According to Merriam-Webster, a MacGuffin “is an object, event, or character in a film or story that serves to set and keep the plot in motion despite usually lacking intrinsic importance." A few iconic examples of MacGuffins in media are Doug from The Hangover movie and The Briefcase from Pulp Fiction.
While movies have a few MacGuffins, video games are full of them. Since gaming is all about reaching goals and finishing tasks, developers usually rely on this technique to inspire people to keep playing the game. Let’s look at some of the other iconic examples of this plot device in games.
10 Assassin's Creed - Pieces Of Eden
Assassin's Creed is one of the greatest single-player game series of the last two decades. The popular franchise started in 2007 and was the evolution of the parkour system Ubisoft perfected in their Prince of Persia series. In the original Assassin's Creed trilogy, players assume control of Desmond, who’s part of a big experiment and uses the Animus to travel back in memories of his assassin ancestors.
While the plot is a bit confusing, the game does make things clear by adding the Pieces of Eden into the mix. In the game, players are always up to finding these ancient artifacts to learn about their mystical powers.
9 God Of War (2018) - Faye’s Ashes
The God of War series has had a MacGuffin problem since its beginning. However, the fifth game uses it more appropriately. In the new and reimagined version of the God of War, the main protagonist, Kratos, finds himself in Norse mythology. When the game starts, players find that Kratos is a dad to a kid named Atreus, and his second wife, Faye, has already passed away.
The father-son duo then burns her corpse by collecting wood from the forest. Later, they fill her ashes into a bag and reveal the MacGuffin in the game. Kratos and Atreus must keep Faye’s last wish and scatter her ashes on the highest point in the nine realms.
8 The Last Of Us Part 1 - Ellie’s Immunity
Unlike the previous two games that used an object, The Last Of Us Part 1 has an idea-based MacGuffin. In this Naughty Dog classic, players assume control of the main protagonist, Joel, who’s surviving in a post-apocalyptic world after losing his daughter. The game shows the main character getting into a deal to smuggle a girl named Ellie, who’s immune to the virus.
The whole game becomes about protecting her and venturing to a drop-off point in Colorado so a group called the Fireflies can develop a vaccine from her immunity. Spoiler alert, nothing really becomes of it.
7 The Last Of Us Part 2 - Revenge For Joel
Similar to the first one, The Last Of Us Part 2 uses the MacGuffin technique to build a hook so players can feel like they have a goal. Unfortunately, it does it poorly by killing the first game’s main protagonist, Joel. In the first few minutes of the game, players see a new character named Abby crush Joel's skull as a part of revenge.
The game then throws players in the shoes of Ellie, who is now obsessive about taking revenge on Abby. The Last Of Us Part 2 has great gameplay, but most fans feel it dropped the ball by opting for an ultimately unsatisfying story.
6 Metal Gear Solid - Kenneth Baker’s Disk
Metal Gear Solid took stealth games to another level by building a cohesive narrative and new gameplay mechanics. In 1998, Hideo Kojima’s masterpiece title redefined what it meant to be a full-fledged piece of entertainment. Metal Gear Solid offered it all: great dialogue, innovative gameplay, an interesting story, and an iconic protagonist that people still remember today.
The game also offered a smooth storyline and a subtle MacGuffin as Kenneth Baker’s Disk. The players always had the item in their hands and had no idea that it was what Ocelot was after the whole time.
5 Resident Evil Village - Rose
Resident Evil Village is the eighth main game in the franchise that recently came out in 2021 and got a lot of praise. It’s a first-person horror survival title where players assume control of a man named Ethan Winters, who was also the main protagonist of the seventh game. Similar to its predecessor, Resident Evil Village uses a MacGuffin to set the motivation for players.
In the game, players must find their infant daughter Rose, somewhere in the scary village full of monsters and deadly creatures.
4 Far Cry 4 - Ishwari’s Ashes
Far Cry 4 is a massive open-world title that Ubisoft released in 2014. It’s a first-person shooter game where players assume control of a man named Ajay Ghale, who’s visiting the fictional country of Kyrat. Throughout the game, players will take on different kinds of threats, including animals, enemies, and a king named Pagan Min, who has an army of soldiers.
Regardless of what happens in the huge game and how the story unfolds, the main character's goal is to take his mother’s ashes to Lakshmana. If only Ajay had a helicopter, he would’ve easily achieved his goal without battling Pagan Min.
3 Dead Space - USG Ishimura
Dead Space is one of the greatest survival horror titles of the last two decades. In this game, players are on an intergalactic mission to discover what really happened to the USG Ishimura spaceship. However, the whole ship in this game is a big MacGuffin, as it causes the entire story to unfold and motivates players to explore it.
Dead Space’s main character, Issac, also has another goal to find out what happened to his girlfriend, Nicole Brennan, as she was a senior medical officer at the USG Ishimura Planetcracker spaceship.
2 God Of War - Pandora’s Box
The first-ever God of War game was even more iconic than the latest entry, as it brought many new concepts to the table. From a unique spin on Greek mythology to the debut of the main character Kratos, the first title handles everything right. Except it uses a small MacGuffin to set up the goals for the players.
Similar to the briefcase from the popular movie Pulp Fiction, the game centers around Kratos making a journey to find the hidden Pandora’s box, which contains the power to beat the gods.
1 Heavy Rain - Missing Shaun
Heavy Rain is an excellent interactive drama title from 2010 that still has one of the most atmospheric thriller storylines in any game. The once-PlayStation exclusive features four main protagonists, who’re all finding the truth behind the identity of an Origami killer. The game does a brilliant job of portraying its story through different lenses.
It uses the characters' psychological problems to build suspense and keep players engaged. However, the biggest motivation for the players is to find Ethan’s missing child, Shaun, who’s the main reason for almost everything that happens in Heavy Rain without even being a major part of the game.