Dear Future Gamer

After mucho amusement reading the letters about old text adventures and the fun to be had by swearing in them, I thought I'd drop you a line about a related subject - playing games the wrong way.

Half-Life - a truly excellent game with a single-player experience to die for. It took me a couple of weeks of play to get through to the end, but I reckon I could've shaved a week of this figure if only I'd not been tempted into orchestrating elaborate deaths for those helpful scientist chaps. "Follow me," I'd command the scientist, as I carefully backed around the tongue of the barnacle creature. How I laughed as he was sucked up to his doom...

Tomb Raider - another classic, though as I guided the beautiful Ms Croft around the stunning locations, I was tempted by an urge to climb to the highest point I could find. Subsequent tears of mirth were soon to disrupt any further serious play as Lara was made to swan dive 15 storeys to her sudden, crumpled death. The experience was even more hilarious if she was to land in lava and burst into flames. BWOOHAHAHAAA!

My all-time favourite, though, stems from the old Amiga game Wings. One of the aims of this WWI flight sim was to fly missions with a couple of wingmen with names like Ginger and Algie and other Biggles-esqe monikers. Unfortunately, I was blessed with the flying skills of an elephant and never managed to make any kills, always being beaten to it by my comrades. Soon I was at risk of being grounded due to my poor performance. What was I to do?

The next time my wingmen and I set off to engage the enemy, I held back slightly... and machine-gunned them from behind. With those pesky aces out of the way, I was free to destroy the barrage balloons and red tri-planes of the enemy at my leisure, before returning to a hero's return and a commendation. The icing on the cake came as I was treated to a cut scene depicting my fellow officers' funerals, tragically shot down while engaging the enemy. Brilliant!

Anyone else share similar experiences, or am I just sick?

Nige

FG: Nige, you are neither sick nor alone. Playing games the wrong way is one of the most entertaining ways to get the most from an otherwise 'finished' game. Anyone got any other hilarious stories of 'wrong' gamesplaying?