The Game Cheats Back
Cheat codes used to feel like a harmless little agreement between developers and players, but that’s really not the case anymore. Over the years, studios have responded to hacks, save manipulation, and good old-fashioned button codes with tricks of their own. If you thought you were safe giving yourself more money or better equipment, these 20 games were more than happy to correct that assumption.
1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Players discovered early on that repeatedly attacking those poor cows in White Orchard could generate a tidy profit because the animals respawned. Well, CD Projekt Red responded with the wonderfully named Bovine Defense Force Initiative, which causes a powerful Chort to appear when you slaughter too many innocents. Go ahead, try and tip one over now.
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe on Wikimedia
2. The Stanley Parable
If any game was going to punish you for anything, it’s The Stanley Parable. Go on, type sv_cheats 1 into the original game's console. At first, it sounds like the beginning of some harmless behind-the-scenes fun, but the Narrator has other plans. Stanley is immediately transported into the Serious Room, where the Narrator lectures you about cheating (and announces a long sentence inside the boring chamber). Trying the command again only makes it worse.
3. Heretic
Anyone coming straight from Doom might assume that “IDDQD” will activate the familiar god mode. False! Entering the code just kills your character. Forget about the weapons cheat, too; IDKFA strips away nearly everything you're carrying instead. The game even calls you out for cheating, so there isn't much dignity left.
4. Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie lets you enter powerful progression cheats on the sandcastle floor in Treasure Trove Cove…but you probably shouldn’t. The original N64 release doesn't let you push your luck forever. After enough cheats, Gruntilda warns you that continuing is a bad idea, and entering another can erase the affected save file—which it does.
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America on Wikimedia
5. Animal Crossing
If you know, you know. If you don’t, well, let this be your warning that resetting is a bad idea. Sure, it could help you undo mistakes or manipulate certain outcomes, but Nintendo responded with the freak show Mr. Resetti, a creepy character who shows up after repeated resets to subject you to lengthy lectures. He’ll also force you to type humiliating phrases before he leaves.
6. Max Payne 3
Cheating a Rockstar game is almost as tough as 100% completion. Now, Rockstar didn't necessarily remove every Max Payne 3 cheater from multiplayer, but that’s only because it came up with a more entertaining form of exile. Players caught using hacked saves or exploits could be quarantined inside a dedicated "Cheaters Pool," where their opponents were other confirmed cheaters. A second offense sent you to indefinite banishment.
7. Titanfall
Respawn took a similar approach in the original Titanfall, allowing detected cheaters to continue playing…just not with the everyday population. Flagged accounts were pushed into matchmaking with other banned players, creating matches where aimbots competed against more aimbots. The developer even joked that players had better hope their cheat was better than everyone else's.
Sergey Galyonkin from Raleigh, USA on Wikimedia
8. Fall Guys
During Fall Guys' enormous launch, Mediatonic experimented with separating suspected cheaters from ordinary contestants. The result became known as "Cheater Island," filling rounds with players whose impossible jumps and flying characters caused nothing but chaos. It didn't remain the game's long-term solution, but it was good while it lasted.
9. H1Z1
Daybreak Game Company actually banned about 25,000 cheaters in 2015, but the exile wasn’t forever. Company president John Smedley had a plan for all banned players looking to slink their way back in—upload a YouTube video apologizing to the community. Good luck explaining yourself then.
10. Pokémon Go
Pokémon Go was everywhere for a while, and when something gets big, people get lazy. Next thing you know, certain accounts were linked to bots and other prohibited tools. Well, Niantic confirmed that those players might no longer see every Pokémon normally available around them. It was true; those people were only ever surrounded by common species.
11. Grand Theft Auto Online
Making illicit money in GTA Online has always sounded on-brand, but that’s not how the developer saw it. During the game's early battle with money exploits, Rockstar said deliberate cheaters could be placed into isolated cheater pools or banned from GTA Online completely. Suddenly, buying another garage doesn’t seem so cool.
Clastr Cloud Gaming on Unsplash
12. Call Of Duty: Warzone
Call of Duty's RICOCHET system has increasingly tried to disrupt cheaters inside matches instead of just removing them immediately. Activision had all sorts of aces up its sleeve, too: nerfing your ability to cause damage, making weapons disappear, and even causing vehicles to explode.
13. Red Dead Redemption 2
That’s right—Rockstar’s at it again. Believe it or not, RDR2 actually has plenty of proper cheat codes, but that convenience has a price. Once they’re active, you can't earn achievements or trophies, and the game won't allow you to save normally. Spawning a better horse is cool, but it’s less useful when the rest of the game is wonky.
Clastr Cloud Gaming on Unsplash
14. Saints Row: The Third
Saints Row practically encourages insanity, but activating its built-in cheats still changes the rules. Turning one on disables achievements and trophies while also shutting off autosaving. It's a practical punishment when you think about it; forgetting an autosave costs way more time than the cheat ever saved you.
The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek from Los Angeles, CA, USA on Wikimedia
15. Shovel Knight
Shovel Knight has an enormous assortment of cheat codes, including options that alter characters and the difficulty of an adventure. Gameplay-changing cheats, however, can make a profile ineligible for Feats, and the game warns you about doing that. You can still make Shovel Knight's journey stranger, but it isn't going to hand you the same bragging rights for doing it.
16. Cookie Clicker
All it takes is one look at a Cookie Clicker achievement to know how cheeky the game is. So, naturally, manipulating it can award the shadow achievement "Cheated cookies taste awful," openly recording that something weird happened during your quest for more pastries.
17. SimCity 2000
SimCity 2000 already gives mayors enough disasters to worry about, but abusing one of its money-related cheats only made it worse. Certain versions tie repeated use of the money cheat to earthquakes. Well, nothing says responsible Sims government like generating so much cash that the city falls apart.
Zeartul~commonswiki on Wikimedia
18. Dark Souls II
Dark Souls II didn't need to issue a ban when it detected cheaters. Players could instead get a softban that pushed them away from the ordinary population and into a separate online pool, where other restricted accounts were also in limbo. Considering what Dark Souls players already do to one another, falling into that trap isn’t worth it at all.
William Tung from USA on Wikimedia
19. StarCraft II
Blizzard deliberately included cheat codes in StarCraft II, so using one wasn’t going to slap you with a ban. The catch, however, is that additional campaign achievements are blocked until you start an appropriate campaign. Either that, or you return to a save before the cheating.
20. Age Of Empires II: Definitive Edition
Age of Empires II lets you summon absurd units, reveal the map, shower yourself with resources, and even use a cheat that provides the famous sports car. That all sounds good until you play the Definitive Edition—activating cheat codes prevents achievements entirely.
