In computer and video games, sequence breaking is the act of performing actions or obtaining items out of the intended linear order, or of skipping “required” actions or items entirely. Sequence breaking is often used to beat a game unusually quickly, to beat it while only completing a few objectives or obtaining a few items, or to help push a game as far as possible in some other way.

History of the term

Though sequence breaking has existed almost since the inception of computer games complex enough to have sequential storylines, the first documented action in a video game to be called a sequence break, “Gravity Suit and Ice Beam before Thardus”, occurred in the Nintendo GameCube game Metroid Prime. The “Y before X” notation is common in the nomenclature of sequence breaks, as the disjunction of sequence is the essence of a break.

The rock monster Thardus was designed to be a required boss before the gravity suit and the ice beam could be obtained, hence the novelty of bypassing the boss while still obtaining the items. This feat was first achieved on January 18 2003 by a gamer named Steven Banks, who posted his discovery on the Metroid Prime message board on GameFAQs. The thread attracted a number of interested gamers, and the term sequence breaking was coined. It has since grown in popularity and is now applied to any action in any game that skips items or tasks the developers intended to force you to complete.

Examples

There are hundreds if not thousands of examples of sequence breaking in video games and computer games, including the following:

• Mega Man for NES — “zipping” through the ceiling to gain the Magnet Beam in Elecman's stage without either the Super Arm or Elec Beam.
• Super Metroid for SNES — using the “mockball” technique to get super-missiles early.
• Within a Deep Forest for PC — collecting balls out of order, or skipping balls entirely on your way to completion of the game.
• Metroid for NES — using a frozen enemy from the next room as a platform and a damage boost over the lava to pass from Brinstar to Tourian without having beaten both Kraid and Ridley.
• Maniac Mansion for NES — triggering a cutscene in the room with the purple tentacle so that you may freely walk past it.
• Lord of Destruction for PC — completing the Eve of Destruction quest by proxy in a group to get a level 1 character into Hell despite not being a high enough level to enter the Worldstone Keep.
• Circle of the Moon for Game Boy Advance — using a summon spell while simultaneously exiting a room by its upper exit, causing the game to scroll two rooms up instead of just one, even if a lower entrance to the next room up does not exist.
• Link's Awakening for GameBoy — pausing the game during a screen transition, causing the game to scroll two screens instead of one, even into areas that were impossible to reach otherwise. This bug was fixed in later ROM versions.

Computer and video game gameplay | Competitive computer and video gaming techniques