The Top 10 Video Game Chests

Chests have become so commonplace in video games that they are almost expected to appear in some fashion, especially when games like Fortnite infest the waters with their multitude of generic loot chests, diluting the few good examples of chests with actual personality. There are, however, a small trove of chests that go above and beyond their namesake and form an identity that can either embrace their lock-and-key history or abandon all tradition and become something much more. The following ten are the pinnacle introductions to video game chests.

10. Jolly Roger Bay Chests – Super Mario 64

Tied to the “Treasure in the Ocean Cave” star in Jolly Roger Bay, there are a series of 4 chests that need to be approached and opened in the correct pattern to unlock the star. These chests are probably the most annoying within this list for purely personal reasons. From my experience, there is no real indication of what the correct pattern is – and that’s garbage. Paired with the piercing jingle the chests produce, these chests earn their spot on the list because of a personal vendetta that I will never let go.

9. Lockup – Banjo-Kazooie

Found in Treasure Trove Cove, Lockup is an invulnerable sentient treasure chest whose treasure is a Jiggy, begging to be grabbed. Constantly opening and closing its lid, ready to deal significant damage if Banjo jumps inside Lockup at the wrong time. After enough screw-ups, anyone will be subjected to the berating of Gruntilda that nobody deserves.

8. Glitch Chests – Enter the Gungeon

Probably the rarest chests that can be found in Enter the Gungeon, Glitch Chests are these pixelated messes that can barely keep their form. Upon opening them, they will throw you into a map that only has one floor which contains a mimic chest and an immediate boss room of Glitched Double Beholsters. Couple this scenario with the fact that Glitch Chests can only appear in select early floors makes it a good chance that you haven’t gotten many guns or items to prepare for the gauntlet of Double Glitched Beholsters. The reward is quite nice if the Beholsters are defeated, granting seven guns and random pickups. Frustrating as well as oddly fun, these Glitch Chests are still a treat to search for when booting up a fresh run through the Gungeon.

7. Ice Chest – Day of the Tentacle

At some point in Day of the Tentacle you will have to orchestrate your 3 characters through ridiculous tasks to power a generator for Laverne. Most of the tasks revolve around transferring an unfortunate hamster from the present day with Bernard, to the future where the generator is located with Laverne. Of course, the best time travel machine isn’t even the Chron-O-John, it’s the Ice Chest right above Weird Ed Edison’s room. Freezing the hamster and switching to Lavern’s perspective who is years ahead of the future, you will be able to retrieve the frozen hamster who, after thorough thawing, can help power the generator crucial to progressing the story. 

6. Ice Chest – Banjo-Tooie

Foiling the minds of many Banjo-Kazooie fans was the existence of the Ice Key that was fabled to open up a chest guarded by an impassable wall of ice. Fans would only find closure in Banjo-Tooie through the function of Stop ‘n’ Swap. Stop ‘n’ Swap was originally a function introduced in Banjo-Tooie that involved switching the Banjo-Tooie cartridge with the Banjo-Kazooie within one second, but since that was impossible, it was scrapped. Only when the Banjo games got ported to the Xbox Live Arcade did the Stop ‘n’ Swap function finally work. In Jinjo Village you can find a Banjo-Kazooie game pak which when destroyed reveals the Ice Key. After swimming through the Waterfall Cavern in Glitter Gulch Mine, you will wind up in the wintery area of Hailfire Peaks. Here you find the elusive Ice Chest which contains a Mega-Glowbo that can be taken to Humba Wumba, who will in turn transform Kazooie into a dragon.

5. Mimicutie – Kid Icarus Uprising

Like most mimics, Mimicuties appear as regular chests up until Pit gets close enough for them to grow a pair of unsettling legs and start racing toward him. Surprisingly, they only attack with various kicks, including a spinning kick that almost looks like a musical number. Managing to defeat a Mimicutie will usually yield items that can potentially boost stats for Pit. Mimicuties are laughably ridiculous to look at and almost make me want to avoid Kid Icarus Uprising altogether.

4. Nornir Chests – God of War 2018

Much like Kratos, God of War shows that it too has matured and aged its gameplay into an experience that is far from the top down hack-n-slash it once was. On top of the game’s combat getting an overhaul, puzzles became a bit more involved. Rather than in the previous games where chests would only need to be found in less than hidden areas, God of War introduces these Nornir Chests that are locked by runes projected on them. In order to get the treasure inside you would have to find objects that contain the correct runes shown on the chest. These objects range from rocks that can be destroyed by the Leviathan axe to bells that need to be rung in quick enough succession to register on the chest. These small puzzles do something that not many games are capable of doing, which is making these moments fun rather than trivial.

3. Mimics – Dark Souls series

Dark Souls may not be the first to adopt the idea of mimics, but they certainly have found a way to mutilate the common mimic into a horrifying figure that goes beyond just a trove of jagged clamping jaws. If you’re lucky enough to survive the horrifying circumstance of opening up a mimic, you will find yourself in a fight with this lanky form of bare nightmares. Much faster than it has any right to be, the mimic will chase you down until it either takes the final bite and swallows you whole or will giggle a haunting chuckle as it hurricane kicks its way through your poor ribcage.

2. Zombies Mystery Box – Call of Duty: Black Ops series

Going by many names that range from random box, devil box, and just “the box,” the Mystery Box is a random weapon generator that spins different guns or equipment until settling on what it’ll give you. Universally costing 950 points to spin, unless there’s a fire sale going off, this is the box everyone knows about when playing the zombies mode in the Call of Duty: Black Ops series. The Mystery Box itself has become cemented in not just the zombies community, but the video game community as a whole. Most everyone is aware of the sought-after ray gun as well as the many other wonder weapons. Whether they be monkey bombs, the Thunderguns, the Wunderwaffe, or Gersh Devices, the Mystery box is what holds them all and we are all slaves to it’s random rolls. Just pray you don’t get the teddy bear.

1. Avarice – Titan Souls

One of the nineteen titans found in Titan Souls, Avarice is a giant living treasure chest that is referred to as the “Manifestation of Greed.” Surrounded by gold coins and resting on a luxurious rug, Avarice rests like a regular chest until you walk far enough inside the room for it to begin fighting. Opening up with a belch that expulses the same gold coins in the room, Avarice can teleport with a vanish effect, hop around, and plop itself open, hoping to flatten you before you can get an arrow off inside of it. Accompanied by solid music and a move set for what is practically the best mimic fight on the list, Avarice is a chest that won’t let you forget about it. Especially after countless attempts of fights that regularly only last seconds until defeated.

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