Boulder Getaway

Overview

The boulder getaway sequence was first popularized in the Indiana Jones movies. A massive boulder is triggered somehow and proceeds to rolling down a narrow incline just wide enough for the boulder while the protagonist has to outrun said boulder to avoid being crushed. The boulder is usually perfectly round and rolls quite quickly, although not quickly enough to make escape impossible. It only rolls fast enough to make escape dramatic. Many third-person games with a heavy exploration and/or survival horror focus feature this concept. The player's mad dash to safety usually amounts to rapidly mashing a button. It's rarely explained why such an elaborate trap was created. Occasionally the boulder is pushed, other times it's an accidentally triggered booby trap, but almost universally it will never be sprung by the friend or foe the player is pursuing. In most cases, it is inexplicably indicative of being on the right path. Usually the character escapes the boulder by jumping out of the way at the last possible second.