Achievement Unlocked

Achievement Unlocked is a 2008 Adobe Flash platform video game developed by John Cooney and published by Armor Games. It was developed in only four days. The player controls an elephant who moves and jumps around a level with the goal of completing every achievement. Such achievements include finding all numbers, dying, or even doing nothing for enough time.

Achievement Unlocked
Developer(s)John Cooney
EngineAdobe Flash
Platform(s)
Release2008
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Achievement Unlocked was recognized as commentary on "meaningless rewards" in video games, and was featured in a book about must-play indie games. It received a sequel titled Achievement Unlocked 2.

Gameplay

While essentially a platform game, it has been referred to as a metagame as well as an "antigame".[1][2][3] The game is a send-up of in-game achievements, still a relatively new concept at the release of the game. While a video game achievement is usually a meta-goal defined outside a game's parameters, in Achievement Unlocked, unlocking numerous achievements is the only goal of the game.[4]

Achievement Unlocked takes place on a single screen where the player control an elephant. All the player can do is move and jump, and the game has various surface-level targets and obstacles, such as finding hidden numbers and avoiding spikes. These elements, among others, have to be interacted with in order to get all the achievements. For example, dying to the spikes, touching the hidden numbers in a specific order, and even doing nothing for a certain amount of time are all achievements that need to be completed.

Development

Achievement Unlocked was developed by video game developer John Cooney, who completed it in four days.[5][6][7] It was published by Armor Games.

Reception

It's been described as a "commentary on the proliferation of nearly meaningless rewards in games"[8] and was featured in the book 250 Indie Games You Must Play by Mike Rose and The Game Designer's Playlist: Innovative Games Every Game Designer Needs to Play by Zack Hiwiller.[9][10] Escapist writer John Funk questioned whether it was ironic to enjoy collecting achievements in a game meant to lambaste that mindset.[11]

Sequel

Achievement Unlocked received a sequel titled Achievement Unlocked 2, which added more rooms and achievements.[12]

References
  1. Salter, Anastasia (2014). Flash : building the interactive web. Cambridge, Massachusetts. p. 108. ISBN 9780262028028.
  2. Cornis-Pope, Marcel (2014). New literary hybrids in the age of multimedia expression : crossing borders, crossing genres. Amsterdam. p. 225. ISBN 9789027269331.
  3. Ensslin, Astrid (2014). Literary gaming. Cambridge, Mass. p. 91. ISBN 9780262027151.
  4. "Alt+Escape: Achievement Unlocked". The Escapist. 23 January 2009.
  5. McWhertor, Michael (December 19, 2008). "Achievement Unlocked: The Game: You Have To Unlock The Achievement". Kotaku. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
  6. Cooney, John [@jmtb02] (23 April 2018). "For some background, Achievement Unlocked was a 4 day project built in Flash, fairly low expectations for it (I wasn't SUPER confident in my voice as a creative). Had 5m plays on @ArmorGames alone, ended up in several books and talks about games and game design. Was shocked" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021 – via Twitter.
  7. Macgregor, Jody (23 April 2018). "Introducing the Class of 2008". PC Gamer.
  8. Anthropy, Anna; Clark, Naomi (2014). A game design vocabulary : exploring the foundational principles behind good game design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley. p. 192. ISBN 9780321886927.
  9. Rose, Mike (2019). 250 Indie Games You Must Play. [S.l.]: CRC PRESS. p. 182. ISBN 9781138427853.
  10. Hiwiller, Zach (2019). The game designer's playlist : innovative games every game designer needs to play. Boston. ISBN 9780134873268.
  11. Funk, John (December 19, 2008). "Achievement Unlocked Game Exactly What It Says". Escapist. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  12. Davis, Justin (March 8, 2012). "Free Game of the Day: Achievement Unlocked 2". IGN. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
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