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Life


Life
Basic Information
Type(s)
 Terminology

In gaming terms, a life is an indicator of how many turns you have controlling your on-screen character, usually referring to non-vehicles and non-weapons. In arcade machines, players are allocated a set number of lives; each time the character dies, a life is removed. When there are no more lives to remove, the game ends unless the player has an available continue.

History

A finite number of lives (usually three) became a common feature in arcade games. The number of lives usually displayed on the screen (in arcade games, the character that is being played, is also counted as a "life"). The player's goal was usually to score as many points as possible with their limited number of lives.[1][2] Taito's classic arcade video game Space Invaders (1978) is usually credited with introducing multiple lives to video games.[3] Lives were important in these games because the desire to avoid the finality of the player character's death compelled players to insert more quarters, making the maximum amount of profit.[4]

Usage

It is common in action games for the player to have multiple lives and chances to earn more in-game. This way, a player can recover from making a disastrous mistake. Role-playing games and adventure games usually grant only one, but allow player-characters to reload a saved game.[5][6]

Lives set up the situation where dying is not necessarily the end of the game, allowing the player to take risks they might not take otherwise, or experiment with different strategies to find one that works. Multiple lives also allow novice players a chance to learn a game's mechanics before the game is over. Another reason to implement lives is that the ability to earn extra lives provide an additional reward incentive for the player.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rouse III, Richard (2010-03-08). Game Design: Theory and Practice, Second Edition. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 60. ISBN 978-1449633455. https://books.google.com/books?id=tGePP1Nu_P8C&q=lives+game+design. Retrieved 2014-12-19. 
  2. ↑ Lecky-Thompson, Guy W. (2008-01-01). "life". Video Game Design Revealed. Cengage Learning. p. 49. ISBN 978-1584506072. https://books.google.com/books?id=3aQLAAAAQBAJ&q=lives+game+design. Retrieved 2014-12-19. 
  3. ↑ Records, Guinness World (6 November 2014). Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2015 Ebook. Guinness World Records. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-908843-71-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=8OUkBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA68. 
  4. ↑ Rogers, Scott (2014-04-11). Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 299–301. ISBN 978-1118877210. https://books.google.com/books?id=2LNaAwAAQBAJ&q=lives+game+design. Retrieved 2014-12-19. 
  5. ↑ Ernest, Adams (2010-04-07). Fundamentals of Game Design. New Riders. pp. 161, 168. ISBN 978-0132104753. https://books.google.com/books?id=-BCrex2U1XMC&q=checkpoint+warp+game. Retrieved 2014-12-19. 
  6. ↑ Fullerton, Tracy (2008-02-08). Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. CRC Press. pp. 72, 73. ISBN 978-0240809748. https://books.google.com/books?id=OjIYWtqWxtAC&q=lives+game+design. Retrieved 2014-12-19.