Here’s an obsure one: every N64 game I had as a kid used 2 of the 3 N64 grips. You got either Dpad + face buttons, stick + face buttons (most common), and dpad + stick (sim weirdos). So you took the grip that each game required. However, to unlock the minigames and half of the features of Pokemon Stadium, you needed to use the dpad to select other overworld items. I owned the game for 2 years having only played half of it.

I played an old MUD (entirely text-based game, for those who don’t know) for many months before I learned that there were keyboard shortcuts and I didn’t have to type out the full action I was taking every time. For example, I could have been typing “c [spell]” instead of “cast [spell]”.

On the plus side, this resulted in me eventually developing a typing speed in the 130s.

I didn’t know dead eye was a thing in RDR2 until about halfway into the main story when I accidentally activated it. If it is featured in a tutorial mission I must have missed it.

It suddenly made a lot of the missions, especially the ones where you need to shoot people riding on horses while you are yourself riding on a horse or train, much much easier.