Unwelcome Concepts
Developers are encouraged to be creative with their achievement designs, but there are some concepts that are NOT welcome for achievements. Below is a list of what have been deemed unwelcome concepts. Please note that there is some wiggle room, so some exceptions to the rules have been provided. When in doubt, consult with Developer Compliance.
How to Report an Achievement as an Unwelcome Concept
If you find an achievement that fits one or more criteria listed below, you may report it as an unwelcome concept by navigating to the achievement's page on the website and clicking the Report an Issue link, located below the description and author information. Follow the prompts on the resulting page.
- Navigate to the Achievement Page
- Click
Report an Issue - Click
Message DevCompliancebutton across from "The achievement contains an unwelcome concept." A DM to the Developer Compliance Team will open. - Fill out the templated message with details about the unwelcome concept. Be specific and detailed. Reports with low details or that fail to describe why it meets the criteria will not be considered.
- Click the
Submitbutton when ready.
Achievement Spam
It is bad design to have achievements popping too frequently. An example of this is unlocking achievements for both defeating a boss as well as obtaining a specific item after the fight.
When these are acceptable:
- Using the above example: If the achievement for defeating the boss is challenge-based, such as damageless. It is not a guaranteed unlock simply by playing.
- If the achievements are stackable.
- Defeating a boss on normal or higher difficulty + defeating the same boss on hard difficulty.
- Opening the last chest in an area + opening all chests in the game.
Playing Poorly Without Purpose
Achievements for dying, getting a game over, or repeatedly failing a task just for the sake of it are unnecessary.
When these are acceptable:
- Many point-and-click adventure games and visual novels often tie a player's death into the story, which can result in unique scenes a player would not witness otherwise.
- If playing poorly results in a humorous or otherwise interesting in-game acknowledgement, such as being awarded a helmet for taking too many head shots.
Zero Effort Without Purpose
Examples of this are achievements for simply starting a game, collecting a single coin, watching a video, etc.
When these are acceptable:
- "Disclaimer" achievements meant to inform the player about restrictions in the achievement sets. These should only exist when the player can lock themselves out of multiple achievements without even realizing it.
- Addressing something fun, historical, or interesting.
Requires Glitches
Achievements for performing tasks that are only possible by using glitches, exploiting bugs, etc. are not allowed in a base set. Glitches/Bugs are errors within a game's code which often cause unintended behavior. Examples are memory overflow, incorrectly loaded levels, and clipping into objects.
When these are acceptable:
- Historically significant glitches and well-known, easy-to-execute glitches of importance to the game's community are allowed with the approval of Developer Compliance. It should be clear that the glitch is needed for the achievement(s) and serve to highlight the glitch's importance or significance.
- Achievements including approved glitches must require the player to perform some feat using the glitch. Simply causing the glitch to occur without purpose is insufficient unless activating the glitch itself is a meaningful task.
- A
[Subset - Glitch Showcase]or[Subset - Bonus].
Requires Two Players
Achievements that require input from at least one other player are not allowed in a base set.
When these are acceptable:
[Subset - Multi]sets.
Requires Complete Perfection
Achievements that require a long task where the slightest mistake will end in failing the challenge. Especially challenges where randomness and other variation in game behavior makes anticipating actions extra difficult.
When these are acceptable:
- Subsets for Extreme Challenges, or a typical Bonus set.
- Games where behavior of enemies or obstacles is highly deterministic or pattern-based.
- Games where this challenge is a common goal of players or not seen as an extreme challenge by the game's community.
Pointless Excessive Grinding
Achievements that require long, repetitive tasks that confer no unique in-game rewards, acknowledgements or aren't required to complete all of a game's content.
Common examples of Pointless Excessive Grinding:
- Leveling up in an RPG beyond what is typically required to complete the game and where there is no in-game reward such as a skill or spell.
- Acquiring many copies of items or money beyond which would typically be accrued during a normal playthrough.
- Collecting an arbitrary number of extra lives when they are not associated with a reward or challenge, such as when they can be dropped by enemies.
When these are acceptable:
- Bonus subsets or subsets specifically approved for grinding tasks are an exception to this policy and may be implemented.
Overly RNG Reliant Without Purpose
Rely entirely on randomness and does not serve a purpose, especially when there are extremely low odds.
When these are acceptable:
- Games or mini-games where the randomness is a major aspect.
Examples of acceptable purpose:
- Rewarding an exclusive item (the item does not have to be useful to the player)
- Awarding an in-game achievement
- Displaying unique dialogue
- Playing a unique cutscene
"Secret Achievements"
When the player has no indication of what they're going after.
When these are acceptable:
- Secretive or intentionally vague achievement descriptions can be used to prevent major spoilers, so long as the achievements are unmissable progression.
Overly Cumbersome Requirements
Achievements with restrictions or requirements that cannot be fully expressed within the description character limit. A player should be able to view achievement requirements directly within their emulator, without needing to visit the RetroAchievements website.
APPLIES ONLY TO DESCRIPTIONS
This unwelcome concept applies only to the description. If a description is clear, but the steps needed to meet the goal of the achievement are tricky, the achievement does NOT fall under this category.
- Comments on the achievement that include additional restrictions or requirements are not allowed.
- Required external resources like pastebin links are not allowed.
- Overly abbreviating a description to fit, such that the description cannot be understood easily, is not allowed.
- You may use comments to add additional clarification of game terms
- Example: An achievement that specifies "no optional skills" could list what counts as optional in the comments or forum.
- Example: "with default" DIP settings in an Arcade game is acceptable.
When these are acceptable:
- For an approved subset with a theme involving cumbersome requirements, achievements are not required to duplicate these requirements in their descriptions.
- Example: An RPG challenge run with a large amount of restrictions would not require them to be listed in every achievement.
- Be sure to include this possibility when submitting a subset approval quest if you believe it will be applicable.
- The achievements should have some indication about following such a theme when possible.
- A game with extensive customizable modes may find it difficult to succinctly specify the necessary settings for common achievements and may rely on some shorthand means to express those restrictions.
- Tip: Request assistance from the writing team to best present these sorts of situations.
Unwelcome Game Types
Let's face it. There are some games, or 'games,' rather, that are not fit for achievements. Below is a list of said types of games that are usually not.
- Games That Lack Gameplay
- Compilations and Multi-Carts
- Betas, Demos, and Prototypes
- Work in Progress Hacks and Homebrews
Games That Lack Gameplay
- Videos, music visualizers, jukeboxes, etc.
- These will not be accepted without explicit approval. Approval will be handled via voting by Developer Compliance and requires implementation of sufficiently creative concepts. For example: Game Boy Advance Video Series was presented with the idea to include a leaderboard quiz at the end of each episode. This unique plan involved gameplay beyond just pressing start and was approved.
- Book sets are still allowed, but must be worth 0 points.
Compilations and Multi-Carts
If a compilation or multi-cart features games that share the same console, then they are not allowed. An example of this is 6-Pak for Genesis/Mega Drive, which contains six Genesis/Mega Drive games.
Betas, Demos, and Prototypes
If the game ended up having an official release, then these are generally not allowed unless there is unique content. Games that only existed as betas, demos, or prototypes are typically fine, so long as they're actually playable (some prototypes barely qualify).
Work in Progress Hacks and Homebrews
Hacks and homebrews that are under development are generally not allowed. Some exceptions are allowed, including:
- Hacks and homebrews that are feature complete, meaning an early set is able to include Progression and Win Condition achievements that would stay the same conceptually in further updates.
- Abandoned hacks and homebrews where the developer has explicitly stated no more updates by them will follow.
- Abandoned hacks and homebrews that have not received any game update in over 2 years, and no news or updates from the developer(s) about the project in over a year.
When in doubt, confirm eligibility with Developer Compliance.
Rich Presence Custom Name Restriction
Rich Presence that directly displays custom player input text is prohibited. The most common example being displaying what a player inputs as their character or file name directly into Rich Presence.
This restriction helps in preventing inappropriate or offensive content from showing on various site pages as well as makes the moderation of Rich Presence more manageable, in addition to protecting player privacy as players may not realize their text is being displayed publicly.
Banned Titles
RetroAchievements will not approve achievement sets for games that contain:
- Illegal content. Content that is illegal to own or distribute in major jurisdictions.
- Glorified hate speech. Content that intentionally targets individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristics.
- Sexual exploitation. Glorification of sexual assault, non-consensual acts, or child sexual abuse material.
- Extreme or abhorrent content. Content that violates community standards in a way that undermines RetroAchievements’ values.
Games that have been rated by official ratings boards (ESRB, PEGI, or similar organizations) are considered acceptable, as these games have undergone professional content review. The only exception is if a game contains content that is illegal to own or distribute, regardless of its rating status.
Hacks, homebrew, and unlicensed games do not undergo ratings board review and will receive additional scrutiny to ensure compliance with this new policy.
This policy provides guidance, but is not exhaustive. The RA team reserves the right to evaluate games on a case-by-case basis and make determinations in the best interest of maintaining a safe, legal, welcoming, and inclusive community.
Retail Releases
| Title | Year | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| 177 | 1986 | PC-88 |
| Custer's Revenge | 1982 | Atari 2600 |
| Lolita Syndrome ロリータ・シンドローム | 1983 | FM-7, PC-88 |
| My Lolita マイ・ロリータ | 1984 | FM-7, PC-88 |
| The Guy Game | 2004 | PS2, Xbox, Windows |
Hacks, Homebrew, and Unlicensed Releases
| Title | Year | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Pokémon Clover | 2017 | GBA |
| Pokémon Periwinkle Version - Special Blobbos Edition | 2019 | GB |