Death (Nitrome games)

Death is a state almost every character in every Nitrome game can enter when they run out of health. Although depletion of health causes death, other events may lead to death, unconnected to health. Death is found in both the player's main character, enemies, bosses, and sometimes inanimate objects.

Overview

In the majority of Nitrome games, the player controls a main character who has a certain objective. Of most of these main character's, the majority of them have health. When impacting a hazardous object, enemy, or projectile from an enemy, they will lose health. Upon depleting their health, they will die, usually in some short but simple animation and, usually upon dying, in some sort of way their entire body will disappear from the screen.

The depletion of all health does not necessarily cause the player to die, they may perform some other action which simply causes the player a game over screen (For example, Magic Touch, upon a knights landing on the castle, the wizard simply runs away).

What is becoming common in Nitrome games is the presence of checkpoints. Objects like these will immediately respawn the player if they are killed. Although all Nitrome games with the concept of death have the main character having health, many Nitrome games do not display the player's health, usually because the player can only incur one blow of anything before dying, the presence of a health bar being futile in this situation.

Game over screen

Common in many Nitrome games, but become less common due to the presence of checkpoints, are game over screens. Whenever the player dies - and usually when there are no checkpoints - a screen will pop up. This screen will usually have a short sentence at the top, and give the player the option of trying again ("Try again"), which restarts the player at the start of the level, quitting ("Quit"), which takes the player back to the level select screen of the main menu, and submitting their score ("Submit Score") which takes the player to a panel that allows them to type in the 10 letter name of the choice (giving them access to the 26 letters of the English alphabet), and submitting their score to the Game high scores. A very few amount of Nitrome games have a special image seen only when the player dies.

Death in numbers

Games in which the player is in control over more than one character will only give the player a game over screen if all the character's they have die. Games such as Scribble, Oodlegobs, and Sandman are an example of this.

Enemy death

Death is not present for just main characters, enemies and bosses can also experience death if they lose all their health. Unlike the main character, enemies are usually not respawned upon dying with the death of enemies sometimes required in order to progress farther in the level of a game.

On the other hand, the death of bosses is always required in order to progress farther in the game as, unlike enemies, bosses may be found occupying a single level. Both enemies and bosses will generally grant points or leave valuable items once killed. Not all enemies in all Nitrome games can be killed, some cannot be killed because the player does not possess any weapons capable of damage, while others altogether are made unable to be killed.

Avoiding death

Avoiding death in any Nitrome game is very simple - the player has to simply avoid objects that are capable of causing death, or destroy them if possible. Although the two aforementioned actions are easy to do, later levels in many Nitrome games will usually put the player in situations where even this is hard to do.

Types of death

Falling deaths

Falling deaths are the most common kind of death encountered and involve the main character falling of the screen. Usually falling deaths will be accompanied by the main character having a certain expression, commonly anguish, sadness, or surprise; a certain sound effect, often a scream; often a going through a physical change; and being in a certain position.

Exploding deaths

Exploding deaths involve part or some of the main character exploding or imploding and may or may not be directly after the character has lost all their health. Exploding deaths are frequently accompanied by the main character breaking into parts with their remains either staying in the level or falling off the screen. On some occasions the main character may not actually explode but rather the device they are on.

Cause specific deaths

Cause specific deaths show the main character reacting to a specific element of an enemy, hazard, or projectile encountered and often appear as an alternate form of the main characters standard death animation. Cause specific deaths frequently manifest in showing the player being electrocuted, burning or burnt, or turned to ash which is often matched by a certain attribute of the cause of death (example: In Colour Blind, if the right eye touches a fireball, the right eye will become engulfed in flames which match the colour and appearance of the fireball).

Unique deaths

In some games, the deaths of some characters are unique. For example, in Chick Flick, Dangle and Square Meal, the main character dies with X eyes, In Sandman, Coil and Ditto, the main character disappears when dying.

Nitrome games that do not have death

Although the majority of Nitrome games have death in them, a few Nitrome games do not have death in them.

Gift Wrapped

The player will simply be given the option to submit their score or return to the main menu when the timer runs out.

Magic Touch series

In the browser version the wizard will simply flee the castle when a knight lands. In the mobile version, when a knight lands a red beam will come up from where they are and multiple grey knights with weapons appear behind the castle. Unlike the browser version, the wizard does not flee the castle.

In the Dog House

The player cannot, in any way, even harm the dog. Thus, death is impossible.

Powerup

The transformers cannot die as the player cannot harm them.

Cosmic Cannon

The main character cannot die as no main character exists, and no hazards exist at all.

B.C. Bow Contest

The main character cannot die as no hazards exists for the main character to die. In fact, the player's main character doesn't even move, or enter a state where they can be harmed.

Skywire VIP/Skywire VIP Extended/Skywire VIP Shuffle

The characters do not enter a state of danger, at all, as the game is purely a guessing game.

Rubble Trouble series

The demolition crew members cannot die at all as they are not put into a situation of which they have health. However, if Larry, one of the demolition crew members, falls off a high enough platform or is exposed to an explosion, he will become injured and limp off the screen. He will not die, though.

Snot Put/Super Snot Put

No hazards exist to kill or harm the snot or nose.