Sure, every game has an ending of sorts. For a certain class of classic game, though, that ending was always of the "You Are Dead Ha Ha Ha!" variety. From Robotron 2084's ever-increasing robot hordes to Missile Command's memorable "THE END" explosion, you went into these games knowing that failure was not just an option, but really the only option.
Then there are the games that seem like they should go on forever but, for one reason or another, just don't. Whether it's because of a coding error leading to an unintentional "kill screen" or a simple design choice stopping an otherwise never-ending series of loops, a lot of games that seem unbeatable at first glance can actually be conquered in one way or another.
To be clear, these aren't just games that are hard to beat (though most of them are incredibly difficult). These are games that, by all rights, shouldn't have a victory condition yet eventually reach a point where it's technically impossible to keep playing even if you don't fail in any way. Enjoy.
Snake
The GIF that inspired this list (and became a hit on reddit over the weekend) is probably the only way you'll ever see a perfect game of Snake, the simple 2D game that's so old that Managing Editor Eric Bangeman wrote a BASIC version in 1982 (though this animation looks like it comes from a Russian Flash knock-off with the same general gameplay). Sure, you do technically "lose" when every single section of the playfield is taken up by a piece of your snakey body. But considering that it's technically impossible to get a better score once you've achieved this feat, we think it's safe to call this one a "win."
Also see: If you don't have the patience to watch the 19-minute original GIF above, you can watch a sped-up version that only takes a couple minutes, or look at an especially mesmerizing super-speed version that takes less than 30 seconds.
Pac-Man
One of the most well-known accidental endings in gaming, Pac-Man descends into chaos after 256 levels, when an overflowing 8-bit level register causes half the screen to be filled with random symbols and become unbeatable. This actually means you can complete a perfect game of Pac-Man by eating every pellet and swallowing every ghost in all of the game's 255 levels, a feat first pulled off by the legendary Billy Mitchell back in 1999 and later bested by David Race, who completed the feat in a blistering 3 hours, 33 minutes, and 1.4 seconds.
Want to keep playing Pac-Man longer? In 2007, hacker Don Hodges dove into the Pac-Man assembly code and devised some MAME fixes that actually correct the problem.
Also see: The upside-down Ms. Pac-Man kill screens that start at level 134 and the Jr. Pac-Man kill screen that turns most of the playfield into a black void at level 146.
Donkey Kong
The second-most famous kill screen in all of gaming was popularized by the 2007 documentary The King of Kong, which shows Steve Weibe's memorable journey to beat Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong high score. While the error occurs once the level counter reads "22," you actually have to beat 117 "screens" before an overflow error messes up the bonus counter and internal timer, leaving you without enough time to even make it up past the second girder. Only a few people in the world are able to consistently reach this screen, but even then, there's no known upper limit to the score you can obtain in those 117 screens, thanks to the role of luck and ever-evolving point-hoarding strategies.
Fun fact: Donkey Kong actually includes a bit of code to stop the level counter from going above 99, despite the fact that the timer bug stops the game at level 22.
Also see: The extremely similar Donkey Kong Jr. kill screen, which also happens at level 22.
Dig Dug
Yet another classic arcade kill screen, Dig Dug's "ending" comes after round 255, when the titular hero loops back to "Round 0." There, he finds only a hellish void where he can't even move before exploding over and over again, until being finally, mercifully spared by the sweet release of oblivion. The horror. THE HORROR!
Also see: This poignant comic featuring Dig Dug and Pac-Man contemplating the meaninglessness of existence in the face of the inevitable kill screen.
Duck Hunt
If you can manage to kill every duck through level 99 of Game A in this NES classic, it will loop back to a version of Round 0 where invincible ducks bounce around the screen at warp speed before flying away. Eventually, the ducks don't even bother coming out, allowing that damn laughing dog to keep bouncing up and down, tittering at your misfortune.
Also see: The arcade version of the game, Vs. Duck Hunt, which actually lets you shoot that dumb dog in a bonus round.
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