Spoilers
Culture concept
Tags that function as spoilers in almost all cases, usually by describing a plot twist element.
This is a container group; its children are:
| Changing goals | Somewhere along the line your actual goal changes to something unrelated to the first, either because the original becomes impossible or the new one is more important. | 2006 / 2015 | 12 games |
| Chekhov's Gun | A literary technique whereby something seemingly insignificant (e.g. an ignored prop) introduced early on gains much greater role later. | 1986 / 2019 | 27 games |
| Cliffhanger | The ending leaves the fate of the protagonist(s) unresolved or in a precarious situation. (too short) | 1996 / 2021 | 101 games |
| Death of protagonist | One or more of the main characters die as part of the plot, especially in case of the protagonist. (too short) | 1988 / 2019 | 102 games |
| Doppelgängers | Includes creatures that pretend to be something other than what they actually are. These are commonly shapeshifters or beings capable of somehow affecting other people's perceptions of them. | 1992 / 2018 | 39 games |
| Evil wins | (too short) | 1992 / 2021 | 37 games |
| Fake crash | Pretends the computer, console, or such has crashed, displaying more or less convincing error screen, such as BSOD for Windows, kernel panic screen for Linux, and so forth. | 2002 / 2016 | 5 games |
| False ending | The story builds up for conclusion, but instead there's a plot twist or something else that causes the story to continue on. | 1985 / 2017 | 58 games |
| False protagonist | A character is initially made to appear as the protagonist but is later proven false, usually by that character dying without accomplishing anything significant and the story continuing with the real protagonist. | 1993 / 2018 | 30 games |
| Fear of Nothing | Player (character) is lead to believe something scary is out there, but ultimately there isn't anything. Repeatedly. | 1999 / 2015 | 23 games |
| Hidden motives | The motives of the protagonist are hidden from the player, leading into plot twist when they're actually revealed. | 1994 / 2017 | 3 games |
| Mandatory loss | Player is given a fight they're meant to lose. (too short) | 1986 / 2019 | 31 games |
| Pawn | The protagonist is used or otherwise manoeuvred without their (initial) knowledge towards goals they may not agree with. | 1999 / 2015 | 39 games |
| Recurring opponent | The same opponent challenges you time and time again over the course of the game. (too short) | 1985 / 2019 | 73 games |
| Self spoilers | Contains spoilers for itself within the game (and not as easter eggs), such as after each episode/chapter or similar there's preview of the story of the next one. | 2012 / 2013 | 2 games |
| Simulacrums | Beings that appear to be the same as the protagonist, often with faint or even quite noticeable differences. Often these are an evil clone or twin, or some manifestation of the Evilness in the protagonist, or even almost literal mirror images of them. (too long) | 1988 / 2024 | 96 games |
| Treachery | Treachery serves as a major plot point or thematic element. (too short) | 2005 / 2017 | 21 games |