Over the last 2 decades video game guides and wiki's have become a standard part of playing video games. There are many reasons why but one of the main ones is that people are limited in time and don't want to spend hours trying to figure out what to do next. Second many games are not intuitive in their design and require guides and wiki's to use alongside playing the game. Titles that require crafting and recipe's have become more and more popular over the last decade with the release of games such as Minecraft, Terraria, and survival simulation games. Often these games will not have a database of crafting recipe's and it is up to you the player to figure them out one by one. And if they do it is often far easier to look up the recipe online then try to find it in-game.
Many of us are familiar with the abundance of Wiki's and guides that can be found online. And though many of us are not strangers to guides we sometimes want to complete a game without using a guide. Maybe it is one of our favorite games and we want to savor every moment without having the guide or wiki provide spoilers, maybe we just want to feel like we completed the game without any help, wiki, or outside instruction, or maybe we want to show our friends we did it without help. whatever your reason for trying the game without a guide there are steps you can take to be successful in your endeavor. There are also those in the gaming community at the far end of the spectrum that feel that using guides is close to if not outright cheating as you are not figuring out the game for yourself. whether this is the case or not is debatable and different for everyone playing. Personally i don't agree with that statement. Guides are time savers and lot's of games are not intuitive and would rather let a player walk around for hours rather than explain what to do straightforward to progress. Guides and wiki's save you time, time that you sometimes don't have. Or that you would rather spend doing something else or time better spent with another game. Using wikis to look up stat information on characters, items, and effects is usually considered a normal part of gaming as many developers don't make this information readily available from regular gameplay. Even though I have used wiki's on many occasions there are some games where I want to savour the game and don't want to spoil it for myself so I don't look up information online at all unless I am completely stuck and unable to progress.
What steps can we take to succeed and win at games without using guides? The first one is trial and error. Essentially it means to try option A and then see what the result is. Is it good. Write it down. Bad, also write it down. Then Try Option B and write down the result. Then try option C and write down the result. Now you have written down 3 different ways to approach the situation in the game and you can compare the result of each. You can try for example Weapon A, B, and C and cross out the worst ones until you end up with the best weapon. For example say the damage output of trying option A is 1.5 and you see the damage output of option B is 0.7 and C is 1.8. Well you now see that the ideal Option to take is Option C. Trial and error can also be used in many different gaming situations. For example in many puzzle games trial and error will allow you to solve many of the puzzles without using any other methods. Often the game will allow you to save your progress and try over and over again.
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Step 2 is to document your finds: This is involves keeping a journal or notepad where you take notes on your progress/numbers/stats/etc in any given game. This is one of the steps that new gamers miss. Sometimes it is because they just want to focus on the game at hand rather then write information down which feels like work at times. There are games where the action is fast paced and there is no time to write down anything. In those cases it is good to during down time write down any information you can. The game usually presents many options you can take and without studying each one you will not know the ideal one to take as often it is not outright visible which is best. Pro esports gamers spend hours in developing strategy guides to beat and outsmart their opponents. Counter Strike Global Offensive esports players as well as Dota 2 Players are 2 examples of fast paced games where there is no time during the game to write down strategy but before and afterwards it is vital to write down information that you would otherwise forget.
Step 3 is to draw a map: Many games benefit from you drawing a map. For example Metroidvania's. A Metroidvania is generally an action-adventure game that features an interconnected world with locked doors and blocked areas. Access to areas depends on the right weapon or item. If you are not provided with a map in game make one from scratch. Mark important areas and sectors that you can return too.
Using these methods you will win at games without having to depend on guides all the time. Treasure the writing experience of taking notes while gaming and have a notebook specifically for gaming. Write down game information, tasks you have to do, draw maps, make it your own. Write down stats on enemies, stats on weapons, anything that comes to mind while gaming that will help you out.
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