You’re standing in the Nuka-Cade, surrounded by the neon glow and the cheerful, slightly decaying jingles of pre-war America. You’ve got a pocket full of tokens and a dream. But then you look at the requirements for the Eyes on the Prize achievement. One hundred thousand tickets. 100,000. It’s a number that feels less like a fun gameplay challenge and more like a cruel joke from a Bethesda developer who had a very bad day.
Honestly, it’s the kind of grind that makes "Open Season" look like a relaxing stroll through the Commonwealth. Most players reach the end of the Nuka-World DLC with maybe 10,000 tickets if they were being thorough. Getting ten times that amount is a test of patience that would break a Paladin of the Brotherhood.
The Math Behind the Madness
Let’s be real for a second. If you play the games the "intended" way, you’re looking at a soul-crushing time investment. Bandit Roundup—arguably the most efficient "legit" game—nets you maybe 600 to 900 tickets per round if you’re hitting every target. Do the math. You’d need to play over 100 rounds perfectly. That’s not even accounting for the time it takes to walk back and forth or the sheer boredom of shooting cardboard ducks for three hours straight.
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Some people try the Whac-a-Commie approach with a Ripper. It sounds smart, right? You just hold the trigger and sweep the board. But the ticket yield is pitiful compared to the shooting gallery. You're basically working for minimum wage in a post-apocalyptic arcade.
How to Actually Get Eyes on the Prize Without Losing Your Mind
If you want that platinum trophy or the 100% completion mark, you have to get creative. Or, more accurately, you have to exploit the physics of the Creation Engine.
The "Rug Glitch" is your best friend here. By using the settlement building mechanics, you can actually clip multiple Hoop Shot machines into the same physical space. I've seen people stack three, four, or even five machines on top of each other. Once you've got them merged, you start all the games simultaneously with a few tokens.
Then, you don't even throw the ball. You just pick it up, stand right in front of the hoops, and spam the crouch button.
By moving the ball up and down through the invisible scoring plane of five stacked hoops, you can generate thousands of tickets in a single minute. It’s ridiculous. It looks stupid. But it works. If you’re on a controller, remapping your crouch button to a trigger can save your thumb from literal physical pain.
The Explosive Shortcut
If building weird contraptions isn't your style, head to the Bandit Roundup gallery with an explosive weapon. The Spray n' Pray or the Kiloton Radium Rifle are the gold standards here.
Instead of aiming at individual targets, you just fire into the middle of the board. The splash damage from the explosions knocks down everything that pops up. You can easily clear 1,000 tickets per round this way. It’s faster than the hoops if you don't want to mess with settlement glitches, but it will eat through your .45 ammo like a hungry Yao Guai.
The Crucial Step Everyone Forgets
Here is the part that leads to more "my achievement is glitched" forum posts than anything else: The tickets must be redeemed.
You can have 200,000 tickets sitting in your inventory, and the achievement won't pop. You have to walk over to the prize terminal inside the Nuka-Cade and select "Redeem Tickets." The game only tracks the number of tickets processed by that terminal.
I’ve talked to people who spent three days grinding, hit 100k, and then almost deleted their save file in a rage because the trophy didn't appear. Just use the terminal. It’ll churn through your stacks, and eventually, the notification will slide into the corner of your screen.
Common "Glitches" and Realities
Sometimes, even after redeeming, the achievement lags. On Xbox and PlayStation, there’s a known issue where the trophy won't "pop" until the next time the console syncs with the server. If you know you've redeemed over 100,000, try restarting your game or just waiting a day. It usually catches up.
Also, for the love of Todd Howard, make sure you aren't using mods. It sounds obvious, but even a small "quality of life" mod will disable achievements on consoles unless you have a specific mod to re-enable them (which is its own whole headache).
Is the Reward Even Worth It?
Probably not. Unless you’re a completionist, the prizes at the Nuka-Cade are... fine. You can get the Acid Soaker or some legendary melee weapons, but by the time you have 100,000 tickets, you’re likely already a walking god in the Wasteland. You don’t need a slightly better pipe wrench.
This achievement is about the bragging rights. It's about looking at your trophy list and knowing you conquered the most tedious task Bethesda ever dreamed up.
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Next Steps for Your Ticket Grind:
- Check your inventory for "Ticket Rolls" you found while exploring the other parks; these usually give about 800-1,000 tickets each and can give you a massive head start.
- If you're on PC and just want it over with, you can use console commands, but you'll need to restart the game session after adding the tickets to ensure achievements aren't disabled for that run.
- Head to a settlement with plenty of wood and steel to build your "Hoop Shot" farm if you want the fastest possible completion time.