Achievement Unlocked: How We Ended Up With Gaming Achievements and Trophies

No modern game would be complete without achievements or trophies. They challenge players to go the extra mile and get more out of every single game.

However, achievements have not always been a part of gaming culture. And the earliest examples of achievements would be downright unrecognizable to the modern gamer.

How did gaming “unlock” achievements in the first place? Here is the history of how we ended up with gaming achievements and trophies.

Getting the High Score

For gamers of a certain age, their first experience with gaming came from arcade and pinball machines. These games offered thrilling gameplay and graphics, all for one quarter at a time.

The only real downside with these early gaming experiences was that they were very ephemeral. Players couldn’t really leave their mark on the games they played. All they could do was pump another quarter in and chase that digital dragon once more.

That all changed with 1978’s Space Invaders. This was the first game to feature a high-score system. Players who did well could sign their names to the high score board, effectively challenging others to beat their record.

While Space Invaders dazzled at the arcade, the Atari 2600 brought video games into the home in a big way. And this system would begin the transformation of high scores into genuine achievements.

Challenges and Contests

There were natural limits to the high score system. Players’ achievements could be lost when enough other players got a higher score. Or when the arcade machine was unplugged (something that happened most nights).

For many of their Atari 2600 games, Activision decided to do something a bit different. They included challenges in their game manuals, asking players to achieve certain scores. Those players could then take a picture of their score and send the photo to Activision.

Once Activision verified that the player met the challenge, the publisher sent the player a special iron-on patch. That’s right: Activision turned high scores into video game Boy Scout badges. And if that’s not cute enough, the patches came with letters from game characters congratulating players on their victory.

It’s an adorable idea, and these patches have now become very colorful collector’s items. It didn’t take long, though, for gaming achievements to go fully digital.