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 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)Web browser
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. Two sequels were released in 2010 and 2012.

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, they are the only goal of the game in Achievement Unlocked.[4]

Achievement Unlocked takes place on a single screen where the player controls 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 and placed onto various flash game websites over time.

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]

Sequels

A sequel, Achievement Unlocked 2, was released in 2010 with more rooms and achievements.[12] Achievement Unlocked 3 was released in 2012.

References
  1. Salter, Anastasia (2014). Flash : building the interactive web. Cambridge, Massachusetts. p. 108. ISBN 9780262028028.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. Cornis-Pope, Marcel (2014). New literary hybrids in the age of multimedia expression : crossing borders, crossing genres. Amsterdam. p. 225. ISBN 9789027269331.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Ensslin, Astrid (2014). Literary gaming. Cambridge, Mass. p. 91. ISBN 9780262027151.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. "Alt+Escape: Achievement Unlocked". The Escapist. 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  5. McWhertor, Michael (December 19, 2008). "Achievement Unlocked: The Game: You Have To Unlock The Achievement". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2020-11-19. 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. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. Funk, John (December 19, 2008). "Achievement Unlocked Game Exactly What It Says". Escapist. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  12. Davis, Justin (March 8, 2012). "Free Game of the Day: Achievement Unlocked 2". IGN. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
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