Xbox Achievements
Xbox achievements are the rewards you unlock on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Xbox 360 for completing in-game challenges. Every achievement is recorded on your Xbox profile, ranks you on the achievement leaderboards, and adds its value to your overall Gamerscore. This page explains how the whole system works, from your first 10-point unlock to a full game completion — and points you to the quickest and easiest games to complete to grow your Gamerscore fast.
How achievement points work
Every Xbox achievement is worth a set number of points that feed into your Gamerscore. Common point values you will see include:
- 10 points. The most common value, usually given for routine progress.
- 15–20 points. Awarded for tougher or longer milestones.
- 50 points. Reserved for major accomplishments and harder challenges.
- 100 points. Often the single biggest unlock in a game, awarded for finishing the campaign or a marquee challenge. A typical retail game offers 1,000 Gamerscore in total at launch.
How Gamerscore works
Your Gamerscore is a single running total — with no upper cap — worked out from the points of every achievement you have ever earned. There are no level resets, so every game you play adds to the same lifetime number. Because harder achievements are often worth far more, a handful of 50- and 100-point unlocks move your Gamerscore much faster than a long list of 10-point ones. The fastest way to climb is simply to fully complete more games — which is exactly what our easy completion guide is built for.
Achievement rarity
Xbox labels every achievement by rarity — the share of players who have actually earned it. The rarest achievements are unlocked by only a small fraction of players (around 5% or fewer), while the most common are earned by almost everyone who plays. A game’s toughest achievements are frequently very rare, which is part of why completionists chase them. Rarity is a great difficulty signal: pair it with our difficulty and time-to-complete ratings when deciding what to play next.
How to fully complete a game
There is no shortcut button — a full completion only happens once you have unlocked every achievement in the game — but some games make it far quicker than others. The trick is choosing the right games. Start here:
Achievements in Xbox Game Pass
If you subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, hundreds of games in the catalogue are packed with achievements — so you can rack up Gamerscore without paying per game. We sort the catalogue by difficulty so the easy ones float to the top:
Xbox achievements FAQ
What are Xbox achievements?
Xbox achievements are rewards awarded on Xbox 360, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S for completing specific in-game challenges. Every achievement you earn is tracked on your Xbox profile and adds its value to your overall Gamerscore.
What is Gamerscore?
Gamerscore is the total points value of every Xbox achievement you have ever earned. Each achievement is worth a set number of points (commonly 10, 15, 20, 50 or 100), and a typical full retail game offers 1,000 Gamerscore at launch, with more added by DLC.
What does it mean to complete a game?
Completing a game means unlocking every achievement it offers and earning its full Gamerscore. Most Xbox Series X|S retail games and many Xbox One games offer a 1,000 Gamerscore base; smaller titles and most DLC add extra achievements on top.
How does Gamerscore work?
Gamerscore is a single running total made up of the points from every achievement you have unlocked. There is no upper cap, so the more achievements you earn the higher your Gamerscore climbs — rarer, harder achievements are often worth more points.
What does achievement rarity mean?
Rarity is the percentage of players who have earned a given achievement. Xbox shows how rare each achievement is — the rarest are earned by only a small fraction of players (around 5% or fewer). Difficult full completions are very often built from rare achievements.
Can you earn achievements on free games?
Yes. Plenty of free-to-play and free Xbox Game Pass games include achievements, and there are many extremely quick and easy games you can fully complete at no cost. See our list of free games you can complete.
Want the longer story? Read our full explainer on how Xbox achievements and Gamerscore work.
