I have, at times, been described as slightly perfectionistic. This is accurate in certain specific and arguably irrational areas. My PowerPoint slides must be precisely centred. My desktop can have a maximum of four folders. The volume on any device must be set to an even number — and if you are reading this thinking "that's completely normal," we need to talk.
In gaming, this manifests as: completing all side quests before the main story, never skipping collectibles, and — in Skyrim — maintaining a dedicated shelf for diamonds, a cupboard for armour, and a drawer specifically for cheese. I have 47 wheels of cheese in a drawer in Whiterun. I do not know why. I cannot throw them away.
I recently traced this condition to its origin. The culprit is a mutated orange bandicoot named Crash.
What Crash Bandicoot Does to You
The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a remaster of the original three games, released in 2017. Over 10 million copies sold. The gameplay is simple: platforming, box-smashing, fruit-collecting. The masochism is optional but somehow inevitable.
Here is the structure that breaks people: you can finish the game, or you can complete it. Finishing means reaching the credits. Completing means every box smashed, every gem collected, every time trial beaten at the fastest possible pace. These are different activities. Finishing takes hours. Completing takes something closer to a personality transformation.
I cannot move to the next level without the boxes. I simply cannot. Something in my brain — something Crash put there in the late 1990s — will not allow forward progress while there is unfinished business behind me.
The Psychology of Perfectionism
Merriam-Webster defines perfectionism as "a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable." That sounds neutral on paper. In practice, research paints a more complicated picture.
Studies distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism (Frost et al., Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1990 — a foundational paper in the field). Adaptive perfectionism — high standards combined with the ability to accept imperfection — correlates with achievement and satisfaction. Maladaptive perfectionism — high standards combined with excessive self-criticism and fear of failure — correlates with anxiety, procrastination, and burnout.
The interesting thing about gaming perfectionism is that it tends to fall in the adaptive category. Gamers who chase 100% completion generally keep going through failure rather than avoiding the task altogether. We're not afraid to start — we're afraid to finish with anything left undone. That's actually a meaningful difference from clinical perfectionism, and it might be why games that reward completionism have such broad appeal.
Which type of gamer are you when it comes to completion?
The Time Trial Problem
The time trials are where I lose all dignity. They were introduced in Crash Bandicoot: Warped, and they represent something important: the realization that doing something is not enough. Doing it well is not enough. Doing it well, fast, and better than before — that's the game within the game.
Project management theory would recognize this as healthy. Deadlines matter. Iteration matters. Not just completing the thing but doing it to standard and within constraints. Crash Bandicoot has been training operations managers since 1998 and nobody talks about it.
Research note: A 2021 meta-analysis in Psychological Bulletin (Smith et al.) found that perfectionism has increased significantly among young people over the past three decades, driven largely by social comparison and performance pressure. Games that provide clear, measurable achievement criteria may actually serve as a healthy outlet for perfectionist tendencies that have no clean resolution in daily life.
The Verdict on Perfectionism
The cheese drawer in Skyrim is not optimal. The inability to leave a level with uncollected boxes has cost me real time. But the same drive that makes me redo a level seventeen times for one missed crate also makes me thorough at work, careful with quality, and unlikely to submit anything I'm not satisfied with.
I'd rather have it than not have it. Even if it means the cheese drawer stays.
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