Below is a list of achievements obtainable in the Steam release of Psychonauts. While the game's initial release did not include achievements on any platform, they were added to the Steam version of Psychonauts in September 2011. Some guides for obtaining these achievements are included here; however, for more precise information (for instance, on the locations of collectibles), it is recommended to check the pages for individual areas or find a guide elsewhere.
Note that some achievements are missable if the player proceeds too far into the game—in the sense that it's impossible to go back to do what's required for the achievement without loading an older save file. In particular, this includes anything that must be done in the real world, which can no longer be reached after passing the Point of No Return near the end of the game.
For the list of Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin achievements, see RoR achievements. For the list of Psychonauts 2 achievements, see Psychonauts 2 achievements.
List of Achievements[]
Story Achievements[]
These achievements are guaranteed to unlock through playing the game's main story.
| Icon | Title | Description | Missable? | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Your Last Chance to Chicken Out | "Complete Basic Braining." | No | |
|
A Victory for Good Taste | "Complete Sasha's Shooting Gallery." | No | |
|
Rolling Rock Star | "Complete Milla's Dance Party." | No | |
|
For Insurance Reasons | "Complete Lungfishopolis." | No | |
|
Time to Deliver the Milk | "Complete The Milkman Conspiracy." | No | |
|
You're All So Kind | "Complete Gloria's Theater." | No | |
|
Thanks for All the Snails | "Complete Waterloo World." | No | |
|
I Always Loved You More | "Complete Black Velvetopia." | No | |
|
Height of Insanity | "Complete The Asylum." | No | |
|
I Thought That Was Unbeatable! | "Complete Meat Circus." | No |
PSI Cadet Rank Achievements[]
These achievements are unlocked as Raz levels up his PSI Cadet Rank. Some of the higher ranks will be permanently unobtainable if too few collectibles were obtained in the real world before passing the Point of No Return, after which Raz cannot go back to the real world (avoiding all collectibles in the Physical World would leave Raz at a maximum of Rank 52, even if all collectibles in the Mental Worlds are collected). He can, however, travel between Mental Worlds to collect more items there and redeem the collectibles he hasn't turned in yet with the Fortune Teller in Meat Circus.
| Icon | Title | Description | Missable? | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Junior PSI Cadet | "Achieve Rank 20." | No | |
|
Regular PSI Cadet | "Achieve Rank 40." | No | |
|
Advanced PSI Cadet | "Achieve Rank 60." | Yes (though likely only by specifically avoiding overworld collectibles) | |
|
Super PSI Cadet | "Achieve Rank 80." | Yes | |
|
Math is Hard | "Achieve Rank 101." | Yes | To unlock, all collectibles in the game must be obtained and redeemed, and the punching mini-game in Basic Braining completed for one additional rank. See Guide section below. |
Collector Achievements[]
These achievements are unlocked by collecting all of a particular type of collectible.
| Icon | Title | Description | Missable? | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
They Should Totally Sell Those | "Earn all Merit Badges." | No | Most are obtained by playing through the story. Raz needs to pick up a few from Ford Cruller at Rank 10, 20, and 30, but since the PSI-Powers they unlock are mandatory to complete certain sections of the game, it is difficult to miss them. |
|
I'm Gonna Live Forever | "Find all Golden Helmets." | Yes | One of the Helmets is permanently missable. See Guide section below. |
|
They Call Me the Hunter | "Redeem all 16 Scavenger Hunt Items." | Yes, if not all obtained before the Point of No Return | All found in the real world around Whispering Rock, except one item that can be found at Thorney Towers. Afterwards, return them to Ranger Cruller or redeem them with the Fortune Teller in Meat Circus. |
|
No Solid Food for Six Hours | "Re-brain the Children." | Yes, if not all obtained before the Point of No Return | All found in and around Thorney Towers. Return them to Agent Cruller in his Sanctuary. |
|
No More Secrets | "Crack All Vaults." | No | Found in Mental Worlds. Most minds have two each; Meat Circus has only one, for 19 total Vaults. |
|
Happy Bags | "Sort all Emotional Baggage." | No | Found in Mental Worlds. Each mind contains five pieces of Emotional Baggage and five matching tags that must be reunited with the correct baggage, for a total of 50 to sort. |
|
Figgy Piggy | "Gather all Figments." | No | Found in Mental Worlds. There are 1.537 Figments in the game across all minds. |
Witness Achievements[]
For lack of a better term, these achievements all depend on Raz being at the right place and time to witness or do something. Some events can be missed.
| Icon | Title | Description | Missable? | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Made Man | "Witness Maloof's transformation." | Yes | Obtained by heading to the parking lot of Whispering Rock immediately after Sasha's Shooting Gallery and talking to Maloof. |
|
I'm Sure She's Over It | "Uncover Milla's Secret." | No | Obtained by finding the secret room in Milla's Dance Party, which is behind a balcony at the top of the Dance Lounge (the vertical room near the beginning of the level). |
|
Wolpaw Says Thanks | "Hear Vernon's Ghost Story." | Yes | Immediately after completing Milla's Dance Party, head to the TV room in the Main Lodge to find Vernon telling a long story. Hang around and listen to the entire tale. |
|
Maybe It's the Hair | "Spy on Bobby's love life." | Yes | Also immediately after Milla's Dance party, go to the GPC and Wilderness area and find Nils and Chloe, then talk to them. |
|
Look at those Pansies! | "Find Edgar's Secret Garden." | No | In Black Velvetopia, purchase the Vine painting and hang it on a hook near the manhole, in the alleyway with the Collie. Then, climb up to the secret garden. |
|
I Think They Were Impressed | "Introduce all Camp Kids to Mr. Pokeylope." | Yes | See Guide below. |
|
Victory Tour | "Revisit all brains after completion." | Yes | After completing the main story in each mind, simply return there via the Collective Unconscious. |
Misc. Achievements[]
These achievements are obtained by performing a variety of tasks, sometimes repeatedly.
| Icon | Title | Description | Missable? | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Camp Gossip | "Read many bulletin board messages." | Yes | At camp, find one of the several bulletin boards and keep reading messages until the achievement unlocks. The bulletin boards are updated with new messages after each level. |
|
Mmm... Bacon! | "Use the bacon. A lot." | No | Activate the Bacon from Razputin's inventory to talk to Ford Cruller many times. |
|
A Slice of History | "Discover the secret history of Whispering Rock." | Yes | Interact with the timeline on the huge tree log at the camp's parking lot until the achievement unlocks. |
|
Stump Speech | "Give the Coach's speech on the stump." | Yes | Go to the camp's reception area, then stand on the podium and interact with it to have Raz recite Coach Oleander's speech from the opening cutscene. |
|
Self Aware | "See yourself through the eyes of many others." | No | Obtained by using Clairvoyance on many different targets. |
|
I LOVE PUNCHING! | "Complete the Punchy Target mini-game." | No | Obtained by going back to Basic Braining and completing all additional stages of the punching mini game. The final stage requires 50 points in 75 seconds to beat. |
|
Holiday Dinner | "Cook and consume two different kinds of roast in one sitting" | No | Use Pyrokinesis to roast two small creatures in the same area. See Guide section below. |
|
Christmas Shopping | "Buy an item from the Camp Store on Christmas" | No | Obtained by purchasing anything from the Camp Store in the Main Lodge on December 25th (or with the System clock set to Dec. 25th). |
Guide[]
Math is Hard[]
The most difficult achievement in the game, which requires full completion of all collectibles. Several other achievements are prerequisites to unlock this one. Everything at the camp and asylum should be collected before proceeding past the Point of No Return.
To obtain it, the player must:
- Complete the punching mini-game in Basic Braining (+1 PSI Cadet Rank)
- (Missable) Find all 9 PSI Challenge Markers found in the camp and asylum (1 per marker = +9 Ranks)
- (Missable) Find all 16 Scavenger Hunt Items and turn them in to Ranger Cruller (4 per half of the Scavenger Hunt turned in = +8 Ranks total)
- Gather all 5300 points worth of Figments across the game's Mental Worlds (1 per 100 points = +53 Ranks total)
- Sort all 50 Emotional Baggage (1 Rank per completed set = +10 Ranks total)
- (Missable) Find all 117 PSI Cards at the camp and asylum, combine them with PSI Cores purchased from the Camp Store (9 per core) in Ford's Sanctuary.
- Collect all 54 mental cobwebs and weave them into more PSI Cards in Ford's Sanctuary.
- (117+54=171 total PSI Cards/9 per Core=+19 Ranks total).
If everything has been collected in both the real world and the Mental Worlds pre-PoNR, Raz should only have 18/19 vaults, 45/50 baggage, 6 PSI cards and be Rank 98 (assuming the punching mini-game has been completed, 97 if not.) Meat Circus provides the 3 remaining levels. Any remaining cobwebs/PSI cards that haven't been redeemed at Ford's Sanctuary can be turned into the fortune teller near the start of Meat Circus.
I'm Gonna Live Forever[]
All but one of the helmets can be retrieved at any time:
- Brain Tumbler Experiment - (after Sasha's Shooting Gallery) behind the thorny tower.
- Lungfishopolis - on top of a skyscraper after the monorail tunnel.
- The Milkman Conspiracy - You need telephone access, it's on the island accessible from the telephone pole after the road crew.
- Waterloo World - On the pink bridge near the peasant who is unarmed.
- Black Velvetopia #1 - Hang the window painting on the upper ledge at end of the of an alley near the Queen of Diamond entrance, enter the newly created window.
- Black Velvetopia #2 - (Missable - unobtainable after completing Black Velvetopia) Get the Confusion merit badge and use it to temporarily stop the bull so the dog can paint the poster on the wall, then return to Dingo Inflagrante for a Golden Helmet.
I Think They Were Impressed[]
Collect all the Jarred Brains at the Asylum and turn them in to re-brain the kids, who will now be hanging around Whispering Rock. When Raz briefly obtains Mr. Pokeylope, go back to the camp instead of progressing the story, and interact with all of the kids while holding him. This includes:
- Kids' Cabins: J. T. and Chops, Dogen (with the squirrels) Kitty and Franke(girls' cabin) Bobby and Chloe(Coach's class).
- Main Lodge (outside): Nils and Elka (near back exit).
- Main Lodge(inside): Phoebe and Quentin (playing music) and Vernon (at a table).
- Parking Area: Mikhail and Maloof (near Coach's SUV).
- Reception area: Clem and Crystal (with Janitor Cruller).
- Lake: Elton and Milka (On the docks).
Note that Benny is nowhere to be found after being re-brained. He does not count towards the achievement.
Holiday Dinner[]
The best area to try to roast two animals is on the pathway between the Lodge and the parking lot, where Raz can sneak up on a squirrel and a regular bird (seagulls and crows do not produce roasts) to light them on fire. It must still be daytime, as there are no birds at night.
Trivia[]
- The "Wolpaw Says Thanks" achievement references Erik Wolpaw, a writer known for his work on various Valve games such as the Half-Life and Portal games. He also wrote some dialog for Psychonauts, including Vernon's story.
- The "They Should Totally Sell Those" achievement humorously addresses the fact that the merit badges are indeed commonly featured as Merchandise, both as patches and as metal pins.
- The "I'm Gonna Live Forever" achievement is most likely a reference to the lyrics of Fame, the theme song of the film and TV series of the same name.
- The "They Call Me the Hunter" achievement most likely references The Hunter by Albert King, a song also referenced in How Many More Times, a medley from Led Zeppelin's debut album.