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{{trope}}
In video games, normally one expects all playable parts of a level to be reachable from one single point. It might not be a point you can get to without unlocking a whole bunch of things and even [[Back Tracking]] from later in the game, but it still ought to be there.
But sometimes, you just can't get there from here (or here from there). You've found a side area that is ostensibly part of the level, perhaps even can be seen from other parts of the level, and in fact playable (not just for show), but you have to go around (often a long way around) to get between. The more infuriating of these are located behind an [[Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence]]. On the other hand, you may find an area early on in the game that gives you a sneak preview of a much later level. Or there may be a [[Door to Before]] that leads back to the main area.
Some may be genuinely unused, yet have more functionality than required for decorations just because that's how the level editor works. Those may fill the space for no other purpose than an illusion of the game world being larger and more complex that it is. Or could be partially [[Dummied Out]] into non-interactivity as content [[What Could Have Been|made for removed plot lines]] or not implemented properly in time, but looking too good to throw out.
[[Randomly Generated Levels]] often end up like this, though few generators are [[Obvious Beta|bad enough]] to make places inaccessible rather than merely twisted.
Another possible technical reason is data file economy: levels are often implemented as large arrays of tiles and connected by (usually implicit) teleport event triggers; and even 3D maps may have a significant overhead of map-wide data… so developers simply cram together into a single map sheet a bunch of fragments too small to use up a whole level; it's more common with enclosed areas like towers and tunnels, however — those you won't see in the game, except via auto-map sheets and glitches.
Common in [[Metroidvania]] style games and some [[RPG]] titles.
{{examples}}
* ''[[Banjo-Kazooie|Banjo-Tooie]]'' likes to put Jiggies in these side areas, though other items are hidden here as well. The game isn't consistent about which Jiggies count for which levels: one of the Jiggies counting for Hailfire Peaks has to be reached from Terrydactyland, while another is in a side area of Grunty Industries. Yet another Hailfire Peaks Jiggy is in an ice cave that doesn't connect to anywhere else on the Icy Side.
* ''[[La-Mulana]]'', among other disconnected side areas, has a side area of the Chamber of Extinction leading to a side area of the Surface leading to a side area of the Inferno Cavern.
* ''[[Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back]]'' was horrible with this. Most levels were perfectly linear, but there were all sorts of level segments that were blatantly impossible to get to from their respective levels. You had to find secret elevators from other levels and eventually the secret sixth hub room in order to get to them, rendering [[
* The ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' series is pretty bad about this a lot of times, too. A notable example is in the second game where there's a portal and blue door right off the central room of Agon Wastes, which nags you as something you missed every time you look at the map. But it's sealed off by an impenetrable gate both in the light and the dark world. It turns out that this particular section of the map is only attainable much later when you have the proper gear, and takes a veeery long roundabout path to get to. Most players even get there via an elevator directly from Torvus Bog followed by a one-way dark world portal.
** The 2D ''[[Metroid]]'' titles have this sometimes too. ''Super Metroid'' has a few areas partially visible before you can fully access them.
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* ''[[Rayman]] 2'' includes a few level segments that aren't even accessible from the same level: about 20% of the second level in the game is only accessible through a level that doesn't appear until past the halfway-point.
* One [[Plot Coupon|Wraithheart]] in the Summit of the Sages in ''[[Vexx]]'' is hidden away in a strange, floating net connected to a pipe. The only way to get it is to literally go [[Down the Drain]] in a different level, Tempest Peak Manor, which drops you there.
** That's not all in ''Vexx.'' In the second level, one of the hearts is hidden in the "Sand Castle," which only appears in the level as a ''literal'' sandcastle that's too tiny to do anything with. You have to go halfway through the Toy Castle in the first level, hit a hidden switch, and THEN you'll end up in the Sand Castle, which is just a [[Palette Swap
* The Donut Secret 2 and Chocolate Secret levels in ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]'' are located on the Valley of Bowser map. They are not connected to any of the other levels there, and have to be reached by warp pipe.
* The ''[[Avernum]]'' series does this a lot, at least in part 4 and 5. There are rooms you can see fairly early in the game, but you can't actually get there until you've moved all the way around.
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** There's a few in the Dalamsca Westersand, too; one of them is used to hide one of the keys to a [[Bonus Boss]]. And some places in the [[Down the Drain|Garamscythe Waterway]] can't be reached because there's some inch-deep water separating two platforms which are, at best, a foot away from each other. It is sufficient to say that this occurs frequently.
*** There's also the section of the Nam-Yensa Sand Sea (or the Sand Sea right next to it, near Raithwall's Tomb) that can only be reched via a specific path in the Zertinian Caverns. There's a very fun Mark Hunt that takes place in that area, but it can be a huge pain to figure out how to get there ([[Lampshaded]] by the hint they give you to the location of the Mark as being isolated and hard to find).
* ''[[Final Fantasy X
* In ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue]]'' (and, naturally, ''FireRed'' and ''LeafGreen''), once you get to Route 2 you may notice an inaccessible area on the other side of the line of trees. This area is first accessible only as an extension of the Diglett Cave dungeon until you obtain the Cut HM and get the corresponding badge.
** There's several of these, especially in the early games. West of Viridian City is the path to the Pokémon League, but until you reach the end of the game it's just one of these. And in ''Gold'' and ''Silver'', you can surf east of the starter town to cross the Kanto border, but without Waterfall you can go no further.
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* ''[[Milon's Secret Castle|Milons Secret Castle]]'' has a room within the first room that taunts you with a large stash of money. The room is only accessible once you reach the third floor of the castle.
* ''[[Etrian Odyssey]]'' loves this trope, with large disconnected hidden paths back and forth through the levels.
* ''[[
* ''[[Cave Story]]'''s Labyrinth camp area has a room with a treasure chest in it. The only way to get there is to go through the hidden passage outside blocked with a breakable block.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' has [[Tron|Space Paranoids]], which can only be accessed by using Ansem's Computer in Hollow Bastion.
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*** And the Spirit Temple, the first half of which you must enter as Child Link to obtain the item to access the Adult Link half of the dungeon.
** And again in ''[[Oracle of Seasons]]''... three times. Part of Hero's Cave can only be accessed from an alternate entrance, and then the Snake's Remains level has one area walled off from the rest, which has to be accessed by exiting the dungeon through a separate entrance and re-entering through yet another one. Finally, the Tower of Spring is walled off from the rest of the Temple of Seasons and must be accessed through an underground passage.
** The Skull Woods dungeon in ''A Link To The Past'' consists of ''three'' disconnected areas only accessable from different above-ground entrances in the Skeleton Forest portion of the Dark World's overworld.
** More examples in ''A Link To The Past'' are the second half of the Desert Palace (which happens to be located in the above-mentioned Desert of Mystery), accessed by a separate entrance on the cliff above the main palace, and two of the Heart Pieces on [[Death Mountain]].
** In ''[[Twilight Princess]]'', the Gerudo Desert cannot be reached on foot like every other land-based area and must instead be traversed to with a giant canon at Lake Hylia. The only way to get out of the area is to warp out.
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** One of the University of Washington's buildings has a library only acessible by elevator, no stairs. If you're stuck up there in a power outage, god help you.
* In ''[[F-Zero]]'', in addition to having two different music themes, White Land is unique in that its second track is not connected to the first track.
* In ''[[Halo 2]]'''s Delta Halo, you can see the buildings from the next level, Regret, fairly early on, but unless you [[Sequence Breaking|find a hard-to-reach shortcut]], you'll be going the long way around. Similarly, at the beginning of Uprising, you can see the area where The Great Journey takes place, but the only way down is through a long [[Space-Filling Path]], and [[No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom|there are no shortcuts this time]]. High Charity consists mainly of previously inaccessable side areas of the previous level, Gravemind, which were also visible in earlier cutscenes. Earlier, the Banshee combat sequence at the end of The Arbiter gives you previews of the outdoor parts of The Oracle, the next level.
* The only way to get to the library area in ''[[Resident Evil]]'' is to take the elevator from the basement, unless you get the passcode from Barry as Jill. This [[Dungeon Bypass|bypass]] is in fact required to get the best ending in that scenario.
** The sewage disposal area in ''[[Resident Evil 2|RE2]]'' is only accessible through air ducts, as the doorway in is shuttered.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Architecture Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Examples Need Sorting]]
[[Category:Video Game Settings]]
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