# How/when do you use walkthroughs? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 4, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456 "2009-02-04T19:30:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/21 "2009-02-04T23:14:55Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > [Pink Puff Tail](http://www.thefinalfantasy.com/forums/cleft-dimension/44304-pink-tail.html), anyone? Believe it or not I actually stumbled onto this on my first play through of Final Fantasy II (ha ha, watch me use the American titles and make certain people squirm). I never found one again. I have a friend who always gets the guide and always plays with it in his lap. I can’t do that. Besides the stupid waste of money (“Would you like get the guide with that?” “No thanks, I have an Internet connection.”) I enjoy exploring and working these things out on my own. If I get frustrated then I’ll resort to the guide but I avoid it as long as I can. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/22 "2009-02-05T00:03:02Z")
I used to use UHS for the times when I was stuck on a particular puzzle/problem but didn’t want to read/search a walkthrough. It’s a nice way to keep going without being utterly spoiled. Often, though, I’ll read the walkthrough for the sections I’ve already finished, to see if I missed anything. Although I rarely go back unless it’s of the “hey, if you missed this, you won’t be able to continue” type. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/23 "2009-02-05T00:10:20Z")
The CSI games are fun (and evoke the TV series), but if you miss a single piece of evidence you can’t solve the case. So I do my best unaided the first time, but if I fail then I resort to the walkthrough. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/24 "2009-02-05T00:15:21Z")
I play games for fun, so I reach for the walkthrough when the frustration at a certain point outweighs the fun factor. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/25 "2009-02-05T00:26:21Z")
Sometimes game puzzles are beyond ridiculous, like the [“cat hair moustache”](http://www.gabrielknight4campaign.com/cat_hair.php#spoil1) puzzle from Gabriel Knight 3. Even after you read the walkthrough for the puzzle, you’ll probably still be thinking, “wait…what?” ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/26 "2009-02-05T00:37:53Z")
I go to the walkthrough when my frustration is such that I am ready to give up on the game if I don’t get past “this point”. Unfortuantely for me I frequently go to the walkthrough and feel like an idiot because it is something that seems obvious once I read it. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/27 "2009-02-05T00:54:34Z")
I buy the guide for Final Fantasy games and sometimes Zelda. Everything else I try to play on my own, but will stop by gamefaqs if I get stuck or on second playthroughs. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/28 "2009-02-05T01:05:13Z")
Can someone recommend a PC game for an old fart - like me? If I’ll have to buy special equipment, perhaps recommend what I’ll need Shoot 'em ups would be okay. If all this is too much trouble, please ignore this post. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/29 "2009-02-05T01:23:33Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > Believe it or not I actually stumbled onto this on my first play through of Final Fantasy II (ha ha, watch me use the American titles and make certain people squirm). > > I never found one again. > > I have a friend who always gets the guide and always plays with it in his lap. I can’t do that. Besides the stupid waste of money (“Would you like get the guide with that?” “No thanks, I have an Internet connection.”) I enjoy exploring and working these things out on my own. If I get frustrated then I’ll resort to the guide but I avoid it as long as I can. I’m right with you, although I’ve never seen one of those bastards in Final Fantasy 2. I’m mildly jealous. I spent an entire summer looking for those little cocksuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/30 "2009-02-05T01:28:38Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > I’m right with you, although I’ve never seen one of those bastards in Final Fantasy 2. I’m mildly jealous. I spent an entire summer looking for those little cocksuckers. You can imagine my confusion the next time I played and couldn’t find one. “I could have sworn that someone around here dropped it…” ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/31 "2009-02-05T01:37:57Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > You can imagine my confusion the next time I played and couldn’t find one. “I could have sworn that someone around here dropped it…” A good buddy of mine who lived at the other end of the block told me about it. We each had a copy and went to work looking for the little bastards. We walked around the area they’re supposed to appear for HOURS a day, with strict orders to call the other person and have them come over to see it because I was very skeptical that it existed and he was adamant about it (mild pun there, with “adamant” and the name of really good armor in that game). ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/32 "2009-02-05T01:58:15Z")
I use it when there is some stupid puzzle in the middle of a non-puzzle game, I just have no patience for those and go straight to the guide. Sometimes, I’ll look at a guide after I played a level to see how they solved it. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/33 "2009-02-05T10:51:06Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > Can someone recommend a PC game for an old fart - like me? > > If I’ll have to buy special equipment, perhaps recommend what I’ll need > > Shoot 'em ups would be okay. > > If all this is too much trouble, please ignore this post. Apart from shoot 'em ups, what interests you? I’m an old fart and I enjoy: - Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (plus extensions, but **not** later versions) - Civ 4 (including Colonisation) ---
**Author:** ![Pithy\_Moniker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8dc957/32.png) [@Pithy\_Moniker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pithy_Moniker)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/34 "2009-02-05T12:55:08Z")
I will try to play through a game once without resorting to an guide because most of the writers on GameFAQs just can’t resist including spoilers. After the first playthrough though, I’ll refer to a guide constantly on later runs. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/35 "2009-02-05T13:54:51Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Apart from shoot 'em ups, what interests you? > I’m an old fart and I enjoy: > > - Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (plus extensions, but **not** later versions) > - Civ 4 (including Colonisation) I liked that old old Castle Wolfenstein (or whatever the name was). It’d be boring now, but maybe something along that line. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/36 "2009-02-05T17:23:54Z")
\ I had a bookmark for a long time on Stella’s Tomb Raider site. But the _really_ sad part was when I had to **pay** my 10-year-old son to get me past a timed puzzle. (Hey, at $3, it was a bargain! I was stuck there for two days!) Half Life I never would have finished without “impulse 101.” ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/37 "2009-02-05T17:31:19Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > I liked that old old Castle Wolfenstein (or whatever the name was). It’d be boring now, but maybe something along that line. Changed my mind about computer gaming. Don’t think I want to get into it. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/38 "2009-02-06T13:20:06Z")
I generally don’t use walkthroughs. But i always check out the ‘In-Depth FAQs’ section of gamefaqs. I love learning all the little details about how games & their systems work. Especially things like the [bug faq](http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/file/554041/34007) for FF6, 145KB of meticulously documented glitches, what’s not to love? Or for things like complex crafting systems that would else wise require hours of saving, testing a recipe, loading from save when you don’t get something useful and trying again to get anything useful out of it. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456/39 "2009-02-06T13:44:37Z")
I’ll use a walkthrough if I am stuck or if I am trying to get 100.00% on a game. Also, sometimes I will play a game where I really enjoy the story but find the game itself tedious. I’ll use walkthroughs then so that I can progress through the story as quickly as possible. As a side note, I stopped playing WoW (and MMORPGs in general) when I found myself spending just as much time or more reading guides and perusing databases than I did playing the actual game. Just not worth it for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-when-do-you-use-walkthroughs/484456.md?page=1)