A Button Masher’s Best Friend; A Trusty Pen Lid!

April 6th, 2008

You either understand exactly what I am about to talk about or you don’t have a clue, I guess it depends on what sort of gamer you are and how determined you are as a player to succeed. If you have never heard of the “Pen Lid Trick” (unofficial name BTW) then gather around.

Pretty simple really, you are playing your favourite game and suddenly you reach a button mashing segment. No matter how hard you try, your arthritic right thumb simple cannot comply with the game’s challenging demands. It’s tough isn’t it?

Sometimes these segments are essential to progress (StarFox Adventures), sometimes performing better rewards you with extra bonuses (Metal Gear Solid) and sometimes the whole game is based around this concept (Bishi Bashi Special). Whatever the case may be you need a way to easier way to mash that button.

Introducing the Pen Lid Trick

All you need for this is a pen lid. Anything with a separate clip (that is two pieces of plastic put together) is not worth your time. I recommend a lid from a standard Bic Cristal Pen, there are no separate components and that plastic is of the right softness not to damage your pad. Now all you have to do is hold the lid like you would a pen (at a 45 degree angle to the face button) and then glide it back and forth over the button that requires mashing. When you are moving the pen lid around try to swing wide less as this will allow you to perform better.

Just from experience this works best on less springy buttons. So a well used Playstation controller is ideal from my experience. The Gamecube isn’t too bad either with it’s large A button.

There you go thats your lesson for today. Do you use this trick yourself?