The guilty pleasure of Die and Retry in video games
Remember... ...that cursed level. That impossible passage. That jump you attempted 45 times, missed 45 times. That day you ended up eating your keyboard, and where your mouse hit Mach 3 across your room. Finally, you shut down your computer, you came back later, and there, a miracle, the 46th one was the charm, and you had that feeling of having climbed **Everest**. You know what I'm talking about ? Welcome to the realm of Die and Retry, where failure isn't a fatality, but the only path to victory. This mythical genre has spanned eras, from the '80s until today, and continues to fascinate players eager for challenges and accomplishment. Shall we dive in ? Respawn in 3, 2, 1...
Die and Retry : Dying to learn better
Where does this thing come from ?
The term Die and Retry (« die and try again » for non-anglophones) appeared in player communities to describe those games where failure is part of the gameplay. The principle : you will die. A lot. But each death teaches you something, in the form of a feature included in the game.
Even before video games seized upon it, we already found this logic in the Choose Your Own Adventure books of the '80s-'90s. Turn to page 43 ? A deadly trap. Back to square one. You try something else. Until the right path reveals itself. These books were bangers before their time, we'll come back to them in another article.
Difficulty vs Die and Retry
Careful, a difficult game is not automatically a Die and Retry. D&R is a style of its own : it punishes, yes, but fairly. The rule is simple : if you die, it's your fault. It’s not the game’s fault for being poorly designed. You didn't jump at the right moment, didn't react fast enough. No lifebuoy. No checkpoint every 2 meters. But also : no greater pride than when you succeed. Everything, or almost everything, is truly a story of pattern (the way your environment, your enemies act, and your learning of these reactions, to adjust the next time).
An old-school learning curve
Die and Retry games demand a rare quality : patience. You will fail, then try again, over and over. But each time, you will learn one tiny bit more. And one day, a miracle : you pass where you were stuck for hours. You improved yourself.
A brief history of the genre : from pixelated hell to stylized hell
The pioneers of suffering
Early '80s. Video games are young, but they don't give gifts. Infernal Runner (1985, both terrifying and cruel), Ghosts'n Goblins (also 1985), Contra (1987), Mega Man (1987), or even Ninja Gaiden (1988) lay the foundations : split-second timing, merciless enemies, and zero right to error. If you don't know every level by heart, you have no chance.
« Cocorico », let's look back at Infernal Runner, a French game published by Loriciel, initially crafted for the Commodore 64, then ported to **Amstrad** by Eric Chahi, who would later be the father of the very famous Another World. This game, which might be my very first Die and Retry, is indeed a very good example to illustrate the torture you are going to undergo :
The arcade : temple of frustration
The arcade was the kingdom of Die and Retry without saying so. Why ? Because each death meant : insert a coin. The goal was to be fun enough that you came back, but hard enough that you paid again. A devilish balance.
Today : coming back strong and Loop Hero
In the years 2010-2020, the genre returns strong thanks to the indie scene. Super Meat Boy, Celeste, Dead Cells reinvent pain with love. And then comes Loop Hero (2021), a fabulous UFO. A mix of automatic RPG, rogue-lite, and old-school Die and Retry. You place cards, manage loops, die, start over, but you build, little by little, knowledge, strategy, a world. Die and Retry passes here from reflex to brain. And it’s just as addictive.
« Toi tu vis, toi tu vis, toi tu crèves » (« You live, you live, you die »)
Why do we like to suffer ? It’s a real question. Why return to a game that made us cry with rage ? Why beat this boss that destroyed us ? We fall. We get back up. We try again. Sometimes, we advance by three steps, we move back by two. We change strategy. We improve. Like in real life, **Die and Retry** teaches us resilience (a huge wink to Ubidante, from Clan EwOk). And it’s finally, at the end of all these tries and fails, that when we succeed in winning, we will feel the dopamine of victory. And we can set off again, for a new cycle of suffering !
A genre become cult (and even cinematographic)
Rage, glory, and streaming
**Die and Retry** have invaded Twitch and YouTube. Videos of speedruns, no-death runs, players exploding their controller... or their keyboard. Memes, GIFs, best-of's of epic rages. It has become a show.
From the side of the 7th art
We can cite among others Ender's Game (Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford), where the hero constantly faces war simulations. He starts over, adapts his strategies, analyzes. He dies, virtually, to better win. It’s exactly the principle of Die and Retry, military-futuristic version. In another style, Groundhog Day (with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell) and Edge of Tomorrow (Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt who respawn in the mud) illustrate to marvel this logic : repeat, learn, adapt. Until victory.
80-2025 Culture
The Die and Retry is linked to our pop culture : it embodies the « try hard » of a whole generation, from the former Commodore 64 players to the Gen Z streamers. It speaks to those who knew Battletoads, Turrican, Hotline Miami... And also to fans of Rick & Morty or Dark, where repetition is the only means of evolution.
Conclusion : Dying is not failing
The Die and Retry, this is not just a genre. It's a philosophy. A way of playing. A way of living. A space where failure isn't humiliating, but educational. And where each victory, however tiny it may be, is a triumph. It is in its way an art in video games. It isn't made for everyone. If you try it, know that you are going to suffer. You are going to grumble. You are going to shout in German at night. You are probably going to change your keyboard often. But you are going to grow. And one day, you'll say like Nux in Mad Max - Fury Road : "I LIVE, I DIE. I LIVE AGAIN !"
And if you have games that made you scream, don’t hesitate to talk about them in the comments, right below !
