> One complaint I’ve heard from a few players boils down to the game being very stingy with any kind of tangible rewards In particular many people seem to hate

> One complaint I’ve heard from a few players boils down to the game being very stingy with any kind of tangible rewards In particular many people seem to hate that The Challenge doesn't reward the player (much) for finishing it. Jon definitely has things to say about completionism[0][1], and if I recall correctly, Jon once responded to that specific complaint with something along the lines of "expecting a reward just because you did a difficult thing is kind of childish", which is something that resonated with me. No one made me do the optional challenge, I did it because I wanted the satisfaction of having done it[2]. One wonders what it does to a society to instill in people the idea that they should be rewarded for doing difficult things that are necessary, ethical, or just, the way games often do, and by implication that the lack of reward is sufficient to justify the alternative. [0] In both Braid and The Witness Jon has made the player do something ridiculous, time consuming, and tedious in order to technically 100% the game. In both games there are tasks that require the player to wait for literal hours to, essentially, check off a box. [1] Interestingly, Jon has stated something to the effect that he knowingly puts 'unfun' puzzles in his games because they are necessary for a complete exploration of the concept space exposed by the mechanics. [2] I also loved Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, so make of that what you will.