The video game industry has spawned a lot of different trends over its long history, but perhaps the one trend that has had the most lasting impact on gaming has been the desire to completely finish a game. Whether it's a personal challenge or simply wanting to get every dollar out of a game, the need to see everything a game has to offer has created its own subculture of gamers known as completionists. As exciting as being a completionist sounds however, it can often be difficult to find a good game to start out with. Luckily for those that are hesitant to start completing games, the LEGO games can be a great place to begin.
The LEGO franchise has always been a simple, family-friendly series, but underneath the blocky surface of each game is a rich collect-a-thon that is perfect for budding completionists. Between all of the changes that the LEGO games have experienced over the years, the core of each game has always been based on giving players the opportunity to see everything the game has to offer without any major barriers. This has become increasingly more difficult to find in gaming nowadays, and it puts the LEGO games in a very unique position for completionists.
The Accessibility Of LEGO Games
One of the most charming aspects of the LEGO games is how family-friendly they are from a content and gameplay standpoint. Each game is filled with puzzles that are fairly easy to understand, and combat mostly consists of button-mashing in the direction of the bad guys. The vast majority of LEGO games are also based on some kind of licensed property, like Star Wars or Harry Potter. In addition to all of this, aside from some recent entries, the LEGO games are all a fraction of the size of most open-world games today. Even when games do go open-world, they're easy to traverse and finding collectibles usually isn't much of a hassle.
All of those elements put the LEGO franchise leagues above most other games when it comes to accessibility for novice completionists. For games like the Dark Souls series, sometimes getting through one playthrough is difficult enough, let alone completing the whole game. It can make starting out as a completionist go from a fun hobby to a frustrating burden, but the LEGO games manage to balance things out for players. The franchise lays the groundwork for completionists without overwhelming them, and they often help players complete a game without ever making it feel like a chore.
The Time Commitment Of LEGO Games
Perhaps one of the most daunting things about being a completionist is how much time it takes to complete any given game. The average time to go through the main story of any given game can range from 10 to 30 hours, and that's not even taking into account any exploring that may be done in the time between. With games seeming to only get longer as developers make more expansive open worlds, it's getting more and more difficult to complete a game without it being the sole commitment of a player for upwards of 100 hours. This can be a huge turnoff for some completionists, especially if they have a sizable backlog that they want to get through.
The LEGO series remedies this issue by allowing players to complete a game in a fraction of the time of most other games on the market. The average for most LEGO games falls between the 30 and 40 hour mark for completion, which is often how long it takes just to finish the story of some AAA games. This time commitment gives budding completionists a good idea of what they can expect when going to complete other games. It shows that completing a game often isn't something that can be done in a day, but getting to complete a game without committing a week's worth of time helps the goal seem more manageable.
The Reward For Completing LEGO Games
For many players, determining whether or not they should complete a game is often based on what the game rewards players with if they do finish it. The most consistent reward for players is usually seeing the achievement/trophy list for any given game read 100 percent, but there are times when developers will also recognize completionists by putting something special in the game. Whether it's seeing Yoshi on top of Princess Peach's castle when completing Super Mario 64, or getting the Bureau uniform in Red Dead Redemption, the value of completing a game is often based on what incentive the game offers.
The incentive for completing LEGO games is usually the same across each entry, but they can still be rewarding nonetheless. The main markers for completion in a LEGO game boils down to unlocking every playable character, and collecting all of a game's "gold bricks." These gold bricks are the main goal, and they are rewarded for accomplishing various things such as finishing a level or completing side quests. The challenge comes from the fact that most games require players to collect up to 250 of these gold bricks in order to complete the game, giving completionists a substantial goal to work towards.
The final reward for collecting all of the gold bricks usually gives players access to a stud fountain, which pours out the game's currency of LEGO studs in one big spectacle. Games like LEGO Marvel Super Heroes even put the stud fountain in one big showroom that chronicles all of the different missions the player has taken on, highlighting all of the work that they have put in. Even if most players already have more studs than they could possibly use by the time they complete the game, it's still a great way of showing completionists that all of their hard work was appreciated.
Diving into the world of completionists can be a daunting prospect, so finding a game to ease into things can help keep the hobby from feeling too overwhelming. The LEGO games have always been built on their accessibility to players of all ages, and that same sentiment extends to being a completionist. They almost all manage to balance the time commitment required with the reward that's earned upon completion, and with LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga on the horizon, it will be interesting to see if that same formula continues.