Unwinnable
Unwinnable is a state in many text adventures where it is impossible for the player to reach the end goal, and where the only other options are restarting the game, wandering indefinitely, or meeting death. This happens after the player has destroyed or lost an essential object, become trapped in a place with no exit, failed to complete a puzzle within a time or turn limit, or failed to interact with a non-player character to meet a subgoal. Deeper and more challenging games tend to have more unwinnable states. The player is advised to keep save files before every major action to avoid making the game unwinnable. Some games let the undo command take back an action or event, including the player's death, but many designers consider this cheating. Other games limit the use to one undo over a certain number of turns. In the case of unlimited undos these may be used instead of multiple save files. Unwinnable may also describe the state in newer video games when the character becomes trapped, after playing poorly or exploiting a cheat that changes the game mechanics, or upon finding a bug in the map continuity. This state could also be described as walking dead. Unwinnable should not be confused with "unbeatable", which is used to describe a character, monster, or puzzle that is too powerful or difficult to be overcome by the player or character at a lower standing.
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