Best Games Where You Make Your Own Rules

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Open-world games generally give players the most freedom because they offer huge areas to explore. You can find open-world experiences in many genres, like shooters and role-playing games, meaning there’s one for almost any gamer. However, some games – both open-world and those with more structured levels – feel more liberating than others.

Players haven’t just enjoyed freedom within games – they’ve actually discovered unexpected ways to play, even finding loopholes developers didn’t anticipate. By pushing the limits, they’ve created their own solutions to challenges and defeated bosses in ways the game designers probably didn’t intend, but that still work! Let’s look at some games where it’s fun to experiment and see what you can uncover.

Elden Ring

EXP Hacks

Okay, so Elden Ring was totally new territory for FromSoftware – it was their first open-world Soulslike, and honestly, a first for a lot of us players too. We were already used to figuring out their tough games, but Elden Ring gave us so much more room to roam around and try out crazy stuff. It was awesome!

Players sometimes find ways to quickly progress by discovering hidden shortcuts, which can unfortunately lead to opportunities to gain experience unfairly. A common tactic involves luring powerful enemies into traps or exploiting their weaknesses. Many bosses, for instance, can be easily defeated by exploiting simple vulnerabilities – like shooting them from a safe corner or ledge with ranged attacks.

Final Fantasy 7

Healing The Undead

As one of the most beloved role-playing games ever made, Final Fantasy 7 is a great example of how many RPGs work. In the game, you can defeat undead enemies – creatures that don’t stay dead easily – by using healing items like potions or spells like Cure. Powerful items called Phoenix Downs can instantly defeat even tough undead bosses, such as Gi Nattak.

Players aren’t told about this in the game’s instructions or descriptions, but observant players might stumble upon it. This useful technique appears in many Final Fantasy games and other RPGs, and it even works against Revenants in Elden Ring.

The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

Build Your Way Out

While Breath of the Wild excelled in certain areas, Tears of the Kingdom added a hugely popular feature: the ability to build things. Players can pick up objects and combine them to create anything from simple barriers to complex vehicles. Through experimentation, they’ve even crafted flying machines and speedy ground vehicles that are much faster than riding a horse.

I’ve seen entire websites and blogs dedicated to helping players build crazy stuff in this game! And just like the first one, there are dungeons full of physics puzzles. The best part is, you can almost always find a way to glitch through walls or totally bypass the intended solutions. It’s awesome – the game’s physics are loose enough that you can really break it and there seem to be endless possibilities!

Super Mario Bros.

Jumping Over The Flag

Super Mario Bros. was the main reason many people bought the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and it was a hugely popular topic among kids for years. Players loved finding clever tricks and exploits, such as trapping Koopa Troopas to get an unlimited number of extra lives.

Players constantly pushed the game’s boundaries, attempting to clip through walls, jump above the level’s intended limits, and even explore areas beneath the ground – often succeeding and uncovering hidden secrets. One famous discovery was the ‘Minus World,’ an unintended level that players accessed by manipulating the game’s code, essentially skipping levels to reach it.

Pokemon Red & Blue

Missing MissingNo

Okay, so back when I first played Pokemon Red and Blue, there was this crazy glitch everyone was trying to find – MissingNo. Honestly, how anyone figured it out is still mind-blowing! You had to talk to this one old man in a specific town, then fly to Cinnabar Island and surf up and down the east coast. It was super weird, but if you did it just right, boom, there it was!

As a huge Pokemon fan, I remember discovering this crazy glitch – encountering something called MissingNo in battle! It turned out you could use it to duplicate items, like Rare Candy, which meant you could level up your Pokemon as much as you wanted. It wasn’t something the game developers meant for us to do, but dedicated fans figured it out and it became a popular trick!

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance

Duplicating Items

Both Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and its sequel had an unexpected glitch. Players could create a character, then import that same character – at their current level – into a new game, like when starting a cooperative game. This wasn’t an intended feature, and the developers likely didn’t anticipate players being able to do this.

Players can exploit a flaw where a powerful enemy drops items that can be sold for money. Because the game doesn’t save what those enemies drop, players can repeatedly defeat them to earn unlimited money. This exploit still works in the updated versions of the game.

Grand Theft Auto 3

Getting The Dodo Off The Ground

Grand Theft Auto 3 revolutionized the GTA series by introducing a fully 3D world on the PlayStation 2. Players loved the freedom it offered, constantly finding creative ways to complete missions – like building roadblocks to trap enemies before they could get away.

One of the most impressive feats players achieved was with the Dodo plane. Originally, it was designed only to glide short distances, but dedicated players figured out how to fly it to a hidden island. This island wasn’t meant to be accessible and was actually the location used for the game’s opening cinematic.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Defeating The End

Hideo Kojima is a passionate gamer, and this shows in his games. He consistently introduces unique and unexpected gameplay mechanics, actively encouraging players to try new things. A great example of this is in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, which features experimental content like the boss character, The End.

Okay, so this boss? There are some seriously sneaky ways to take him down early that most people miss. Like, right at the start, during that scene at the docks, if you’re fast with a sniper rifle, you can actually kill him before the fight even begins. And get this – I found out you can start the boss battle, save your game, then just…leave it alone for a week. Seriously! When you come back, he’s just…dead of old age. It’s hilarious and totally works!

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2025-11-15 04:30