I Use These Sites to Track All the Collectibles in My Games.
Searching for video game guides can make up more of my Google searches than any other individual activity. The sheer number of different quests, mechanics, stats, and even romance guides that any given game can include is staggering. That’s why I’ve recently come to appreciate collectibles maps even more. These interactive tools allow you to find, filter, and track all the little trinkets in your games, organized by the game’s map layout.
Chances are you’ve stumbled across collectible tracking sites by simply searching for something like “where the hell is the last manuscript page in Alan Wake II ?” Sometimes guides with more traditional lists and screenshots will include a link to an interactive map where you can get a top-down view of whatever you’re looking for.
While these tools are often described as tracking “collectibles,” they are often actually databases for the location of almost everything in the game. Whether it’s the location of specific characters, quest markers, merchant locations, and upgrades, these maps will often point you to everything you need to find.
For the Largest Library of Games: IGN Interactive Maps
If you’ve ever come across a collectibles tracker, it’s probably one of IGN’s. You’ve probably seen IGN’s walkthrough of a specific level in a game via Google. What you might not notice is that at the top of these pages are links to interactive tools that show a lot of the same information overlaid on a map of the game world. You can click on points of interest and even mark the ones you’ve collected. This same information even syncs with text guides. (Disclaimer: Lifehacker’s parent company, Ziff Davis, also owns IGN.)
Of all the collectibles tracker sites I’ve seen, IGN has the most games, with over 200 titles. It even includes some recent releases like Doom: The Dark Ages, with most or all of the information available as of the release date. It will depend on the popularity of the game, its release date, and how difficult it may be to track its quests and data, but if you’re looking for a tracker for a specific game, IGN is your best bet.
The downside is that while browsing IGN maps is free, you can only tag 50 items without an IGN Plus subscription . In exchange for $30/year (or $5/month), you get the ability to tag as many items as you want, add your own notes to maps, and remove ads. If you play a lot of sandbox games and don’t want to create your own game tracking spreadsheets , this might be a worthwhile tradeoff.
For a cheaper subscription: Map Genie
Very similar to IGN’s interactive maps, Map Genie has almost as many games as IGN, with similar limitations but a much cheaper subscription. Like IGN, Map Genie limits you to 50 points you can mark for free, but you can get unlimited access (and no ads) for just $10 a year.
But here’s the twist: Map Genie is also owned by IGN. So why bother with IGN if Map Genie exists? Well, while Map Genie has most of the same game maps as IGN, there are a few games that Map Genie doesn’t. Games like Bioshock and Cyberpunk 2077 are in IGN’s library, but Map Genie isn’t.
On the other hand, a Map Genie subscription also includes access to maps for games currently in development. At the time of writing, that includes games like Hollow Knight , Control , and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker . Overall, Map Genie is a better deal either way, but the specific game you want to track may influence which service is best for you.
For free tracking (on fewer games): GameTrek
GameTrek has a much smaller library ( just 18 games at the time of writing), but it has one big advantage: it’s free. At least for now, you can track every collectible, write your own notes, and filter every item category on the map without paying a cent. You’ll need to create an account to track anything, but no payment is required.
The small library is also growing at a healthy (if not frantic) pace. Over the past couple of months, the site has added guides for recent releases like Doom: The Dark Ages and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 , as well as older but popular games like The Last of Us Part II . There are a lot of gaps in GameTrek’s library right now, but it’s hard to beat for free.
Another free option: enthusiast sites (like Zelda Dungeon)
Interactive collectible trackers require a lot of work and often don’t turn a profit. If you saw the $30 or even $10 a year price tag above and (perhaps understandably) laughed, you can see why. Luckily, there’s no shortage of enthusiastic nerds online who love to obsess over their games. Depending on the franchise, you can sometimes find entire sites dedicated to cards and trackers for just one series.
Zelda Dungeon is a perfect example. While it has guides for every Legend of Zelda game under the sun ( or moon, as the case may be ), it also has interactive maps for several games. This includes Breath of the Wild , Tears of the Kingdom , and even the recent Echoes of Wisdom .
Not only do they include tracking for everything from Lightroots to Korok Seeds (all 1,000 of them ), but you can even mark them as completed for free without an account. You’ll need to create an account and sign in to save your progress across devices, but it’s the most generous of any collectible tracker I’ve seen.
Your mileage may vary depending on what franchise you’re looking at (or how old the game you’re playing is), but there’s always someone documenting their favorite games. If you find a good forum, subreddit, or fan site dedicated to your favorite franchise, it’s worth checking out to see if they already have an interactive map you can use.