Every week the EFG staff will be defining a gaming term that is either confusing or ill-defined. Please leave a comment with any terms you are confused by and we will try to include them in future editions!
The gaming definition this week is a term that is applicable to many video games: Achievement/Trophy
Achievements or Trophies are an unlockable, purely cosmetic award that is given to someone when playing a video game. They are a set of points, badges, or icons that show successful completion of a particular type of play. Some games allow Achievements or Trophies to be publicly facing online. These awards are often visible on a player’s profile associated with a specific game console, and often represent important milestones that can be found during game play. Achievements and Trophies are mostly split into several categories:
Awards for progressing the game either in time played, levels beaten, and game completion. These awards come as part of the natural progression of play, and are often used to represent a percentage completed of the base game.
- Chapter progression (Beating a World in Mario)
- Bosses Defeated (Defeating a gym leader in Pokemon)
Awards for performing difficult tasks. These tasks often require an in-depth understanding of the game, and represent both individual feats of skill or game completion on increased game difficulty.
- Completing the game on higher difficulty
- Finishing encounters quickly or without getting hit
- Finishing the entire game under a certain time limit
There also are Awards for performing absurd or unintended tasks. Trophies are often jokingly rewarded for gameplay that is not often found, but conceivably possible through game play. The existence of the awards themselves are often the only motivation needed for players to find and perform these absurd tasks.
- Jump Rope Challenge in Super Mario Odyssey.
- Knocking on a door over 500 times in The Stanley Parable
- K.O. an opponent using a taunt in Street Fighter Series
Finally, there is the “100%” award. These trophies are given to players who complete every other trophy that can be found in a game and represents a comprehensive exploration and mastery of the game.
Other Examples of Achievements and Trophies:
Minecraft:
- Taking Inventory Achievement: The first time a player opens their inventory
- Adventuring Time: For finding every biome
Star Wars Squadrons:
- Galaxy’s Finest (story mode): For completing the campaign on story mode difficulty
Stardew Valley:
- Bronze trophy for catching 100 fish
What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!
You can also look at our other video game definitions from previous weeks here!
What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!
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Stephen Duetzmann