Back in the good old days of video games with true nonlinearity, you wouldn't get far before finding many of your possible paths blocked with certain types of obstacles. Trees. Rocks. Ice cubes. You've seen them all, and you know exactly how they work. Somewhere along the line, you'll eventually acquire an item that will allow you to bypass these obstacles. A candle to burn down bushes. A hammer to smash rocks. A magic wand to melt the ice. Between then and now, something went horribly wrong. Cardboard Obstacles manifest themselves in three main ways: