N++ is even bigger and more difficult than we thought

For wizards only

N++ released back in July with a bold claim: “No way anyone 100%s it.” Given its enormous level select screen featuring more than a thousand levels and the brutal difficulty the series is known for, it seemed fair enough to make that statement. It turns out we didn’t even know the half of it.

Shortly after release, some users noticed strange codes that showed up on each level after completing the game with enough gold, but it wasn’t until recently Twitch streamer Aweinstock began to understand and decode the strings of characters. In a given level, the codes were tied to some unwritten challenge, like activating all mines without collecting any gold. (The video below shows such a challenge in action. It looks well beyond my abilities.)

Completing enough secret challenges unlocks secret levels, which are remixes of existing levels with twists that change up the flow. The final secret is a “New Game++” mode, which tasks players with completing entire episodes — that’s five levels in a row — without dying a single time.

With all of the secrets, Metanet estimates the main game levels account for only about 25 percent of the total amount of content. With this revelation, the claim nobody will ever complete N++ 100 percent sounds just that much more plausible. But you never know; the best way to get some insane person out there to do something is to tell the world it can’t be done.