Life

From Styleguide

life

A distinct gaming attempt that starts when the player takes control of a character and ends with a death (often referred to as losing a life). In games with a limited number of lives, the loss of all lives results in game over or a continue.

While it may not make literal sense to describe inanimate objects (i.e. marbles, tanks), or the undead (such as zombies or ghosts) as alive, this term is generally used to describe the period between the start and end of play for any character. Still, some on-screen avatars do not lend themselves to being described in terms of lives. Cars in a racing game, for example, or fighters in a fighting game are usually never described in terms of losing lives.

When writing about lives remaining in a game, remember that some games include the current life in the displayed "lives remaining" count and some do not. For example, in the original Castlevania, play continues when "P = 0" is on screen. In contrast, in Super Mario Bros., dying when "Mario x 1" is on the screen results in a game over.

Example: Players start Super Mario Bros. with three lives. When Mario gets hit by an enemy, he loses a life.

Wrong: play, try.

Also see: continue, death, game over, playthrough.