Video games : 15 Ways To Bend The Rules

Video games are no exception when it comes to cheating, with its most avid players unlocking ingenious ways to bypass the rules. Whether it’s to defeat human opponents, or simply to beat the game itself. 

Here we will have a look at fifteen frequently used techniques, against the developers will, to progress in certain video game favourites. In other words, cheats. 

The first ten that you will see are some of the classics. These are the tricks that gain you certain advantages against other human opponents whilst playing in a multiplayer video game. Then the last five are slightly more complex and crafty actions to outsmart the game, mostly sported by the speedrunners raising the clock. 

What is it? An ‘aimbot’ or as some may call it ‘auto-aim’ is a small program used in multiplayer FPS (first-person shooter) games to assist with the locating of other players. So, as the name implies, it allows you to aim directly at opposing players for a more accurate shot. Then there is the Triggerbot, which allows the player to fire automatically when an opponent appears in his field of vision.

Relying on external programs, these two techniques are prohibited, and often lead to the banning of the players who use them. Unfortunately, some of the best players who know their preferred game well, may get accused of using a bot.

How does it help? As you can imagine, it’ll make you a much more efficient shooter. If you can spot and automatically shoot as soon as your enemy enters your field of vision, well, your kill rate will skyrocket. Your aimbot isn’t obstructed by walls and distance, giving you a view of how the forces are distributed. Obviously, this is all very unfair but we are talking about cheating after all! 

What is it? Cheat codes, a form of ‘legal’ cheating, which is more or less always implemented by the developers themselves for in-game perks. They can either be codes (letter/number combinations) typed in, a method, like the combination of moves in a game (again a series of keys) or a device. Developers have even had some fun with them by choosing themes, for example in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 they had codes related to the Sacred Grail film. Some cheat codes have even gone beyond their original games and become more permanent fixtures in popular culture, such as the famous Japanese Konami Code, now present on many 3rd generation video games.

How does it help? Codes are very useful in video games, whether it is to bypass annoying levels, to become invincible, get unlimited ammunition or unlock powerful weapons. And one thing is certain, using code is going to give you an advantage over your opponent (human or game itself), especially if they aren’t using them. 

What is it?  Cheating doesn’t necessarily have to occur via a third party or computer program. Sometimes it can happen in your living room whilst you’re sitting across from your friend, or in that moment, competitor. This cheat consists of physical contact, in particular; covering his eyes with your hands, knocking the gamepad away from him or just banging on his buttons. There are probably lots of other tactics, I mean, it is a pretty open and flexible cheat.
 
How does it help? Once again, this is used to WIN! Obviously, this can only be used when playing with people in the same room so it might not be helpful on a day to day basis but it is very satisfying. But beware, this type of cheat can lead to some sort of physical pain and so should be done with caution, in-case your opponent chooses to get revenge. 

What is it? Many games, MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) in particular, are based on a farming system, which means the player has to invest a lot of real time to progress. Completing quests set by the developer is how you gain experience, money and any other rare items so that the avatar gets to where he needs to be. However not everyone has that kind of free time. This is where programs, like the Farming bots, come in handy, allowing you to automate these parts of the game. An alternative is to find other human players, often in developing countries, who have spent an enormous amount of time developing characters, their wealth and equipment, in order to resell them for real currency. Check this Farming video example in WoW.

How does it help? Simply put, it saves time. Buying a ton of game currency and rare equipment is going to give you a big advantage without putting in the time or effort. For the players willing to open their wallets, this will significantly alter their positions, especially in a player versus players game. Not particularly fair but cheating rarely is. This method of progressing, somewhat like the Pay to Win model, is a very controversial one. If the use of Farming Bots is banned, even punishable in many games, the use of Farmers (also known as Chinese Farmers because of the abundance of this “service” from China) is also questionable, since it basically exploits the use of other human beings.

What is it? Game Genie, Action Replay and Game Shark are three sides of the same coin, if that were possible! These three particular cheats are devices, so you really have to go out of your way to be devious. They work on console video game systems and Windows-based computers (NES, SNES, Game Boy, Master System, Mega Drive and Game Gear in particular) by using the cartridge holder. Once inserted, cheat codes from either Game Genie, Action Replay or GameShark are loaded from the discs or cartridges onto the internal or external console memory. Once the game is started, the selected cheats can begin to take effect. Nevertheless, these devices have practically become antiques in the video gaming world since the arrival of CD media and memory cards, which has meant that similar systems did make an appearance for a short while (for example PS One Xploder).

How does it help? Considering these devices are modifying the game’s data, it’s easy to override the developers limits allowing a player to cheat and manipulate features. For example, players could get unlimited ammunition, invincibility and skip levels. That’s not all though, these cheats can also make things more complicated as they hack into areas otherwise scrapped by developers, leading players into a dead end.  

What is it? Ghosting is a very special cheating technique that will require the active help of an accomplice. Many video games offer the possibility to observe a game from “outside”, either by means of a general map for some FPS or RTS, or directly through the eyes of one of the players. A player can then ask his accomplice to watch the opposing team play and communicate valuable information about their strategy in real time using a third party communication system such as a phone.

How does it help? You know that information is power. And having strategic information about your opponent strategies, their movements and other information of the same caliber is a big advantage. Granted it’s a bit complicated to set up, and highly objectionable on an ethical level, this “strategy” is nonetheless very effective in terms of cheating.

What is it? Duping or Item Duping refers to a practice of exploiting one or more bugs in certain games in order to multiply resources or objects. Most commonly seen in the MMOGs (massively multiplayer online games) to vastly duplicate currency, rare weapons and even armour. This can really affect a game’s virtual economy. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that this is banned by online game developers who will often implement tools to detect immensely multiplied items in order to stop any injustices.  

How does it help? There are multiple uses for Duping. Not only does it prove useful in quickly obtaining a lot of gold, leading to better equipment etc, it will also get you overpowering weapons by exploiting certain bugs. For example, in the game Borderlands 2, there is a technique that lets a player stack multiple weapons, leading to an enormous amount of damage being inflicted with each shot. This practice has however a perverse effect insofar as it can cause a galloping inflation and completely destroy the economy of an MMOG. RuneScape, EverQuest II and even Star Wars Galaxy have been victims of this cheating catastrophe.

What is it? If you know a little about computer science, this one may explain itself. Macro (short for “macro instruction”) is a rule that dictates an input, to replace an output. Macro Scripts, are small scripts designed to automate, or facilitate a repetitive action. So when playing an MMORPG, you can create a task and then make it loop, therefore allowing you to harvest resources effortlessly. It is also possible to find certain programs that will allow to record a sequence of keys and to then assign them to one single input. This works much the same as putting your mother’s phone number on speed-dial. So now those more complex moves can be performed quickly and conveniently. 

How does it help? As mentioned before, Macro Scripts allow things to happen quickly and conveniently, especially in games requiring a lot of farming (for example Minecraft). Using an automatic mouse clicker in games such as MMORPG’s will let the game run by itself. In fighting games, you can access your stronger moves and combinations at the push of a button, definitely useful for those not so good under pressure. But remember, this isn’t fair to players and it does break the Terms of Service, so be careful to not get banned – especially if you’re paying to play. 

What is it? The Trainers are small programs used to modify the data of a game or a game’s backup. By essentially ‘freezing’ the memory address, it is possible to stop a character’s statistics from going below the benchmark stored at that memory address. Therefore strengthening a character’s health, meter, ammunition counter etc. Similar to the principles of the previously mentioned Game Genie, they alter the coding. However the difference is that each Trainer is specifically designed for a given game. 

How does it help? The modification of the game data opens up a lot of possibilities. For example, in a RPG in particular, you can change your character’s parameters to make it all powerful in just a heartbeat. Not bad a perk to be able to restore your health or gold to what it was, especially if you’re going through a rough patch in the game. You can also add gear, tools, spells and currency using this technique. Basically, Trainers are used to make a player’s life a whole lot easier by providing him with a ‘good as new’ or even more powerful character. 

What is it? The Wallhack, not so surprisingly, is a cheat to see through walls. This genius little program is part of a larger type of cheat (World-hacking) that is capable of doing various tricks. The most famous however is the wallhack, which makes solid or opaque objects transparent by manipulating or removing textures. This naughty advantage is mostly exhibited in FPS games, by the more competitive players, despite it being fairly detectable. You can see an example in the following video clip from CS:GO.

How does it help? Well, believe it or not, possessing the ability to see opponents through walls does provide a significant advantage, especially when the player has to put a bullet in someone’s head. Also, being able to anticipate the movements of other players will make them easier prey, and it will help bring to an end their attempt at capturing your position or your flag.

What is it? Bunny Hopping, or hopping for short, is an old technique used by players in FPS games. A fairly straightforward cheat that means you jump in zigzag around the map rather than running in order to be harder to shoot. Bunny Jumping started off as a bug, which was very well received and so it has since evolved with Quake and Source Engine games. Using a bug in the Source code, now an often deliberate implementation, this type of move can increase a player’s speed drastically without him losing maneuverability.

How does it help? If you tap into the game physics and master the art of bunny hopping, you can be fast, very fast. Therefore it’s extremely useful when you’re playing a multiplayer game, as jumping around, rather than a traditional running style, is going to make you considerable harder to shoot for those less experienced players. For the solo missions, you will find there are some benefits too. One of these is to exploit the engine’s weaknesses and go beyond the map borders and create some sort of shortcut. Take a look at a speed run in Half-Life 2 to get an idea of the bunny hops capabilities, as well as the weaknesses of the Source engine. 

What is it? Clipping and Out of Bounds are two cheating elements that walk side by side, as one is needed for you to use the other. Clipping is a technique that allows a player to go ‘Out of Bounds’, which is basically walk through the intended play area of the game, such as behind closed doors, walls, etc. This is very useful in Portal and there are multiple techniques that allow you to access these areas. These glitches include: Clipping Glitch, Edit Glitch, Save Glitch, Portal Bumping and Acute Angle Glitch.

How does it help? The main purpose of using the ‘Clipping Glitch’ to go ‘Out of Bounds’ is to skip large areas of the game map. By exploiting the design created by the game developper players can discover hidden secrets such as gaming environments that are not featured in the final release. But it’s also a risky method as it can create visual glitches and even, on some occasions, just crash the game. Still, if you master this technique, it’s really quite impressive to see, not to mention the fact it can accelerate a speedrunners finish time by a lot. Not convinced? Take a look at this speedrunner.

What is it? A.K.A FPS (Frames per second), not to be confused with the commonly used gaming abbreviation FPS (First Person Shooter), frame rate is the number of images that are displayed each second in a movie or a video game. Hertz are often used when discussing FPS (1Hz = 1FPS) and the more you have the smoother the image appears to the human eye. There is a limit however, as human vision can only handle up to 250 FPS. So, back to video gaming, where you have 30 frames per second (cinema has 24 to 30Hz), a number which is considered almost unacceptable. Tweaking this to be either higher or lower is going to drastically change the game for the better. 

How does this help? In some of the older games that aren’t designed to have their frame rates modified, altering the FPS would allow players to cheat. By setting a higher frame rate, your character could move much faster, which is useful for Bunny Hopping and crossing zones without worrying about the enemies as well as avoiding ‘cut scenes’. Lowering the frame rate can accelerate the movement of NPCs (non playing characters) for example, if usually you need to wait for an NPC (guard, wizard etc) to open a door, the low FPS fast forwards this for you. Then you have techniques such as the Collision Boost, allowing a character to jump to incredible heights and end up out of bounds. Just look at this speed run in Doom to find out about the powerful Collision Boost.

What is it? Pause Buffering is an advanced cheating method used by many speedrunners to execute some very precise actions. The trick is to use the pause menu of the game to store commands (jump, hit or whatever action), and to then apply them at the right times/moments. When you pause the game there is a slight delay before the command is executed. This is more or less what Pause Buffering is about, using the delay or input lag. If you want to know more about the way it works, we highly recommend you to watch this video.

How does it help? Pause Buffering is a bit complex to set up but like many of the other cheats we have introduced you to in this article, it is also helpful to save time in a video game. You’d think time is of some importance to these gamers! Each game varies, so Pause Buffering offers different actions in them, like increasing the character’s speed, going out of bounds and well, all kinds of funny tricks! Gamers have a knack for discovering tricks by carefully studying game data and then manipulating it. The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time is a very well known example for this as it has many tricks accessible through the use of Pause Buffering. Just see for yourself.

What is it? Rocket Jump is a displacement technique widely used in first person shooter games, especially in their online worlds. As the name implies, it requires a rocket launcher and a player who wants to jump onto it as it’s fired. Don’t try this at home folks! If successful, the player benefits from this blast and propels himself up, much higher up than with a normal jump. As it does take it’s toll on the character’s life, this is a cheat to be used sparingly. Again, we’ve been so kind as to find a cool video, this time demonstrating the Rocket Jump move.

How does it help? The Rocket Jump isn’t strictly considered a cheat, however it is an undeniable advantage not available to less experienced players who can’t master the art. Grasping the Rocket Jump means also having access to many zones (secret or otherwise) and, easily controlling the maps. Note that this technique can also be combined with the Bunny Hopping to combine speed and height.