History Main / FollowTheMoney

* In ''VideoGame/Yellow TaxiGoesVroom'', a lot of coins and other money pickups are placed in a way that they lead players into discovering new areas. There are even coins placed in an arrow formation.

* ''VideoGame/FurFighters'', a third-person shooter for Dreamcast, later the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, and recently various iOS platforms, had the [[SarcasmMode inventively-named]] Tokens. Little golden pyramids, they both provided health and opened the route to later levels, with each level requiring a certain number to unlock (meaning you sometimes had to replay levels to find Tokens you missed). Since the game's levels were huge, and often partly non-linear, the Tokens often indicated the way you should be headed next.

** As mentioned above in the Action-Adventure folder, it is subverted in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'', as trails of coins usually lead you to traps.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

** It is subverted in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'', as trails of coins usually lead you to traps.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' had this with the standard coins and Yoshi Coins, the latter giving you a OneUp if you found five in a level. Some levels even had more than five, giving you additional lives for each extra one.

* In ''Videogame/TeslaTheWeatherMan'', these take the form of parts and raw materials, and collecting enough of them allows Tesla to [[RPGElements research an upgrade]].

Pointedly, it's common for level designers to use these collectibles as a guiding hand, drawing paths with them to show you which way to go. Hence, FollowTheMoney. Sometimes, they might tip you off to things that aren't immediately obvious, such as the location of an invisible path or other secret. They also might visually demonstrate just how the heck you're supposed to pull off that tricky jump. Sometimes there are even arrows drawn out of these items to guide you, as in the page image.

->''""Look out for banana arrows, they'll point the way! Of course, I wouldn't need them!"''

->''"Where are you getting all this money, Spyro? ...Heh heh... It's not just lying around on the ground, is it?"''
-->-- '''Moneybags,''' ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon''

* The coins in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games. It was subverted in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'', though: trails of coins would lead you to traps.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' adds Star Bits, but keeps the coins, making it one of the few examples of a game having multiple kinds of this. Coins refill your health meter, while star bits can be used as weapons and chucked at enemies, are the game's currency and give you extra lives if you pick enough of them. Oddly, the first ''Galaxy'' has very few coins around, which looks odd on a Mario game; the sequel has more coins.

** The coins in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'' certainly performed the main functions of FollowTheMoney, but instead of automatically cashing in for extra lives every time you accumulated 100, you could hold up to 999. A cave near the castle has four wheels within, each of which allows you to trade a different amount of coins for prizes (items or extra lives) which you spin up on the wheel.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', the coins (pulled out like vegetables while in Sub-Space) are used for extra turns on the slot machine.

Most {{Platform Game}}s feature a type of very common [[SelectiveGravity gravity-defying]] pickup item that levitates in the air and populates all the game's stages. They're always small, shiny, and make a catchy sound when you grab them. Additionally, there's always a counter, usually shown on-screen, of how many of these items you've currently picked up. Normally, there will be some sort of reward for collecting many of these, yhe standard being a OneUp for [[LawOfOneHundred 100]] of them.

Ironically, sometimes these coins are just about the only thing the game can think of to reward you with. Found a secret nook in a wall? Followed that obscure, tricky path of coins into a previously unnoticed "treasure room"? Surprise, it's filled to the brim with -- you guessed it -- more coins! If not, it might contain a OneUp or two (wait, aren't those what they're are supposed to be for anyway?).

Most {{Platform Game}}s feature a type of very common [[SelectiveGravity gravity-defying]] pickup item that levitates in the air and populates all the game's stages. They're always small, shiny, and make a catchy sound when you grab them. Additionally, there's always a counter, usually shown on-screen, of how many of these items you've currently picked up. Levels can contain ''hundreds'' of these items just begging you to [[GottaCatchEmAll grab them all]], and you may see ''tens of thousands'' of them over the course of the entire game.

They always look the same whether you're jumping through the Intro Level or the [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Final Castle]], and no explanation is ever offered as to what they're doing floating in the air throughout the whole of the game's world and why hasn't anyone else collected them already. They're just ''there'', and you just ''grab them''. It's just what you do. Also, don't ask [[HammerSpace where your character stores all of them.]]

The name comes from the coins in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series, unarguably the most well-known version of this type of pickup. [[FollowTheLeader You might even say the rest of the games ripped them off.]]

Normally, there will be some sort of reward for collecting many of these. The standard reward is a OneUp for [[LawOfOneHundred 100]] of them.

It is common for level designers to use these coins as a guiding hand, drawing paths with them to show you which way to go. Hence, FollowTheMoney. You will undoubtedly find yourself jumping, soaring, and falling through streams of these coins as you traverse the level.

Sometimes, they might tip you off to things that aren't immediately obvious, such as the location of an invisible path or other secret. They also might visually demonstrate just how the heck you're supposed to pull off that tricky jump. Sometimes there are even arrows drawn out of these items to guide you.

Ironically, sometimes these coins are just about the only thing the game can think of to reward you with. Found a secret nook in a wall? Followed that obscure, tricky path of coins into a previously unnoticed "treasure room"? Surprise, it's filled to the brim with -- you guessed it -- more coins! If not, it might contain a OneUp or two (Wait, aren't those what the coins are supposed to be for anyway?)

* The collectibles in ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' bear similarities to these, appearing as glowing blue orbs that are scattered all over the landscape, occasionally in lines and trails. You get a random item from each one you pick up, which can then be used to fill out a collection page for rewards, given as gifts to party members, traded to townsfolk, or sold for money. It can be a little hard to resist the urge to gather every last one of them. In one instance, they are actually used to provide a clue to a secret area. [[spoiler: There's one levitating off the edge of a particular platform in the Mechonis Field that's indicating a spot you can safely jump off at for the purpose of reaching an unique monster far, far below.]]

* In the first ''VideoGame/HarryPotter'' game for the PC, Harry had to escape from the rampaging troll set loose in the school on Halloween. The route he must follow is extremely dangerous, and includes a staircase with many holes in the floor. Luckily for the player, someone has already traced out the safest path using a trail of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans (the game's currency), so all he needs to do is dash along, scooping up beans.

[[quoteright:256:[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/followthemoney2.bmp]]]]

* The collectibles in ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' bear similarities to these, appearing as glowing blue orbs that are scattered all over the landscape, occasionally in lines and trails. You get a random item from each one you pick up, which can then be used to fill out a collection page for rewards, given as gifts to party members, traded to townsfolk, or sold for money. It can be a little hard to resist the urge to gather every last one of them. In one instance, they are actually used to provide a clue to a secret area, however. [[spoiler: There's one levitating off the edge of a particular platform in the Mechonis Field that's indicating a spot you can safely jump off at for the purpose of reaching an unique monster far, far below.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Turok}} 3: Shadow of Oblivion'' had Life Force, floating, rotating yellow diamonds. Collecting 100 of them would actually [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin increase your health]] by 20, but for the most part, they often lead you on the obscure paths forward, including climbing up and walking across the girders of a building under construction to jump onto a rooftop in a small section of city whose focus is on the zombie-ridden streets.
** ''Turok: Evolution'' would use a more subtle version of the trope with small ammo pickups.

* The rings in the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games. In addition to the typical uses of this trope, these also help Sonic avoid dying in the first place, as enemy attacks normally just make him drop the rings he's carrying. Rings are also used to turn into Super Sonic, provided you have all the Chaos Emeralds.
** Beginning in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', Sonic (and other hedgehogs for some reason) can perform a technique called the Light Dash, in which Sonic would collect a line of rings by automatically flying through them, even if they were in mid-air. This sometimes made literally Following The Money the only way to get to certain areas.

* The rings in the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games. In addition to the typical uses of this trope, these also help Sonic avoid dying in the first place, as enemy attacks normally just make him drop the rings he's carrying. Rings are also used to turn into Super Sonic, provided you have all the Chaos Emeralds.