Bounties
Discrete, repeatable objectives — kill this target, deliver this item, clear this area — offered by an NPC or board in exchange for currency or reputation, distinct from the main quest line. Destiny 2's rotating bounties and Red Dead Redemption 2's wanted-poster bounty hunting both give players bite-sized, self-contained goals that fit into any session length. Designers use bounties to provide structured, optional content that refreshes regularly (keeping veteran players engaged), to guide players toward underused activities or areas, and to create a steady reward drip independent of the main progression. Key decisions: refresh cadence (daily/weekly rotation keeps content feeling current), reward scaling relative to effort, whether bounties can be tracked simultaneously, and variety so bounty completion doesn't become repetitive busywork. Pitfall: bounties that all funnel toward the same grind (always 'kill X enemies') feel like padding — variety in objective type is what keeps the system feeling like content rather than a checklist.
- Dev effort: Small
- Timing: Real-time or turn-based
- Common in: looter-shooter, open-world