You’re staring at a grayed-out icon in your Steam library or PlayStation trophy list. It’s sitting there, mocking you. It doesn’t tell you what to do. It just says "Hidden Achievement" or, if the developers are feeling particularly cryptic, "Complete a Secret Action."
Honestly, it’s frustrating.
Modern game design has moved away from the "look it up in a strategy guide" era, but "Complete a Secret Action" remains one of the most polarizing tropes in the industry. It’s a placeholder. It is a digital shrug. Some people love the mystery, while others—mostly those trying to hit that 100% completion mark—find it to be a massive waste of time. But there is a logic to it. Developers don't just hide these things to be mean. Usually, they are protecting you from spoilers or trying to encourage a very specific, often bizarre, style of play that you wouldn’t otherwise consider.
Why Games Force You to Complete a Secret Action
Why do they do it? Basically, it’s about narrative integrity.
Take NieR: Automata as a prime example. The game is famous (or infamous) for its meta-commentary on gaming. Many of its secret actions involve things that break the fourth wall, like trying to pan the camera to see under 2B’s skirt—which actually triggers an achievement called "What Are You Doing?"—or eating a specific fish that results in an immediate Game Over. If the achievement list told you "Eat the Mackerel to Die," the surprise is gone. The secret action exists to reward curiosity, even when that curiosity is "bad" for the character.
The Spoiler Shield
This is the most common reason. In story-heavy games like God of War or The Last of Us Part II, specific milestones are hidden so you don't accidentally see "Character X Dies" while scrolling through your trophy list on day one. Sony’s ecosystem is particularly aggressive about this. They want the "Complete a Secret Action" prompt to act as a barrier. You only get the payoff once the narrative context makes sense.
But here’s the thing: sometimes the "action" isn't a story beat at all.
Sometimes it's just weird. In High on Life, there is a secret achievement for literally standing around and watching an entire full-length B-movie in an in-game theater. There is no prompt. No hint. You just have to sit there. For two hours. It’s a test of patience, a joke at the player's expense, and a perfect example of a secret action that serves the game's tone rather than its mechanics.
The Different "Flavors" of Secret Actions
Not all secret actions are created equal. You’ve got your story-based ones, sure, but the ones that drive the community crazy are the "Emergent" secrets.
- The Easter Egg Action: These are the nods to other games or pop culture. In The Witcher 3, there’s a secret action involving a bounty of cows in White Orchard. If you kill too many, a high-level monster spawns to punish you.
- The Community-Solvers: Think Destiny 2 or Elite Dangerous. These games have secrets so complex that no single human could find them. You need a Discord server of 5,000 people brute-forcing every coordinate in a galaxy.
- The Accidental Triggers: Sometimes you complete a secret action just by being bad at the game. Falling off a map in a specific spot or failing a tutorial three times can trigger these.
How to Actually Find These Secrets Without Spoilers
If you’re the type who refuses to use a Wiki, you’re in for a long haul. But there are patterns.
👉 See also: How to Build a End Portal and Why Yours Isn't Working
Look for the "Out of Bounds" logic. Developers love to reward players who go where they aren't supposed to. If you see a ledge that looks just barely reachable, try to reach it. If there’s a trash can in a high-fidelity environment that looks slightly more detailed than the others, interact with it. In Starfield, secret actions are often tied to finding unique, named items in the most remote corners of a moon that has no mission markers.
Nuance matters here. A lot of players think "Complete a Secret Action" means "Kill 1,000 Enemies," but that’s rarely the case for hidden trophies. Usually, those are "Grind Achievements." Secret actions are almost always qualitative, not quantitative. It’s about doing one specific thing, once, in a way that feels intentional.
Using the PlayStation "Reveal" Feature
A lot of people don't realize that on PlayStation 5, you can actually bypass the "Secret" tag. If you click on the hidden trophy and hit the "Options" button (or the Square button depending on the menu), you can select "Show Information." It’ll tell you exactly what the action is.
Xbox is a bit more protective, but the "Official Club" or "Global Achievements" stats usually give away the percentage of people who have it. If 0.1% of people have it, you’re looking for something obscure. If 45% have it, it’s a story beat you just haven't hit yet.
The Problem with "Secret" Design in 2026
We have to be honest: the internet has kind of ruined the secret action.
Within four hours of a game's release, the "Complete a Secret Action" requirement is already indexed on Google. This creates a weird tension for developers. Do they make the secret so hard that it takes weeks to find (like the "P.T." ending), or do they keep it simple?
The trend lately, especially in indie titles like Animal Well or Tunic, is to go deep. Tunic is basically one giant secret action. The manual is in a language you can’t read. The puzzles involve inputting d-pad directions based on the patterns of flowers in the environment. In these cases, the "secret" isn't an extra; it’s the entire point of the experience.
Actionable Steps for the Completionist
If you are staring at a "Complete a Secret Action" prompt right now, do this:
- Check the Global Rarity first. If it’s high (above 20%), stop worrying. You’ll get it by playing the campaign.
- Search the "Trophy Name," not the description. Even if the action is secret, the title of the achievement usually isn't. Titles like "Irony" or "What Have You Done?" are massive clues.
- Look for the "Interact" prompt on everything. In modern RPGs, secret actions are frequently tied to interacting with inanimate objects three or more times.
- Don't ignore the NPCs. Sometimes a secret action is as simple as talking to a specific shopkeeper after you've already finished their questline.
Most "Complete a Secret Action" requirements aren't there to gatekeep your progress. They’re there to make sure that for at least one moment, you aren't just following a waypoint—you're actually exploring the world the developers built. Go hit some walls. Jump into some pits. Try to break the game. That’s usually where the secrets are hiding anyway.