Life (video games)
Play turn of a character in a game / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play.[1] Lives refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a game over.[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".[3] Generally, if the player loses all their health, they lose a life. Losing all lives usually grants the player character "game over", forcing them to either restart or stop playing.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Lives_and_Health_in_gaming.png)
The number of lives a player is granted varies per game type. A finite number of lives became a common feature in arcade games and action games during the 1980s, and mechanics such as checkpoints and power-ups made the managing of lives a more strategic experience for players over time. Lives give novice players more chances to learn the mechanics of a video game, while allowing more advanced players to take more risks.