What is your biggest gaming regret?

We’ve all had those moments of remorse as video game enthusiasts — you sit out a season that ends up being top-notch, you make a big hardware purchase only to end up unimpressed after you unbox it, you lend your copy of Mega Man 4 to your best friend at the time and never see it again. These regrets are bittersweet and unavoidable, and yet they can hopefully teach us valuable lessons about how we approach our favorite pastime.

As an eleven year old who could sunburn on an overcast November day in Boston, I spent every possible second of my youth playing video games. The release of the Nintendo 64 promised to be one of the most landmark moments in gaming history, and its early titles couldn’t have been more anticipated. While Wave Race 64 will always hold a special place in my heart, the world was collectively holding its breath to get a copy of Super Mario 64 and explore a fully three-dimensional open-ish world as a newly polygonal-headed plumber.

Santa Claus was kind to me that Christmas, and receiving the official strategy guide along with the system and game seemed like the perfect combo. I proceeded to plug in the signature 3-pronged controller, figure out the proper way to route the RCA cables through the VCR, and load up Super Mario 64. As for what happened next… well, if I only had a time machine.

I followed that official strategy guide to the letter for each and every one of the fifteen main worlds. Not one of the 120 Power Stars eluded my grasp, and I was even able to experience the end-game secrets like Big Fat Penguin Race and Roof Yoshi with ease.

It wasn’t until years later that I fully realized my colossal mistake. I had ripped through one of the all-time classic video game experiences without bothering to explore a single area myself. I spent no time pondering the puzzles, testing techniques, or finding just the right place for a wall jump because the strategy guide simply told me what to do.

Luckily, the experience triggered something subconsciously, because it was only two years later that I set aside the strategy guide for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and made an honest run at each and every challenge and puzzle myself before seeking outside help. This approach has stuck for decades, and I try my best to only look up the proper method to a pesky World of Warcraft achievement after giving it a respectable college try.

So what’s your all-time biggest gaming regret? What lessons have you taken to heart from something that you wish you could take back?