Collectible items in games are somewhat of a mystery to me. Generally they exist for no purpose other than to be collected. They really have no other reason for being strewn about the streets of Liberty City or hidden inside of a decorative vase aboard the White Boa. However useless they may be, I still feel compelled to find them all. I suppose this addiction started with Pokemon for GameBoy. With a tag line like "Gotta catch 'em all!" who can resist? Since then collectibles have appeared in many open world games such as Spiderman 2, the Grand Theft Auto series and Assassin's Creed to name a few. When done right, collectible items can increase the variety of things to do in a game, but when done wrong they can turn a decent game into a tedious and frustrating experience.

The Hunt
How does one find a collectible item? Solving a series of riddles, each one more devious than the last? Following a collectible-sniffing bloodhound? Any method other than randomly stumbling onto them? No, no, and sadly no. This is the major failing point of most games that include collectible items. A hundred or so items are sprinkled around their enormously open world and the player is expected to find them all with not even a clue as to where to begin looking. The first mistake was assuming that this world is interesting enough that the player will scour every nook and cranny multiple times (since they will inevitably overlook one or two items the first time through). The first way to fix this situation is to break the large sum of collectibles into smaller sets that are localized in a specific area. This way the player at least has some idea of which section of the huge virtual world they still need to explore. This also helps players get more familiar with the world by subtly showing them how it is divided. The second way to make the hunt more fun is to treat it more like a treasure hunt. Give the player clues as to the whereabouts of each item. The clues can be as simple as telling the player which general area the item is in. They can also be more tricky such as "This item is under a red awning." Finally, give the player a way to keep track of which items they have and have not collected. There are few things more annoying than collecting 99 out of 100 items and not knowing which one is missing or where to even begin looking for it.

The Reward
After a hard day of collecting, players want to be rewarded with something that makes them happy they went to all that trouble. This does not mean giving them a new outfit for them to prance around in. I'm talking to you Ultimate Spiderman! Give the player something that will open up new ways of playing. An example would be giving Nico Bellic a jetpack or the ability to web-sling. Alternatively, give the player more of a limited resource. Using the GTA example again, an extra safehouse in each burrough. Also, the reward doesn't need to be reserved for the very end of the collect-a-thon. Give the player small rewards as they progress. A player who has 15 items will be more likely to keep searching if they only need another 5 before getting a prize rather than 85. The final problem with endgame rewards is that by the time the player has collected every item in the game, they have probably exhausted their enjoyment of the game and the big prize goes to waste! However, if the player completes their collection by mid-game, they can enjoy the prize for a while before tiring of it.

These are a few things I hope will be taken into consideration the next time a developer decides to hide a cupcake in every dark alley or moist crevasse. With some luck, those cupcakes will be found covered in delicious icing rather than a thick layer of shit.