''Achievement Unlocked'' is an

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

written by John Cooney in four days and published by

Armor Games Armor Games is an American video game publisher and free web gaming portal. The website hosts over a thousand HTML5 (and previously Flash) browser games. Based in Irvine, California, the site was founded in 2004 by Daniel McNeely. Armor Games ...

in 2008. The player controls an

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

who moves and jumps around a level with the goal of completing every achievement. Such achievements include finding hidden numbers, dying, or even doing nothing for a period of time. ''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 A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

, it has been referred to as a

metagame Metagame, Hypergame, or game about the game, is an approach to a game that transcends or operates outside of the prescribed rules of the game, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by th ...

as well as an " antigame". 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.'' ''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. It was published by

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" 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. '' Escapist'' writer John Funk questioned whether it was ironic to enjoy collecting achievements in a game meant to lambaste that mindset.

Sequels

A sequel, ''

Achievement Unlocked 2 Achievement may refer to: * Achievement (heraldry) * Achievement (horse), a racehorse * Achievement (video gaming), a meta-goal defined outside of a game's parameters See also * Achievement test for student assessment * Achiever, a personality ...

'', was released in 2010 with more rooms and achievements. ''Achievement Unlocked 3'' was released in 2012.

References

{{Armor Games Browser games Flash games Platformers Art games Single-player video games Indie games Parody video games Video games developed in the United States Armor Games games