(こうりゃくぼん)

こうりゃくぼん
noun
strategy guide; walkthrough book (for a video game)
1. strategy guide; walkthrough book (a printed guide explaining how to clear a video game)
A printed book that explains how to progress through and complete a video game, typically including maps, item lists, enemy data, and step-by-step walkthroughs. Once a major category of gaming publication; with widespread internet access such guides are now more often found online, but printed 攻略本(こうりゃくぼん) are still released for major titles.
このゲームの攻略本(こうりゃくぼん)()った。
I bought a strategy guide for this game.
攻略本(こうりゃくぼん)()ないでクリアしたい。
I want to beat it without looking at a strategy guide.
息子(むすこ)発売日(はつばいび)にゲームと一緒(いっしょ)攻略本(こうりゃくぼん)まで()ってきた。
On the release day, my son came home with the game and the strategy guide to boot.

Compound of 攻略(こうりゃく) ('capturing; conquering; clearing (a game)') and (ほん) ('book'). The reading of (ぼん) is rendaku'd.

USAGE:

  • Informal, conversational word; freely used in everyday speech by gamers of all ages.
  • Applies only to printed books; an online walkthrough site is usually called 攻略(こうりゃく)サイト or 攻略(こうりゃく)情報(じょうほう), not 攻略本(こうりゃくぼん).
  • Carries no negative connotation on its own, but some gamers pride themselves on finishing a game 攻略本(こうりゃくぼん)なしで ('without a guide').

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 攻略本(こうりゃくぼん)()う: to buy a strategy guide
  • 攻略本(こうりゃくぼん)()る: to consult a strategy guide
  • 攻略本(こうりゃくぼん)(たよ)る: to rely on a strategy guide
  • 公式(こうしき)攻略本(こうりゃくぼん): official strategy guide

RELATED TERMS:

  • 攻略(こうりゃく): capture; clearing a game — the base noun; also used as a {する}-verb.
  • 攻略(こうりゃく)サイト: walkthrough website — online equivalent.
  • ガイドブック: guidebook — general-purpose guidebook, most often for travel.
  • 説明書(せつめいしょ): instruction manual — comes with the product; describes how to operate it, not how to beat it.