OMG I remember these physical artifact-based anti-piracy checkpoints in the middle of games.

Here’s a funny story: software piracy was rampant in 1980s Singapore, so much so that I didn’t see my first legitimate software package on a shelf until the later part of the decade. You bought pirated software from stores, and they’d copy floppies for you on the spot.

Then came these copy protection schemes that required the manuals. So they’d photocopy the manuals and include it. But soon stores realized that people were taking the manuals they copied, and COPYING THEM AGAIN (gasp) to pass on to their friends, depriving them of their sweet sweet piracy profit.

So they started photocopying the manuals on VERY DARK PAPER so the text was barely visible. You’d go home with a manual that is black on dark brown, and you’d squint at the text to find the word that would let you continue the game… https://digipres.club/@foone/115189927770280426