Anyone who has played a game on the Xbox 360, or has looked at a growing number of PC Games, will be familiar with the concept of achievements. Achievements are a way of meta-gaming, giving the player a reward outside of the game, for completing various in game tasks. These tasks can vary from simply completing the tutorial, through killing a certain number of enemies, to something as bizarre as carrying a garden gnome through the whole game so as it may be launched into orbit at the end.
Life doesn’t have achievements; there are no amusingly named awards which pop up at the lower edge of your vision whenever you complete a particularly important life event. Unless you were a member of the Scouts or similar, you won’t have a little collection of icons representing the various things you have accomplished. This, I think, is one of the reasons why computer games will eventually win out over life, and we will all sit in large virtual reality booths getting achievements to our hearts content. Or something.
But before this great revolution can occur, I present the proposed list of achievements which will be available in Life 2.0. Note that it will be impossible to get all achievements in one lifetime; this is to encourage replay ability, something currently unavailable outside certain religious groups.
Achievements
Achieved _
Natal Attraction
Have at least three people attend your birth.
One Small Step
Take your first steps unaided.
Vocal Minor-ity
Gain a vocabulary of at least 50 words.
Just Another Brick
Spend at least 6000 hours at school.
What Did I Come In Here For Again?
Walk into a room, forget what you went in there for and leave again.
Facial Incognition
Have a five minute conversation with someone without them realising that you don’t recognise them.
Jack Bauer
Remain awake for 24 consecutive hours
Sisyphean Crockery
Maintain a pile of dirty crockery for three weeks, despite regularly washing up.
Unattained _
We Don’t Need No Education
Leave the schooling system before obtaining any major qualifications.
Self Replicating System
Carry a pregnancy to term.
Mother Hubbard
Give birth to a new religion.
Will Of The People
Be elected to rule a country with a minimum population of 10,000 people.
The Great Dictator
Seize control of a country without winning a democratic election.
Tie The Knot
Get married or enter into a civil partnership.
Slipknot
End a marriage or civil partnership.
Globetrotter
Circumnavigate the word.
Nobel Pursuits
Win a Nobel prize.
Novel Ideas
Have a piece of fiction published.
Procrastcreate
Have a child conceived when you should be working to meet an urgent deadline.
Class Clown
Prompt more than 20 people to laugh concurrently.
Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
Have a wardrobe worth more than 30% the combined annual salary of your household.
Phone Home
Communicate with a person on Earth while on the surface of another moon or planet.
Race Relations
Live at least once under four different racial classifications.
Midlife Re-Roll
Undergo gender re-assignment.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Live a complete life from start to finish.
Smash Landing
Land a commercial airliner, with no casualties, after total engine failure.
Phew, that took far longer than it should have done and I don’t even get an achievement.
