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{{trope}}
{{Examples Need Sorting}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Cheat wherever you can. A.I.s are handicapped. They need to cheat from time to time if they're going to close the gap... [[Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught|Never get caught cheating.]] Nothing ruins the illusion of a good A.I. like seeing how they're cheating."''
The computer player is a cheating bastard whenever the "rules" differ between you and AI-controlled opponents. This can be a quick-and-dirty method of achieving a "level" playing field against a skilled human player (especially in older games, where hardware and AI capabilities were limited and prone to [[Artificial Stupidity]]), but can also create [[Fake Difficulty]] when the computer has access to moves that a human player (in the same context) clearly does not.
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Some games have even used the fact that their AI is ''not'' a cheating bastard as a ''selling point''. Conversely, arcade versions of games ("quarter munchers") often cheat ''more'' than home console versions.
Sometimes, the computer only cheats at higher difficulty
Note that this is not a place to complain about enemies that have skills you don't have, or bosses who have stronger skills than you, or about how unlucky you are and how many times you missed (unless the computer has a different chance of missing with the same skill), or about how hard [[That One Boss]] is, or how the computer is actually half decent at some of the game's more advanced maneuvers that you happen to suck at. This is only for scenarios where it would be expected for the player and the AI to be on even footing. For example, in the campaign of a strategy game, it would be natural for the computer to outnumber you and/or have more resources than
Sometimes this is justified due to the [[Rule of Fun]]. Computers are often prevented from using certain tactics that are open to the player, either [[Scrub|because it's "cheap" when your enemies do it]] or [[Artificial Stupidity|there's no freaking way that a computer could manage to pull it off at a crucial moment]]. In order to make up the gap and still present a challenge, cheating is required. Ironically, players often think the AI is cheating when it isn't, such as strings of [[You Fail Statistics Forever|good luck from a RNG that is actually perfectly fair]], while not noticing at all the subtle and behind-the-scenes ways that the computer is ''actually'' cheating. In fact, some games deliberately manipulate the RNG in the player's favour just to avoid the appearance of cheating.
See also: [[Fake Difficulty]], [[Rubber Band AI]], [[Nintendo Hard]], [[Random Number God]], [[Computers Are Fast]], [[Gang Up on the Human]], [[The GM Is a Cheating Bastard]].
''Note: Since
''Note: when adding examples here, please make sure whatever you're planning to claim is ''actually true'', meaning you have hard data saying there is cheating going on, not just some vague feeling that you ''always'' hurt yourself in confusion and the AI ''never'' does. The phenomenon making you feel that way is almost definitely confirmation bias, as any of the various people who have done actual testing with hundreds of data points can tell you.''
Almost every game that can have this trope does, so please post infamous examples only.
=== [[Sub-Trope|Subtropes]]: ===▼
* [[The All-Seeing AI]]
* [[Contractual Boss Immunity]]
* [[My Rules Are Not Your Rules]]
* [[Not Playing Fair with Resources]]
* [[
* [[Secret AI Moves]] Where a character (generally in a [[Fighting Game]]) has some crazy move when played by the computer which human players can't do.
* [[SNK Boss]]
----
{{examples|page=the computer not playing by human rules}}
{{quote|
* In [[Real Time Strategy]] and [[Turn-Based Strategy]] games, the computer ...
** ... builds faster, or just has new units magically appear out of nowhere.
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** ... May even be able to move its units over/through obstacles which the player cannot, such as infantry units walking across oceans or phasing through walls and mountains.
* In [[RPG
** ... is always immune to the [[Useless Useful Spell]], but when it uses one against ''you'', it works every time.
** ... will, when fighting as character who is also a playable party member, [[Redemption Demotion|have stats far greater than the character has while on your side]].
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* In [[First-Person Shooter|First Person Shooters]], the computer ...
** ... doesn't have to reload, or reloads instantly (assuming you do have to reload).
** ... can [[Offhand Backhand|aim for and shoot you]] [[Badass Back|without actually having to
** ... can shoot so far and so accurately that it can kill you before you can even ''see'' it.
** ... miraculously see you before you can see the foe, despite you having the advantage of surprise.
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** ... always knows you are coming, despite no warning or reasonable reason to expect you.
** ... troops who practice shooting less than you do, never miss.
* In [[Fighting Game
** ... has unavoidable/unblockable attacks.
** ... can use moves from impossible positions.
** ... can move/attack faster than you.
** ... can instantly use moves that require human players to execute a complex command. (Theoretically, it could have begun the command string in advance, but that excuse goes right out the window if it executes the move mere milliseconds after doing something that would disrupt said command string.)
** ... will always know exactly where all invisible characters
** ... can use its special attacks more frequently than you, and its [[Desperation Attack]] with more health than you.
** ... can deal more damage when using the same character and the same attacks you use under the same circumstances.
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** ... will almost never get a question wrong.
** ... will always have luck on its side.
** ... will often just gang up on the human player(s) if there are multiple ones.
** ... will just about always be dealt the best hand.
* In action games in general ...
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** ... may be favored by the [[Random Number God|Random Number Generators]].
** ... [[Spiteful AI|will team up against you, but never against other AIs/NPCs.]] The computer's interest is you. Losing.
** ... is immune to [[Interface Screw
''Note: Since
=== Civilization ===
* The original [[Civilization]] for the PC has a lot of ways for the computer to get a huge advantage over you:
{{quote|
2) Technologies are discovered at alarming rates.
3) Wonders can be built almost instantly.
4) The computer's caravans are transported instantaneously.
5) The computer never has production penalties despite city-wide riots.
6) Your Triremes sink if they end their turn too far from shore. Computer controlled ones can sail across the Atlantic with no problem.
7) The computer can build spaceships without the required technology
Et cetera. }}
** It also seems that the game tries to force averages to occur. Try using saves to make sure you always win. If your win chance is 50%, your chance of winning the first fight is 50%, right? Right. Second fight (after your unit is healed), displayed chance to win is still 50%--but try saving before it and loading. Your chances are closer to 25%. Winning a third fight in a row is likely to have even worse
*** What you're seeing here is a bug in the game due to a programmer who doesn't understand probability theory. The displayed battle odds are calculated by the naive method of multiplying each unit's hitpoints by the odds of winning a single round of combat, and using that ratio as the odds of winning the battle. The actual odds of winning, based on the battle mechanics, are much harder to calculate, and can deviate significantly from the displayed odds: your "95% victory" fight might actually be a "0.1% victory". Once you do them right, though, it becomes clear that the computer isn't cheating in battle, just lying through statistics.
*** For context, units fight multiple rounds within a single combat until one dies. Thus winning one round in actuality only reduces the opponent by a certain amount of HP. So while a unit with low life may have a 50% chance of winning a round, if they can be killed with one hit, the first hit they take in combat (pretty likely at 50%) will kill them.
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** Also in Civ 3, the AI have their production phase after their turn instead of at the start of the next turn. This means that they can hurry units and have them produced before your next move, while you have to until next turn like a chump. You can tell when they did this because they haven't had the chance to fortify the unit yet.
** If you cheat so that you can control the enemies cities, you will see that despite having far inferior cities, they have ''huge'' commerce and production bonuses, making them far better than yours.
** However, in the interest of fairness, the ''player'' can cheat mechanically
* Computers in Civ4 will always know what you have access to, what you have explored, etc, and use this to become massive cheapskates in trade. If you have no access to horses and thus decided not to research Horseback Riding for awhile, the computer will do everything in their power to push the technology down your throat while making off with as much of your gold and technology as they can. And you can be sure that the computer will ''never'' offer their world map at a halfway decent price unless you've already explored everything they have.
** For example, the AI will pop up with a ton of trade requests for your world map if you find a second continent. While a smart human would know you would find it some dozen turns after you sent that galley off to the side of the map, they wouldn't know ''when'' you found and mapped a good portion of the new world with the crazy precision the AI does.
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=== Final Fantasy Tactics ===
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' has some boss enemies who are granted immunity from the game's law system, while you're stuck playing by the rules. Ice abilities are illegal for the battle? The boss will laugh while casting Blizzaga every turn and the judge will just yellow card him repeatedly. Some other characters are given ribbons, granting them immunity from the law.
** What's even worse is that in the Judgemaster extra missions, you almost got this yourself. But since [[Good Is Dumb]], Marche and Cid bust the Judge before he could bestow you with it.
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=== F-Zero ===
* Grand Prix is tough but fair. In GX's Story Mode, however, everything is stacked against you. ''Everything.''
** [http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=711267 I'll let SA speak for me on this one..]
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=== Mario Kart ===
* [[Mario Kart]] 7 is the biggest offender yet (Which is saying a lot honestly). There was an exploit that has been discovered in the Maka Wuhu track that allows you to skip one section of the track. Pull it off, and the CPU pack is no less than 5 seconds behind you when you are ferried onto the upper section of the course, rendering the entire exploit moot in 1-player mode.
* In ''[[Super Mario Kart]]'', the AI opponents didn't just have [[Rubber Band AI]], but had infinite stores of super-special weapons and items that in several cases the player was never able to
* In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, whichever AI racer has the most cup points at the time will get their special powerups more often. Luigi and Bowser will always start with "champion" level skills, but if you attack them and cause them to lose to other AI racers, the new points leader among AI will take up the "champion" mantle instead. If Yoshi or Mario get this points lead, they'll start to spam consecutive Super Stars from nowhere and finish races 5 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack. Conversely, since poor AI Wario always starts in the back of the pack, he's rarely seen using items at all and is doomed to finish last every race.
* Another ability the computers have in ''[[Super Mario Kart]]'' and ''[[Mario Kart 64]]'' is the ability to instantly recover from items as long as they weren't on screen when the item hit. The best items would simply stop computers for a moment if you couldn't see them, while the same items used on you would make you fly through the air.
* Choco Mountain. The final part of the track involves a few item crates, a 90 degree turn, and then three "hills". You better be lucky and get a mushroom from those crates, else once you jump from the first hill, you'll collide with the second and third ones, while the CPUs that are right behind you (thank you rubber-band AI) magically have enough speed to jump both. Not getting a mushroom in those crates indeed makes the difference between being first or fifth in this race.
* Apparently, the computer player chosen to be the first-placer in Mario Kart DS always has a maxed-out speed stat, regardless of what the kart they're driving should have. This makes characters that drive karts with already high acceleration {{spoiler|(Dry Bones)}} nearly impossible to beat. This may be because the designated top 3 are given boosts in top speed with the first placer given the biggest boost. If it happens to be a kart with high acceleration, your only chance of winning is to snake, simply put.
* ''Double Dash!!'s'' AI seems to entirely ignore the weight system and kart
* Ditto Petey Piranha, often a thorn in the side in two-player GP races at 150cc due to his ''ludicrous'' bursts of speed and acceleration.
* In Mario Kart 64, computer players just used items at random rather than actually using the item boxes. This actually worked out well for the player (despite lack of realism, since they would never use certain items), since the distribution was fair. In DS and Wii, they actually use the item boxes, which means the last-place players are constantly getting the good stuff. So this is actually an instance where having the AI follow the rules actually made the game seem less fair (though technically it's ''more'' fair).
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=== Pokémon ===
* NPCs, even ones with no plot significance, often have [[Pokémon]] that learned powerful moves about five levels early. In later games, Pokémon learning moves early is actually [[Justified Trope|justified]]
* On the other hand, Lance's Dragonite in Generation I has Barrier. Go on. Check. Done? Yep. Dragonite's line has forever been incapable of learning Barrier, no matter how much breeding you do. What's more, in ''Gold, Silver and Crystal'', his Aerodactyl knows Rock Slide, which it couldn't learn until ''FireRed/LeafGreen''.
* In a similar vein, various characters have Pokémon that have evolved at levels lower than their designated evolution level, if you were to train up its pre-evolution. Also [[Justified]] in that various areas contain wild evolved Pokémon at lower levels than ought to be possible, allowing the player to catch
* The [[Bonus Dungeon|Battle Tower]] in ''HeartGold'' and ''SoulSilver'' screws with odds to the point where your low odds of success never work and the AI's always do. This is most notable with any instant-KO effect, which theoretically all have 30% success rates. Experienced Battle Tower players key in on anything that could conceivably learn and use Sheer Cold, Guillotine, Fissure, or Horn Drill first, or lose their entire team in as many rounds as they have Pokémon.
** This extends to critical hits, added effects, debuffs, and
** Also in each Battle Frontier, if the match would be a draw (for example, both sides are down to the last Pokémon, one uses Destiny Bond, and the other KOs it), you lose. The opponent states their winning message, and your win streak is snapped and you have to stop playing. In tournaments, a draw due to Destiny Bond, Explosion, etc. means the Pokémon that launched the damage to set up the draw wins or the Exploding/Selfdestructing one loses. Or, it's just a draw.
*** Thankfully, this has finally been fixed in Generation V. In the Battle Subway in ''Pokémon Black/White'', if you get a simultaneous knock-out, you can keep going.
*** Which is how it's been working in every 3D Pokémon game sice ''[[Pokémon Stadium]]''. Yes, Game Freak ignored ''the very own rules they created'' so they could make things more unfair to the player!
** In R2 mode of the ''Stadium'' games, this happened a lot. But ''Pokémon Stadium'' had a special way of ruining your day. "100% accuracy" moves in ''Red/Blue/Yellow'' really had an accuracy of 99.6% (255/256). When pitted against Gamblers in R2 who'd be using one-hit knockout (OHKO) moves, you can guarantee that your Flamethrower/Surf/Thunderbolt would miss and the Gambler would KO your entire team with OHKO moves.
** The ''Stadium'' games deserve special mention, where the most common (read: in all but a handful) method of loss for someone with a decent team is cheating
** The Mewtwo that serves as the [[Final Boss]] of the first ''Stadium'' ([[No Export for You|or second, if you're Japanese]]) has infinite PP.
* ''[[Pokémon Colosseum]]'':
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* Last Resort, introduced in Generation IV, is a powerful move usable after every other move has been used by the Pokémon at least once. NPCs can use it early, though.
* NPCs in Generation I had infinite PP, allowing them to use powerful moves they should only have been able to use five or at most eight times as often as they liked.
* Try using the Mean Look/Perish Song combo on a Trainer with multiple Pokémon. When you switch your Pokémon out to avoid getting KOed by Perish Song, your opponent does the ''exact same thing'', despite the trapping effect not allowing switching.
** This is because switching out the Pokémon that uses mean look takes away the effect of the move. The real cheat here is that they predict you withdrawing simultaneously. Instead, try switching in a Pokémon that has Shadow Tag as an ability.
* Particularly in the Masters Battle part of ''Pokémon Battle Revolution''; the computer players have an uncanny ability to know precisely what Pokémon the player is going to switch to or use at any given moment.
* ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]'' has some bosses (mainly legendaries) whose HP is somewhere into the thousands, [[Redemption Demotion|but when you get them to join your team, they'll have a normal amount of HP.]].
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''Note: Since
=== Fighting Games ===▼
▲''Note: Since [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard]] is so ''incredibly'' common, only [[Egregious]] examples should be listed here, otherwise this entry would take over the entire wiki. Aversions or subversions should probably be left out as well, since that's (hopefully) the default.''
* While the AI in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Melee'' and ''Brawl'' isn't of Rubber Band variety, it still can [[The All-Seeing AI|always see everything in the stage]].
▲== Fighting Games ==
▲* While the AI in ''[[Super Smash Bros]] Melee'' and ''Brawl'' isn't of Rubber Band variety, it still can [[The All-Seeing AI|always see everything in the stage]].
** The computer also knows what effect clocks will have. If you see a clock, and don't see the computer gunning for it, when you pick it up, it will slow you down. The same can be said for Poke Balls and assist trophies.
** This started way back in the ''original'' [[Super Smash Bros.]], where CPU players are able to pull things off on humans that won't work on them. Example: if a CPU Ness gets you into his PK Fire, you're stuck there shielding until it goes away. But any CPU can escape it. Fox can spam his laser and practically keep you in place indefinitely.
* In the ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series, there are moves known as "charge moves" which require holding the joystick in a certain direction for a short period. The computer, however, doesn't have to do this and can often perform a charge move in the middle of moving in the ''opposite'' direction, such as using Blanka's charge-back roll attack while ''walking forward''. This also applies to "spin" moves (moves which require a 180 degree, 360, or more cycle of joystick motion). Most obvious the 3,000th time Zangief hits you with a full-strength spinning piledriver (the "air" version, triggered by any upwards joystick click, is approximately 3/4 the damage of the ground version).
** Worse yet was Balrog. He could execute dashing punches faster than the player could recover from a block. He had the option of using them exclusively until the player's life was bled away. This made him potentially the most difficult boss in SFII Classic, where the player would still be hit when ducking under these punches. Only a perfectly timed Dragon Punch, Flash Kick, or Spinning Lariat could stop the nefarious beast. Or just invert it back on him: use E. Honda and bulldoze him right over with the fierce hundred hand slap, the only punch attack faster and with longer reach.
** Guile also became a [[Game Breaker|game breaking]] character in Classic, due to him lacking any projectile recovery time for his sonic booms. With human players, this was balanced by the charge time. With the computer, not so much. Jumping forwards over one would result in a Flash Kick. Jumping in place or using a projectile against it and he'd have time to close the distance while you recovered. Possibly resulting in a flash kick.
** The charge move behavior has been fixed in later Capcom fighters, such as Vampire Savior. But perhaps as a throwback to the cheating AI in Street Fighter 2, <s>Little Red Riding Hood</s> Baby Bonnie Hood has a super move that enables her to use her high-damaging charge attack, Smile & Missile, without charging (replacing her normal punch attacks) for a short period of time.
** In Street Fighter: The Movie (the game of the movie of the game), when fighting M. Bison at the end, there was a fairly high chance that if the player was winning, Bison would stop taking damage from player attacks, or insta-kill the player with a weak attack, or the player would take damage from his own attacks.
** Another from Street Fighter II: AI opponents could deliver a barrage of crouching kicks at lightning speed. Fortunately for the player, the AI will usually only connect once, which sends the player's fighter flying away from the opponent.
** Hyper M.Bison of ''[[Street Fighter Alpha|Street Fighter Alpha 3]]'' and his [[Wave Motion Gun|Hyper Psycho Crusher]]. AI-only? Check. Special AI-only combat style (-ISM)? Check. '''Fucking gigantic, screen-tall and screen-wide attack with NO charge time, NEAR ZERO recovery time, UNBLOCKABLE IN THE AIR, and that deals nearly 30% damage WHEN BLOCKED (and is perfectly capable of dealing 100% if taken head-on)?''' Oh motherfucking check.
* In the ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' arcade series, the computer player often blatantly cheats.
** In the original ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'', computer characters ''ducked and slowly slid across the floor'' to counter a barrage of player fireballs.
** Here are some gems for ''[[Mortal Kombat 2]]''.
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** In ''[[Mortal Kombat 3]]'', Kano and Liu Kang could pull their special charging moves almost instantly, sometimes several times in the row. Liu Kang could do several bicycle attacks and then finish you with a combo. Kano could do his spinning attack twice, and sometimes when you were in mid-air.
** One textbook case vessel of the trope and a bane to most players is Jade in UMK3 who activates her invincibility technique ''the instant'' you throw a projectile at her. It doesn't help that when she activates this, she actually runs at you in the instant she does without any warning whatsoever and devastates you with her uber-long combo with no resistance and does so with impeccable timing.
** Onaga is notorious for this in the final boss fight of [[Mortal Kombat: Deception|Deception]]. For starters, he's completely immune to projectiles, which is not really anything new for a MK boss (and at least he doesn't reflect the projectile back at you like some bosses in earlier MK games). Several of his special moves have very small windows in which the player must react to dodge or block them and he can use them at nearly any time to interrupt your combos. Oh, and the arena where you fight him is surrounded by a spiked death trap that he can and will kick you into whenever he feels like it if you're close enough to the edge. But you can't knock him into this death trap because he is literally too big to fit. There are the kamidogu in the arena that you can knock over to stun him for a few seconds, letting you get a couple free hits on him before he recovers. Unfortunately, there's only six of them for your three round match and they don't come back between rounds. They're also located on the edge of the arena, so if Onaga is in melee range, expect to be kicked into the death trap a split second before you knock the kamidogu over (or even kicked through the kamidogu and into the death trap).
** ''[[Mortal Kombat 9]]'' (2011) lives up to its predecessors in cheating bastardness. Enemies can counter your moves the INSTANT you throw them and can seemingly block EVERYTHING you throw at times, but that isn't the worst part. The worst part is the bosses. If a boss throws an attack of ANY kind, he becomes immune to being stunned. You jump kick Kintaro in the face while both of you are airborne? Too bad he just started his air throw, so you're getting slammed in the ground. And in Challenge tower levels where there are random powerups being dropped you can almost guarantee that they will be dropped behind the CPU, ESPECIALLY if the CPU is near death.
*** Not to mention, the absolute pain in the ass that is [[Big Bad|Shao Kahn]]. Most of his attacks are unblockable, though he can block the player's attacks without actually needing to block with his arms. He is capable of unleashing health-bar killing attack strings that are unavoidable, unbreakable, and unblockable once started, and his X-ray attack can take out half of the player's health-bar. Add the fact that he is ''ridiculously fast'' and barely registers your character's attacks, and he's a boss who can take you out in a manner of seconds!
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** The AI will suddenly block every throw, land their throws on your character despite being theoretically out of range, block or counter every move the player has used so far in the "set" of battles (even if the CPU character's back is turned, and it's ''not Voldo''!). Read: ''The computer opponent will read your controller inputs. Every. Single. Time.''
** [[SNK Boss]] Night Terror is an [[Egregious]] example, nulling the time-honored Ring-Out defeat by flying back when knocked out of the arena (sure [[Word of God]] stated they're trying to de-emphasize the use of Ring-Outs...), and a stance that rendered it invincible.
** Setsuka, when controlled by the computer. Just... ''Setsuka''. She is the destroyer of controllers and the crusher of souls. Not only is she incredibly fast, but she's able to land devastating combos while the player character is still in midair even when using air control, giving said character absolutely ''NO CHANCE'' of fighting back!
** Even when you DO actually have a good chance of winning, the opponent will suddenly go completely batshit insane in terms of speed and power, ''and will demolish your entire life meter in two or three hits.'' Really, really noticeable in Chronicles of the Sword. Chronicle 5 and onward will make you snap your controller in sheer frustration. Even worse is that you ''have'' to beat this mode once in order to unlock some of the custom parts for custom fighters that cannot be unlocked via abuse of versus mode.
*** Thankfully, a handy fix for most of this can be found, [[AI Breaker|Anti-Ai moves]]
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*** In Soul Calibur 3, ''every'' fighter does this.
** On a simpler note, also in Soul Calibur II, the AI has instant combos. Ivy in particular, has Summon Suffering/Calamity Symphony which requires moving the control stick across the pad 3 times, creating a delay long enough to make it unusable against a non-stunned opponent, but the computer can do it any time.
** ''[[Soul Calibur]] 4'' fixed most of the AI issues with 3, but also introduced a new element of it's own: Skills. Depending on the gear your character has equipped, your character will gain points that can be used to equip skills like Shave Damage or Drain Health. However, your character also gets stat bonuses from their armor, and generally pieces that give high skill points give low stats (and vice versa), so you'll usually end up making either strong characters with weak or no skills, or weak characters with good skills. Many of the computer opponents blatantly ignore this and come with custom programmed stats and skills, giving them overpowered combinations the player couldn't possibly get themselves. There are also a few skills that aren't even available to the player (usually improved versions of existing skills, Like Auto Nullify Ringout S -The best the player can get is Auto Nullify Ringout A).
** In Soul Calibur V, the cheating AI gets an entire mode dedicated to it: Legendary Souls, in which you have to battle against several input-reading AI characters in a row, each one requiring 3
* ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' is very... well... [[Just for Pun|guilty]] of this. On top of the usual array of unfair [[SNK Boss]] attributes for the "boss" versions of otherwise regular
** There is also, notably, Boss I-No from Guilty Gear
*** The attacks can be fairly easy to memorize, the problem comes when she'll sometimes switch which pattern she's using at the last second, or if the player thinks they're smart enough to simply jump over her, where the patterns never go. Too bad, if you do this, the AI reacts as if you've been hit and they all swarm you.
* Those who played ''[[Capcom vs. Whatever|SNK vs. Capcom]]'' (also known as "SvC Chaos") learned to dislike Goenitz, an [[SNK Boss|SNK sub-boss]] with an attack targeting one of four areas on the screen (close, close-mid, mid, far) that always knew exactly where you would be, canceled projectiles, and was ''spammed constantly'', making getting close enough to hit an exercise in frustrating patience.
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* If your attack is blocked by the computer in ''[[Fatal Fury]] 2'', the computer ''will'' throw you. Doesn't matter what difficulty level, or how strong the attack and the subsequent blockstun is - the computer will throw you.
* The nigh-forgotten ''[[Eternal Champions]]'' games on the [[Sega Genesis]] and [[Sega CD]] were 2D fighters that took the unusual approach of requiring "inner energy" for all special moves. Theoretically, this forced the player to learn the characters and apply specific strategies in every possible matchup... Except against the AI, which could always execute specials with sheer and utter disregard of its own energy levels.
** Even more, well, insulting, characters have an ability called Insult which allows them to sacrifice one piece of their special gauge to destroy a little more of their opponents. The computer, especially the final boss (''bosses'' in the Sega CD version), is quite fond of repeatedly Insulting you from a distance to render you
* The SNES game ''Dragon: the Bruce Lee Story'' probably deserves a mention. Whether or not the Demon with the halberd represents Bruce Lee's historically unalterable death, it is basically invincible, there is no way to avoid it, and it will end up killing you no matter what you do.
** Not true. There are two ways to encounter the demon: losing your three mirrors (read: lives), in which you'll be pit against the Demon for a certain amount of time wherein you will need immense skill and luck to make it through until it leaves, regaining your mirrors... and the other way is {{spoiler|facing it as the last boss, wherein you're supposed to take all of its life gauge down then strangle it with the nunchucks, which if you don't have access to by that point, GOOD LUCK}}. It's perfectly possible, just ridiculously hard.
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*** Oh, and the fight mechanics don't apply to them. Land a strike through a block? Sure. Counter a strike with a throw? Go for it. Block a throw? Absolutely. You'd love to be able to do that too, wouldn't you? Well too bad.
* In ''[[Castlevania]] Judgement'', Dracula WILL put his back to the screen, and thus you will not see what attack he is going to make.
* In ''[[Naruto]]: The Broken Bond'', the computer is seemingly able to use the Rage Mode (which speeds them up and makes them take no damage from anything but damage-dealing jutsus) in the middle of a combo.
** Nevermind that if you make one mistake you get totally owned. They'll juggle you, never letting you even block. If the computer makes a mistake it doesn't matter because you have to have pretty much perfect timing to hit them at that moment anyway. Not to mention that they'll almost ALWAYS be able to charge up their jutsu but you'll never get even one chance.
** The [[Clash of Ninja]] series (also [[Naruto]]) avoided this for the most part, usual computer tendencies aside. Then English releases began to be developed by [[American Kirby Is Hardcore|American developers instead]], and now we have story mode enemies who have no stagger animations and [[Perfect Play AI]] mindsets- sometimes in 2 on 1 matches ''against you''. These aren't even optional challenges- you HAVE to kill these people to proceed. The ''optional'' challenges involve similar things, only with the difficulty turned [[Up to Eleven]] by ''better'' AI.
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* ''Super [[Godzilla]]'' for the Super Nintendo did this against, well, pretty much everyone. Your own fighting spirit (a measure of how strong your techniques are) rises pretty slowly, compared to the UFO which is nearly permanently at maximum, or Mechagodzilla, who can go from nothing to max in a heartbeat, and teleport-body-slam you in the process. He will then use eye lasers just to mess with you.
* [[TNA]] iMPACT! the game. Anyone who is an established wrestler will automatically be twice as good as you, no matter who you choose. Certain matches in story mode can consist of you spending 90% of the match beating the hell out of them, only for them to come out of nowhere with enough counters to use a special move, hit it once, and win.
** [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] Smackdown Vs Raw 2009's career mode suffers the same issue above when facing the "higher level" wrestlers.
* In ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'', the AI also ignores equipment and accessory rules. Every piece of regular equipment (swords, shields, etc) has a level requirement that your character must meet in order to equip it, but almost every AI opponent will be wearing at least one item above their level. Accessories work somewhat differently. They are ranked from D to Star. The higher the rank, the fewer of that accessory you can use at the same time. Many AI will have three or four of the same Star-ranked accessory.
** And we won't even mention {{spoiler|Chaos}}, who cheats like a cheating cheaty-thing, especially with his Summon.
** The [[Expansion Pack]] adds to the
* In ''[[Bleach]]: Blade Of Fate'', the human character can only [[Flash Step]] or use RF Special Attacks when they have enough Spiritual Power to do so. The AI opponents have infinite Spiritual Power.
* [[
** Nu on her own is bad enough, she has projectile swords that basically fly out of the air. Many characters, particularly Hakumen and Tager, have no way at all to approach Nu in her NORMAL state. Based on tournaments, they have around a 20% chance of winning a match against a Nu player of equal skill. Unlimited Nu is Nu, except she summons 3 swords with every attack instead of 1. Yeah. It's hell.
*** Don't forget she has little recovery time on these attacks, and can (and will) combo any and all hits into her Distortion Drive, which hits for about 50% life. Bear in mind, this will happen if you fail to block ''even once'', while you will require about 40 minor miracles in a row to beat her.
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* [[Battle Capacity]] had major issues with Pyroak in the past. Pyroak has a lot of HP, excellent projecile attacks, and a useful anti-air attack which comes out quick at adjustable heights. He is slow, however, and suffers against most characters close up. When the AI was using Pyroak, there was literally ''no'' slowdown between launching projectiles and using his anti-air, making him all but unapproachable.
* This one is easy to miss, since you usually fight against human opponents in [[Rumble Fighter]]. However, in Survival Mode, the enemies can use the [[Desperation Attack|Panic Attack]] an unlimited number of times, whereas players are limited to using it once per round.
* ''[[X-Men Next Dimension]]'': your counterattacks will work approximately one time in seventeen. The AI can pull them off whenever it wants. And the game engine treats interrupting a string of attacks as the ''worst'' kind of impoliteness.
* [[Smackdown vs. Raw]], particularly when the [[Rubber Band AI]] breaks. The CPU will become a [[Perfect Play AI]] who [[My Rules Are Not Your Rules|ignores the rules]].
** In WWE 12 at least, and probably earlier games as well, it seems like matches are predetermined. If the player is meant to lose then counters are ignored to the point that blatant cheating will occur. If the CPU is slated to lose on the other hand then the game is a cheating bastard for the human character, with the computer all but lying down for the pin, and you really have to work to even drag a match out of them.
* In ''[[Dragonball Z]] Supersonic Warriors 2'', at the end of Mania mode,
** A shield to block ''everything'' that can last as long as the AI wants. They can't do anything while its active, but since they don't need to guard or gather energy, and they have other attack buffs (see below) this just means that the player is lulled into gathering energy so the computer can attack at a moment's notice.
** Special moves can be spammed at no energy cost, meaning gathered Ki is only used for their ultimate attacks. They can also be done repeatedly, interrrupting each other, and with no lag. For example, Broly's giant ball projectile, the strongest projectile in the game, that when spammed can Wombo Combo even another Broly.
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=== First Person Shooters ===
* Up until ''Vegas'', ''[[Rainbow Six]]'' seemed quite unfair in that the AI could somehow detect you even if you couldn't figure out where it was. And a major problem with the first games was that being spotted once, even if the guy didn't alert his comrades, meant [[The All-Seeing AI|everyone knew where you were]].
* On higher difficulty levels, the bots in ''[[Quake|Quake III Arena]]'' can [[The All-Seeing AI|track your character through walls]] and can one-shot kill you via Railgun the moment a single pixel of your hitbox is exposed.
* Enemies in ''[[Call of Duty]]'' love to automatically shoot you ''just'' before you pull the trigger and throw off your aim so you miss your shot, especially when you're using a bolt-action rifle and have to wait a full second before you can fire again.
* In the original [[Doom]], once a monster saw you, they [[The All-Seeing AI|always knew where you were]]. Try activating noclip and go through a wall near a monster chasing you and watch as it always approaches the wall you're behind...
=== Puzzle/Board Games ===▼
* Most versions of electronic Monopoly will use this as a fake difficulty depending on what the ai difficulty is set at, most Monopoly games are meant to have smarter AI that makes better investment decisions when the AI is increased but most also increase the
▲== Puzzle/Board Games ==
▲* Most versions of electronic Monopoly will use this as a fake difficulty depending on what the ai difficulty is set at, most Monopoly games are meant to have smarter AI that makes better investment decisions when the AI is increased but most also increase the [[A Is]] luck when rolling and getting chance cards. As a result it's not uncommon for the AI to never get a negative card during the game and always skip past human players properties, but the harder the AI is set at the more likely it is that the computer will sabotage human dice rolls and make sure the human lands on tax or high value owned property turn after turn.
* A certain [[Chess]] program, when it was close to losing, would actually flash the message "The [piece] has escaped!" and that piece would appear back on the board. Obviously, only the computer's pieces ever 'escaped'. One suspects this ''isn't'' how Deep Blue beat Kasparov.
* All ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' games have a list of restricted cards, just like the real card game, and usualy matching the official one when said videogame came out. But computer opponents were not bound by it. The computer could have 3 copies of [[Game Breaker]] cards that you were only allowed to have one of (many of which would later be outright banned with the introduction of the real-life game's "Advanced" format used in official tournaments). This was probably to make up for AI [[Artificial Stupidity|so stupid]] that it often seemed like it was ''trying'' to lose.
** In ''Tag Force 3'', F.G.D. and all other dragons on its side of the field deal piercing damage (Their Atk - the target's Def) when they destroy a defense position monster, and no trap or spell cards can be activated when F.G.D. attacks, unless you're the one controlling it...
** And the trend has continued in Duel Transer, the game will always follow the March 2010 Banlist even if you change it to the September 2010 Banlist. Sure, you'll be able to use Dark Hole and Monster Reborn when your opponents can't, but they get Heavy Storm, Brain Control, Rescue Cat, and Substitoad in exchange. Oh did we forget to mention the post-game content where the game doesn't even hide that it's cheating. Multiple Pot of Greeds, Graceful Charities, Harpies Feather Dusters and RAIGEKI's abound
** ''7 Trials To Glory'' was relatively good about the banlist. You had to obey the banlist, and the same cards wouldn't show up in the computers' decks.
*** To be cynical, however, you'll eventually notice a pattern of the days when Card Destruction is off the banlist (it works that every card is cycled on and off it), it will show up in your opponent's hand within the first three turns about half of the time. Aside from the AI also knowing your facedown monster's defense before it's flipped, it's pretty fair otherwise. The only place the cheating really shows up is when you're facing the anime characters, as nameless side characters will usually display pretty jarring [[Artificial Stupidity]].
*** One other place where you'll see cheating (or just really, really good planning) is in the Limitation duel against Joey. In this duel, trap cards are banned, and almost all of the monsters he has in his deck have at least 1900 ATK. So you summon Gora Turtle, which prevents anything with 1900 or more ATK from attacking. Within two turns of summoning this, guaranteed, he'll summon Spell Canceler, the only monster he has with less than 1900, and it still has 1800. It's also a card he never uses in any other duel.
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** Savestates show that the computer always gives you the same predetermined "random" roll, regardless of any luck manipulation that would work in games with fair RNGs. The CPU players are essentially saying, every turn, "I want to move X spaces". At least this doesn't carry over into combat.
* The generally fair AI powerups for ''[[Total War]]'' games have a few cheat moments (free money, quick build/recruit times etc) to balance the fact that it's an AI and you're not (I hope). However, a blatant cheat in Medieval II: your own crusader/jihad/warpath armies will gradually lose units to desertion if you don't progress towards the designated target each turn. The AI however can raise such an army, park it near your settlement and wait 50 years until the crusade/jihad/warpath is over, without losing any units, at which point it will be free to turn the army against you. Of course, there's nothing to stop you pre-emptively attacking that army anyway, excommunication aside...
* ''Scrable'' on the Playstation 1. Firstly the game seemed to arbitarily decide if something was an authentic word, many common words that are in any dictionary would be denied to the player but the computer could seem to use any combination of letters even total gibberish such as "gxfsetf" and score
=== Racing ===
* Road Rash 3 for the Genesis thoroughly abuses this trope. One racer (Lucky Luc) always manages to stay ahead of you. You can have the same bike as him, and he still manages to get ahead of you so he can spam his oilcans. If you decide to grab the next higher bike, or two after that, he STILL is usually a bit faster than you, or can at least catch up to you with no problem.
** The game also has some ''serious'' [[Rubber Band AI]]. The super secret bike tops out (when not using the nitro) at around 215 MPH. You get this bike (with the proper code) on the first races (if you decided to cheat back). You can speed past every other racer and take first place within the first 11 seconds of the race, but if you crash any time after that (most noticeable when you're at the end of the race), I can almost guarantee that at least five other racers will pass you before you can get back onto the bike.
* The yellow car from ''[[RC Pro-Am]]'' exhibited signs of [[Rubber Band AI]] during certain races. Well, not exactly... the rubber band outright ''snapped'', making that car move nearly twice as fast as all of the other cars on the track (including your own, even if you collected all of the upgrades). When you heard that tell-tale high-pitched squeal around the beginning of the second lap, it was your ''ass''.
** To be fair, in this game you can be a cheating bastard too. You have [[Secret Player Moves]]: Weapons. Even at super turbo speeds, if the yellow car eats a missile or bomb, it goes boom and loses its super turbo for a bit. What's worse is the late game tracks where EVERY car does this the instant they pass you up. If you don't blast them out of the starting gate, you can't win!
* In ''[[The Simpsons Hit
* ''[[Burnout]] 3: Takedown'' features broken one-way [[Rubber Band AI]] in many of its events. When you're in the lead, driving perfectly and constantly boosting, the AI will be, as a helpful yellow pop-up caption exclaims, "right on your tail!" no matter how many times you wreck them. The moment you crash, they start to take an insurmountable 30-second lead that is nearly impossible to catch up to.
** In ''[[Burnout]] Paradise'', the computer drivers will always get a head start in race events, allowing them to boost past you before you even get control of your car.
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** Marked Man, on the other hand, is a bitch on Class A and Elite levels. There are way more parked cars, gridlocked traffic and they throw the best aggression cars in the game at you regardless of what you are driving. Sometimes you will be lucky to make it a mile in a four mile Marked Man.
* In ''[[Crash Team Racing]]'' for the [[PS 1]], the final boss would literally start the race ''before the green light'' that signaled the race's start.
** That isn't all. All the bosses would have an unlimited ammount of weapons after passing through the first crate. (Or "Passing by" the first crate area, if you jump ahead and take the crate they would, they would still get the items even if they didn't break a weapon crate.) The only advantage is that they would only use one weapon type and would always fire behind them. The Final Boss uses weapon types of every other boss in the game!
* Abused to a bizarre end in the Super Nintendo game ''Super Off-Road: The Baja''. Each and every one of your competitors had their own preferred place in the lineup, and Heaven forbid you should attempt to take that place from them. For example: Should you take third place from the AI driver who typically came in third, he would become a super driver fueled by rage; he would gain speed, cut corners, ram your truck mercilessly, and pretty much suddenly become the Uberdriver in his efforts to dislodge you from third place. Once you dropped back to fourth place, though, that driver would return to normal, and never challenge Mr. Number Two for HIS place. (Of course, then Mr. Fourth Place would have ''his'' turn at harassing you.) Coupled with the tendency for the AI in first place to absolutely obliterate you should you dare violate his sacred position AND stage last-minute comebacks at speeds approaching those of a low-flying jet fighter, winning any race at any difficulty level became far more based on luck (and your ability to keep from being rammed into oblivion) than skill.
* ''[[Wipeout]]'':
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** ''Wipeout 3'' is nice enough to prevent the AI from even getting the two most powerful weapons available. Somewhat justified in that said weapons are extremely destructive, one of which is an instant kill. Given some thought, thank everything holy and sacred the AI can't get that. It would be too much, as instead of rubberband AI, they just have god-like skills all the time.
** In ''Wipeout XL/2097 it is virtually'' (maybe completely?) impossible to advance to the head of the pack in a single lap. No matter what items you use or what accelerators you hit, the last four or so cars ahead of you will remain out of reach, on the edge of visibility as tiny specks in the distance until you pass the starting line again and they become chumps like the first few cars you passed were.
*** Imagine for a second Mario Kart where the blue shells would insta-kill you. Yeah, I just crapped my pants too.
* ''[[Sega GT 2002]]''. While not necessarily rubberbanding, in the later races you can be assured that one tiny crash = no chance of winning. Even if you're driving newly-repaired, mint condition cars that are at the very top of your price range (and thus better).
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* ''Most Wanted'' even goes so far as to actively ''lie'' to the player. One of loading screen tips tells you that with a well-executed pursuit breaker it's possible to take out all your pursuers at once and get away easily. But doing that just causes a new police car to instantly spawn nearby. Following the advice and slowing down to allow cops to catch up and get them all can then easily have the opposite result than the tip claims, since even though the car is invulnerable, it can still get caught in the pursuit breaker and immobilized just long enough for that new cop car to bust you.
** ''Need for Speed Most Wanted'' actually cheats in ''multiplayer mode''. You can upgrade every car in the game to 100% on all three stats (acceleration, speed and handling), except for the game's signature car, the BMW M3 GTR which cannot be upgraded at all and is therefore pretty bad in single player. However, as bad as its ingame performance is, its listed stats are worse. And in multiplayer mode, the game attempts to ensure a fair race by equalising the stats of all cars in the race. The result is that your shiny Porsche Carrera GT that ordinarily blows the doors off the M3 GTR is detuned to a limping piece of junk with the same stats as the M3 GTR... at which point the M3 GTR is the better car and will proceed to beat you. This is probably a design flaw, but ironically the M3 GTR is driven in career mode by a cheating bastard who took it from you after rigging a race through sabotage.
*** Also, because of the craptastic way the game measures handling, the M3 GTR is probably one of the best vehicles you get in the late game for turning. The game's handling stat doesn't measure how well it turns, but rather how well your car stays gripped to the road, which can be really bad if your trying to make a tight turn at 140 MPH(~
** Every PSP version of Need for Speed seems to put a lot of effort in ensuring that its AI has a new annoying trick at its disposal. By the time of NFS Undercover, the cpu cars could drive faster than you, no matter what was your car and how well it was upgraded, were not affected by crashes (they were back on your tail in just few seconds), could TELEPORT if you somehow managed to make them stay really behind, or TURN MID-AIR! In one of the urban stages, there is a 90 degrees turn just after a really long straight that ends with a significant bump. To drive past it you simply have to slow down, but the cpu cars can drive into it at full speed, jump and turn in the air. Funny sight when you are looking behind at that time.
* Your opponents in [[Need for Speed]] Shift 2: Unleashed are rather fond of the Reverse PIT manoeuvre. It's performed in exactly the same way but it's the guy pushing that spins out. It's incredibly annoying when you've got a fast car and it gets congested. Generally, your opponent's cars weigh twice as much as yours according to the physics engine.
* In Need for Speed: Undercover (non PSP), even if you have the pedal thoroughly buried in a Mclaren F1, police
* In ''[[Star Wars]] Episode I: Racer'', the AI racers never crash, never run into walls, always hit turns perfectly, and never have to use the boost.
** And they know pretty much every shortcut; if you miss one, they'll take it and get way ahead, such as the upper route on Abyss.
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** The same is also true in all other games in the Carmageddon series. ''However'', the computer cars cannot make use of their "no clipping" cheat-ability when the player has the main map-screen up; their location is always shown and they move much more player-like.
* ''Cel Damage'''s AI players can make sharper turns than the human player. This can be seen when the player is killed, and for the brief seconds until the respawn, the computer player (most likely the assassin) can make some incredible curves, even while standing on the same place.
* ''[[Test Drive]]'' for [[
** Try this (At least on the PC version): Play Test Drive 5 and use the "nitro boost" cheat, race on a track with a lot of straight roads so you can boost your top speed way past logical top speed like on the Sydney track, and take a look at the racer stats at the end of the race. If you've logged a top speed of around
* [[Midnight Club]] 3 seems to be malevolent and benevolent at the exact same time. In races, your opponents are always in better cars unless you have an A tier car(to the point that races can play out with you in a D tier and your opponent in a B tier BEFORE you've completely upgraded it.), you're opponents always have more nitrous shots than you (or in the case of bikes, HAVE nitrous shots.), and, somehow, obey the copenhagen interpretation, because even if you overlapped a car, if you are not watching him on the minimap, he will warp right behind you and be able to put you back into second place. However, you can outrun them on straight-aways, they cannot use slipstream turbo, and cannot use any special abilities.
** Midnight Club 2 actually has a ''literal'' example: in one of the Career races, Angel gives himself a head start. It doesn't help, though, as he's almost deliberately one of the worst AI opponents you'll ever face.
* On that note, Midnight Club: Los Angeles was criticized in an IGN review because of its rubberband techniques making the game often harder than it needed to be. Not only can they rocket off the line faster, but they have NOS by the bucketload, often blowing right past you. Another gripe by that same review was for markers being in places that are hard to spot, such as on corners you will often blow past.
** A patch eased some of the Rubberband problem for the first third of the game.
* [[Wii Sports]] Resort is a partial subversion. The [[Boss Battle|Champions]] have ''flaws'' in their techniques, making them realistically beatable, but are still blessed with ridiculous reflexes and reaction
** Bizarrely, after you've beaten the Champions, those following immediately after are generally ''easier''.
* ''[[Forza Motorsport]] 2'' exibits several of the stated examples (not to extreme levels, but they appear). But the worse offense is when you end up with the car in 2nd place pulling a PIT Maneuver on you, giving them and their 6 other AI buddies a chance to speed off as you are forced to get back to the track WHILE THE PENALTY METER IS GROWING. The worst part is that you can have this happen with the AI set on Easy.
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** Back in [[GT 2]] and possibly in 4, the AI would also sometimes use cars that exceeded the HP regulations for the races, eg the Vector M12 LM on the Trial Mountain Endurance Race, [[Unwinnable|making it impossible for you to win.]]
** Not to mention that on most track and road races, you can drive perfectly, get several seconds ahead of your opponents in the turns, only for them to [[Rubber Band AI|mysteriously gain 300 horsepower]] and catch, pass, and gain several seconds on you in the straights.
*** Or it will pick a car that is within the regulations, but has some [[Game Breaker|asshole trait]] making it nearly unbeatable, such as the vacuum-downforced Chapparal 2J.
* ''Full Auto'' for the Xbox 360 suffers from this a bit. [[Rubber Band AI]], while prevalent, is not the biggest problem - enemy cars in Career mode are also equipped with what appears to be much, '''MUCH''' stronger armor than the player's vehicle, making blowing them out of the way a time-consuming task. For example, it takes an enemy vehicle approximately 3 rough hits with the hood-mounted shotgun to completely annihilate the player (the same number it takes a player to destroy another player in Multiplayer mode), but it takes the player 5 precise hits to a single side of an AI car ''at minimum'' to take them down. Also, the player's car can completely lose its front armor after hitting only 2 mines dropped by an enemy and explode when hitting the third, but enemy cars can run over multiple mines and suffer no visible damage. They also may or may not be subject to the "Weapon Overheat" period resulting from firing a weapon too rapidly without a break. Factor in the AI cars' exclusive ability to destroy the player simply by ramming them and their unannounced ability to change their driving pattern while the Unwreck function is used (designed for the player to undo mistakes by rewinding time), and it's quite a bit to handle. Fortunately, the AI cars are also busy blasting away at each other, often leaving them damaged enough for the player to swoop in and finish them off.
** The cheating AI seems to be exclusive to Career mode. Multiplayer and Arcade modes appear to give the AI cars the same speed, abilities, and armor as the player (only 3 shots from the shotgun before exploding, 3 mines = death, etc.), but Career mode steps it up with the cheating elements. Very odd...
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=== [[Role Playing Games]] ===
* The Triple Triad card game in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' had another blatant example of cheating. Normally, the human player and the computer can see each other's hands, making the card game fairly easy to win. However, whenever the hands are concealed, the computer's win rate goes up more than tenfold, as it seems perfectly aware what cards you have, and its cards are not so much "hidden" as "the computer's single remaining card has the exact combination of three values, in three specific locations, needed to win." This is especially frustrating as you watch it happen ten times in a row.
** Made even worse when you're on the Lunar Base, where practically ''every'' card rule is in effect.
*** There is a way to limit the ruleset, involving initiating and then canceling card games until your opponent offers to play by a different set of rules. Do it enough, and you'll spread favorable rules from earlier in the game to a new area. However, it took a disassembler to find the mechanics of this, making it something of a [[Guide Dang It]].
** The ever-hated Random rule. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]], it picks out completely random cards from your collection for the current match. Whereas most players are trying to complete the collection and therefore have a LOT of weak cards and a few strong ones, it's to be expected that you'll end up with 2 or 3 (or more, if you're really unlucky) low-level cards, but you'll almost never see the computer with the same weaklings you just drew. There's a reason everyone loathes this rule, and god help you if you let it spread...
* The big battle at the end of ''Tales of the Sword Coast'' (the expansion for the first ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'') had an ability that allowed a
** Various NPCs have stats that should not be physically possible within their class. For example, Minsc's wisdom is too low. His case is justified in-story, however; Minsc is described as having gone insane following a head wound. Several characters suggest to him he get restorative magics for it. [[Story and Gameplay Segregation|Don't ask us why the head injury never goes away despite how many Heal spells you throw at him]].
** From ''Baldur's Gate II'' and onwards, all high-level mages (and there are a lot of these) get something called a 'tattoo of power', which is a spell trigger that can activate any number of defensive spells instantly and without any action from the user and stacks on top of existing spell triggers and contingencies. Oh, wait, did I say 'all mages'? Silly me, I meant 'every mage except you and the ones you can have in your party'.
** Speaking of teleportation, nearly every mage in ''Baldur's Gate II'' can
** Teleportation Shmeleportation. Jon Irenicus at the end of ''Baldurs Gate 2'' has '''infinite''' ''magic missile'' spells memorized. Not even the best [[Min-Maxing|MinMaxed builds]] in the ''tabletop game'' can pull that off.
*** On the other hand, if you've got the one magic item in the game which reflects spells back at their caster, it can make for a hilarious final battle.
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*** All things considered, though, only a handful of Chrono Cross bosses were unfair. The secret boss from whom you obtain the Mastermune is the only character in the game that will instantly counter literally any element you throw at him, based on his own system of preset counters that will *always* immediately follow any element you use. Not knowing this ahead of time and attacking normally is a very speedy return to the main menu, but you are given no warning whatsoever of this unique ability a single enemy in the game has. On the plus side, once you figure out what he's doing, it's very easy to [[AI Breaker|game the AI]] and turn it into a cakewalk.
* In ''[[Golden Sun]]'', some enemies can use Psyenergy, and generally have huge amounts of PP. Now, you have an ability called ''Bind'' that seals it off and a Djinn that can do the same thing, but this only stops attacks that start with the word ''casts'', and not with ones that start with ''used''. Not to mention that attacks that start with ''used'' are more frequent that ones that start with ''casts'' and aren't tied to PP. Did I mention that some enemies can seal off '''your''' PP and you have no abilities that can be used after that?
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'':
**
** At the same Tournament, the mechanics mean that the player must maintain a small range to use power attacks, wait several seconds between using them, and execute slow, ponderous turn after one of said attacks. The AI can execute pinpoint turns (on HORSES), to execute both attacks at the same time while outside of attack range and immediately stop to attack you again.
** The Faction Champions encounter of the actual Argent Tournament raid pits you against 6-10 randomly-assigned race/spec combo NPCs that typically adhere to a set of [[PvP]]-ish aggro rules (ignoring threat to focus-fire people with lower health/armor, etc.) While this would be fine on its own, to drive the point home, you are subject to the rapid diminishing returns on crowd-control spells typically employed in player encounters... and they are not. It's not uncommon to have such a spell last
** One boss in the Karazhan raid is essentially an NPC Mage. When his mana is low, he will cast a mass Polymorph spell, drink some water to refill his mana, and hit the entire raid with Pyroblast just as the Polymorph ends. How is this cheating? First, a Polymorph spell cast by a player will rapidly restore health and can't affect Druids that are currently shapeshifted; his does NOT restore health (a change that was made sometime after the raid was introduced) and will break through the Druid's immunity to Polymorph effects. Second, players can only use food and water to recover outside of battle; he does so ''as you're wandering around as a sheep, with everyone still counting as being "in combat"''.
** Mobs have a tendency to use moves that a player of their equivalent class can't use at that level. For instance, the naga mages in Blackfathom Deeps can use the spell Blizzard at around level 23 or 24. Player mages don't learn Blizzard until ''level 52''.
** Mobs can also be race-class combinations that are not available to players, for instance, the human shamans in Stranglethorn or the undead paladins found in certain areas in Lordaeron.
** Sometimes you will run into NPC foes who have powers that they are well below the proper level for. For instance, one enemy you have to deal with in the Goblin Starting Zone is Blastshadow the Brutemaster, a Warlock who is level-scaled to be the same Level as the player, meaning he is at most Level 17. He has a succubus as a minion; PC Warlocks can't summon a minion that powerful until lvl28. He can also cast Soulstone, which for a PC Warlock requires Level 44.
* The RPG ''[[Metal Hearts]]: Replicant Rampage'', is just this trope incarnate. When the player gets to the first part of civilisation they will note the following: By moving, the PCs will be penalised and completely lose their dodge bonus to range attacks, and when the guards are moving, the player will almost never hit. Small scorpions with poison at the start are easier to hit lying down from about 10 metres away with a handgun than point blank with a shotgun, SMG, or Sniper Rifle. Allies with firearms are less likely to hit than the players, but they tend to have weapons and gear that give bonuses to marksmanship, have the weapons strong enough to hurt evil guards. The players can't use those weapons due to stat requirements.
* Whilst technically not an RPG, the ''[[UFO]]'' series use RPG mechanics for pretty much everything in the first 2 games, ''UFO: Aftermath'' and ''UFO: Aftershock''. The computer cheats when it comes to pretty much anything explosive. Grenades in Aftermath are chancy but if the character's Throw skill is high enough it can clear entrenched hostiles, but the character is still going to be using the shotgun as the grenade throws fail in spectacular ways. Most often the player's soldiers will fumble the grenade and drop it under them, throw it behind them into the civilians being evacuated, overshoot the target by half the map, Lob onto a higher floor inside a building behind them, with no windows or doors on their side. This applies to rocket launchers, unless the user is in a heavy exo-skeleton, which is a waste as there are better Machine guns that can only be fired with those suits and don't run the risk of failing the mission by destroying the objective and entire team in one shot. In Aftershock, these effects are applied 2 at a time and also to rocket launchers and grenade launchers (Actually by adding an underbarrel grenadelauncher to any weapon the player will have corrupted the savegame their running, and also result in a more explosive fumble when the character drops it from a fricking launcher). Needless to say the aliens, mutants and cultists from the second are immune to this and can be reliably expected to incapacitate if not kill at least one character a shot.
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** Sniper Rifles in UFO: Aftershock are strangely inaccurate unless the user is a level 3 sniper, then combat becomes a joke, however hostiles are all able to fire them like normal weapons without any penalties for stance or injuries. On the plus side they don't get any bonuses for these either and Cultist psychics almost never wear Trueshot aura Bracers.
* The old Microprose game ''[[Master of Magic]]'' initially had a shapeshift spell that would disguise one unit as another. The manual noted that this illusion would not affect the computer players. Too bad ''Master Of Magic'' was a one-player game with no network, internet, or even hotseat play capabilities.
** Though, that spell is only mentioned in the
* In the ''[[Star Wars]]'' ''[[Dark Forces Saga|Jedi Outcast]]'' and ''[[Dark Forces Saga|Jedi Academy]]'' games, all Force-using characters (enemies and friends) but you possess immense (though not bottomless) Force batteries, have bullshitime perfect reflexes and cannot be surprised. Furthermore, their Force powers don't cool down and can be reused instantly. All this is designed to make them impossible to kill without a lightsaber, since they will deflect blaster bolts and telekinetically redirect missiles and explosives straight back at you. (Theoretically, one could lure them into a heavily-mined area, but that's more trouble than it's worth.) When you have a Jedi NPC, a Dark Jedi NPC and a missile launcher (or better still the concussion rifle) in the same room, it is actually possible to get the two to play an infinite game of Force Push tennis.
** Also, similarly to enforce lightsaber combat, if you do attack them with normal weaponry, their powers and sword strikes are suddenly mega-effective and you will die in five seconds.
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* The ''[[Monster Rancher]]'' series suffers from the same cheating as Pokémon, that PC simply ignores the missing rate, and top on this, your monster has far more chance of doing "foolery" instead of attacking, even when both are supposed to be equally unloyal due to master inexperience.
* In [[Endless Frontier]], Forced Evasion is a [[Scrappy Mechanic]] that kicks in when an enemy either hits or is about to hit the ground, whereupon three things will happen: First, the rest of the damage they receive during that character's turn is reduced to 0. Second, the character's turn ends immediately, ruining any chance of a combo and bringing the otherwise speedy pace of combat to a screeching halt. Finally, it allows the enemy a chance to counterattack, every bit as powerful and unblockable as their normal attack. Meant to be a mechanic that punishes players for not juggling enemies in the air well enough, it's partly-justified that only the enemy gets it - after all, they don't get to use items or Spirit commands to heal, and can't combo with their allies. It becomes ridiculous, however, when enemies ''hit Forced Evasion without ever being knocked up into the air''. How exactly does a juggled enemy hit the ground if they were ''never juggled in the first place''?
** Whether or not they look or feel like juggles, the fact is that every single hit that your characters make bounces the enemy upwards, meaning that every single combo you try to do on them is ultimately a juggle combo and as a result, the enemies can always do a Forced Evasion regardless of how and where you hit them. What's even worse that if the enemy touches the ground during a wallbounce (usually caused by the wallbouncing hit hitting the enemy too close to the ground), they can do a Forced Evasion off THAT as well.
* Several enemies in ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' screw the rules on numerous occasions. You have to be in overlimit to use a mystic arte. Several bosses that have them can use it randomly. They may also not only go into overlimit numerous times in a row. The final boss does both - when you take out half his health and get a cutscene mid-way through the boss battle, he may use Celestial Elegy without even going into overlimit or immediately go into overlimit twice in a row.
* The major antagonist of ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' , {{spoiler|Alexei}} is famous for ripping out his Mystic Arte, Brilliant Cataclysm, multiple times in a battle. [[It Gets Worse]], he can do it up to 10 times on higher difficulties. Did I mention that Brilliant Cataclysm has a huge area of effect and does enormous amounts of damage?
** He actually cheats in multiple ways. First, he can use a skill that is a powerful attack and a healing spell at the same time without consuming TP, often spamming it to a point at which he heals faster than you can damage him. If you set your AI to stay away from the enemy, they will move in on him before he uses Brilliant Cataclysm to ensure that they are within the area of effect. If you get close to actually winning the battle, he can activate Brilliant Cataclysm without having to go into Over Limit, and it will override an All-Divide (that is supposed to halve all the damage dealt by both you and the enemy), usually killing your entire party in a single blow.
* In ''[[Suikoden III]]'', there are quite a few rune spells that, while they may seem like useful area-of-effect spells, are quite hampered by the fact that [[Friendly Fireproof]] is ''not'' in effect; if your melee attackers are in the area, they're going down too, meaning that they will rarely see use by you. The computer, however? When the computer uses them, the enemies that would get hit ''run out of the way of the incoming spell.'' Exceptionally annoying in the boss fights against the [[Big Bad|big bad team]].
** This is actually the effect of a magic skill called "Precision". The higher the skill level, the less likely your own team is to be fried by a spell cast by the possessing character. The bad part? Only THREE characters in your entire army can learn this skill. The three main characters (i.e. the candidates for the True Fire Rune, which would be the biggest offender in the matter of roasting your own team with non-friendly fire) are not included in that list. It's still possible for your allies to run out of the way of your spell without the skill, but the chances are so low that most players plan around half their team dying if they need to cast one of these spells.
** This is more [[Guide Dang It]] and [[Scrappy Mechanic]] than this trope. Characters can move a limited amount each turn. You do not get to control how characters move outside a very general order given each turn. If you character has enough movement left over, he can run out of range of friendly area effect spells. The odds aren't actually low, there are no odds. Most people attack every turn with melee, which almost always uses up most, if not all, of their movement.
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*** And yet you can still smoke him with a maxed out Goldie.
* Speaking of Final Fantasy, the Chocobo spinoff title ''[[Lighter and Softer|Fables: Chocobo Tales]]'' has the minigames. When you're against the [[Goldfish Poop Gang]], they're competitive, but fair. When [[That One Boss|Volg]] joins in? You're ''screwed''.
* Referenced in ''[[Star Wars]]: The Essential Guide to Droids'', when explaining the dealer droid. These are programmed to deal for sabacc, and are occasionally told to ensure a house victory by, you guessed it, cheating like a bastard. This is usually reserved to gambling establishments that routinely frisk their guests, because droids are expensive and cheated customers are prone to using their weapons, [[8-Bit Theater
** Pazaak in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' is ridiculously biased toward the computer. It's played similar to blackjack, but with a side deck to modify the total value and the top is 20. The computer always goes second, so you're more likely to bust than it is. If you go bust, the computer wins without having to take its next turn, but then this applies to you, too, so it's more than likely a rule than cheating. It counts cards, so it knows when it will get a 20. Finally, it gets 20 more often than you do. The only advantage you have is that your side deck is better by the time you leave Dantoonie. There's also a guy in the first game who actually does cheat... more than the computer usually cheats, that is. Fortunately the player can cheat by [[Save Scumming|saving before each game]].
** ''Knights Of The Old Republic II'' is far better about this. You now trade turns with the opponent and 20s are equally likely on both sides. The only minor unfairness is that the NPCs have cards you flat out cannot buy; you have to beat them for their best card. Some are real killers, too, like a tiebreaker card that beats even a straight 20 on your part. Cut content has Atton lampshade the unfairness of the first game. He accuses T3-M4 of counting cards and forcing him to go first in pazaak. The little droid will then proceed to clean him of credits anyway.
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** A dealer droid seen in the [[X Wing Series]] is mentioned having "cheater prods" that are used on, what else, cheating players. This may be more of an example of the Computer ''Stopping'' Cheating Bastards.
* In a season 3 episode of ''[[Lost]]'', Mikhail says that the computer cheats at chess.
** That doesn't stop Locke from beating it anyway (and [http://gallery.lost-media.com/albums/ep-caps/season3/3x11-77/3/enter77-604.jpg if you notice]{{Dead link}}, he didn't ''actually'' have a checkmate, it could have been blocked with two pieces, but if you follow White's best-case scenario, he'd have lost in two of Black's moves, anyway).
*** Maybe the computer resigned, though this would be unusual for a computer. A checkmate would have been notated as Re1# (or maybe Re1++ ) instead of Re1+.
* This is part of the premise of Extra Mode in ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'', the 9th game in the ''[[Touhou]]'' series. In Extra Mode, the AI opponent is invulnerable at the start of each stage, until a timer runs down to zero, with the timer getting longer in each successive stage. To compensate, it is also on an [[AI Roulette]] and extremely weak, so it will usually die within seconds of the timer running out.
** A common flaw in the ''Phantasmagoria'' installments is that the AI can literally dodge like the machine it is, meaning that barring the use of an [[AI Breaker]], a computer opponent can ''choose when to eat a bullet''.
* In ''[[Spyro: Year of the Dragon|Spyro 3]]'', you have to race a gang of rhynocs to get a dragon egg. The good news is that you get a special skateboard that can do turbo boosts. The bad news is that they have this too. It's even more frusterating when you find out at the start of the race that they can ''automatically'' use the boosts whenever they want while ''you'' need to use tricks in order to fill up the turbo meter at the start and whenever it gets empty.
** Can be inverted by the player, by refusing to start the race, walking onto the track and standing under one of the auto-boost star sitting above the track for 5 minutes, the auto boost effect stacks, and you can beat the race whiout ever doing a single trick.
* In every [[Splinter Cell]] game, enemies alerted to your presence will ''never'' miss when firing at you with a pistol, even if the enemy in question is outside the range of the player's scoped rifle... Even if the enemy is far outside the range of the game's ''draw distance''. Oddly, they will occasionally miss if shooting with a rifle. Also, once enemies spot you they will never lose sight of you, even if you're in perfect blackness.
* The flight sim IL-2 Sturmovik cheats a lot (even discounting nasty surprises from the random mission generator, like being strafed on the airfield, before you can even get off the ground). CPU planes ignore much of the hardcore similationist aspects of flight, no matter what settings you use: they never fall into spin (which allows CPU to pull fairly ridiculous aerobatics even on planes unsuited for that); their pilots do not suffer from blackout/redout and have 360-degree field of vision, allowing them to unerringly foil surprise attacks and notice you even in heavy clouds; they pretty much ignore the severe winds and other adverse effects of the weather; they also can fly at maximum engine power as much as they want, while human-controlled planes, on the other hand, risk overheating and damaging your engine on realistic settings.
** They also micromanage their trim and engine settings much faster and more precisely than a human can possibly manage and can outclimb aircraft that normally climb much faster than their own.
* The "enhancements" to the Sentinel remake ''Zenith'' include fog, which can be so thick as to make it difficult or impossible for the player to see what's happening; the game can be totally unplayable because of this. Of course, the Sentinel and any Sentries are totally unaffected by even the densest fog...
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** [[MOTHER 1]] has this happen in [[Death Mountain|Mt. Itoi]]/[[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon Holy|Loly Mountains]]. There's a mook named Satania that, should it attack in threes, have a potential to cast [[HP to One|PK Freeze γ]] and another in the group that ''almost always'' attacks with PK Freeze Ω . You better hope Ninten and Ana don't perish from the area of effect attack, or you're pretty much screwed.
=== Simulation Games ===
* In the ''[[X (video game)|X-Universe]]'', [[Boarding Party|boarding operations]] against [[
===
* You'd likely expect a xenomorph to cheat, but ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien: Isolation]]'' is a game with a clever and subtle way of doing it. Like most games of the genre, the heroine is subject to a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, where she's the mouse. Technically, however, there are two "cats", as the game gives the xenomorph two completely separate AIs; the first knows ''exactly'' where Amanda is at all times, while the second, which controls the beast's body, does not. The first AI cannot blatantly tell the second where she is, but it gives hints to point the second in the right direction. (Kind of like a game of blind-man's bluff; when the xenomorph is moving towards Amanda, the first AI gives a "getting warmer" signal to the second, and if it's going the wrong way, it gives a "getting colder" signal".) This servees to stack the deck squarely in the monster's favor.
▲* In the ''[[X (video game)|X-Universe]]'', [[Boarding Party|boarding operations]] against [[AI Is a Crapshoot|Xenon]] capital ships fail automatically if there are less than eighteen (out of twenty-one max) surviving marines when they reach the computer core.
==
'''''Needs Sorting by medium.'''''
* ''[[
** ... leading to {{spoiler|Megabyte-}}Bob encouraging Matrix to break the game rules when caught in a game parody of [[Pokémon]]/DragonBallZ and the user is clearly going to win. "You're a renegade! CHEAT!!!"
** ...and Matrix shooting the player from behind. In a miniature golf game.
* Cartoons often have games cheating to exaggerate how hard they are. Especially if they're coin-guzzling arcade machines.
** In [[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* Teal'c encounters this trope in a season 8 episode of [[Stargate SG-1]]. He says a computer simulation is too easy and the computer takes him at his word. Hijinks ensue.
** Notably the computer cheats so blatantly and repeatedly that in the end they resolve the situation by doing what any self-respecting gamer would do: [[Good Bad Bugs|exploit a bug in the program]] to cheese the system, sending Daniel in to help while granting him tactical precogniton.
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* In Anti-Idle: The Game, the Stadium part of the game, the AI opponents will not only accelerate in growth much faster than you can but can also go over the cap allowed for stats. Trying to beat an opponent with a top speed you can't even approach is frustrating.
* So you are playing the poker mini-game in ''[[Dragon Quest VII]]'', and you are having an incredible doubling streak: You have doubled 6 times already, and have 640 coins, and the current card is a King. You simply can't resist the temptation of doubling once again as the odds are just incredible. You naturally bet for low. The next card is an Ace. You lose. You scream in frustration and resist your urge to throw the controller at the screen. Well, more the reason for that because you most probably got cheated. You see, when you start doubling the game decides in advance how many times you are allowed to double, and if you get that far you will lose no matter what you choose (if you choose low, it will deliberately give a higher card, and vice-versa). This can be corroborated with an emulator.
* Infamously, [[Metal Gear]]:Solid had Psycho Mantis, an in-game example of
* [[Call of Duty: Black Ops]]' combat training bots. They can SNIPE you with a smg before you can even pull up your scope, and If you watch the killcam, they ADS and aim in for you. When you're behind a solid concrete wall. And the INSTANT you walk around they mercilessly gun you down.
* FIFA 07: If you're needing a goal in the last twenty minutes or so of play on a decent difficulty, it is virtually impossible to tackle the opponent, or to string together two half-decent passes. You're also much more susceptible to concede goals from nowhere, from players who usually wouldn't dare shoot in normal play.
* The classic Commodore 64 baseball game Hardball was virtually impossible to strike out in later innings as the AI would never swing at anything outside of the strike zone and would hit practically anything inside, racking up singles and doubles with ease.
* An enemy Navi in ''[[Mega Man Battle Network|Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge]]'' will always have more Program Deck space than you
* Played straight and lampshaded in ''[[Tron: Legacy]]'':
{{quote|
* On space maps in ''[[Star Wars Battlefront|Battlefront 2]]'', computer-controlled fighters with fixed-forward weapons actually have about a 90-degree fire arc. Also, sometimes your own auto-turrets will kill you.
* [http://online_casino_news.hundredpercentgambling.com/2011/02/rigged-blackjack-vip-golden-club-sets.html This report] is on what just might be the most hilariously badly-programmed rigging in the history of Blackjack. Evidently, the dealer has an ace up its sleeve - or rather, about four of the Ace of Diamonds.
** The most hilarious (and by that we mean ''cringe inducing'') is the player having his ''blackjack'' beaten by the dealer's ''soft 17.''
* Sometimes in the [[Blood Bowl]] computer game, the AI does something no sane human would do (e.g, a hand-off and pass with dwarves past a high-agility intercepter, ''while'' it's possible to score another way'') and succeeds. Although the nature of [[Blood Bowl]] mechanics is such that actually succeeding on just about anything is certainly possible, especially with re-rolls, the computer seems to succeed almost every time it tries something so unlikely that only the most desperate human would dismiss the possibility out of hand. Furthermore, frequently the AI has set up so it can attempt this but then doesn't even try, so it's not like the AI has some bizarre preference for high-risk moves. The sequence of dice rolls in any given game is set before it begins, so the most likely explanation for the computer's overall behavior is that it consults the list of rolls then randomly decides whether to exploit that knowledge or to calculate odds like it doesn't have access.
* In ''[[Ace Combat]]'' games, enemies usually can manoeuvre better than you can using the same planes and lock-on much faster. Some, like {{spoiler|Solo Wing Pixy's}} Morgan from ''[[Ace Combat Zero:
** The most blatant use of this trope: Hostile planes in ''[[Ace Combat 5 The Unsung War]]'' can '''fly through the goddamn ground'''. It's rare, though.
* Similarly, AI planes in ''[[Tom Clancy]]'s HAWX'' can accelerate and maneuver at speeds that should be not only pasting the pilots but breaking the planes apart; they can instantly change direction 90 degrees or more if they're supposed to be fighting you, and your allies will instantly go to full speed when you give them an attack order.
* In ''[[Madden NFL]]'', the AI on higher difficulties will know exactly what play you called and respond accordingly. If you audible back and forth between run and pass plays, you can watch the defense react to them even though none of your players moved. And this happens early in the game, long before they could figure out a tell. Similarly, the AI can audbile into, out of, and within the Wildcat formation, which the player cannot do for Game Balance reasons. There are many, mnay more examples.
* A
* In ''[[Sword Art Online]]'', if one goes strictly by video game rules, than Heathcliff (the avatar of Kayaba Akihiko) is a clear example, being a [[Munchkin|"munchkin"]] player even when everyone assumed he was a hero. Since he is, for all intents and purposes, the game's developer and creator, one might assume his high-tier equipment and skill are the result of having first-hand knowledge of where to find it, or even blatantly downloaded by Kayaba. Not to mention that he uses [[Game Master|admin privileges]] to give himself powers that are even regarded as broken in-game. {{spoiler| (He becomes truly invulnerable after taking a certain amount of damage.) The only reason he is beaten is because he agrees to turn off this power during his duel with Kinto, and even then he blatantly cheats.}}
=== Casino/Amusement Park Games ===
* Many arcade games are programmed to only make the jackpot or grand prize possible to hit once out of so many games. This is usually set via some kind of mechanism inside the machine, behind the coin box, or in the operator menu activated by a button behind the coin box for games with a monitor. One common implementation is to have a setting can go from 1 (or some other small number) to some maximum value X, or alternatively a "difficulty level" with each level mapping to a numerical setting in that range. Every game, the machine rolls a random number from 0 to X-1. If the roll is less than the setting, the jackpot can be won on that game; otherwise, the machine rigs the game to be [[Unwinnable]]. The other common implementation is to allow setting a minimum number of games that must pass since the last time the jackpot was won before it becomes winnable again. This is why some arcades will have one of those "stop the light" games with a four-digit progressive jackpot that hasn't been hit in over 1,000 games in spite of skilled players who can hit the jackpot at least once every 10 attempts on the same game at other arcades.
* On British pub fruit machines, when a player spins a winning combination he is given the option to go higher/lower for the chance to win the next biggest payout. The machine decides in advance how far the player will be allowed to go, and there will come a point where a player who chooses to go higher/lower is guaranteed to lose regardless of the option taken. This has been proven by the Fairplay campaign, who ran the fruit machine software on a PC emulator, saving the game state before the choice is made. The machine cabinets are now required to display the message "This machine may occasionally offer a choice where the player has no chance of success".
** The British National Lottery online games do exactly the same thing. For instance, there is a game where you can guess whether the next ball from the machine will be higher or lower, giving the illusion that skill is required to win. However, whether you will win or lose the game is decided beforehand. Sometimes it's funny to deliberately choose the least likely answer and then watch as a highly improbable sequence of balls emerge - again and again.
* Coin-operated pub quiz machines were fair for a few years after they first came out, until the makers realised that some [[Renaissance Man]] types were making serious money off them. The response was to introduce gambling elements to the games that reduced them to [[Luck-Based Mission]] even for people who knew all the answers to the questions. Some games even introduce elements ostensibly requiring manual dexterity - for example, on ''Bullseye'' a player must hit a prize segment with a dart, and ''Battleships'' involves hitting it with a revolving turret. However, even when aimed perfectly, the game decides whether or not the shot will hit.
* [[wikipedia:Stacker (game)|Stacker]] machines actually
** In case you had any doubt, there's no warning of this (at least in Canada).
* Claw Machines. Good lord. It's amazing how many people don't know this, but almost all claw machines are rigged in various ways. For instance, many machines lower the claw slowly and then pull it up quickly, tending to drop the prize with this sudden motion. The most common method of rigging a machine is to rig the claw so that it only actually closes tight enough to grip a prize every so often. If the machine is set to grip a prize, an experienced player will almost always win...but these instances are rare. On some machines, you get a chance to win every X amount of plays. Someone in-the-know could let other people play until the machine is ready to spit out a prize, then swoop in and take it. However, most modern machines use a Random Number Generator.
** Also, it's often easier to grab a prize if it's lying on its side...and more often than not, the items (usually toys) are placed upright or some other way to make grabbing even more difficult.
* Many video slot machines are programmed with weighted reels, so that some stops are more common than others. This is virtually always used to make "near misses" happen many,
* Japanese pachisuro (a.k.a. pachi-slot) machines spin until the player manually stops the reels, attempting to time the button presses to line up a winning combination. However, the machine is legally allowed to skip up to 4 symbols after each button press before stopping the reel; this is most frequently done to make the third reel skip past a winning combination. (The slot machines in ''[[Pokémon]]'' also do this, since they're based off pachisuro as opposed to Western slot machines.)
* Many argue that having [[Computers Are Fast|lightning reflexes]] when it came to buzzing in is how IBM supercomputer ''Watson'' managed to completely curbstomp ''[[Jeopardy!]]'' champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in Feb. 2011. Though he was a good sport about it, Ken later [http://ken-jennings.com/blog/archives/2554 suggested some ideas to level the playing field] should a similar experiment ever occur.
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