r/tipofmyjoystick • • Apr 10 '17

Announcement PSA: A guide to better results

1.8k Upvotes

Hi guys and gals. I've been here a while, and over my time I've seen a lot of posts sink to the bottom, without a single answer, or at best, very few. And none that solved the case.

I have noticed a clear pattern with these posts, and I will now share with you my tips to you newbies, so that you can get the help you need.


Firstly: When you make a new post, you will see this:

Platform(s):

Genre:

Estimated year of release:

Graphics/art style:

Notable characters:

Notable gameplay mechanics:

Other details:

Even though, in red, you are warned that while optional, you should follow this template... many of you do not.

Let me be clear: Follow this template.

Put simply, this template contains all the information we really need to solve your problem. Virtually every time I click a post that has not followed this, they have rambled on about nothings, while omitting critical details.

This format, for new and old alike, is very readable, and prompts for every data-point needed.

I know that you want to customize your message, that if you could just explain it, it would be better. I know you think that. You are wrong. Put all that in 'other'. Even if you end up saying it twice, follow the template.. add to it your story at the bottom.


Secondly: Following this template. You're rambling about your best mates Amiga-500 or whatever instead of telling us about the game aside, this is where they really go wrong.

Let's get something straight right now. We are not mind readers. It's impressive, really, how little information it seems we can work off. I mean, we solve some real tough ones with nothing sometimes, but still, we can't see that memory in your head. So you need to be as descriptive in every one of these fields as you can be...

And sometimes you really don't know. That's fine, we can work with surprisingly little information, but "old graphics" under art style... what are we supposed to do with that? Mate, I was playing on Atari-2600's, are we talking Wizard of Wor here?

Let me help you out a bit:

Platform(s): Whatever you played it on. But unless it's really all you know (very possible), don't write 'my mates pc'. Was it PC or Mac?

Genre:

First person does NOT imply shooter. Nor do any of the others. Try to answer this one in two steps:

What was the camera like (assuming it's not a text adventure)? Was it First person?, 3rd person, 2d? Top down or side on? Or maybe even isometric 2d?

Then, what kind of game? Real time strategy, point and click? Was it a fighter, action or platformer?

Good, now we know what KIND of game we are all trying to remember for you.

Estimated year of release:

"Between 2000-2005" is fine, something like that. "Mid 90's maybe?". I don't see many people mess this up, but I have seen people write "old". That is not ok. If you write old and expect it to mean anything to me, I will fight you.

Also, as always "Sorry, no idea" is always acceptable but try to give at least something. "Couldn't have been later than 2015, though"

Great, so even if roughly, we know WHEN.

Graphics/art style:

THIS. This is where you guys always mess up. This section right here I have found can be the difference between an answer, and a silent slink to the bottom. This is your moment.

This, really, should be the best-formed part of your memory. Even if you can only remember a single frame, a single image, it's so much to go on for us.

DETAIL. Was it a gloomy grimdark world of sadness, or a bright bubbly rainbow filled Mario-world?

Was it cartoony, or otherwise stylized somehow, or was it trying to be realistic?

Anything notable about the art direction? Was it going for a cyberpunk kinda feel, or a gritty war realism dirt and blood sort of direction?

If it was set over a long time, did the seasons change? Was there a winter in your game?

Remember when you hit people, and the screen had that awesome flash and your hands got bloody? Yeah, well we don't, unless you tell us.

Ok, so now we are really narrowing it down. This right here is often enough to go on, on its own.

Notable characters:

Anything at all you can remember here.

"There were only tanks, but you could play as both Germans and Americans"

"There was one really tough guy right after you left your office, he had an eyepatch, a white shirt with what looked like grease stains, and said 'this is for my sister'. I think maybe he was a cyborg"

"You play as some kind of Asian girl, you had a tattoo over your right eye and arm, a black tank top and white pants and I remember you always had only one red glove for some reason. I don't remember the arm, but the eye tattoo looked sort of like ancient Egyptian eye makeup, but a modern take"

Knowing nothing else about the game, I bet that last one there gets comments noting the game she is from. Details, details.

Notable gameplay mechanics:

Surely, you get the idea by now. This is tied with the importance of the graphics/art style. As much detail as you can here.

Other details:

NOW you may blab on about how you only played this game once at a winter solstice in 1782 with your grandmother from Tahiti.. as if that helps.


Edit: So it's been brought up that the template doesn't appear on mobile. While /u/wipeout4wh is aware of this and hopefully, something can be done... still, if you can, use the template. If you can't, maybe check back and at least make sure your post addresses all of the points the template does.

Also, my post seems to be saying NOT to add any custom details. So I want to re-enforce, please do. In fact, after you do the template, feel free to write out your post as you were going to without it. Just put it all in 'other'. Don't try and make your whole post like that, if possible. Even if you end up saying the same things twice, that's ok.

Now I'm going to take a moment to clarify something, though. This isn't some immutable law of the universe, and your post is destined to fail if you don't do this. It's just a very strong general trend I have noticed over a long time.

It's not that this template has some kind of magical powers or something. It's that this template prompts the questions that need answers.

When you go all rogue on us and try and type your explanation from scratch... you mess it up. You just forget to add everything that you know, and that we need to know. The template makes it very hard to do that. It's just so very easy to get typing, and by the end forget to tell us what kind of game it actually is. Especially when you are getting random flashbacks, and hazy memories, and you start getting frazzled and such halfway though.


While it might make my edit as long as the first post, I think maybe an example of the kind of post that is just too common here, and almost always helpless, wouldn't go astray here. So here we go:

Now this one is a pretty bad case, true, and I suppose might even be a troll post, but it's actually a good illustration of the problem either way.

It was on my old computer and I was using an emulator so I have no idea what system it was for. It was 8bit graphics and you played this orange cat that was constantly bouncing on a trampoline I think? And you had to navigate it through the city and face a weird boss at the end that would float in the sky. Sorry I can't remember more!

Let's break it down a bit. What kind of game is this? A puzzler or an action game? Who knows.

How old is it? I mean, Minecraft basically has 8bit graphics. Oh he said... "my old computer"... I will fight you.

Why did you bounce on the trampoline? Were there platforms or walkways or something, or was it just a big open space? There are bad guys then? How did they get around?

Now (he?) says that he can't remember more, but I actually asked about the boss fight:

You say 'face a boss', in what way? Can the cat attack? Was this top down or side on? When you say navigate a city, what do you mean?

The reply:

Definitely a side-scroller, I'm sure. You would encounter a boss at the end, the boss would slide onto the screen and it was usually pretty strange-looking. I think one of the bosses might've been a clown. I meant that the different "levels" were different cities with different backgrounds, I think. It's a pretty obscure game

Also you would be continuously bouncing. As in, you had to position the trampoline underneath the cat to bounce it up

So you don't even control the cat. And it's a side-scroller. Thats pretty important information. But the real issue here is that he knows this stuff. He just either didn't know to, or forgot, to tell us.

The template would have made it just so apparent how much information he was missing, and we probably would have got a whole bunch more information. Sadly, while there were some guesses, and a surprising number of up-votes, this post is just another one to join the endless unsolved on their journey ever down.


r/tipofmyjoystick • • Jun 04 '26

[Meta][2026] I would rather people post with no images than use AI prompts to generate images

613 Upvotes

Maybe it's just me, I will personally admit that it feels like its petty of me to complain, however i am going to.

I really dislike AI images just in general and i feel annoyed seeing people use them because it sometimes hampers really quality posts of people trying to find help. I feel like it also informs falsely about game expectations and what people will accept as they have solved the game.

I don't think people will agree with me and thats fine, i just wanted to post about how i personally think it degrades the quality of the sub


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 2h ago

[STEAM] [2026] Medieval roguelike (?) game I accidentally unwishlisted

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12 Upvotes

Hello friends, I’ve spent some time searching for a game I saw on steam that I cannot find for the life of me. I had it wishlisted but while sorting through I must’ve removed it.

I made a quick mockup on Ibispaint of what the little picture on the wishlist looked like. The only things I can remember in regards to it’s gameplay is that there was some sort of armour menu (?) and it had a very green tint. I also remember that the title had an I in it, and it came out recently.

Games aesthetically similar include Pluto, Felvidek and Fear and Hunger but pixelated. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 47m ago

[PC][2000s] probably rol game

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• Upvotes

I’m looking for a character from a 2000s pc game that looked exactly like this. I don’t remember if she had gloves tho … I don’t even played the game. But maybe someone remembers her. I had the wallpaper for my pc and I was obsessed with her but I wasn’t really a pc gamer, terrible with keyboard.

Thank you!


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 14h ago

[PC][Unknown Year] im trying find the game i was play as young, but i cant find

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56 Upvotes

hello.

im trying find this game base of my memory i play as kid, but i forgot the title

1.this game is racing game

2.have paris and miami maps

3.have normal and police cars

4.have a volkswagen polo car

i also draw road loayout of one of the maps

can someone recognize?

Thanks!


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 1h ago

[pc][2025]story-driven interactive fiction with elements of automation and upgrades

• Upvotes

I came across this while browsing itch.io; if I’m not mistaken, the story takes place on another planet. The character wakes up in a station and must survive. On the verge of death, they discover a mysterious artifact that causes them to return to the starting point every time they die. This is the core mechanic: managing your resources while trying to survive and uncover what happened to the crew, all while gaining new knowledge with each attempt. The interface consists solely of text and numbers—actions you can take are displayed on the left, while the processes currently underway are shown on the right.


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 2h ago

[IOS] [2012 - 2016?] a merge game

3 Upvotes

merge game. It was around the Obama election. The figures had troll faces, like 2012 meme faces. And they would merge higher into political icons like donkey and elephant. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 38m ago

Ghost in the Shell (PS1) [PS2][2004?] What is his game? It looks like my kind of jam.

Post image
• Upvotes

Platform(s): PS2

Genre: Probably vehicular combat?

Estimated year of release: ?

Graphics/art style: PS2 era Semi-Realism.

Notable characters: ?

Notable gameplay mechanics: They seem to be going through an on-rails turret section in the video.

Other details: The video unfortunately doesn't say what the game is. It's just being used as background footage.


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 3h ago

Nefarious [PC] [2000-2017] platformer where you play as a purple villain

3 Upvotes

Oh and one of the location background is Kremlin


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 5h ago

[PC/Browser][2000–2015] Old horror game with a creepy skeletal animal on the main menu

6 Upvotes

I am trying to find a browser game that I used to play around 2013-2017, which might have been on a dark-blue themed gaming website like Kizi.

Main menu:

Dark, creepy laboratory/hospital-themed background.

"Play" and other options on the left side.

A little, white, skeleton dog-like creature on the right side.

This creature was sitting on a big barrel, possibly blue in color, with a biohazard sign and some green glowing substance.

Its head kept moving down and then up in an extremely unnatural way.

It is not "Dark Soul: Path of Awakening," "Crypt Killer," "Zombie Erik," or "Strike Force Heroes."

Does anyone know this game, particularly the little animated skeleton on top of the green glowing barrel?


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 1h ago

[Browser game][2013-2019] Mystery hotel walking game with a peeping hole

• Upvotes

Genre: mystery, walk point click, 2d

It was gloomy, dark, vintage kind of vibe, lots of black backgrounds and cursive white text, the characters must have been drawn but in a realistic style.

I'm almost 99% sure the protagonist was a woman.

The most notable scene I can remember clearly is there was one single room with a peeping hole, where you could look over and over again and half of a person's body could appear sometimes.

It was just a typical hotel setting where you could walk around and there must have been some sort of mystery to uncover, and also I think it had a garden and you could also place furniture.

There was maybe an aunt of the main character? Or just a middle aged lady with black hair and a hat.

(I don't think I've ever gotten far in that game, because I was a dumb kid, and the game was definitely in english, so I played understanding only half of what was going on.)


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 5h ago

[PC] [2000-2010] RTS game that had a gray alien with a shopping cart as a resource gatherer

4 Upvotes

Hello.

I understand the title doesn't really say much of anything in regards to what the game actually was, but I genuinely lost any and all memory I have of this game besides a single instance of playing the game.

The map was orange -- like the surface of Mars -- and there was a generic, gray alien dude, pushing a four-wheel shopping cart into the fog of war. I think the game was 3D, and know the camera was top-down at an angle. The art style was fairly generic -- the most gray alien ever -- but I also recall that the game had a certain whimsy to it.

That is all I can remember, unfortunately. I would tell myself I dreamt the whole damn thing if the memory wasn't so vivid.


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 2h ago

[PC][1996-1999] Kids' 3D sandbox where you place castles/knights/old buildings, make them giant, and walk or fly through them

2 Upvotes

Platform(s): PC, Windows 95 or 98. Family computer bought at CompUSA (Escondido, CA) in the mid/late 90s. The game may have come preinstalled or bundled.

Genre: Educational / creative 3D sandbox. No goals or levels that I remember.

Estimated year of release: ~1995–1999

Graphics/art style: Real-time 3D with textured surfaces (wood, stone). Medieval/renaissance feel: castles, knights, old buildings. Not cartoony like 3D Movie Maker.

Notable characters: None that I remember. I don't think there was a mascot or guide character.

Notable gameplay mechanics:
- Pick 3D objects from a library and drop them into an open 3D space
- Resize objects, including making them enormous
- Walk around at ground level, and also a free-fly camera
- No collision: you could clip right through objects and buildings

Other details: Felt like a kids' learning/creativity program rather than a game.

Already ruled out: 3D Movie Maker, LEGO Creator, LEGO Creator: Knights' Kingdom, LEGO Island, Alice, Kahootz, Virtus VR, Virtual Reality Studio / 3D Construction Kit, Encarta MindMaze, Magic 3D Coloring Book.


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 3m ago

[Roblox] [2020-2025] a game where you are a color and you play minigames

• Upvotes

been on my mind for a while lmao


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 19m ago

[Ipad][2010-2015][Educational Math Game]

• Upvotes

1.The game was a Doodle Jump/ vertical platformer. You would jump on clouds, and upon reaching a certain level, you were given a basic math problem—like addition or subtraction. I remember the characters were people dressed in various professions (doctor, police officer, firefighter, etc.); you could unlock them using in-game coins or something similar—I think the better you performed, the easier it was to get the different outfits.

  1. The characters looked a bit like *Pou* but with a human shape, or perhaps like the characters from *South Park*.

r/tipofmyjoystick • • 25m ago

[Playstation2/3] [2005-2010] lord of the rings game with local pvp?

• Upvotes

[Ps2/3 era] Lord of the Rings game with PvP multiplayer matches?

I remember playing a lord of the rings game with my buddies back in a Ps2/3 era timeframe

We could do pvp matches where we chose heroes of different RPG archetypes. I remember a mage, assassin, archer, and maybe swordman. The assassin type could go invisible

There were bots in our little 1v1 pvp "battles" so it wasn't just us two in the map

Any ideas? Sorry drunk typing


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 32m ago

[IOS][Early 2010s]Build rooms for monsters to fight for you

• Upvotes

In the early 2010s (around 2012/13) my school gave us iPads, well one of my favorite games was a game where you built up a mansion of monsters by building them their own separate rooms, a feature of this is that if you got two rooms of the same monster you can merge them to make that monster stronger in the battle phase.

You either fought the AI or someone else as pass and play, you build up your house and battle your monsters until someone loses, not sure if there was a penalty to losing.

I know a monster you had to pay to get was the boogeyman


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 6h ago

Ruff 'n' Tumble [AMIGA/PC?][90's or earlier] Old action platformer game I used to play back in the late 90's

3 Upvotes

Platform(s): Was avaliable for Amiga for sure, don't know if elsewhere too.

Genre: It was an action game with platforming elements where you shoot enemies and collected items to progress.

Estimated year of release: Possibly before or during the 90's

Graphics/art style: 2D pixel art

Notable characters: the playable character was a young blonde (?) boy, or looked like it. Was the only human character in the game.

Notable gameplay mechanics: had shooter elements so you could temporary collect different ranged weapons to attack enemies with, to reload you had to let go of the fire button.

You had to collect a certain number of 3 specific collectables per level (that were changing per world) to unlock the exit and progress to the next one.

Other details: had 4-5 worlds: forest/woods (with wooden structures IIRC), mines with lava pits, Technological world and Castle (those are the ones I remember).

Each world had between 4 to 6 (or possibly more) levels, and at the end of each set there was a bossfight.

There were lots of collectables in the game, including "keys" that allowed to open up new areas of the level, Some levels were pretty huge so there were a lot of backtracking to do.

After collecting the required amount of specific "valuables" to unlock the exit, the remaining ones would automatically turn into coins.

One level of the "Castle" level was just a giant room split in 3 sections where all you had to do was jump around using launch pads to collect the specific item in that section and the keys required to open the next section till you had the amount to unlock the exit.

Tried to write as much info as I remember, it's a pretty old game.


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 4h ago

[TOMT][PS3][2000s-2010s] FPS campaign mission with a wrecked ambulance chased by a tankBody:

2 Upvotes

I'm trying to remember a first-person shooter I played on PS3 around 2013–2014, although the game itself may be older.

I remember a mission set in a modern war zone, where you had to go downhill in a wrecked ambulance while being chased by a tank.

When playing solo, you would shoot at the tank from the back of the ambulance. In split-screen co-op, one player would drive while the other shot at the tank.

I think it might have been a Call of Duty game, possibly Black Ops or Modern Warfare, but I'm not certain.

I also remember being able to shoot grenades in mid-air to make them explode.

Does anyone recognize this mission or know which game it might be from? Any suggestions would be appreciated!


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 9h ago

[PC][2000s] Game with glowing flora

6 Upvotes

I remember a FPS from the early 2000s with map featuring a narrow exterior area with colorful glowing flora and mushrooms and some passive mobs along the way. I think it took place at night. The terrain wasn't steep but it was going up and you couldnt go left or right because of cliffs or walls. Not sure but I think you were escorted by some robot with a narrative voice or radio chat with a girl, like a march forward part.

I thought it was Unreal 2 but I can't find any glowing flora in the youtube playthrough videos...

Help!


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 46m ago

[PC][2000s] probably rol game

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• Upvotes

I’m looking for a character from a 2000s pc game that looked exactly like this. I don’t remember if she had gloves tho … I don’t even played the game. But maybe someone remembers her. I had the wallpaper for my pc and I was obsessed with her but I wasn’t really a pc gamer, terrible with keyboard.

Thank you!


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 52m ago

[PS2] [2000 - 2006] Unknown Mech Game I'm trying to find

• Upvotes

Don't remember much about it but basically an over the shoulder/3rd person mech game and all I really remember is that it had like a versus mode with a couple snowy arenas. Fairly certain it's not an Armored Core but unsure as its been over a decade or more since i played em.


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 8h ago

[PC][2000–2010] Indie 2D physics puzzle/action game, short title like “Nano” or “Na.No”, gray nanobots with hooking tails inside a human body

4 Upvotes

Standalone Windows indie game (not Flash or browser). 2D side view with 3D-looking, red, organic levels set inside a human body. You controlled small gray nanobots with tails that could hook onto and attach to objects. Physics-based, mostly puzzles with some action. The title was short, something like “Nano” or “Na.No”. It is not the 2021 Steam game NA.NO. The developers later announced a sequel called something like “Project Veronica” that never came out.

Not: MicroBot, Project Remedium, Immune Attack, NanoMission, Nanobots (AGS, 2008), or Nanobotz.


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 4h ago

[PC?][2000s?] 2D, 32bit(?), sidescroller game where you play as a ninja or samurai (can't remember which) and can become enemies as you beat them

2 Upvotes

I believe it was 32bit although it could've been 16bit? I remember a level being in a dark boat dock looking area. You would defeat enemies and I think an orb (blue or yellow maybe) could be picked up to be able to become that enemy? Kind of like the DS Castlevania games has a souls system where they would go to you automatically but you would completely change into the enemy.

I think it could be a late 90s game too, but I don't think it could be any later than 2012. Had kind of arcade game vibes?

There's a chance it might have been an actual arcade game. I think I played it on either PC or at an arcade.

Edit: Closest game to what I'm thinking of that I've found is Magician Lord on NeoGeo.


r/tipofmyjoystick • • 8h ago

[NES?, Commodore 64?] [87-92?][Top-down, mostly blue, maze-like walls, I think cardinal directions to navigate rooms (like old Zelda), I think it was horror or being chased in some way by a main monster?, maybe mystery, unsettling music, unsettling overall]

3 Upvotes

I tried to put everything I can remember in the description. Editing to add it might have been a mansion and it might have been a werewolf chasing you? I was quite little watching a neighbor kid playing this game. I don't recall what system or what it was exactly, but I remember it being quite uneasy feeling.

Thank you guys very much!