Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Too Many Tricks [Starfield]
- Gold Egg Allergy [Resident Evil 4]
- Flying High [Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom]
- Exploring The Antarctic [Marvel’s Spider-Man 2]
- Our Next Event, The Shot Put [Lies of P]
- Quad Shotguns [Armored Core 6]
- Critical Hit! [Super Mario RPG Remake]
- Escape The Dark Place [Alan Wake 2]
- Tricking The Hardest Stage [Super Mario Wonder]
- Barrelmancy [Baldur’s Gate 3]
Join us as we count down the weirdest tricks of 2023.
Video games are still surprising us in 2023. While video games are becoming more corporate and controlled, players are still finding new ways to explore their favorite games – and many of the biggest games of 2023 rewarded us for exploring. We’re not just talking about glitches and exploits here, we’re also talking about unbelievable and awesome secrets we learned while digging deep. Some of these tricks are intended, some are not, but they’re all extremely weird.
Too Many Tricks [Starfield]
We can’t even begin to scratch the surface of all the weird tricks in Starfield. But, Starfield is just too big and too buggy to ignore. And the Ship Builder function, which allows you to customize and create a totally unique ship to fly in space, has some of the funniest (and weirdest tricks) we’ve seen in a very long time.
First is a trick you’ve probably seen before. If you build a ship shaped like a donut in the Ship Builder, enemy ships will always aim for the center of mass while in space. If there’s nothing to hit in the center of your ship, their missiles and kinetic weapons will fly right through your ship. Seeing it in action, we can’t believe this trick actually works. And bonus points for players that discovered another incredibly useful space-flight trick. If you’re in the middle of combat in space and your shields are low, you can stand up from your cockpit for a breather. Seriously, all the enemy ships will take a break and stop shooting at you. Wait for your shields to recharge and jump back in.
These are two of our favorites, but we also love the ability to steal items from vendors by searching the game world for their hidden caches. The containers with all the vendor stuff are usually locked beneath the floor, where you normally can’t access – but clever players can use the cheat console or other glitchy means to reach where you’re not supposed to be. And while we’re talking about stealing, we also love using physics objects to nudge stuff we want to steal somewhere else. See a cool gun on display you want to steal? Nudge it to a private room where you can steal it without anyone seeing.
Gold Egg Allergy [Resident Evil 4]
Resident Evil 4 Remake lovingly recreates one of the best games ever made and turns one of our favorite rare healing items into the game’s deadliest weapon. Why buy a Rocket Launcher when you can throw an egg to kill one of the most annoying bosses in the game so much faster.
The ruler of the castle, Salazar is allergic to eggs. During his boss fight at the end of Act 2, you can rapidly drain his health with rare Gold Eggs – one of which you can find in his throne room. Gold Eggs deal about 70% damage to Salazar, who is a much beefier boss than his original counterpart. The remake really made this guy much harder, so having a new method to end the fight faster is a great addition. And it isn’t the only trick you can use to speed through the game.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is packed with speedrunning tricks that were intentionally programmed into the game. You can shoot the church bell with a sniper rifle when replaying on New Game+ to instantly end the first big village battle. Whenever there are barriers Leon needs to blow up or destroy, the Rocket Launcher will smash through them – like the barrier in the mines. And you can even destroy the wall during the wrecking ball sequence. A few Heavy Grenades will destroy the barrier early.
Flying High [Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom]
One of our favorite glitches in Tears of the Kingdom has been unfortunately patched out – so you can’t try it yourself if you’ve already downloaded the latest update. But, during the early days of Tears of the Kingdom, players could ride a floating Zonai platform like a jet, flying high in the sky and reaching the top of the sky box in no time flat. All you had to do was talk to a very specific NPC, placing a floating platform (or wing) then gets nudged out of the way during a cutscene. The NPCs are located at Riverside Stable. After the cutscene and your object gets nudged, place any item and glue it on with the Ultra Hand.
After that, grab the item – the item that’s attached to the flying platform – and you’ll go flying like a rocket. This sends you up in the sky infinitely, and you’ll have limited control over the flight trajectory. This is one of the most instantly impressive glitches of the year. Sure, you can build Zonai devices to crush the toughest enemies in the game or create walking mechs that stomp enemies flat, but getting to explore the skies at super speed is our pick.
Exploring The Antarctic [Marvel’s Spider-Man 2]
Briefly in the story of Spider-Man 2, Miles Morales will visit Antarctica while jumping through magic portals. This is one of the wildest moments in the middle of the game, and gamers immediately started searching for the true location of the Antarctica map. To explore Antarctica, you’ll need to replay Black Cat’s mission. The trick is also only possible on Easy Difficulty, or you’ll run out of time to pull this off. After entering the portal to reach Antarctica, you can drop down into the water and swim under the exit portal.
Keep swimming to pass through the invisible wall, then the rest of the Antarctica glacier is available to explore. Keep going and you can even return back to New York City! Back in the city, there’s no collision, so it’s especially weird – but that’s to be expected when you’re exploring weird glitches.
Our Next Event, The Shot Put [Lies of P]
Lies of P is a tough game. And tough games practically beg to be broken by the community – not that the community had to look very far for a broken tactic that makes the rest of the game incredibly easy. In reality, this isn’t really a glitch, an exploit, or a mistake. This is a totally intentional option the developers gave struggling players, but most of us wouldn’t even consider this an option. Throwable items in most Dark Souls games are useful but extremely limited. In Lies of P, thrown weapons are unstoppable.
And there’s one particular item that’s better than the rest. Relatively early in the game, you’ll meet a black market vendor that sells an item called a Shot Put. This metal ball deals stagger damage to enemies. When an enemy is staggered, your character can deliver a devastating attack. Anyone familiar with Dark Souls or Bloodborne will understand immediately, but the Shot Put makes bosses simple. Buy up an infinite supply of Shot Puts, then start chucking them. Bosses will stagger in a few hits, leaving them vulnerable to your special attacks. Even the hardest endgame bosses aren’t immune to this trick. Buying Shot Puts is like activating Easy Mode in Lies of P. Want to skip an annoying boss? Try the Shot Put!
Quad Shotguns [Armored Core 6]
One of the simplest tricks on our list is also one of the most effective. Armored Core 6 is a hardcore mech action game from the same developers that gave us Dark Souls, so you better believe the bosses are a big freaking deal. The bosses in Armored Core 6 test your skills to the max, but they can’t stand up to a simple trick. Equip four shotguns.
Seriously, that’s it. Equip two shotguns to your main hands, and two shotguns to your shoulders. After firing one set of shotguns, immediately swap to the shoulders and fire again. Normally, shotguns take a moment to reload between each shot. If you use this trick, the shotguns will reload while they’re stowed, allowing you to unleash an infinite torrent of shotgun blasts. And the shotguns have surprisingly long range, making most bosses totally vulnerable to this trick. We don’t even want to call this a trick. It’s just a simple thing you can do in the game, but many players just never realized the all-encompassing power of the shotgun. It feels like cheating, even if it isn’t.
Critical Hit! [Super Mario RPG Remake]
For a game that’s so good at introducing young kids to the RPG genre, Super Mario RPG can be pretty hardcore. The original was a light-and-fluffy take on Final Fantasy, while the remake adds a load of new content only the toughest hombres in the Mushroom Kingdom will overcome. In both the original and remake, there’s a useful trick players can use to deal maximum damage. You’ll never see another attack dish out 9,999 damage. But Geno’s special Geno Whirl attack can do just that.
By pressing the attack button just as the Geno Whirl attack leaves the screen, you’ll score an instant critical hit and deal 9,999 damage. The timing can be tough, but this powerful move works on powerful enemies and even one of the final bosses – Exor, the giant sword. This trick doesn’t work on most bosses, but it does work on some of the postgame boss enemies, making certain fights so, so much easier. We just love seeing those maximum numbers.
Escape The Dark Place [Alan Wake 2]
Here’s a trick I haven’t seen anyone else talking about but we discovered on our return playthrough. In Alan Wake 2, you play as two different characters in completely separate worlds. You’ll play as Alan Wake or Saga Anderson, and each character has their own inventories you can’t share. But, there’s a way to transfer Saga to the Dark Place or Alan to the real world. And you’ll have to manipulate loading screens.
On the PS5, if you save your game at a break room and immediately enter a nearby portal before the save is complete, there’s a chance you’ll teleport to the alternate universe with your current character. Seriously, this works both ways and after a little practice, we were able to pull this trick off consistently. We were able to bring Saga into the Dark Place or fully explore the real-world regions with Alan Wake way before he’s meant to return to reality. This is a mind-bending and fun trick that you probably won’t want to do for long. I haven’t tried progressing the story with either of them, but I assume nothing good will come from that.
Tricking The Hardest Stage [Super Mario Wonder]
Normally, Super Mario Wonder is a pretty chill game. Players of any skill level can beat most of it, but there’s one challenge that has everyone ripping their Mario hats off and stomping on them. After earning multiple completion badges, you’ll unlock the Final-Final Test. This is a grueling series of difficult sub-levels you need to complete, running through every major movement badge. Most of these levels are tricky, but I wouldn’t call them evil. Until the Invisibility Badge trial.
On the final stretch of the Final-Final Test, Mario will be completely invisible. You can’t see Mario’s location, and you’ll need to hop across a series of floating balloons. This sequence would be difficult even if you were visible, but while you’re invisible it is practically impossible. Players all over the internet have been desperate for a solution to this cruelty, and there’s an answer.
By switching to two-player mode, a marker will appear over Player 1. This can be done even if you’re playing solo, all you need is a second Joy-Con controller to activate. With the Player 1 crown over your head, an impossible challenge suddenly becomes possible. This is our favorite trick of the year simply because it saved us from a thousand aggravating deaths – anyone that did this challenge legit, we salute you.
Barrelmancy [Baldur’s Gate 3]
Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the most meticulous games of the year, full of details most of us will probably never see – but there’s one trick we can all try. The Sword Coast is packed with different types of barrels, and our favorites explode. Smokepowder Barrels are the most common and useful. Planting these types of barrels all around an arena before a tricky encounter turns an impossible fight into an easy one. And you can find plenty of Smokepowder or Firewine Barrels in locations like the Shattered Sanctum and the hidden Zhentarim Basement in the Risen Road area. You can even make lugging around barrels much easier with the incredibly useful Club of Hill Giant Strength, found at the top of the Arcane Tower in the Underdark. Sit on a stool in the corner, then smash it to get the handy club.
With the club equipped, you’ll have a permanent 19 Strength buff. That makes carrying and planting barrels even easier. If you’re feeling like making a huge mess out of areas like the Goblin Camp or Moonrise Towers, you can clear entire rooms with barrels. Setting off Firewine spreads alcohol on the ground, leaving a burning puddle that engulfs enemies even longer. There are plenty of bosses that make it trickier to use barrels because they’ll immediately initiate combat, but even more enemies give you time to explore. Struggling against a boss or battle that you just want to delete immediately? Try dropping a nuke on it in the form of a dozen explosive barrels.
And those are our favorite weird glitches and tricks of 2023. There’s a lot we missed, so let us know in the comments. 2024 is a big year, and we can only imagine all those new tricks waiting to be discovered.
