When playing a game, we all aim to fail as little as possible, mainly because our little rat brains crave the serotonin that comes with a successful boss encounter and the eventual rewards we get as a result.
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Come on, let us off the leash already!
However, failure states in games are just as important as the victories. These states teach us what we shouldn’t do, force us to master the mechanics the game implements, and they effectively give the action stakes.
However, failing in a game doesn’t have to be a demoralizing moment that says to the player ‘you’re bad, do better’. It can be a feature of the game that enhances the experience and makes the immersive nature of the game all the more engaging.
So, in a bid to prove that failing, losing, and dying in games isn’t all bad, here are some games that make failure fun.
Dying Enriches The Experience
It’s fair to say that inmost well-made roguelikes, if you happen to be so good at the game naturally that you ace the game and never die, you’re robbing yourself of the true experience.
This couldn’t be more true for a game likeHades. In this game, the random encounters and slick combat as you brave the underworld are great and make each run different from the last. However, it’s the lulls between the action that really makes Hades stand out.
When you die, you return to your home, where you’ll be hazed by your fellow Underworld residents, be able to get to know them more by giving them gifts, and you’ll be able to get some great upgrades on deck that will make the next run a little easier.
Plus, the game continually changes this hub location after each death, meaning this death state is just as varied and rewarding as heading out on escape runs. It’s a truly rewarding experience to die in Hades, but do try your best to escape before kicking the bucket.
10Outer Wilds
The Ultimate Interstellar Puzzle
Time loop gamesare brilliant at offering incredibly rewarding fail states as a collective. This is mainly because of the trial and error involved in these games, and the fact that knowledge tends to be the main driver of the gameplay loop.
This is trueof the MetroidbrainiaOuter Wilds, as you’ll need to explore an entire cosmos to find clues that will help you solve the puzzle and break the time loop. Which you simply can’t do in one loop unless you cheat and look up the solution.
This will inevitably lead to you crashing your ship and running out of oxygen, getting buried alive on the Hourglass Twins, or simply running out of time and witnessing the universe implode.
But with every death, you learn something new and are better equipped to solve the mystery laid out before you. It’s such a rewarding experience, and one I only wish I could wipe my brain of to do it again fresh.
9Elden Ring
The Most Accessible Souls Struggle
Elden Ring
While most gamers can’t handle dying in a video game without rage-quitting and calling it a day, Souls fans are built differently. Thanks to the sheer difficulty and punishing nature of these games, failure is just part of the process.
Every boss is a test in patience and persistence, every new area has gimmicks to learn and sneaky tricks to avoid. And even the mob enemies that make up the numbers are capable of humbling you.
You might think that this would be a recipe for frustration and a terrible time. But the feeling that the player gets when they overcome insurmountable odds and beat a tough section is unparalleled.
If you could bottle up that feeling and sell it, I would take a whole case. However, if you do find this Souls formula a tough pill to swallow, Elden Ring is the most accessible option, as there is always an alternative boss, or a new area to explore to help you get strong enough to clear the area you are stuck on.
8Session: Skate Sim
Do A Kickflip
Session: Skate Sim
Fail states in gaming aren’t always ‘Game Over’ screens. In fact, fail states don’t have to last that long at all to play their role in some games.
Take Session, for example, a hyper-realistic skating simulator that I’ve been addicted to for years now. This is a game where you have to master very demanding control schemes and make precise movements to master tricks, learn new lines, and clear challenges within the game.
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NYC, Philly & San Fran are great, but we know you want more!
And inevitably, you’ll begin the game barely able to Ollie up a curb, or do a basic pop shuv. However, through taking slams, slipping out of slides and grinds, and doing the wrong trick through trial and error, you’ll gain the muscle memory needed to ace any trick at any time.
It’s much like the process of learning a trick when skating in real life, and without all those little failures, you wouldn’t get any closer to that big win. So enjoy the process, and eventually, you’ll land that trick with steeze.
Dumb Ways To Die
Dead Space 2
As much as a lot of these games listed take the sting out of dying more than other games out there, it’s never fun in the moment.
However, there are some games out there that attempt to make each death feel unique and interesting, and Dead Space is one of the finest when it comes to making each death a new experience.
This series is one of the most gory and visceral in existence and this goes double for every death state. Whether it’s Issac Clarke being torn to shreds by a Necromorph or being stabbed to death when an intricate eye surgery goes wrong.
The takeaway is that if you’re a fan of gore and someone who really enjoys Mortal Kombat-style fatalities, then there is a lot to love about dying in Dead Space.
Straight Back Into The Action
Something that is incredibly hard to do as a game designer is to design a game with a clear and undisputable fail state without making the player feel like failure stops the fun and kills the game’s pace. However, if there’s one game that walks this tightrope with grace, it isCeleste.
This modern platforming masterclass is one where dying is something you’ll do a lot, as the platforming is demanding, especially if you’re on the hunt for the Strawberries in each level.
However, the game focuses on making these fail states as short as possible, throwing you right back into the action in the blink of an eye, making this platformer as addicting and satisfying as possible.
It can be a bummer to mess up a jump, but imagine how much worse it would be with a loading screen between each fail. Celeste side-steps this issue, and it’s all the better for it.
5Disco Elysium
Embrace The Way Of The Hobocop
Disco Elysium
Failure in video games is usually the game telling you, don’t do that. It’s a punishment for not playing as the game intends, and it’s usually a way to get the player to engage with the game as the developer intended.
However, in CRPGs, player agency is key, and failure is considered a choice rather than an action best avoided. Something that is best showcased in Disco Elysium.
This game, where you play as the drunken amnesiac Harrier Dubois, allows you to embrace all of your intrusive thoughts. You can crawl into a dumpster and give up your job as a detective, a particularly uncomfortable chair can be the maker of your demise, and you can give into all your vices to make some of the most abhorrent choices you could ever imagine.
Yet, as someone who has made all those choices, I would say you are missing out if you don’t go about this way at least once. It’s a game where you may be the biggest screw-up alive, and the game rewards you. Now, that’s the kind of game I can get behind.
4Neon White
Fast Or Fail
Neon White
Have you ever played a time trial in a racing game and tried desperately to beat the ghost of your best time? It’s arguably more thrilling than playing against the AI, because in most games, the most stiff challenge you’ll find is taking on yourself.
Neon White takes this premise and combines time trial principles with FPS and platformer mechanics to offer a game thatallows you to speedrun speedrunning.
Failure in this game is going to slow and not beating the time needed to ace each stage. But these failures are little learning experiences allowing you to try and find new angles and shortcuts needed to shave those all important milliseconds.
The cringe anime-style writing is an acquired taste, but if you can get past that, you’ll be in for a real treat.
3Burnout Paradise
Crash And Burn
Burnout Paradise Remastered
Speaking of racing games, if you’re trying to break into that competitive genre you often need a gimmick to break the mould. Gran Turismo is all about realism, Need For Speed is all about street racing, and Burnout is a series all about crashes and carnage.
When it’s going well in Burnout this usually means zipping through the streets at breakneck speeds, and knocking rival cars off the road. But, at worst, you’ll be the one careening off the road into a guard rail.
You would think this would suck, but due to how satisfying the slow-motion crashes are, it really adds to the high-octane action of each race. Plus, if you wreck your car, if you take enough risks, you can easily get yourself back amongst the pack.
Heck, the game even has an arcade-style crash mode where wrecking and causing as much damage as possible is the aim of the game. It’s not easy to make writing off expensive sports cars a positive experience, but Burnout Paradise manages it and then some.
Death Makes You Stronger
Dying in a game is rarely something that comes with any consequences other than needing to try again, let alone any positive consequences.
However, in the martial arts epic, Sifu, if you die, thanks to your magical Talisman, you’ll not only come back from the dead, but you’ll come back older and wiser. Which, as you might imagine, is a blessing and curse.
As you get older, you’ll become more proficient in battle, which means that all your abilities and attacks deal more damage. However, this comes at the cost, as you’ll lose some of your maximum health.
This makes you more of a glass cannon that can actually be a good thing as you can end fights before mistakes can creep into your form.
However, those mistakes could prove to be more costly, as those old bones will only get you so far. It’s an incredible concept that makes death a core mechanic, and like most martial arts epics, the old guys are always the strongest, so that tracks.
