Top 10 Dumbest Achievements in Video Games

“The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe” (2022)

Back when “The Stanley Parable” first launched in 2013, players were reeling at the sight of one particular achievement. To pop “Go Outside”, players had to refrain from playing the game for five years since their previous session. Achievement hunters didn’t have to wait that long, though, as changing your system’s date can pop the achievement. “Ultra Deluxe” would double down on this ridiculous yet easily exploitable achievement by increasing the wait to TEN years! Once again, players can just go into their systems and change dates around. So, what exactly was the point with this achievement? Was it just to see how many folks would genuinely wait that long to nab it? Or was this some jab at people who ONLY play for achievements?

“Trover Saves the Universe” (2018)

Speaking of jabs at achievement and trophy hunters, “Trover Saves the Universe” really put us through a test of patience. In Trover’s telepod, you’ll find some scraps of paper and a waste basket with a basketball hoop. Click on the paper balls to fling them in the air and score some baskets. Trick to this one is that all of them are shaped differently and you don’t have a lot of control over their trajectory. So, you’ll need to click on specific points of the paper balls for a decent shot. The level of meticulousness is kind of annoying, and even the writer of this video found it to be a grueling trophy. And it only took him less than forty minutes to pop it!

“Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl” (2021)

For a “Smash Bros” clone, “Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl” has a rather large handful of achievements tied to its Sports side mode. Five achievements require you to win a Sports game with a 10-point lead against the CPUs, each of the five achievements being tied to using a specific ball. Thing is that it doesn’t restrict you on the level of the CPUs. When set to Level Zero, the CPU does absolutely nothing to hinder you. It just stands there…MENACINGLY! That said, the exploit makes the achievements come off a bit pointless. Easy for anyone to achieve, yes, but we suppose you can make the trophy as easy or as hard as you want it to be.

“The Saboteur” (2009)

Arguably, this has to be the most pointless achievement on this list. When left idle for a certain period of time, Sean will sometimes pull out a cigarette and have himself a quick smoke. You can do this yourself, too, by standing still and pressing the left trigger. A helpful tip as you’ll need to light a hundred cigarettes in order to pop this achievement. Problem is that you’ll need to make sure Sean does not have the cig in his mouth; you can only get rid of it if it’s in his hand. What do you get for all this time and effort doing nothing? A measly five points added to your Gamerscore.

“Aliens vs. Predator” (2010)

What can be more annoying than forcing the player to do nothing hundreds of times? How about requiring them to pray the stars align for a specific event to happen? Anyone who tried popping achievements for “Aliens vs. Predator” can attest to this. The Six Pack achievement can only be popped when you and six of your friends play a Ranked match together. How often are folks playing with a large group that size, anyways? With such a low percentage of players having nabbed it, we can’t imagine many are playing with more than a couple of friends. It honestly makes the Very Tough Hombre achievement look like child’s play, and that requires you to eliminate ten players without dying!

“Burnout Paradise” (2008)

This is yet another achievement that almost requires a miracle to pop. To do this, you and seven other online players must meet up at the Wildcats Baseball Stadium. For achievement and trophy hunters, this one has been notorious as online lobbies rarely reach close to eight players. According to some, other players are too busy goofing around and doing their own thing to really pay attention to anyone else. And if the lobby count ever reaches eight, it isn’t long before someone leaves again. Sure, there is an offline method, but it’s just as unreliable as the legitimate method.

“Borderlands 2” (2012)

The “Borderlands” games have their own level of tedious grind, but of them all, “Borderlands 2” holds the worst achievement in the franchise. The Challenge Accepted achievement requires the player to complete all non-level-specific challenges - killing a certain number of a specific enemy or nabbing weapons and landing kills with them. Sounds easy until you come across the one that requires you to kill Jimmy Jenkins. Jimmy Jenkins is a special type of enemy, a miniature Loader bot that can only be found in Hyperion containers and has an insanely low spawn rate. The fact that this one specific enemy is tied to a trophy that requires completion of dozens and dozens other “challenges” make “Borderlands 2” a frustrating game to complete.

“Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville” (2019)

In case you’re outside of the “Plants vs. Zombies” community, “Battle for Neighborville” was a massive letdown with its tedious open world design. The unfulfilled promise of expansions and more playable characters didn’t help either, and this achievement only adds to the disappointment. Time to Seriously Go Outside requires you to reach Master rank with twenty classes. The game only had twenty at launch and three added post-launch. Basically, you have to play as every hero, and like every other player, some are going to be harder to grasp than others. Sure, the XP counter will help things go by quicker, but you’ll only be able to use it five times every twenty-four hours.

“Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth” (2007)

“The Burning Earth” has gone down as one of the biggest jokes in the achievement hunting community. While players can nab the usual one thousand Gamerscore, it’s the lack of difficulty in popping them that’s earned the game its infamy. There are only five achievements to pop, and all of them are tied to the game’s mediocre combat. Simply get a hit combo of fifty by spamming the B button in the first level, and you’ll unlock all five within fifteen minutes or so. Is the game worth playing for fun afterwards? Ha, that’s funny! But no.
Avatar: The Burning Earth Achievement Guide & Road Map | XboxAchievements.com

“Gears of War” (2006)

Any achievement hunter will tell you how infuriating and stupid this achievement is. It’s honestly the most notorious within the Xbox ecosystem, and for good reason! The “Seriously” achievement requires you to accumulate ten thousand kills against other players in online matches. Even the most competent “Gears” players have expressed their frustration with this time-consuming achievement, and for a measly fifty-point Gamerscore, it makes “Avatar - The Burning Earth” seem more rewarding. Honestly, we can understand why most would choose to move on with their lives instead of making online gaming a second job just for this.