There is this general consensus between people who like to dive deep into an adventure game knowing nothing about it and people who read up on things in advance, and that is if you do it, at least don’t spoil it for the rest.
And, for the most part, gamers respect this dynamic. But there’s this very minor bit of judgment that still happens among gamers—bashing people who don’t play the game the way it’s supposed to and yada yada yada.
Well, one of the more creative ways to approach this bit of judgment is to fight fire with fire, like this one woman did with her significant other after he looked up a spoiler, confessed it, but didn’t actually spoil it for her.
More Info: Reddit
Gaming with a significant other is probably every gamer's goal in life, but like any game, it does entail some rules that you gotta respect
Image credits: Alena Darmel (not the actual photo)
This time around, the rule was "no spoilers" and breaking it meant getting some petty, yet deviously wholesome revenge exacted upon you
Image credits: u/soccer--girl
After looking up a walkthrough for Breath of the Wild, the poster's boyfriend fessed up, only to be slapped in the face with some of his own medicine
Image credits: tofoli.douglas
In the end, though, you defeat Ganon again the couple laughed it off, turning it into a very wholesome story overall
So, Redditor u/soccer--girl recently shared a pretty devilish story of petty revenge. In a nutshell, she and her boyfriend play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild together, and right from the get-go they’ve agreed on no looking up spoilers.
Well, her boyfriend couldn’t resist because of how frustrating The Eighth Heroine side quest ended up being, so he caved and looked it up. Good sport was honest about it, and didn’t spoil it for OP, though, so she was fine with it.
Well, kinda, sorta. It’s more likely she was fine with it because she came up with a plan to teach him a lesson in a very devious, yet wholesome way. And that was excusing herself for a second, looking up the spoiler, and coming back only to continue playing the game as normal, but absolutely avoiding that one key location that would allow them to progress. For an hour and a half.
All that time, he was twitching in what seemed like physical pain, but that was just how much he wanted the purposefully aimless wandering to end. Psychic damage?
Anyway, she stopped with the teasing and revealed her evil plan. The two had a good laugh about it, and it turned into a very wholesome moment. Heck, OP even pointed out that he hadn’t looked up a spoiler ever since.
Image credits: Lucie Liz (not the actual photo)
Bored Panda reached out to OP for an interview on this whole(some) situation. Being a regular Redditor, OP felt it was the perfect story to share with the petty revenge community as it was harmless and lighthearted.
As someone who's pro-exploration and whatnot, we asked OP if she'd felt dirty consulting a walkthrough—you know, gamers' code and all. But the situation was a tad bit different:
"I'd say it's more along the lines of [being close to looking it up anyway—but the stars aligned]. I definitely look up spoilers sometimes when I can't figure something out, but my boyfriend is the kind of person who looks them up before even trying. I did not make that very clear in my post..."
The petty revenge situation was ripe with opportunity to one-up the game. Breath of the Wild is a pretty big game, so 1.5 hours is mild considering just how long it could have taken if really ramping it up. But, remember, this wasn't supposed to be evil or anything—rather "harmless and lighthearted."
"I think it turned out perfectly. I am sure I could have one-upped it had I given it more thought, but that might have taken things too far," added OP.
And before you go asking how the heck do you play Breath of the Wild two player?, you don't. Sure, there are mods, but it doesn't have to be that complicated to enjoy a game. OP explained that "play it together" meant him watching her play. He's already played it and enjoys watching her go through the game.
Image credits: Mike Mozart (not the actual photo)
Now, just to be clear, looking up spoilers isn’t evil or anything. Unsolicited spoiling or, like here, breaking the rule on spoiling is what irks people. The former much more than the latter. But the idea of spoilers in and of itself isn’t a bad personality trait or the like.
In fact, spoilers can lead to good things. Looking up spoilers can help people understand the story better as some nuts can be hard to crack experiencing on the go, whether it’s books, movies or video games. The explanation people see in the spoiler also allows them to focus on other details when actually consuming a medium, and hence make it more pleasurable. Above all else, reading up on things prior helps relieve the stress of uncertainty if you’re one to feel that way. And some prefer it because it makes their experience better. And there ain’t nothing wrong with that.
But, back to the topic at hand. Folks online loved the story, pointing out the wholesome nature of how it all worked out more than anything else. Sure, some agreed that it was a petty move, but petty in a good way, like this was savage revenge that was actually transformational way. Something you don’t often see on r/pettyrevenge.
The post got quite a bit of attention, garnering over 33,000 upvotes and nearly 45 Reddit awards. You can check out the post in context here. But don’t do that just yet as I, for one, would love to hear some of your spoiler stories in the comment section below!
And commenters couldn't agree more with how adorably cute the couple was
