Life (video games)

In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play.

[2] Sometimes the euphemisms chance, try, rest and continue are used, particularly in all-ages games, to avoid the morbid insinuation of losing one's "life".

Losing all lives usually grants the player character "game over", forcing them to either restart or stop playing.

[7][8] 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.

[2] Many older video games feature cheat codes that allow you to gain extra lives without earning them throughout gameplay.

[9] In modern times, some free-to-play games, such as the Candy Crush Saga trilogy, capitalize on the multiple life system to create an opportunity to earn more microtransactions.

The use of the term "1-up" to designate an extra life first appeared in Super Mario Bros., where a 1-Up could be obtained in several ways, including grabbing a green "1-Up Mushroom", collecting 100 coins, using a Koopa shell to kill 8 or more consecutive enemies, and jumping on 8 or more consecutive enemies without touching the ground.