Sitting in Places is a Boring Collectible

In recent years, there’s been an influx of games adding one of the dullest, recurring interactions I can think of: sitting. And there’s often an achievement if you manage to sit at all designated locations. I’d love to see this done away with or replaced with something better because it fails as both a collectible and a moment of zen.

It’s easy to handwave this complaint because it’s an optional mechanic or to lump this in as emblematic of what’s wrong with achievements as a whole. But optional doesn’t mean unworthy of analysis and, outside of sitting, I’m rarely playing a game and think a mechanic only serves as an achievement and nothing else.

If seats are meant to be another collectible, they’re the odd man out. Every other collectible has a distinct look to it: a flower is always a flower, a note is always a note, and so on. But when it comes to taking a seat, the imagery is constantly changing, even if that change is just the type of seat or the materials that make up the chair. 

The visual language of a sitting spot is too inconsistent to be something you can easily scan for in an environment. And, worst-case scenario, the seats change so dramatically that you’re left in a tedious trial-and-error loop: endlessly approaching objects to see if you can sit on them.

Screenshot from powerpyx's Reanimal 100% guide.

And when these sitting spots are distinct but hidden, it's a letdown to find them because sitting also fails the other key to a good collectible: being fun to collect. The satisfaction of shooting a medallion in Resident Evil, slapping a bot to safety in Astro Bot, or even just the visual sparkle and joyous sound effect of collecting a coin.

Collectibles are both a guiding hand and an incentive to engage with the level design more thoroughly, but seats are one of the weakest incentives I’ve seen, akin to going trick-or-treating and getting a protein bar. When I find a seat in a game, the reward is waiting for an animation to trigger, then waiting for my character to get up again.

Of course, sitting isn’t just a collectible. Chairs and benches are often arranged to let you take in the view. But if you want me to take in the beauty of your game, give me something stunning to stumble upon. In real life, you may take a seat to spend more time in an area, but the big pop is the initial sight of it. Without the practical component, sitting in a game doesn't enhance sightseeing.

The most awe-inspiring moments I’ve had in games were thanks to camera work, placement, grandiosity, and art direction. I think about the wonder of seeing a tallneck for the first time in Horizon Zero Dawn, hearing it first, and then seeing it emerge. I remember playing God of War (2018) and seeing the world serpent’s eye before it pulled back to fully reveal itself. And of course, the countless times I’ve reached the edge of a cliff or emerged from a cave to take in the spectacle of the land before me, video games’ forever take on the Wanderer above the Sea of Fog painting. 

But sitting is for more than taking in sights; it’s also a break. But if you want me to take a break in your game, I need to get something out of it. There’s an emotional value to lying on that bed in Life Is Strange and listening to Bright Eyes while the camera floats around the room. 

Games like Cairn make taking a break mechanically necessary: from stopping midclimb to plan your next move to finally reaching a plateau and getting to pitch your tent and cook. So when you reach a designated sitting spot in Cairn, it's welcome. It’s another opportunity to commune with the mountain. But I wouldn’t consider Cairn an exception to my original gripe because these spots are for more than sitting, and that’s one of the reasons they work. I spent a good chunk of my climb wondering when and how I’d be able to light my fireworks. Realizing I could do it while seated at one of these locations was magical and fit in perfectly with the gameloop of trial-and-error and discovery. 

If I don’t have a reason to sit outside of checking a box, I’d rather not be able to take a seat at all.