[jeffchien]

TLDR context: a randomizer shuffles around game items/skills and even game areas such that the game is completed in a different order. Archipelago shuffles those things among different playthroughs. For example, I might pick up an item in my Pokemon playthrough that unlocks a gun in your Doom playthrough, and when you pick up a keycard it might unlock Ground Pound for a Mario player, and so on. It's like a giant collaborative puzzle game.

Here's an example with 114 playthroughs (includes some game spoilers in the latter half): https://youtu.be/YwUIfxF3ujo

[bongodongobob]

I don't understand this at all. So if you were playing Doom, you might get stuck because someone in some random other game needs to find your key? That sounds awful.

[JoshTriplett]

It's intended to be a collaborative endeavor, often played with people who are on a live call with each other. In the kinds of games that work well with randomizers, you usually have multiple different options for how to proceed, and you have to figure out how to check as many item locations as possible to unlock things for yourself and (in the case of Archipelago) for other players.

It doesn't work as well with linear or mostly linear games.

And as another reply noted, sometimes you get stuck ("BKed"). Sometimes each person has more than one game in the randomizer, so they have a couple of options to play further. Sometimes people go watch someone else play until they're unblocked again.

[jeffchien]

That's definitely a concern. Players call getting stuck by others' checks "BK'd" because a player once went out to get Burger King and returned before they got unwalled. But I think sharing the challenge/frustration and randomness with other players is the fun part, and that's what makes this such an interesting way to play games.

The organizer can also kick inactive players out and release their checks. You could play solo with one or multiple games.