A completionist is someone who deliberately attempts to complete every part of a computer or video game. While only the most obsessive of gamers are likely to be completionist all of the time most games do feature portions that are not necessary to play through to get to the credits. So why seek out these extraneous bits? Because you paid $13.33 in last weeks Steam Sale for the game and you want your money's worth.

Actually, reasons can vary a lot. Super Mario 64 can be beaten (without exploiting glitches) with only seventy stars despite there being one hundred twenty. There are two main reasons to go for the full set; one, Super Mario 64 is AWESOME and arguably the most fun you can have with an N 64, and second it gives you a very minor reward. Getting all of the stars is not a difficult achievement but it is worth pursuing. Contrast Spider Man 2 the Game. It is unique in that it is actually a great game (games adapted from movies have a bad reputation) and it is the first spider man game to implement web swinging where the webbing attaches to buildings rather than the sky. It's also pretty much impossible to complete everything in the game. I know, I tried. It has three types of tokens to collect, more than a hundred races each of which had an additional mega time, and timed photo runs for Jameson. I would not be surprised if some of the mega times were literally impossible. While Spider Man 2 is fun it's a completionist nightmare unless they're doing it primarily for the challenge.

Completionism as a goal is not supported by all types of games, for instance linear first person shooters like Half-Life have no energy tanks or minor diversions. You are herded from one problem to another and you try to survive. Half-Life 2 is much the same but the good folk at Valve solved the problem of not having enough to do with Achievements. Now Half-Life 2 acknowledges if you've ever killed an enemy with a toilet or found the secret Vortigaunt. Most games now include ten to twenty achievements all of which present the player with a set of goals that may or may not be a natural part of the game. Even Everything2 has achievements.

Being a completionist is less something gamers are and more something players do but it is a significant comment on the quality of a game whether people feel like experiencing every part of it is worth the time and effort.

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