Spider-Man Research Tokens, Research Stations and catching Pigeons explained
All you need to know about Research Tokens in Spider-Man, and some tips for earning them quickly.
Research Tokens, earned from completing Research Stations, are one of several key resources in Spider-Man.
They're unlocked a little later than the other basic Resources in the game, and require slightly different skillsets to complete - and they're also the only Resource you can earn from not one or two, but three methods: completing Research Stations, doing Circuit Projects, and catching Pigeons. Here on this page then, we'll explain how to do each of them.
On this page:
6 Things We Loved About Marvel's Spider-Man (And 1 Thing We Didn't) Marvel's Spider-Man PS4 Gameplay
What are Research Tokens in Spider-Man and what are they used for?
Research Tokens are one of the six Resources in Spider-Man.
Those mostly become available as you progress through the story and level up, but for some - Suits in particular - you'll need to compelete specific tasks. More on those in our guide to how to unlock all Suits in Spider-Man.
Research Tokens are earned in three ways: from completing Research Station tasks, completing Circuit Projects, and from catching Pigeons.
Research Stations are simple enough - they're marked on the map with a purple magniscope icon and, when interacted with, give you a short task like swinging through clouds of smog to collect data on pollution. Doing so will reward you with Research Tokens for you to spend.
Circuit Projects, similarly, are quite easy to do. These are found in Octavius Labs, on a tablet on the desk just ahead of you as you enter. These are the circuit-based puzzles that you'll have encountered a few times already, that require you to get the current from one end of the board to the next with the right level of charge.
Pigeons, meanwhile, are actually only unlocked as things to do around the game world when you head to a specific Sidequest, "Helping Howard". It's unlocked fairly early on in the main story - keep progressing through and checking after each mission until you see the Sidequest icon for it appear on your map.
Head over to Howard at the Sidequest icon for his mission, and after a brief chat he'll explain that he's lost a load of his pet pigeons, thanks to being cruelly evicted from his home.
Pigeons are then marked on your map with a Pigeon icon, and when you get nearby a grean area will appear on your mini-map to show you where to look for one. Eventually one will appear, and you'll need to then chase it through the air as fast as you can, and catch it (by pressing L1 and R1 when prompted) to earn a Research Token and return it to Howard safely.
What are Research Tokens used for?
You can use Research Tokens to both buy new Suits that you've unlocked, and buy upgrades for Spidey in the form of Suit Mods, Gadgets, and Gadget upgrades.
Those mostly become available as you progress through the story and level up, but for some - Suits in particular - you'll need to compelete specific tasks. More on those in our guide to how to unlock all Suits in Spider-Man.
Looking for more help? Our main Spider-Man walkthrough and guide is where you'll find a hub of all our pages, or you can go straight to our guides to Resources, like Backpack Tokens, Base Tokens, Challenge Tokens, Crime Tokens, Research Tokens and Landmark Tokens, our big list of all Spider-Man suits, all Black Cat Stakeout locations, all Secret Photo Ops locations or, finally, our list of Spider-Man Circuit Puzzle and Pattern Puzzle solutions.
How to earn Research Tokens fast, complete Research Stations and catch Pigeons
There's no easy win for earning Research Tokens quickly, unfortunately, but some methods are faster than others.
You can earn six Research Tokens from completing all of the Circuit Projects at the lab (two from specific projects, and four for compelting all of them), and those are fairly easy to work your way through if you can get into a rhythm.
Otherwise, Research Stations take about five minutes to compelete and grant two Research Tokens, which is a decent return for your time.
As for Pigeon hunting, we recommend you unlock this one as soon as the Helping Howard sidequest appears on the map - fairly early on during your progression during the story, so keep checking between missions! - and then just grabbing a Pigeon quickly if you happen to be passing one by on your travels. They're a little time consuming for going out of your way to get just one Research Token, otherwise.