History Main / RewardingVandalism

-> Leon: Why is she running away from us? *blasting the shit out of lamps, windows, carpets, [[OverlyLongGag paintings, walls, drawers, statues, ect.]]*

* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series is filled with candles and torches ready to be whipped. The American manual for ''CastlevaniaIII'' explained that Trevor Belmont, one of the first Belmonts to fight Dracula, made a deal with a benevolent spirit called the Poltergeist King so that he would hide beneficial items and equipment throughout Dracula's castle. Note that the Poltergeist King is never mentioned in the original Japanese manual, as he was strictly a creation of the game's American localization and no other game in the series contains any reference to him.
** In ''Symphony of the Night'', Alucard requires a Relic to accomplish the same feat, but that does not seem to be a problem for other non-Belmont vampire hunters in the castle.
** In ''Castlevania: Lament of Innocence'', it was said that Walter left all those items lying around for the added challenge. Otherwise, adventurers died too easily.

* Sora from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' gained power ups from smashing fireworks in [[Disney/{{Mulan}} the Land of Dragons]]. He also got those power ups by smashing suits of armor in [[Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast Beast's Castle]]... [[FridgeLogic totally ignoring the fact the those suits of armor were probably ''alive''.]]
** Not every single seemingly-inanimate object is alive. The servants were turned into things, instead of the things coming alive. It still doesn't make sense, though.

[[SelfDemonstratingArticle adnjkwfbkaALK83robfwqi2rdhoHOWQHRWQNlafwafib43u923fh......]] [[TheStinger Where's my reward?]]

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* Sora from ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts2'' gained power ups from smashing fireworks in the ''Mulan'' world. He also got those power ups by smashing suits of armor in the ''Beauty and the Beast'' world... [[FridgeLogic totally ignoring the fact the those suits of armor were probably ''alive''.]]

* Most levels in the ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank'' games are just full of stuff that releases bolts(the game's currency) when destroyed. From light fixtures, to innocent cars flying by. The games often even have an item whose sole purpose is to allow the player to smash every object in sight with one GroundPound.

** In the third sequel, they removed it after it proved to be not just barrels of fun, but also very profitable.

* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' gives you money and gems for smashing earthenware vases.

* ''BloodRayne 2'''s Carnage meter filled a small amount with any environmental destruction, more for destroying things with flung bodies, and even more if the impact is what kills them. A filled Carnage meter awards Rayne higher maximum Health and Rage, making her and usage of her powers last longer.

* All of the [[LEGOAdaptationGame LEGO games]] (Star Wars, Batman, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones) are littered with random stuff like plants and lighting fixtures that can be destroyed to reveal studs (the game's currency).

* In ''[[VideoGame/WithFriends Running With Friends]]'', breaking police barricades, barrels, traffic cones, boxes, and hay bales in your path will earn you stars. In many cases you'll earn more stars by breaking stuff than by simply running through the tracks of stars.

** In ''Ocarina of Time'' during the final battle (and during the [[TheOgre Iron Knuckle]] fights in the Spirit Temple), you can even trick the boss into smashing some rubble for powerups. Similiarly, part of the final stretch of battles in Twilight Princess has the boss running around smashing pillars in the room that also leave behind powerups.
** A number of underground grottos in ''The Wind Waker'' contain pillars and Darknuts. Using the Darknuts' swords to smash the pillars tends to release large amounts of Rupees. You could also use the Skull Hammer.

* In the VideoGame/MetalSlug games, destroying background objects will usually yeld useful items such as weapons or grenades.

** So you're sent up to Dumbledore's office, facing potential expulsion. What do you do while waiting for the headmaster to arrive? Why, raid his office for Bertie Bott's Beans and wizard cards, of course![[WhatAnIdiot What could possibly make him more inclined to keep you in school?]]

* The ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' series always had boxes, garbage cans, tables, chairs, or barrels that contained food, money, and weapons. Though one has to wonder if eating an apple from a garbage can was ''really'' worth it and how could you stuff a money bag in a chair or hide any of the above items inside a visibly empty phonebooth?

** He also gets major complaints for hitting ? blocks in Bowser's Inside Story, mostly because the person in question is a large sentient block himself whose major problem with Mario's powerup gaining antics is the fact that hitting them decreases their value, which he doesn't approve of because he collects them.

* The game ''BlastCorps'' was built around destroying buildings. It was apparently the only way to keep an automated truck carrying defective nuclear warheads, which would [[EveryCarIsAPinto explode on contact with anything more durable than a tree]], from crashing into anything.

* In ''BattleGaregga'', bombing allows you to destroy tons of background objects including but not limited to train tracks, bridges, water towers, enemy spawners, and [[MoralDissonance houses of the oppressed villagers you're supposed to be fighting for]], all of which harbor [[EveryTenThousandPoints score medals needed to get extra lives]] and powerups.

* In ''{{Cabal}}'' and ''BloodBros'', destroying the environment helps you get points, grenades, PowerUp guns, AND helps you complete the level faster.

-->'''Link''': Dude, if I just thrash around in the grass, money appears. Money literally just shows up out of nowhere.\\

-->--''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbUqEPUZ-ds The Legend of Link's Distractions]]''

* ''SlyCooper'' can get health and cash from smashing up random bits of furniture and other objects.

* One of the best ways to crank up your Tequila Bomb meter in the John Woo game ''{{Stranglehold}}'' is to shoot up the environment in ways that take out bad guys in the process. To facilitate this, everything you come by in the game can be destroyed.

-->'''Link''': ''"Dude, if I just thrash around in the grass, money appears. Money literally just shows up out of nowhere."''
-->'''Citizen''': ''"I watched a living skeleton decapitate my parents."''
-->'''Link''': ''"These vases, they have money in 'em too!"''

* Vandalism is actually required in the final boss fight of ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone''. Harry has to cast magic spells at the decorative pillars in the room to make them fall on Voldemort.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' and again in the ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'', it was possible to burn some bushes/saplings. Some of them had old men who would yell at you for burning down/destroying the "door" to their hiding place and would take some of your money to have it repaired. This is justified by the fact, that most of these people were probably hiding from all the monsters roaming the overworld: wit their door gone, they are completely exposed. There were also Moblins who, if you you found them, would bribe you not to give away their hiding place, accompanied by the words "It's a secret to everybody."

* ''{{Castlevania}}'' series is filled with candles and torches ready to be whipped. The American manual for ''CastlevaniaIII'' explained that Trevor Belmont, one of the first Belmonts to fight Dracula, made a deal with a benevolent spirit called the Poltergeist King so that he would hide beneficial items and equipment throughout Dracula's castle. Note that the Poltergeist King is never mentioned in the original Japanese manual, as he was strictly a creation of the game's American localization and no other game in the series contains any reference to him.

*** Similarly, in ''ALinkToThePast'', there are thieves who, if you use a bomb to destroy a wall and reveal their hiding place, will give you 500 rupees and the words, "Let's keep this between us, okay?"

* In the ''DevilMayCry'' games, Dante, Nero, and Vergil receives various colored orbs, used for power ups, for smashing up the scenery.
* Sora from ''KingdomHearts 2'' gained power ups from smashing fireworks in the ''Mulan'' world. He also got those power ups by smashing suits of armor in the ''Beauty and the Beast'' world... [[FridgeLogic totally ignoring the fact the those suits of armor were probably ''alive''.]]

* Arguably the entire premise of ''KatamariDamacy''. Find whatever public or private property (or animals, or people, or gods, or ''countries''...) that you can and roll it up to add it to an increasingly huge ball of junk. And then let your [[KingOfAllCosmos father]] set it all on fire and put it in the sky.

* In the MetalSlug games, destroying background objects will usually yeld useful items such as weapons or grenades.
* ''MetalWolfChaos''. We had to destroy America to save it.

* The ''StreetsOfRage'' series always had boxes, garbage cans, tables, chairs, or barrels that contained food, money, and weapons. Though one has to wonder if eating an apple from a garbage can was ''really'' worth it and how could you stuff a money bag in a chair or hide any of the above items inside a visibly empty phonebooth?

* ''SuperMarioBros'': Smashing blocks is common business.

* The Mayhem Missions in ''CityOfVillains'', where you not only rob a bank and beat up the hero who tries to stop you but also gain extra time and achievement badges for beating up cops, destroying cars, robbing pawn shops and diamond stores, burning down buildings, and generally smashing everything in the area than can be destroyed.

* In ShadowTheHedgehog, if you fire rapidly at everything you see, you'll smash an awful lot of scenery and charge up your Chaos Blast gauge - which, by using, smashes more scenery and charges up your gauge a bit more. Incidentally, by the time you come back they've fixed it all - so you can do it again.
* The SonicTheHedgehog series started out with power-ups contained in monitors. You then broke those monitors to get the good stuff. Subverted to an extent in the case of the Robotnik/Eggman monitors, which, when destroyed, damaged you as if you were hit by an enemy or spikes.

* ''HalfLife'' uses this straightforwardly - any objects you need to maneuver around Black Mesa's ElaborateUndergroundBase are indestructible, so smash away! The sequel, however, occasionally forces you to use destructible items to move forward, so you need to be more careful where and how you swing your crowbar.
** In the second game (and the episodes) you just ignore the larger crates most of the time, and destroy the smaller "supply" crates (a couple whacks with the crowbar or a short toss into the ground/wall with the gravity gun will do it).

* ''ZombiesAteMyNeighbors'' grants you a "Massive Destruction" bonus if you blow holes in enough stuff pre stage.

* ''RedFaction: Guerilla''. And how. In addition to providing salvage, the closest thing the game has to money, destroying certain buildings or objects can raise morale or lower EDF control -- both essential to success. Additionally, since nearly ''everything'' short of the actual terrain is destructible, it's also rewarded in [[StealthPun less concrete]] ways, such as being able to knock down a wall for an ambush or quick escape, or break fences or pipes to find alternate entrance to a secure area.
* Although the actual example of this trope does not occur in this game, ''WorldOfWarcraft'' take this to a literal example. During the yearly Midsummer Fire Festival, you are given a chance to vandalize the opposing side's bonfires, and gain a large amount of experience from doing so.0
* In the 2008 [[GhostbustersTheVideoGame Ghostbusters]] game, you can blow stuff up with the Proton Stream. As an added bonus, the Xbox 360 version gives you an achievement just for blowing up every single thing in a room, while the [=PS3=] version gives you a trophy for causing enough property damage in the game.

* In {{Spelunky}}, there is often gold or gems locked away in pots and in the walls. By destroying these objects, you can get more money. In the City of Gold level, all the walls are made of gold, so destroying them is extremely profitable if you don't mind destroying the archaeological dig of the millennium.

* Played straight in the original ''VideoGame/{{Fable|I}}'', where breaking barrels and pots would get you gold and/or basic items. Lampshaded and averted in the sequel, where a loading screen says something along the lines of "You didn't think you'd get anything out of those random barrels, did you?"
* Played straight as an arrow in ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'' where a "breakables" [[MetaPowerup bonus]] is given at the end of [[TheQuest quests]]. It has [[RuleOfThree three]] different tiers: Mischief, Vandalism, Ransack, reached at different levels of destruction (or in some cases not possible at all) depending on the dungeon.

* The MetroidPrime games have crates, pots, Stationary-non violent Ing etc... that provide ammo and health scattered everywhere, often with reasons why (and in one case, why you sometimes don't get an item)

* In [[TombRaider Tomb Raider: Underworld]], secrets can be found by smashing various pots and things in the ruins around the world.

* ''DragonQuest'' games since III has pots, drawers, dressers, etc. in people's houses and dungeons containing items and money. Nobody seem to mind you breaking into their houses opening their drawers if anything value inside. With the "nose for treasure" ability, you can find how many treasures left unopened. In IX, items can appear again in the same pots and drawers previously searched if you wait for a while.
* ''AnUntitledStory'' lets you destroy pots strewn throughout the game world to earn money.
* In ''{{Painkiller}}'', from ExplodingBarrels, to trash cans, from pallets to pots - if it can be destroyed, it spawns coins.
* Averted in the original ''CastleWolfenstein''; blowing up a chest with a grenade causes everything within to be Lost Forever. Blowing up a chest with ammunition results in a NonstandardGameOver.

* In ''{{Purple}}'', you can destroy [=TVs=] (which are everywhere) to get ''food and hearts''.
* Played straight ''and'' averted in ''TheSimpsonsHitAndRun''. You get coins from blowing up cars, and some missions actually ''require'' destruction-- but do it too much, and the police come after you and potentially take coins/destroy your car.

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in TheSaboteur as the player character is... well... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a saboteur]] working for the [[LaResistance French Resistance]] and is rewarded for destroying Nazi lookout posts, turrets, tanks, refuel depots, checkpoints, loudspeakers, and other such installations.