History Main / InstantWinCondition

* Alexander the Great managed to use this strategy in the [[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Battle_of_Issus Battle of Issus]]. Darius III, ruler of the Persian empire, was commanding his troops in person. Outnumbered by the Persian army, Alexander attacked the part of the Persian battle line where Darius himself was. Darius was forced to flee, and his army followed after him in disarray. Unable to fight effectively during the retreat, the once-mighty Persian army became easy prey for Alexander and his troops.

** Standard battles also have timers. It is entirely possible to have a single unit of some kind left during a snow/rainstorm hide out waaaay at the corner of the map, and win due to time out. (In clear weather it's simple enough to just search the forests then the corners, but in snow/rain visibility falls to nothing and so long as you turn off the AI engagement the enemy can walk right by you and not notice you.)

*** People seem to forget that the Imperials took some heavy casualties of their own before the Death Star was destroyed. This included the fleet's Command Ship, the Executor.

* In the ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' series, many missions can be won even after all the player's cities have been captured (which results in the player being given 7 days to capture one or face game over). The quickest strategy of completing Mandate of Heaven in ''Heroes of Might and Magic III'' is to take Castle Darkmoor, build it up as a Necropolis town, leave after getting a sufficiently large army and before the other factions take an interest in capturing it, then head to capture the Hive before the 7-day deadline results in game over.

* The final action scene in ''StarWars Episode 4: A New Hope'' in which Luke Skywalker uses the force to defeat the Death Star's one weak point in the nick of time with his comrades dying on either side of him is an example of this Trope.
** Let's not forget ''Return of the Jedi'', where the battle is basically won once the rebels on Endor's surface blow up the shield generator. Despite being pincered between the Death Star and a huge Imperial fleet, and taking serious losses, the battle's basically won as soon as a few fighters and the Millennium Falcon conduct an AirstrikeImpossible.

* In ''SuperMarioBros. 3'' and ''SuperMarioWorld'', clearing a stage will usually cause all remaining foes on screen to spontaneously transform into coins.

* In ''FinalFantasyXII: Revenant Wings'' often requires you to take advantage of this. One particular mission does it ''twice''.

* ''TheElderScrolls IV: Oblivion'' has gates to the hell dimension of Oblivion opening everywhere. The Oblivion worlds are full of enemies, but the best way to win is just to make a break directly to the top of the large tower and grab the Sigil Stone.

* ''[[AgeOfEmpires Age Of Mythology]]'' has a particularly funny example in the expansion: as an invincible Titan wreaks havoc in the nearby city, the player's forces and an ally have to survive against the Titan's offspawns and other enemies. In the end, the Titan comes for the player, likely crushing his entire base... but as long as the player fulfills the objective of bringing 3 Rocs (Egyptian Myth units that act as air transports) to the ally, everything is fine and dandy.

* A minor variation occurs in the ''MegaManBattleNetwork'' and ''MegaManStarForce'' games: When the last enemy on the battlefield is defeated, you lose control of MegaMan during the victory fanfare and are invincible during that time, even if a time bomb explodes a split-second after the last enemy is taken out. Up through ''Star Force 2'', projectiles and bombs would remain on the battlefield in the background of the victory screen, but you'd still be immune to them. However, winning a battle by the skin of your teeth reduces your reward for victory, and in extreme cases will replace your reward with a mercy HP refill.

* The original ''SuperMarioBros.'' has this in the castle levels; when Mario touches the axe, Bowser's flames freeze in place, the bridge is destroyed, Bowser falls to his death, and Mario completes the castle. This occurs even if Mario touches the axe and Bowser at the same time; in this case, Mario actually goes through his death animation as Bowser falls... and then the end-castle scene goes on without Mario, and the next level starts with Mario none the worse for wear.

* A mission is only finished in [[AlienSwarm Alien Swarm]] when all surviving marines are in the exit area. Whether they're on fire, parasited, surrounded by shield bugs or up to their knees in swarm.

** Both scenarios were pretty much {{unwinnable}} with the conventional approach and thus required the lateral--and very much desperate--thinking to win. It's also worth noting that in the second example, Ender has crossed the DespairEventHorizon and is ''trying'' to get kicked out by doing the unthinkable.

** The concept of "racing" is when each players just attacks with their creatures and don't block for any number of reasons.

* And of course, there's the Fool's Mate: 1. f3 or f4 e6 or e5 2. g4 Qh4++ . That's about as instant as chess gets!

---> ''Tom Francis'': That is pretty funny. They're my ally.

* ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'' loves this. The Cyber Dragon era of the card game consisted of gambling that your one attack would go through, and win the duel. Of course, more advanced players would only do that after getting rid of potential traps with the card Heavy Storm. Not to mention, if you play all five of Exodia's pieces, you instantly win.

* '{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'' loves this. The Cyber Dragon era of the card game consisted of gambling that your one attack would go through, and win the duel. Of course, more advanced players would only do that after getting rid of potential traps with the card Heavy Storm. Not to mention, if you play all five of Exodia's pieces, you instantly win.

* {{Yugioh}} loves this. Power bond anyone? The Cyber Dragon era of the card game consisted of gambling that your one attack would go through, and win the duel. Of course, more advanced players would only do that after getting rid of potential traps with the card Heavy Storm.
** Also, Yugioh has several winning conditions. Exodia, Ouija Board, Final Countdown, Hyper Venom Counters...You name it.

* ''Left4Dead'' has these during the finale events. After the escape vehicle has arrived the hordes of undead do not matter. Your only objective is to climb (or be thrown by a tank) into the back of the rescue vehicle.

* In the original Defender of the Crown, you win if you take the three Norman castles; no other castles or territories are required. Although it's rare, it's possible to win with one or even ''both'' Saxons still alive, even though they're supposedly fighting for the crown just like you. You also win immediately if you take the castles while allied to another Saxon (apparently he's too grateful or scared to challenge your rulership).

** Bowser does it better.

** And then you have ''Chinatown Wars'', while Pay 'N' Spray will remove your wanted level with a fresh coat of paint, they'll outright ''refuse'' to do so while there are any active cops or police cruisers in the vicinity. Police cruisers make up about a third of the traffic on ''Chinatown Wars'' take of Liberty City, and your chances of actually getting anywhere near a Pay 'N' Spray without cops trying to ram you off the road approach practically zero. Still, heat magically disappears if you trigger a mission, complete a mission, or walk into your safehouse and rest for six hours ''even in full view of the police,'' as it has from ''[[GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas San Andreas]]''.