Trophy Cases
The Theory, Design, and Cultural Politics of Video Game Trophies and Achievements
Trophy Cases
The Theory, Design, and Cultural Politics of Video Game Trophies and Achievements
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Description
An interdisciplinary and international roster of contributors explore the theory, design, and player practices surrounding video game reward systems, arguing for the importance of understanding trophies and achievements as central aspect of video game design and play.
As PlayStation Trophies, Xbox Achievements, and other similar built-in reward systems have become widespread in the video game landscape, this volume asks critical questions about how these systems affect the games we play and the communities that surround them.
Through analyses of a range of video games, from well-known franchises like Call of Duty to overlooked sleeper hits like Nier Automata and even niche otome titles like Hakuoki, contributors approach these award systems from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives to theorize their incorporation into the contemporary game market, the role they play as a component of game design, and the innovative ways in which players choose to (or not to) pursue them.
Table of Contents
Ryan Scheiding (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA), Dan Staines (Torrens University Australia, Australia), and Sarah Christina Ganzon (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
1. Achievement Unlocked: A History of Video Game Achievements, Badges and Trophies
Zachary Fitz-Walter (Griffith Film School, Australia), Justin Carter (Griffith Film School, Australia), and Joshua Hall (Griffith Film School, Australia)
2. Trophy Typologies: What PlayStation Trophies Tell Us About Contemporary Video Games
Ryan Scheiding (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
3. Explore, Experiment, Explain: Categorizing Xbox, PlayStation and Steam Achievements Description Text from 2006 to 2024
Jérémie Pelletier-Gagnon (University of Ontario, Canada) and Greg Dinsmore (University of Ontario, Canada)
4. Gilded Time: Trophies, Exploits, and Gaming Capital in Call of Duty's Publics
Matthew Horrigan (Alexander College, Canada)
5. Learning to Listen: Trophies as Experience and Memory in Season: A Letter to the Future
Megan Hutchison (Concordia University, USA)
6. Designing Player-Conscious Achievements
Peter Mark Howell (University of Portsmouth, UK), Anna Limpens (University of Portsmouth, UK), Matthew Higgins (University of Portsmouth, UK), Adam Jerrett (University of Portsmouth, UK), and Jahangir Uddin (University of Portsmouth, UK)
7. Winning Hearts and Minds: Unlocking the Ethics of Trophies in Multiplayer Games
Lucy Sparrow (University of Melbourne, Australia) and Timothy Holland (University of Melbourne, Australia)
8. Fool's Platinum: A Typology of Terrible Trophies
Dan Staines (Torrens University Australia, Australia) and Asli Tece Bayrak (Media Design School, New Zealand)
9. Gaming vs Roleplaying: How Trophies Impact the Aesthetic Experience of Videogames
Aleksander Franiczek (University of Waterloo, Canada)
10. Redefining Achievements: A Study on the Creation of Custom Tile Rewards in Early Screenshot Let's Plays
Annie Harrisson (Concordia University, Canada)
11. Understanding Player Types through Trophy Hunting: A Case Study in Friendship Ethnography
Alexander Hurezeanu (George Brown College, Canada)
12. Rewarding Sexy Normal and Bad Ends: Trophies and Failure in Hakuoki and Collar x Malice
Sarah Christina Ganzon (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
About the Contributors
Index
Product details
| Published | 03 Sep 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 272 |
| ISBN | 9781666964370 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 2 tables; 14 bw illus |
| Dimensions | 229 x 152 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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