Permadeath — when dying is forever, you play differently

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 09:00:00 -0300

You're 90 minutes into a run in a roguelike. Randomly generated dungeon, items accumulated, a strategy built room by room. Then you misread an enemy, take damage you shouldn't have, and the game over screen appears. The run is finished. There's no reload, no "load last save", no undo. The character died and is gone. That has a name: permadeath. And your stomach drops in a way that's different from any other kind of game.

Save scumming: the art of never accepting consequences

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -0300

You open the rare chest, get a mediocre item, reload the save. You get the same item, reload again. Forty minutes later you're still in the same spot on the map, obsessed with a drop the game simply isn't going to hand you right now. It's called save scumming. And there's a decent chance you do it outside the game too.

What save scumming is, for anyone who doesn't play

Save scumming is the practice of saving the game immediately before a risky action — a dice roll, an important dialogue choice, a hard fight — and reloading the save if the result isn't what you wanted. The goal is to force a favourable outcome without paying the price of uncertainty.

Decision on Locodigital

Permadeath — when dying is forever, you play differently

Save scumming: the art of never accepting consequences

What save scumming is, for anyone who doesn't play