It's always interesting to see what the Internet can come up with when they're left to their own devices. In some cases, people aren't just content to enjoy things like video games the way they're meant to be. Even in the age of ludicrous achievements, some nerds enjoy placing harder handicaps than what the game has to offer.

Enter the Nuzlocke challenge. Masterminded by an obviously bored member of a certain video game forum, it seeks to make the Pokemon games harder by imposing certain limits on the way one can play. These rules run from sort-of-challenging ones, like not using items outside of battles, to maniacally hard ones, like not being able to heal period unless it's a Pokemon Centre, only healing once per centre total, and perhaps the most heinous of all: you must nickname your newfound party members in order to gain an attachment to them, and then release them if they faint even once. If they fall in battle, they are effectively "dead".

I'm not sure whether to applaud Nuzlocke and the numerous people trying out his rules; I mean, on one hand, you've got a hell of a challenge. On the other, you're telling people that they should risk hours of hard work with every fight they get into. That's just cold, man.

Players who started using the rules have been chronicling their travels in this new, "Hardcore mode" world, producing comics and sometimes memoriams for those who have fallen. It's heart-wrenching to see someone's team go through so much, then lose half their ranks to a lucky crit or careless mistake. Maybe Nuzlocke's rules serve to add another layer of story to the game's plot; it allows the player to role play a little bit more, crafting personalities and interactions where there might not have been before.

It might also serve to get players to take the game more seriously. Every time I've played through an iteration of Pokemon, it's been easy to just level my starting monster, leading to a ludicrously one-sided affair. Even if that one were to faint, I'd have a team of sacrifices, allowing myself to revive that powerhouse and switch him back in. Through Nuzlocke, we're forced to think a little bit more. Players have to plan out type coverage and effective strategies; no longer will one spot on your team of six be used as a "HM Slave". I mean, we wouldn't want to have to bury our team, would we?

Anyone interested can view the obnoxiously large flowchart below. Within are different sets of rules for the hardcore and dabbling trainer, allowing people to mix and match. Try at your own risk.