History Main / ContextSensitiveButton

** In ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' (as in ''Adventure 2''), the Light Speed Dash and the Bounce Attack are mapped to the same button. Because the game is [[ObviousBeta so poorly programmed]], it is extremely common, once one has both powerups, to jump toward a trail of rings expecting to dash, only to find oneself body-slamming straight down into a BottomlessPit – ''far'' more often than one would in [=SA2=], let the record show. Because the game ''loves'' to spam ring trails over bottomless pits, you will die… a lot.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Overcooked}},'' you have one "action" button that changes depending on what you're interacting with. It chops when you have food on a cutting board, throws when you're holding something, stirs certain ingredients... and pets Kevin in the Onion Houses.

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', and ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' have the "Use" key (default: E) which will do various things based on context. In ''Portal'', it normally picks things up, but will also push the small red buttons on pedestals and open unlocked doors.
* ''VideoGame/Portal2'' uses the same all-purpose use/grab key, but the tutorial has a subversion: when Wheatley asks Chell to speak, the game prompts the player with "Press [jump button] to speak". But when you do, all she does is jump.

* Used for all its worth in the ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' games, where practically any ability that lets you do a cool sneaking move is tutorialized as "Jump and press the Circle button", including sneaking on ledges, hanging from ropes and hooks, landing on a pin-point and starting a rail slide. It was so pervasive that when the main cast got together on a podcast and [[ItMakesSenseInContext improvised a break-in to steal KFC's 11 herbs and spices]], the actor for [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Bentley]] got the actor for [[GentlemanThief Sly]] to howl with laughter when Sly's instructions for breaking in were, in full, "Sly, you jump and press the Circle button".
* Extremely common in the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series' 3D games.

* Both ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''[[note]]and retroactively ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' via the 1.5 HD compilation[[/note]] do this with the triangle button, which is specifically for "Reaction Commands". The attack button also performs various 'interact with this thing' functions when you are in the right position to do so. ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]]'' also has Free Flow Action, where pressing the Y button will cause Sora/Riku to do a variety of acrobatic maneuvers, depending on the environment, from grinding rails to latching on to enemies.

* Under the ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' control scheme, pressing the "Use" key may cause the player character to perform any one of literally ''hundreds'' of actions, depending on context. Walk up to certain [=NPCs=] with your hands empty and "Use" will start a conversation with them. [[HumanShield Sneaking up on them from behind with a pistol drawn]] or looking down on them through the roof hatch of an elevator with your garrotte equipped will yield far less benevolent options.

* In ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'', the right-click menu always had the same four buttons (hand, foot, mouth, and eyes), but depending on what you were using them on they could have very different effects. For example, using "mouth" normally means "talk to this character", but when used on a hose stuck in a gas tank, it meant "suck" to start syphoning fuel.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' utilizes the Right Shoulder/R Button for most non-combat actions. Most times context sensitive buttons are meant to free up other buttons for other actions that are used more frequently (like attack or defend). This is especially true on portable games like the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, which only has four buttons besides the D-Pad that can be used.

* Both ''VideoGame/Doom3'' and ''VideoGame/QuakeIV'' has one known instance. The button that normally fires your weapon becomes an "activate" command when you are near an active panel and your aiming reticule is inside it.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has a particularly annoying example of this. The control to place an item in a container is the same as to pick up EVERYTHING in the container, depending on whether your are taking or adding things.

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series. In contrast to the early ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' games which required bringing up a menu to talk with people or interact with objects, the original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'' replaced this with a context-sensitive button that can be used to talk or interact.

[[folder: Action]]

[[folder: Action Adventure]]

[[folder: Adventure Game]]

[[folder: First Person Shooter]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' uses the same all-purpose use/grab key, but the tutorial has a subversion: when Wheatley asks Chell to speak, the game prompts the player with "Press [jump button] to speak". But when you do, all she does is jump.

[[folder: Pinball]]

[[folder: Platform Game]]

[[folder: Puzzle Game]]

[[folder: Role Playing Game]]

[[folder: Sports Game]]

[[folder: Stealth Based Game]]

[[folder: Third-Person Shooter]]
* The "A" button in ''VideoGame/{{Gears of War}}'' is a catch-all button for the gameplay's duck and cover system. You slide into cover, switch pillars with a swat turn, jump over barriers, roadie run, anything you can think of. This system has been [[FollowTheLeader widely copied by other third person shooters]]. In fact, it's ''so'' frequently used that players and critics have complained about the button causing the wrong thing to happen because the context changed slightly just before they pushed it.

[[folder: Wide Open Sandbox]]

[[folder: Toys]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

* The {{trope namer|s}}, ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', actually has platforms that the game refers to as "Context Sensitive Buttons", which have the letter B on them. When B is pressed while standing on one, it does whatever the game requires at that point, from providing Conker with dynamite to getting him drunk.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' series uses the A button for actions that are specific to certain gameplay modes. For example, ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'''s Clam Blitz mode uses it to throw clams, and Salmon Run uses it to put the Golden Egg you're carrying into the egg basket.

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' has very context sensitive buttons which has caused much frustration on some players, as some of those buttons are for harmless things such as reloading your gun, but also for punching people, causing players to accidentaly whack somebody unconscious with their gun in the middle of a town when they were only trying to reload their revolver. Most annoyingly however, is that the grapple button is the same as the mount horse button. You can already see where the problem is regarding that when it comes to mounting your horse while there's a person standing by it...

* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' has a primitive version, with the L button being a shortcut for talking if you happen to be facing a person, and checking the environment otherwise. This was added as a more-convenient counterpart to the game's ''Dragon Quest'' style action menu, which was {{Retraux}} even then.

* The {{trope namer|s}} ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' actually has platforms that the game refers to as "Context Sensitive Buttons", which have the letter B on them. When B is pressed while standing on one, it does whatever the game requires at that point, from providing Conker with dynamite to getting him drunk.

[[folder: Simulation Game]]
* A VideoGame/{{Tamagotchi}} is a virtual pet that's controlled by only three context-sensitive buttons.
[[/folder]]

* Used for all its worth in the ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' games, where practically any ability that lets you do a cool sneaking move is tutorialized as "Jump and press the Circle button", including sneaking on ledges, hanging from ropes and hooks, landing on a pin-point and starting a rail slide. It was so pervasive that when the main cast got together on a podcast and [[ItMakesSenseInContext improvised a break-in to steal KFC's 11 herbs and spices]], the actor for [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Bentley]] got the actor for [[GentlemanThief Sly]] to howl with laughter when Sly's instructions for breaking in were, in full, "Sly, you jump and press the Circle button".

* Used for all its worth in the ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' games, where practically any ability that lets you do a cool sneaking move is tutorialized as "Jump and press the Circle button", including sneaking on ledges, hanging from ropes and hooks, landing on a pin-point and starting a rail slide. It was so pervasive that when the main cast got together on a podcast and [[ItMakesSenseInContext improvised a break-in to steal KFC's 11 herbs and spices]], the actor for [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Bentley]] got the actor for [[GentlemanThief Sly]] to howl with laughter when Sly's instructions for breaking in were, in full, "Jump and hit the Circle button".

* In ''VideoGame/ChroniclesOfInotiaChildrenOfCarnia'', everything aside from movement, pausing, switching characters and skills gets bound to a single button. This includes both attacking and talking, so the game can become UnwinnableByMistake if you're cornered by monsters while standing close enough to converse with somebody; your attack button turns into Talk and there's no way to fight your way out.

* The [[TropeNamer trope namer]] ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' actually has platforms that the game refers to as "Context Sensitive Buttons", which have the letter B on them. When B is pressed while standing on one, it does whatever the game requires at that point, from providing Conker with dynamite to getting him drunk.