Can’t find that dungeon? Is that last treasure chest or item more elusive than the others? Have a puzzle that is driving you up the wall? Are you sick with the Boss-Battle Blues? What is all the fuss about anyways? Take a deep breath, and walk it off kiddo.

Once upon a time, if you were stuck playing a video game (besides throwing the controller or nearest random object across the room) you didn’t have many options. You could ask your brother/sister or a friend, but of course that would involve embarrassment, and lots of mocking. You could consult a strategy guide. (Psht! Hoist up the white flag why don’t you! Plus, what if someone saw you buy it?! Your credibility would be shot!) Besides, back then the likelihood there was one available was pretty low. Your last and final option would have been to just hunker down, log some hours of frustration, and Figure it out Yourself!

Anymore you just walk you happy ass to your computer. Much like any other mind boggling question you may have in you day to day life, you can solve any problem on Google. Type in whatever’s got you stuck, and what do you get – dozens of sites flaunting their wares. Walkthroughs, guides, maps, videos – Golly, anything a little frowny-faced gamer could need. Need a list of the locations to every item, and how to get them? How about a map to all the dungeons and what’s in them? Solutions to every one of those pesky puzzles, at your fingertips!

Now where is that Boss’ weak spot, and how to you exploit it? Try a forum! No more of the guilt from asking a friend, because believe me, someone already has. You just have to find their thread. No internet ceiling cat is going to tell your friends to get you the mockery you probably deserve. Live it up you pumpkin eater, because no one will ever have to know you went from hardcore to mashed potatoes!

Is knowing where to find everything not enough for you? Do you not only want to know all the answers, but just have everything unlocked and available, this second? Well there are codes and cheats – and lots of them, everywhere on the interweb. Guarantee it’ll be faster to look them up than earn them, but is it as fun as … I don’t know … playing the game?

Where has the challenge gone? It seems like only yesterday you had to play games to beat games. Sometimes I hear people complain about the rise in the casual gaming market, but I just laugh. Apparently there are also plenty of casual gamers who play the regular games too. Otherwise – why would so much of this be available? Everything else in the industry seems to be improving, except for difficulty. There will always be hard games and there will always be easy games – and then there will be a way to make the hard games easy too.