Death (Nitrome games)

Death is a state most 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. Usually upon dieing, the player's character will die in some sort of way their entire body is gone from the screen, usually.

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 Beetleknight 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 dieing, 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 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.

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 dieing.

The death of enemies is sometimes required in order to progress farther in the level of a game, while the death of bosses is always required in order to progress farther in the game. Enemies/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.

Deaths in Nitrome games
Below lists what happens when a Nitrome character dies, and what is on the game over screen. Each game over screen will have a try again, quit, and submit score button, unless noted.

Hot Air
Hot Air's balloon will pop and his gondola will fall off the screen. Hot Air does not have a "game over" screen, the words "Oh No!" will appear, and take the player back to the level select screen.

Sandman
Sleepwalkers die by disappearing in a flash.

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 asked if they want to play the game again, once the timer runs out.

Magic Touch
The wizard will simply flee the castle when a Beetleknight lands.

In The Dog House
The player cannot, in any way, even harm the dog. Thus, death is unachievable.

Powerup
The player cannot die as the player cannot harm the important objects in the level - the transformers.

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

B.C. Bow Contest
The player cannot die as no hazards exists for the player 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 player does not enter a state of danger, at all, as the game is purely a guessing game.

Rubble Trouble/Rubble Trouble Tokyo/Rubble Trouble Moscow
The player cannot die at all as they are not put into a situation of which they have health.

Snot Put/Super Snot Put
No hazards exist to kill or harm the player.