History Main / RewardingVandalism

* ''VideoGame/{{Paperboy}}'': Judging from the points gathered by smashing stuff that belongs to people who didn't subscribe to the newspaper, it makes one think the gameplay is less "give the newspapers to the subscribers" and more "annoy non-subscribers enough that they'll subscribe just to avoid your vandalism". However, vandalizing a subscriber's property results in them cancelling their subscription, so be careful who you vandalize.

* ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos''. We had to destroy America to save it.

[[DieChairDie Blowing up plants, grass, walls, pots etc.]] isn't just fun; it's profitable! Often a character will find health, powerups and cash just waiting to be revealed after violence is administered to inanimate objects. Why these inanimate objects are [[InexplicableTreasureChests present in the first place]], why the [=NPCs=] never seem to notice the KleptomaniacHero smashing them up and running off with the valuables inside, or how the items inside survived the vandalism itself is rarely a concern.

* In the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' games, Dante, Nero, and Vergil receives various colored orbs, used for power ups, for smashing up the scenery.

* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'', Kratos receives power ups in the form of red orbs for smashing anything that can be smashed, which is practically everything, including civilians. He's [[VillainProtagonist that kind of protagonist.]]

** Sora from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' gained power ups from smashing fireworks in [[WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}} the Land of Dragons]]. He also got those power ups by smashing suits of armor in [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Beast's Castle]].

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' explains that there are [[MouseWorld tiny little people]] called the Minish who hide money under plants and other objects for heroes to find. [[HandWave This is a weak justification at best]]; the entire series is renown for extensive use of this trope. Hey, in ''The Minish Cap'', you must knock down huge trees, smash the mayor's valuable mask collection, and of course, break into houses and open chests to steal rupees and Kinstones, and nobody says a thing.

*** 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 power-ups.
** 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: with 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."

* Most visitable locations 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. You can occasionally earn Skill Points by breaking everything in a specific area.

* The ''VideoGame/HarryPotter'' games involve, peripherally to the story, smashing up vases, cauldrons, suits of armor and so on, for a cascade of Bertie Bott's beans, cauldron cakes, pumpkins. The ''Order of the Phoenix'' game is weird about this - it rewards you for tidying up Hogwarts, but you also get to [[TyrantTakesTheHelm rebel against]] [[Characters/HarryPotter Umbridge]] by vandalizing the school.

* Smashing blocks is common business in ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' universe. You're often times rewarded with coins from blocks that are ? blocks, just unmarked and made to look like bricks. Now if only real life worked this way...[[note]]The English manual for [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros the first game]] gave a reasonable explaination: Bowser turned most of the Mushroom Kingdom citizens into ? blocks. The powerups hidden within these blocks were actually gifts to help Mario stop their tormentor and turn everyone back. Like the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' example above, this explanation never appeared anywhere else, and ? blocks were shown to be common fixtures of that world.[[/note]]

* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' (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).

* Any inanimate object (and plenty of the animate ones) which can be destroyed in ''VideoGame/TeamBuddies'' will grant you ammo, health or frequently both. One of the few games in which the enemies take advantage of this as well.
* ''VideoGame/RedFactionGuerrilla''. 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, ''VideoGame/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.

* ''VideoGame/LostPlanet'' rewards vandalism with thermal energy. Destroy cars, trucks and even Akrid eggs to find more energy.
* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'': [[VideoGame/JakAndDaxterThePrecursorLegacy the first game]] rewards you with health for randomly smashing barrels and crates everywhere. [[VideoGame/JakIIRenegade The second game]] has health and ammo in specific Krimzon Guard crates, and in [[VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander the third]], breaking pots reveals hidden Precursor orbs and Metal Head skull gems.

* Played straight as an arrow in ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'' where a "breakables" [[MetaPowerup bonus]] is given at the end of [[TheQuest quests]]. It has three different tiers: Mischief, Vandalism, Ransack, reached at different levels of destruction (or in some cases not possible at all) depending on the dungeon. Breakables even have a random chance of dropping a small amount of cash, gems or - more rarely - a random loot item.

* The ''VideoGame/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)

* ''VideoGame/KingsKnight'' had power-ups hidden among the environment, which you had to shoot in order to uncover. The four spell tokens required to complete the last level are also hidden this way, and need to be collected by all four characters in order to be used at all.

* ''VideoGame/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.

* In ''VideoGame/WillRock'', you can gain treasures if you destroy statues. However is slightly justified, as sometimes the statues [[{{Golem}} will try to kill you with huge, explosive boulders, fiery disks and laser beams]].

* Hiding powerup crates in buildings is a longstanding ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' tradition. Usually, these feature most heavily in commando-style missions, where you have no base and must carefully manage a few units, and a bonus health or veterancy crate can make or break the mission. A particularly bizarre example occurs in ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3 Red Alert 3]]'', when invading Santa Monica -- a section of otherwise-perfectly-normal houses on the beach yield money crates when blown up despite being a traditional base-building mission. Presumably, this represents looting the Scrooge [=McDuck=]-style money caches in all the stars' homes.

* Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/{{Drakensang}}'': the first game played this trope straight, with breakable barrels, crates and jars containing useful materials and sometimes even gold. In the second game, useful stuff is mostly found inside normal chests and barrels, with gold avaible only in large chests. Breakable containers are usually filled with trash, though the jars in certain ruins will have ancient coins (worth a lot) inside.

* In ''[[VideoGame/WithFriends Stampede Run]]'', 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 ''VideoGame/{{Gruntz}}'', destroying rocks, candies, bricks, dices and sugarcubes with the steel gauntlets is not just rewarding, it's very often essential to your progress. But beware of the hidden bombs...

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': Only some crates and terrain elements are destructible, the important goods are presumably kept in the invulnerable boxes. In one level, vandalism is a good strategy: skeletons are hiding in crates, destroying the crates one by one allows you to take them out more easily rather than falling into an ambush.
* ''VideoGame/DirtyHarry'': Much of the game aside from beating up mooks consists of breaking into rooms to find useful items inside closets and night stands. Hilariously, many items are crowbars and bombs so you can break into more rooms and steal more crowbars and bombs.

* ''VideoGame/KaoTheKangaroo'': In the first game, you can destroy many of the scenery elements, and they sometimes contain collectibles and secrets. In the second game, there's lots of crates, barrels and pots that contain coins.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', inside the Palaces there are decorations that net you VendorTrash when destroyed. Justified in that the main characters are thieves, and the stolen objects [[ItMakesSenseInContext don't actually exist in reality, only in the Palace owner's mind]]. One of [[MissionControl Futaba]]'s ability is to randomly restore the decorations, allowing you to destroy them for loot again.

* ''WebGame/TrickOrTreatBeat'': You can get candy by smashing garbage cans.

* In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'', 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 ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence'', it was said that Walter left all those items lying around for the added challenge. Otherwise, adventurers died too easily.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' explains that there are [[MouseWorld tiny little people]] called the Minish who hide money under plants and other objects for heroes to find. [[HandWave This is a weak justification at best]]; the entire series is renown for extensive use of this trope. Hey, in ''The Minish Cap'', you must knock down huge trees, smash the mayor's valuable mask collection, and of course, break into houses and open chests to steal rupees and Kinstones, and nobody says a thing.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess''
** The game lampshades the tendency for players to smash jars to find what's inside by having one shopkeeper note that some people like to smash jars. If you bump into the walls to try to get the jars on her shelf to fall, [[spoiler:she'll kick you out and won't let you back in until you apologize.]]
** There is also an old man who will berate you if you smash a pumpkin near him.
** The game has a minor tweak on the DieChairDie pattern: a few barrels, usually located around goblins, are marked with a big white X and apparently contain gunpowder (they explode when disturbed, which causes damage if you're standing too close).
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''
** A guy ''charges'' you if you break his things. (The trick is to do it when you're broke.)
** A number of underground grottoes 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.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'': when Marin is following you around, she'll call you a bad boy if you break jars.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'':
** a room off the drawbridge to Castle Town contains NOTHING BUT several dozen jars and boxes... and a bored guard who is happy to let you smash them to let off some steam. It only appears when you're a kid, though.
** 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 power-ups.
* 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: with 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."
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': 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?"
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'': there's one point where burning a sapling in one time period will result in the owner charging you. however, burning the same sapling in the other time period will result in the owner ''giving'' you rupees.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': breaking the chandelier in the Lumpy Pumpkin earns you a heart piece... [[{{Subversion}} And a job to]] [[WorkOffTheDebt pay off the damages you've just incurred.]] Eventually double-subverted, since completing all the (rather trivial) jobs given by the owner of the Pumpkin earns you ''another'' heart piece, and you can't get either one without breaking the original chandelier.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': This trope is so ingrained in the series that it was considered a big deal when this one mostly averted it. There are a few crates to smash (usually with semi-logical contents) and ore chunks to mine, but smashing pots won't get you any items in this game. Cutting grass won't grant you the usual rewards either, though it does sometimes expose bugs for you to catch. Chopping down trees (or [[StuffBlowingUp blowing them up]]) does let you gather wood, which you can use to start your own fires and to turn in (in large quantities) for a major sidequest.

* Sora from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' gained power ups from smashing fireworks in [[WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}} the Land of Dragons]]. He also got those power ups by smashing suits of armor in [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Beast's Castle]].

* In the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' games, Dante, Nero, and Vergil receives various colored orbs, used for power ups, for smashing up the scenery.

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' franchise:
** [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} Olympus Coliseum]] also has a lot of smashable objects in its ''[[RecurringLocation many]]'' appearances, from [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI barrels]], to [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII pots]], and even [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep urns]]. They even have mini-games dedicated to smashing them within the time limit, with one being to smash more objects than Hercules.
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' has smashable objects, but also some that he had to jump instead. Since both types reset when you leave the room they are identical in effect.

* The entire premise of ''VideoGame/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 father set it all on fire and put it in the sky.

* ''VideoGame/AstralChain''... is a subversion. It is indeed possible to smash items in civilian areas or crime scenes, but in doing so, one of your allies will [[WhatTheHellPlayer call you out]] and some of your Duty Points will be docked. A small amount, but you have to remember that you're playing as an arm of the police force.
* ''VideoGame/UphillRush'': Later games would reward you with money for breaking things.

** Though nothing stops you from returning after the truck passes through to level the entire town.

** In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'', 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 ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence'', it was said that Walter left all those items lying around for the added challenge. Otherwise, adventurers died too easily.
** ''WebAnimation/ADayInDraculasLife'' offers...another explanation for the candles and torches.
** In a [[https://www.wired.com/2007/10/interview-iga-t/ 2007 interview with]] ''Wired'' magazine, former Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi theorized that the candles contain the souls of people killed by Dracula or his minions, and whenever the player whips them, the soul gets released into the afterlife, and the player gets a "thank you" reward for freeing the soul.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' lampshades the tendency for players to smash jars to find what's inside by having one shopkeeper note that some people like to smash jars. If you bump into the walls to try to get the jars on her shelf to fall, [[spoiler:she'll kick you out and won't let you back in until you apologize.]]
*** There is also an old man who will berate you if you smash a pumpkin near him.
*** TP also had a minor tweak on the DieChairDie pattern: a few barrels, usually located around goblins, are marked with a big white X and apparently contain gunpowder (they explode when disturbed, which causes damage if you're standing too close).
** Similarly, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' has a guy who ''charges'' you if you break his things. (The trick is to do it when you're broke.)
** And in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', when Marin is following you around, she'll call you a bad boy if you break jars.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', a room off the drawbridge to Castle Town contains NOTHING BUT several dozen jars and boxes... and a bored guard who is happy to let you smash them to let off some steam. It only appears when you're a kid, though.
*** Actually, it also has gold Skulltulla hiding in one of the crates. And it's still there as an adult, it just doesn't have nearly as many jars and is far creepier; a creepy ghost person is there now, and asks that you give him [[GottaCatchEmAll the souls of some ghosts]].
** 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: with 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."
*** Similarly, in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', 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 ''Oracle of Ages'', there's one point where burning a sapling in one time period will result in the owner charging you. however, burning the same sapling in the other time period will result in the owner ''giving'' you rupees.

** A number of underground grottoes 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 ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'', breaking the chandelier in the Lumpy Pumpkin earns you a heart piece... [[{{Subversion}} And a job to]] [[WorkOffTheDebt pay off the damages you've just incurred.]] Eventually double-subverted, since completing all the (rather trivial) jobs given by the owner of the Pumpkin earns you ''another'' heart piece, and you can't get either one without breaking the original chandelier.
** This trope is so ingrained in the series that it was considered a big deal when ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' mostly averted it. There are a few crates to smash (usually with semi-logical contents) and ore chunks to mine, but smashing pots won't get you any items in this game. Cutting grass won't grant you the usual rewards either, though it does sometimes expose bugs for you to catch. Chopping down trees (or [[StuffBlowingUp blowing them up]]) does let you gather wood, which you can use to start your own fires and to turn in (in large quantities) for a major sidequest.

* Avoided in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime''; it features myriad objects scattered throughout the game that can be smashed, but there is ''never'' anything to gain by this (unless said objects are blocking your path, which is rare). The sequel games ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'' and ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones'', on the other hand, both included pots and urns that contained Sands of Time (the game's only real collectible with gameplay value) with no in-game explanation for this given. Also, weapon racks in the later games would spill temporary off-hand weapons for The Prince to use.

** ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]]'' also had smashable objects, but also some that he had to jump instead. Since both types reset when you leave the room they are identical in effect.

** Parodied in ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction''. At one point in Apogee Station, breaking a pile of boxes causes one of the crotchety war bots trying to keep Ratchet out to complain "I just stacked those, you vandal!"
** Inverted in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime A Crack in Time]]'', where you can ''repair'' things by using Clank's chronostaff to reverse the flow of time. [[RewardFromNowhere And yes, you do get bolts by doing this.]]

** [[NightmareFuel And it screams when there are living creatures inside.]]

** Although reckless destruction of scenery may deny you useful goods.

** 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?]]

** Similarly, A Bard's Tale has a barrel merchant who pays you one silver for every barrel you break besides his. The catch is that [[spoiler:The town he's in, the very first one, is completely destroyed by undead about 3/4s of the way through the game. By the time most people think to go back and collect on the obscene amount of money, it's usually too late. Of course, by that time you never need to worry about money anyway, whether or not you have the Treasure Hunter talent.]]
* 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 phone booth?
** The third in the series actually has some of the enemies eat foodstuffs. Most frustrating if it was the full heal chicken.

** Subverted in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', where upon destroying a vase, Mario is forced into indentured servitude to pay for it.
** He also gets major complaints for hitting ? blocks in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Bowser's Inside Story]]'', mostly because the person in question is a large sentient block himself whose major problem with Mario's power-up gaining antics is the fact that hitting them decreases their value, which he doesn't approve of because he collects them.

* Pretty much the premise of ''VideoGame/{{Elebits}}'', which involves throwing furniture around to find the eponymous tiny hidden electrical sprites. Some stages force you to not smash too many breakables or make too much noise, but generally you can be as chaotic as you like. Eventually you can start throwing cars and entire houses around too.
** Then the Black Elebits come for making too big a mess, and [[NightmareFuel they are more than willing to break you]]...

** In ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' (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).

* In ''VideoGame/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.
** This applies just as well to its three sequels ''Armed Police Batrider'', ''Battle Bakraid'', and ''Ibara''.

** Subverted, however, in the early solo quest [[RatStomp Arachnophobia]], where you automatically fail if you (or the [[GiantSpider spiders]] you're fighting) break ten sarcophagi.

** Giving us this wonderful scene right after meeting Sherry in Darkside Chronicles:
--> Leon: Why is she running away from us? *blasting the shit out of lamps, windows, carpets, [[OverlyLongGag paintings, walls, drawers, statues, ect.]]*

** ''VideoGame/Portal2'' has a similar achievement for destroying Test Chamber Monitors in the second half of the game. Some of them are pretty tricky to destroy; if the achievement isn't enough to tempt you, the increasingly annoyed responses from [[spoiler: Wheatley]] are hilarious.

** Parodied/deconstructed by ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' in [[http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/01/27 this strip]].

** Maybe demons are inserting souls in them in lieu of hard currency?

* The ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' games are loaded with destructible [[CrateExpectations crates]] and [[ExplodingBarrels barrels]]. ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' has "{{killstreak}}" XP bonuses for destroying large quantities of scenery and even an achievement for wrecking 50 items in a row.

* The game ''VideoGame/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.
** Though nothing stops you from returning after the truck passes through to level the entire town.

* VideoGame/SlyCooper can get health and cash from smashing up random bits of furniture and other objects.
* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'', Kratos receives power ups in the form of red orbs for smashing anything that can be smashed, which is practically everything, including civilians. He's [[VillainProtagonist that kind of protagonist.]]
* ''VideoGame/SlaveZero'' rewards the player for destroying certain buildings with health, ammo, and pieces of said buildings that can be grabbed and used as clubs.

* Avoided in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime''; it features myriad objects scattered throughout the game that can be smashed, but there is ''never'' anything to gain by this (unless said objects are blocking your path, which is rare). The sequel games ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'' and ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones'', on the other hand, both included pots and urns that contained Sands of Time (the game's only real collectible with gameplay value) with no in-game explanation for this given. Also, weapon racks in the later games would spill temporary off-hand weapons for The Prince to use.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}'' series of games, destroying the scenery is a feature...but you have to be careful. You might blow up a footlocker containing valuable equipment, though you'll never blow up anything vital. You can also blow up doors, but that sets off the alarm. In the plot, your character is basically out to annoy the hell out of the BigBad, so destruction is a given.

* 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]].
** [[Disney/{{Hercules}} Olympus Coliseum]] also has a lot of smashable objects in its ''[[RecurringLocation many]]'' appearances, from [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI barrels]], to [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII pots]], and even [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep urns]]. They even have mini-games dedicated to smashing them within the time limit, with one being to smash more objects than Hercules.

** This trope is so ingrained in the series that it was considered a big deal when ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' mostly averted it. There are a few crates to smash (usually with semi-logical contents) and ore chunks to mine, but smashing pots won't get you any items in this game. Cutting grass won't grant you the usual rewards either, though it does sometimes expose bugs for you to catch. Chopping down trees (or [[StuffBlowingUp blowing them up]]) doesn't give you items either, but it does let you gather wood, which you'll need a *lot* of for a certain sidequest.

** This trope is so ingrained in the series that it was considered a big deal when ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' mostly averted it. There are a few crates to smash (usually with semi-logical contents) and ore chunks to mine, but smashing pots won't get you any items in this game. Cutting grass won't grant you the usual rewards either, though it does sometimes expose bugs for you to catch.

* The online mode of VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV features "Criminal Damage", a periodic free-mode event to earn in-game prize money for players who cause the most expensive damage in the space of 5 minutes. In many missions, [[DieChairDie smashing]] or [[StuffBlowingUp blowing]] up the target is pretty much the objective. Other than that, running down lamp posts, traffic lights and plate glass doesn't attract police attention.

* ''VideoGame/RedFactionGuerilla''. 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.

* Destroying large chunks of terrain in the LightGun game ''VideoGame/RazingStorm'' will cause them to fall on top of multiple enemy terrorists, killing them at one go and saving time (for more points). Destroying parts of terrain may also net dog tags which will allow you to take extra hits during the SpiderTank's TakingYouWithMe [[MacrossMissileMassacre missile assault]] (failing to survive nets you the NonStandardGameOver DownerEnding).