Summary
Subverting players expectations by assigning unexpected or alternative meanings to familiar terms or conventions.
Pattern Description
Misleading Standards uses terminology, conventions, or assumptions that appear familiar to players but gives them altered, unexpected, or subverted meanings within the game. Concepts can be reshaped through renaming mechanics, altering the meaning of established terms, or overturning widely accepted norms. This subversion encourages players to question their assumptions, remain attentive, and rethink familiar structures. The technique also strengthens immersion by constructing a world where even common concepts carry unique meanings, contributing to surprise, narrative twists, or conceptual depth.
Sub patterns
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Usage
Designers can use this pattern by deliberately selecting widely known conventions or terms and then attributing different or contrasting functions to the. The process requires careful introduction of the alternative meaning, ensuring that the player first forms the expected interpretation before the reveal takes place. This discrepancy of the game’s mechanics, prompts players to reevaluate their assumptions and remain alert to how meaning is constructed inside the fictional world. The resulting shift in understanding becomes part of the gameplay experience and may influence pacing, surprise and engage the player.
Examples
Undertale (2015)
The term “EXP” initially appears to follow the standard RPG association with “experience points,” but the player eventually learns it stands for “execution points,” fully reversing the moral and mechanical expectation linked to the concept.
Metroid (1986)
The assumption that the protagonist is male (an unspoken norm in the industry at the time) is dismantled when the game reveals Samus Aran to be female, rewriting the meaning of a widely held expectation and redefining the relationship between player assumption and game identity.
Interaction Design Implications
By redefining familiar standards, this pattern breaks a possibility of intuitive interaction and creates cognitive dissonance. It requires players to abandon established interpretations and construct new ones. When used wisely, this confusion can heighten attention and promote deeper cognitive engagement with the system. However, a balance between deception and clarity is important, to give the user a space of certainty to ground on.
Relation with Other Patters
- Mimic
- False Friend
- Blatant Lie
- Single Twist
Further reading Malaquias, Ana Rita Mendes. 2024. “A Proposal of Deception Patterns in Game Design.” Master thesis. Malaquias, Rita, and Pedro Cardoso. 2025. “Deception in Video Games: Nine Game Design Patterns.”