Games with easy trophies help indie studios "get the funding" needed for future projects
"This way a lot of people buy it."
Some indie studios are intentionally adding easy-to-unlock trophies to their games in order to boost sales and raise funding for further projects.
Talking to Kotaku, Infinite Madaa's Salem Al-Ghanim - the developer behind cross-play enabled Little Adventure on the Prairie, which released on the PlayStation 4 and Vita in February - said that he was advised to include an easy Platinum "with a cheap price" and cross-play to secure enough sales to reinvest funds into the studio's next game.
"A friend of mine suggested to release the game on PS4 and Vita and add an easy Platinum to it with a cheap price," said Al-Ghanim, after deciding to port his game from Android. "This way a lot of people buy it and we would get the funding we need for our next game."
Al-Ghanim went on to explain that the only requirement to include a platinum trophy was to ensure the game had enough bronze, silver, and gold offerings, too. So that's what he did; though boasting 22 trophies (six bronze, eight silver, seven gold, and a platinum), Little Adventure on the Prairie is very short, but the full complement of trophies are achievable within half an hour, all unlocking as you naturally progress through the game.
While not all players are happy - "This is an absolute joke of a game. Shame on Sony for allowing this trash on the PS Store", said one unhappy Reddit commenter - most seemed willing enough to pick up the game to secure a Platinum trophy.
"Got the platinum in 20 minutes so can't really complain at £1.29," said another.