Achievement Scoring
Scoring
There is no set point cap. When scoring achievements match your scores to one of these 5 tiers.
| Point Tiers | Difficulty | Significance (Level of Importance) |
|---|---|---|
| 0-5 | Easy | Minor - Collecting a power-up - Beating a stage |
| 10 | Medium | Intermediate - Beating a boss |
| 25 | Hard | Major - Beating the Game |
| 50 | Very Hard | Completion Level |
| 100 | "Impossible" | Typically for Bonus Sets |
There are other factors you should consider as well, such as achievement spread and game length.
Scoring from set to set will never perfectly match up, but this scoring system allows the points earned to more closely match skill and effort.
Factors to Consider While Scoring Achievements
Difficulty
Consider for the whole set:
- What percent of players earned the achievement?
- How hard were the achievements for you?
- What is the current score compared to others achievements?
- How much time, effort and practice does it take to learn the necessary skills to complete the achievement, game and entire set?
Achievement Spread
Imagine you had two versions of the same set, with the same difficulty:
- If the set has many similar achievements they should each be scored lower.
- If it has few they should be scored higher.
Game Length
- For long games achievements should be scored somewhat higher than short games.
- RPGs are often much longer than other genres. Game length should be a factor in scoring but is lesser than the other three.
- Examples.
Rescoring
Up until June 2019, RetroAchievements had a 400-point cap per set, with no restrictions on individual achievements. The set cap was removed to put less focus on set totals and more on the achievements themselves. This initiative was also meant to eliminate the misconception that a set worth 400 points is a "complete" set.
As with revisions and aesthetic changes, a rescore typically requires community approval. You can find more information on rescores here.
Exceptions
Some games may come up as exceptions to the normal scoring tiers and will be listed here.
- Picross and Sudoku achievements fall under a special scoring category as follows based on difficulty:
- Easy - 1 point,
- Medium - 2-3 points,
- Hard - 4-5 points
- Picross 3D is an exception to this rule and is scored normally
- Further exceptions can be requested by Code Reviewers and/or Admins on a case by case basis