Troll game meaning, and 7 tips to beat one
What a troll game is, where the name comes from and the tricks it plays on you. Then seven tips that work on any troll platformer.
IceGaming TeamPublished
4 min read
A troll game is a video game that plays tricks on you on purpose. It looks normal, then breaks the rules you thought it had: the floor gives way, a coin kills you, the exit runs off. The name comes from internet slang, where a troll is someone who provokes people for a reaction. Here the game is the troll, and your reaction is the point.
Below: what these games do, why the first death matters more than the rest, and seven tips we use ourselves when a level lies to us.
Troll game meaning, in plain words
Most games teach you rules and then test them. A troll game teaches you rules and then breaks them, once, to make you laugh or shout. The best-known form is the troll platformer, where you run and jump through short rooms full of hidden traps.
The idea is old. Syobon Action, a Japanese freeware game from 2007 better known as Cat Mario, used the habits of Super Mario players against them. Recent browser games like Level Devil and our own Level Demon follow the same recipe with shorter rooms and instant restarts.
A troll game is a kind of rage game. We explain the wider family in what is a rage game.
The tricks a troll game plays
These are the traps we see most often, and the ones we use in Level Demon:
- A floor that collapses the moment you stand on it.
- Spikes that pop up from a floor that looked clean.
- An exit door that stands up and runs away, or a fake door that kills you.
- Gravity that flips and drops you onto the ceiling.
- Saws, cannons and blocks that appear where there was nothing.
The trigger matters as much as the trap. In Level Demon, traps react to where you stand, when you jump, when you stop or how long you wait.
7 tips to beat any troll game
1. Assume everything is lying
If a floor looks safe, treat it as a suspect. If the door is close, it is probably about to leave. Walk into every new room expecting a trick. You will be surprised less often, and you will laugh more when you are.
2. Spend your first life on purpose
Your first death in a room is the tutorial. Go in, set the trap off and watch what it does. In most troll platformers, one death shows you the whole trick.
3. Nothing is random
A good troll game is scripted. Level Demon runs on a fixed physics tick of 60 steps per second, so the same moves give the same result on every device. If a plan worked once, it will work again.
4. Slow down near the obvious
Troll levels hide their traps where your eyes are not: just before the exit, on the last safe tile, right after a jump. Stop for half a second before the obvious ending. Many traps fire on movement, so standing still can be the answer.
5. Try the opposite
If jumping kills you, walk. If running kills you, wait. If the door runs right, go left. Troll designers love to reward the move you thought was wrong.
6. Watch your deaths back
After each room, Level Demon shows a replay of all your deaths at once. Patterns jump out: you always die at the same spot, a step too early. Any game with a replay or a ghost can teach you the same way.
7. Take a break after ten deaths
Anger makes your timing worse. Ten deaths in a row in the same spot is a sign to stand up, drink some water and come back. The trap will still be there, and you will see it fresh.
Why the troll game works on us
A troll game is a joke with you as the punchline. It works because the setup is fair: two buttons, a short room, a door. When the trap fires, you know at once what happened and that you could have guessed. That mix of “unfair” and “I should have seen it” is why players restart instead of quitting.
FAQ
Is Level Devil a troll game?
Yes, by the meaning above. It is a troll platformer by Unept, released in 2023 and playable on Poki. Level Demon is a different game by IceGaming Team, not affiliated with Level Devil.
Where can I play a troll game for free?
In a browser. Level Demon is free, needs no download and no account, and has a new daily level every night at 22:00 Paris time. The FAQ lists the controls.
Are troll games hard?
They feel hard for one death per trap. Once you know the trick, most rooms take a few seconds.
Your turn
Try the seven tips on today’s daily demon. It has three rooms, everyone gets the same ones, and each of them lies.
