a counter for number of deaths. This feat is acknowledged in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening|The Legend of Zelda Links Awakening]]'', which includes a special addition to the ending sequence if you complete it without dying. This is extremely difficult in the original NES game, though, because you can only save at the Game Over screen, meaning you'd have to play through the entire game in one sitting.<ref>Or know about a secret code involving the second controller.</ref>.
* The Oracle games feature the [[Poison Mushroom|Cursed Ring]], which halves your sword damage and doubles the damage you take, it seems to have been made for this trope.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword|The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]'' features [[Harder Than Hard|Hero Mode]], a mode where you take double damage and enemies can take more damage, and the enemies never drop hearts (but your sword beam starts off at its endgame strength). Now try playing the mode without potions, extra heart containers, upgrades and any medal, and using only the most basic shield available(or no shield at all). And no using the [[Sword Beam]] either, except when it's absolutely needed. [[Schmuck Bait|Go ahead, try it.]]
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* ''[[Devil May Cry]] 3'' and ''4'' encouraged players to take on self-imposed challenges in the form of getting the "S" and "SS" after-mission rankings in order to [[Cosmetic Award|collect bonus artwork]] completely unnecessary for gameplay. In 3, the most difficult-to-get one required a [[No Damage Run]] on top of making the time limit, collecting enough "Red Orb" currency, getting enough "style" points and using no items. The famous player Keith "Pokey86" Poke pioneered the idea of the "Dante Will Die" run, which is a run on the highest difficulty of "[[Harder Than Hard|Dante Must Die]]"... with a fresh game, lacking the usually maxed character that would normally be used. It really forces players to use different strategies, given the lack of moves and weapons that would normally be available. Even more crazy and skilled players have combined the SS run and the DWD run.
** Die hard fans of the first game also like performing fresh runs on Dante Must Die. It's worth noting that, excepting the last few boss fights, it's much easier compared to DMC 3, simply because DMC 1 doesn't beef up the enemies' vitality and defense to the insanity that DMC 3 does.
* ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' on the Xbox featured a Karma system that encouraged players to gather points. Players then took it beyond what Team Ninja had expected, performing Karma Runs that required ridiculous precision and perseverance. Some have also done no item and [[No Damage Run|No Damage Runs]]s, which unlike aforementioned ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' are much harder to pull off. Considering the [[Nintendo Hard|Nintendo Hardness]]ness of the base product...
** The game also features an extremely weak (well, ''initially'' weak...) wooden sword weapon. Naturally, people decided to see how far they could get using only that weapon. For example, check out [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlqy6wQpzHU this video] of a player beating one of the hardest bosses in the game using only that wooden sword and Ryu's kick attack.
 
== [[Beat'Em Up]] ==
* ''[[God Hand]]'' has a built-in [[Self-Imposed Challenge]]: early in the game, the hero has a "Kick Me" sign slapped on his back, which makes enemies stronger. It will fall off if he uses [[Limit Break|the God Hand or God Reels]]. Finishing the game with the "Kick Me" sign still in place (that is, never using those powers) unlocks a bonus: [[Bragging Rights Reward|a music CD.]]
 
== [[Collectible Card Game]] ==
* Variant formats for Collectible [[Card Games]] may be considered a form of [[Self-Imposed Challenge]], especially those that aren't supported for [[Tournament Play]]. ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', for example, has Rainbow Stairwell, in which the player's deck must contain six cards of each color, one of which costs one mana, another which costs two, et cetera, up to six, and Highlander (AKA Singleton), where players build a deck with no more than one copy of any card that isn't a basic land.
** Elder Dragon Highlander, a.k.a. Commander, takes the Highlander format and adds additional restrictions: You must include a Legendary creature in your deck, which determines what colors of cards you may play otherwise, and the rest of your deck must be exactly 99 cards.
** Peasant Magic a.k.a. Pauper requires that your deck either contain only commons, or up to 8 uncommons. Rares are right out.
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== [[4X]] ==
* The flexibility of many [[4X|4X strategy games]] with regard to [[Self-Imposed Challenge|Self Imposed Challenges]] is almost limitless. Some of the more notable variations include:
** One-City Challenge: Complete the game while maintaining only one city (base, planet, etc.) Mostly used in games where there is an alternative to global conquest or where cities can be easily razed.
** No Tech Trading: Your faction must research all of its own technologies.
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== [[Hack and Slash]] ==
* ''[[Diablo]]'' has its very own sub-community based on the premise of "variant characters": characters obeying special rules. The indisputable kings of these variant characters are the ''Naked Mage'' (no armor, no weapons, just pure magic), the ''Beyond Naked Mage'' (whatever armor and weapons you like -- providinglike—providing they're all ''cursed''), and the ''Barbarian'' (non-magical weapons and armor only -- noonly—no magic, no spells, no potions, no fear).
** [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=32067 One player] had a character called IreneTheInfirm: a hardcore sorceress who could not wear or wield anything, cast any spells or assign any stat points, and was thus limited to punching away for 1-2 damage a go, using the act 1 mercenary as the main source of damage (who also couldn't use any items). Somehow, Irene ended up killing Andariel.
** In ''Diablo 2'', a user on the inc.gamers forum demonstrated the story of [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480035 Anna Goanna]. She was an Amazon-class hardcore, as in "if you die you die permanently," character who completed the game on all difficulty levels with only cracked/low-quality items, a summonable NPC support fighter and a hireling fighter. Some bosses took hours to finish. When she finally beat the last boss on the [[Harder Than Hard]] difficulty, her name-personalized cracked sash sold in-game for multiple high-value items.
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== MMORPG ==
* These even exist in [[MMORPG|MMORPGs]]s. ''[[City of Heroes]]'' has the MAN challenge. Essentially, attempting to see how far you can get without using any superpowers beyond "Brawl" and "Sprint." It's considered cheating (and probably rude) to join teams and leech XP from more conventional characters. Due to the way mission enemies spawn, other MAN characters are fine if you can find someone else to join in your insanity.
** ''[[City of Heroes]]'' also added an in-game version in late 2007 with the Flashback system. A character can revisit old or outleveled story arcs and complete them with various restrictions, including a time limit, powered-up enemies, or only certain powers and abilities allowed.
** ''[[City of Villains]]'' has the "petless Mastermind". Masterminds are the "pet" job of the game, and as such playing one without any minions is really, ''really'' hard.
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** The Iron Man challenge has recently gained a lot of popularity for [[WoW]]. The basics are that you may only use the worst gear in the game (no magic items at all), you can not spend talent points to improve your character, you may never trade with another player to get any stuff, and a lot of other more or less ridiculous requirements. And the big one: if you die, you're out.
* The webgame ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has one of the best-integrated self-imposed challenge systems, featuring (once you beat the game) the option to restart with any of the following restrictions: Cannot consume food (which normally lets you use more adventures per day), cannot consume booze (ditto), Oxygenarian (combination of both), Hardcore (cannot receive outside help from virtually any source), and Bad Moon (which dumps you back at the start with none of your items or familiars from previous games, ''in addition'' to being in Hardcore ''and'' occasionally subjecting you to adventures which give you advantages that are counterbalanced by disadvantages). If you successfully complete a game under these restrictions, you'll obtain special items at the beginning of your next game, such as extremely potent food items or powerful equipment.
** Another challenge is the 100% Bad Moon Black Cat run, where in addition to being in Bad Moon, you must find a Black Cat, make it your familiar, and use it for every combat. The cat doesn't like you using skills, steals your MP, decreases your stat gain and blocks you from item drops. The reward for this is the permanent ability to play Bad Moon. Keep in mind that unlocking Bad Moon in the first place requires its own [[Self-Imposed Challenge]] of completing a hardcore run without using any ten-leaf clovers, and this only unlocks it for your next run unless you follow the additional steps to permanently unlock it.
*** Of course, since clovers don't drop in Bad Moon and you can't access your items from previous runs, you can always follow one Bad Moon run with another one (unless you retrieve your items and use a clover for some reason after freeing the King but before Ascending).
** The 'Bees Hate You' run, where enemies with the letter 'b' in their name are tougher, equipment with 'b's in their names hurt the PC at the beginning of every fight, you cannot use any consumable items with a 'b' in their name, except for quest-specific ones, that now deal damage when used, and tough bee enemies will randomly appear.
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== [[Real Time Strategy]] ==
* It is possible to complete ''[[Pikmin]]'' without ever getting Blue Pikmin, though you still do need to use them in some sense--theresense—there's a flower that allows you to transform a handful of pikmin into blues, but they only appear at very rare points in the game.
** It's possible to beat Pikmin 2 (collecting 10,000 Pokos) without ever leaving the Valley of Repose. This takes a while since eventually your only source of treasure will be mook corpses, which go for 10-15 Pokos each.
* ''[[Warcraft]] III'' allows a player to set the max HP on EVERYTHING they make (units, heroes, buildings, etc.) to be 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or the standard 100% before the match begins.
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** Instead of using all of the fingers on their fretting hand to hold down notes, some players make things more difficult by choosing to forgo the use of their pinky, or their pinky AND ring fingers, the latter of which is sometimes called 'Django Mode' after the guitarist Django Reinhardt, who only had full use of two of his fingers. Amazingly, at least one player has five-starred every song on Expert using only two fingers.
** ''[[Dance Dance Revolution]]'', in a similar vein, has similar self-imposed customization options for the absurdly hardcore. Would you like to play this dance backwards with no visible steps at several times the normal step speed?
*** If you're playing backwards, then the "increased step speed" doesn't make much of a difference -- itdifference—it only changes the rate of speed the arrows scroll at. It doesn't change the song's actual tempo. BUT! What about playing with the arrows at an inconsistent scroll speed (Boost/wave), with the pattern randomized (Shuffle), and the arrows appearing -just before they're supposed to be hit- (Sudden)?
*** On the other side of the spectrum, we have actual performance players, who will put out elaborately choreographed routines, [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|complete with knee drops, innovative use of the safety bar, spins and sometimes even flips]] just for the sake of doing so.
*** To say nothing of the [[Do Well, But Not Perfect|all-Great]] challenges. MUCH harder than it seems.
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== [[Roguelike]] ==
* ''[[Nethack]]'' is worth mentioning as an overarching example: it features a bevy of voluntary challenges, including a [[Pacifist Run]], an "atheist" run (not using the "pray" command to ask favors from the gods, or dropping anything on altars to test for alignment, or chatting with priests, or...), an "illiterate" run (not reading anything, and not writing anything beyond the letter X), a "foodless" run (not eating anything, including non-foods), and for the truly psychotic, combinations of any or all of the above resulting in things like "wishless genocideless polyitemless polyselfless illiterate atheist weaponless vegan" (actually achieved). You get nothing for completing these other than satisfaction, but the game will keep track of what you've accomplished. ''Nethack'' is already [[Nintendo Hard]] of itself, so these challenges add replay value only for the truly hardcore.
** It gets even more bizarre when you get into the fan-created challenges. The strangest: "Zen" -- going—going through the entire game blindfolded. Only a tiny handful of recorded Zen completions are known: samurai (one of the two classes that can start with blindfolds in the inventory), rogues (the other class who can start with a blindfold), and at least one ''tourist''. The tourist used [[Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy|a towel]], of course.
** Most [[Roguelike]] games have similar challenges; ''[[Angband]]'', for example, has "no artifacts."
*** Another challenge is the Ironman challenge, where you can never go up any staircase, and can never return to the surface by any means, until victorious.
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*** Aluminum Man: Ironman, only you are allowed to do the Village Dungeon quest first (gives you ~6 levels before you enter).
** Steelman: Survive in the wilderness, and the wilderness only until level 50.
** Eternium Man: Never enter a village or city, may not read books in the wilderness. Now; stand in one place in the Small Mountain Cave. This is difficult because the SMC is the most dangerous location in the game: monsters spawn faster and have double your experience (typically a character can fight something up to about 5 to 10 levels higher than he is, depending on what it is--evenis—even small white mice get dangerous in the SMC). Survive to level 50, then you can leave. There is only one recorded winner, which got extremely lucky and was able to abuse game mechanics to become [[A God Am I]] thanks to lucky spawn.
** Titanium Man: Complete the game lowest level possible ([[Low-Level Run]]). One player ran a troll (which, as the dumbest race, learns very slowly) and finished at level 1, with 86 xp. The only monster slain was Andor Drakon (worth 1 xp, presumably the rest of the xp was from sacrifices).
** Mercuryman: This one is fun. Use melee weapons as ranged, and ranged weapons as melee. Rocks (an abundant missile) make a great melee item.
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** Archmage: [http://ancardia.wikia.com/wiki/Archmage Raise a character capable of casting Wish at will].
** Brimstone Man: Go straight to the Tower of Eternal Flames ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|guess what it's like]]), and don't exit until you have the [[Artifact of Doom|Chaos Orb of Elemental Fire]] in your possession. Extremely difficult, as most level 1 characters will be burned to ashes within several turns (along with their equipment), and the Tower contains many high-level monsters and a nasty boss. There has been one save-scummed completion, just to prove it's theoretically possible.
* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'''s [[Self-Imposed Challenge|Self Imposed Challenges]] come in four varieties: Self-imposed challenges where players abstain from some gameplay feature like not brewing any liquor, starting build-related challenges like starting with only unskilled dwarves, location-related challenges like building a fort in a place with an aquifer or goblin tower, and megaprojects, which are huge constructions undertaken only to satisfy the player's ego.
** There is a huge list on the [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Challenges df wiki].
*** There's another, under the title "[http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/40d:Stupid_dwarf_trick Stupid Dwarf Trick]". Several of them have listed Usefulness ratings of "none", "[[Pointless Doomsday Device|none, by definition, but highly amusing]]", "negative", "limited", "questionable", "[[Rule of Cool|marginal, but very cool]]", and, for the underwater statue room, "absolutely, positively none".
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* ''[[Earthbound]]'' has numerous [[Randomly Drops|1-in-128 items]]. These range from items you can't find in stores (such as the Sword of Kings and the Xterminator Spray) to items you can get well before stores ''stock'' them. Numerous fan quests have arisen as gamers try to get every one of them.
* Playing ''[[Final Fantasy I]]'' with a party of four White Mages is a popular one. The early-level characters are so weak that a battle with goblins can reach epic proportions.
** Solo quests are also popular, and the truly hardcore will try both -- thatboth—that is, soloing with a weak class. This is so hard that there are whole FAQs available for beating the game with one Thief, one White Mage, etc.
** Due to Sequence Breaking, it is possible to reach the Castle of Ordeals much earlier than thought possible, as well as getting the airship very early. This has led to the Level 11 Class Change, which is only possible by running from all battles and fighting only the mandatory fights before Class Changing.
* ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'', predictably enough, has at least a couple to call its own: Freelancers-only, Four Class Challenge, and a popular variant of the latter, the Four Job Fiesta where each character is assigned one class per crystal.
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* The diehard ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' community is the king of them all. Not satisfied with the already insanely difficult bonus content, such as the [[Monster Arena]] or the Dark Aeons and Penance, there's a massive array of guides on [[GameFAQs]] devoted to beating the game with various limiters mixed and matched, from No Sphere Grid (which entails no stat bonuses or new abilities whatsoever), to single character challenges, to the current king of them all, The No Sphere Grid No Summon No Overdrive No Escape No No-Encounters No Blitzball No Customize Challenge, which mainly involves stealing and throwing items with Rikku and [[Save Scumming|praying]] for certain equipment drops.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' has quite a few of these. The "Natural Magic" challenge, where you forgo the use of all Espers (or any equipment that offers spells); thus, the only magic that is available are characters who learn Magic through the natural process of leveling (hence the name). This also nixes any form of Esper-based stat boosting, so it is quite difficult. The "CES" challenge is another popular one; you must beat the game using only Celes, Edgar, and Setzer when the game doesn't force other characters onto you. These are the only three characters you ''must'' have when assaulting Kefka's tower. Combining CES and Natural Magic is only for the highly skilled.
** [[Solo Character Run|Solo Character Runs]]s with Natural Magic are also popular. Difficulty ranges from the challenging but doable Terra to the near impossible Relm, Cyan and Umaro. [[Low-Level Run|Low Level Runs]] are common, too, through skilled use of Gau's abilities, among other things.
** And if Natural Magic games aren't hard enough, you can attempt the No Equipment Natural Magic Game(NENMG). No Espers, armor, weapons, or relics can be used at any point during the game, so your characters' ability to deal damage comes ONLY from their natural abilities(Blitz, Rage, etc.). Simply grinding to level 99 is forbidden, and every optional quest must also be beaten, except for the Magi Master.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' arguably has the nastiest of these in the form of the "no junction" challenge, sometimes known as "No GF" challenge. No character can ever equip a GF at any time for any reason throughout the entire game. This cuts off access to every skill you get other than attacks and limit breaks, meaning you only get two characters capable of healing your party in any way, get no way to resurrect fallen characters, and no access to the stat boosting junction system which is required to get stats that are in any way passable. Despite all this, apparently somebody did this without resorting to the game's [[Game Breaker]]. It apparently took him 200 tries to beat the final boss.
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** A more minor challenge is challenging Gym Leaders with exactly the same number of Pokemon the Gym Leaders use.
** There's a related version called the [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Nuzlocke "Nuzlocke Challenge"], named after the comic of the challenge's creator. The challenge is simple: All [[Non-Lethal KO|faintings]] are [[Final Death|permanent]] (either via releasing or just keeping them in a box permanently), and you're only allowed to catch the first pokemon you see on any given route or cave. Also, you need to give all the Pokemon you catch nicknames. Completing the challenge? [[Captain Obvious|Less simple]].
*** There are also optional rules some players add to make it even harder like not using items... or ''only'' using items. <ref> i.e. ''no healing at pokemon centers''</ref>
** Another challenge would be facing uber-high level [[Bonus Boss|Bonus Bosses]]es ''using only level one Pokémon.''
*** Yes, that is possible. Now try it without Focus Sash.
**** or any pokemon that have the study ability.
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** Enter [http://www.youtube.com/user/Bizkit047 Bizkit047], who meets the above description and has ''more restrictions'' for several of these fights.
*** Want to get an idea of what it takes to be this good? Watch some of these hard Lvl. 1 CM no damage fights with restrictions: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG1UGrpfLRY&feature=PlayList&p=9698BB755A437CB9&index=113 Terra] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYxuneOic_0&feature=PlayList&p=9698BB755A437CB9&index=101 Saix Data].
*** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xlYZotba7U&feature=PlayList&p=9698BB755A437CB9&index=94 Xigbar Data] with all these restrictions is simply insane.
*** Do not forget his several hacked fights. One Sephiroth? Make it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=engLExDtZto&feature=related two]. Watch this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq-HgzQ0d-4 Xigbar x2 + Xaldin fight]. Make sure to look at related videos and look at the other hacked fights from there (such as triple Sephiroth and quintuple Sephiroth/Terra).
** In ''Re:Chain of Memories'', Bizkit047 also takes up the no HP+ Challenge on Proud.
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* Certain [[Shoot Em Ups]] where it's possible (e.g. the ''[[Touhou Project]]'' games) have challenges such as No Horizontal/No Vertical, which, depending on the stage or the game, can be deadly hard, if not outright impossible, even on Easy. Others include no Focusing, which requires innate knowledge of the player's hitbox, 1lc, which is not dying at all, 0b1lc, which is the same thing... but no bombing either.
** For a particularly masochistic challenge, try hacking ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'''s [http://touhouwiki.net/wiki/Embodiment_of_Scarlet_Devil:_Gameplay#Rank rank] to the highest point, as seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iknyy3R2eA8 here] (or [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRNkJTUInAU worse]) -- Flandre's formerly simplistic non-spell patterns turn into nigh-unavoidable death traps, and her final card is nightmarishly fast.
** Scoring high in the games itself is a [[Self-Imposed Challenge]]. Scoring high in ''[[Touhou]]'' involves making things as dangerous as possible: grazing thousands of bullets, often using your bombs to clear away bullets, then ''suiciding'' to reset your bomb count and get even more points. A compendium of [http://touhouwiki.net/wiki/High_scores world records can be found at TouhouWiki.] If you download the replays on the page, you will be ''astounded'' at the challenges the players put themselves through. The world-record ''Subterranean Animism'' replay by "yukarin" is particularly notable, getting very close to maxing out the graze counter at ''97,585 grazes.''
* [[Giga Wing]] is infamous for its [[Pinball Scoring|ridiculously inflated scores]]. Some players play just the opposite of the way it was meant to be played; by aiming for the lowest score possible, or even not scoring at all for as long as possible. The latter is essentially a [[Pacifist Run]] on steroids; you get awarded points for having bombs at the end of a stage.
** Zero-score runs are much easier to do in its sequel. Your score multiplier starts at 0, which means you won't score a single point if you never collect a medal. Same with [[Spiritual Successor]] ''[[Mars Matrix]]''.
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** For those interested a list of just some of the challenges can be seen here [http://forums.sims-community.com/forumdisplay.php?f=74\]
* The same goes for ''[[Sim City]]'' in all its forms: while some versions have "scenarios" that give you a goal and a time limit, most players set their own aims for the game in general. As a result, the ''[[Sim City]]'' community has come up with a number of challenges to keep players entertained when they run out of ideas.
* Once people are sick of playing ''[[Tamagotchi]]'' the normal way--toway—to keep them alive and happy as long as possible, they do the opposite; try to kill them off as fast as possible.
 
== [[Stealth Based Game]] ==
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' and beyond was made with this sort of thing in mind, with various ranks and accomplishments. There is the [[Pacifist Run]] (which nets you at least a Pigeon rank and is needed to get higher ranks), the [[Stealth Run]] (which nets you at least a Chameleon rank and is needed to get higher ranks), and a no-kill no-continue no-Alert [[Speed Run]] on the highest difficulty will get you a suitably heroic title, usually Big Boss. There's stranger challenges (like [[Gotta Catch Them All|eating all possible animals]] in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3'' which nets you the [[Extreme Omni Goat|Markhor]] rank), and there's still a slew of strange player inspired ones, such as using only the handguns or completing the whole game while smoking a health-sapping cigarette. There's also some very bizarre bonus titles that take a strange mind to get or see the worth of getting - ending ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 2'' with a Ration-eating sea louse in your inventory nets you the Sea Louse rank, and ending ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3'' with a Stamina-sapping leech attached to your body gives you the Leech rank. Kojima has claimed the reason he included the [[Shirtless Scene|Naked camouflage]] in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3'' was to 'make players want to finish the game without using clothes'.
** Various diet-based runs of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3'' are popular.
* ''[[Thief]]'' players originated the "Ghost Run" -- finishing—finishing the game without being detected or leaving any trace of your passing other than missing treasures. Some take it so far as to re-lock every lock. Ghost runners will try this challenge in any other game that it appears to be doable.
 
== [[Survival Horror]] ==
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** It has also been beaten using a single class and no out-of-class abilities with ''every'' class, though with a full party. This notably includes the Calculator, whose ability is to cast other classes' magic on all characters fitting certain criteria on the battlefield - but you don't ''learn'' any of that other magic in this challenge, and the Calculator "chassis" is weak, fragile, and '''incredibly''' slow. Another FAQ was written to tell you how to fight every battle with the Calculators, sometimes all the way to turn-by-turn strategies. It still comes down to [[Luck-Based Mission|pure luck]] for many of them.
** The only solo class run that has been deemed impossible is the Mime. The Lucavi boss Queklain/Cuchulainn has no abilities that can be mimicked, so there is no way to damage him.
* A popular way to mix up your next ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' playthrough is to limit what units you can use. The most common are lord-only runs, bu these can range from [[Solo Character Run|Solo Character Runs]]s to broad restrictions like generals-only or redheads-only. Another common challenge is no-promotions.
** [http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/file/468480/52152 Archayanami's Female Only Challenge on Gamefaqs.] Of course, it's not ''truly'' female-only, since you're still allowed to build up your main lord, and if you're playing Hector's story, building up Bartre is also allowed because this is necessary to get Karla.
** It could be argued that completing a runthrough without allowing a single character to die (which, given that every unit is uniquely characterised and not easily replaceable, is a common practice) is a self-imposed challenge in itself; after all, the survival of only the Lords and mission-specific characters are necessary to progress. And, since many of the games that Western players know autosave after every move made, the player must restart the mission from the beginning if they wish to keep a character that had just been killed. In fact, a playthrough in which all deaths (that don't result in a game over, of course) are accepted could well prove to be a test of the player's willpower.
* The ''[[Jagged Alliance]]'' series is fairly open ended, and lets players choose their own method. Most go with the 'get money, buy more guns, hire more mercenaries' approach, but some (more masochist) players will make a drive for the final city with one team, or even with a single soldier. There was even one who attempted to finish the game by sneaking and only using a knife, which can be tricky later on against the hordes of machine-gun-wielding commandos and tanks...
* Even the ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' games are not exempt. Examples: no-upgrade challenges, no pilot improvement (in those games that have it) and for the particularly sadistic, using only a small group of units when not forced to field others, usually from a certain series, such as only using Gundams, only using the ATX team, or only using Tekkamen.
** Using only [[Tekkaman Blade|Tekkamen]] doesn't seem too hard, given that they're all ridiculous [[Game Breaker|Game Breakers]]s.
** The "True to the Show" Challenge forbids you from deploying anyone who was not present in the episodes the scenario is based on and requires that characters only attack enemies from their series ([[Mazinger Z|Koji Kabuto]] is only allowed to fight Dr. Hell's Mechabeasts, for example). You must also finish bosses using the attack that killed them or forced their retreat in the show (for example, [[G Gundam|you must kill Gentle Chapman with George and Chibodee's Rose Magnum Hurricane]]). Can be quite tricky, seeing as some series only contribute [[One-Man Army|one unit]].
* In the original ''[[Shining Force]]'', it is possible, by making use of a glitch, to [[Sequence Breaking|skip the first set of characters who are supposed to join your party.]] Do that, and also skip every single other non-mandatory character, and you'll end up just shy of a full party of 12 at the end of the game. It's a fun little challenge -- notchallenge—not excruciatingly difficult, but hard enough to be interesting. There's an FAQ for this challenge on GameFAQs, though it mistakenly lists Diane as mandatory.
* A rare multiplayer self-imposed challenge: In ''[[Battle for Wesnoth]]'', playing the Knalgan faction and recruiting no dwarves (only footpad, thief, and poacher) is referred to as [[A Song of Ice and Fire|"HODOR"]] for no clear reason. The [http://ladder.subversiva.org/ ladder server] has a member named HODOR who exclusively uses these tactics, who is nonetheless one of the highest ranked players.
** To be more specific, HODOR the player (named after ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' character) originated the HODOR tactic, thus the name.
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** There's also the Skyblock challenge, in which you're spawned onto a small island in the sky with one tree, and must complete certain objectives (make a tree farm, make a stone generator, etc) being compounded by even MORE self-imposed challenges.
 
=== Non-video game examples: ===
 
== Film ==
* ''[[Super Size Me]]'' is pretty much one giant self-imposed challenge where a guy goes for an all-[[McDonald's]] diet for about a month. He even has his own rules and everything, such as walking 5,000 steps a day, supersizing his food when asked ,<ref>Which after the movie was released was discontinued</ref>, trying out every single item on the [[McDonald's]] menu, and finishing everything on the plate.
 
== [[Literature]] ==
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[[Category:Rule of Fun]]
[[Category:Videogame Culture]]
[[Category:indexIndex]]
[[Category:Self-Imposed Challenge]]
[[Category:Not the Way It Is Meant to Be Played]]
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