Continue

A common phrase in gaming which offers the player the chance to carry on after using up all their lives, rather than restarting from scratch. The player might face consequences, like point deductions or ineligibility for bonus rounds.
In arcade settings, players usually encounter a “continue countdown” after failing a level, giving them a limited time (typically 10, 15, or 20 seconds) to insert more coins to keep playing. Choosing not to proceed leads to the ‘game over’ screen.
The addition of the ‘continue’ feature to arcade games in the mid-1980s was due to arcade proprietors’ desire to profit from players engaged for longer stints. The early games to incorporate this were Fantasy in arcades and Vanguard on the Atari 2600. Consequently, games began introducing narratives and definite conclusions. These games, however, were almost impossible to complete without opting to continue. Salen and Zimmerman suggest that the continue function in games like Gauntlet served as a medium for ostentatious spending.

In the contemporary landscape, continues have found their way into free-to-play titles, notably mobile games. Here, players can use real-world currency to continue after a game loss. Temple Run 2, for instance, doubles the continue fee after each failure, with the option to instantly buy the game’s premium currency if needed.