Continue? 9, 8, 7... what one more token is worth in life
The Continue screen gave you ten seconds to decide whether to push on. From SNK's Fantasy (1981) to the corner arcade: …
Reflection 14 posts
Information security in plain English: scams, hardening and privacy — plus retrogaming, games and geek culture.
Cutscene — The Moments in Life You Just Cannot Skip
Every game has that one cutscene you can't skip. Life has those same moments — where control leaves your hands and all …
Respawn — why trying again is gaming's most honest lesson
Respawn is the button you press without thinking. But coming back after death says something serious about failure, …
Fog of war: how you make decisions without seeing the full map
In every strategy game, part of the map stays hidden until you explore it. In life, the map never reveals everything at …
Cooldown: why even your best move needs a pause
In every game, the best abilities have a cooldown. The game forbids you from using the same move twice in a row — and …
Permadeath — when dying is forever, you play differently
Permadeath is dying with no second chance, no reload. In 1980, that design changed the concept of risk in games — and it …
Save scumming: the art of never accepting consequences
Save scumming means saving before every risky decision and reloading when it goes wrong. If you do it in games, you …
Side quest: the detours are worth more than the main mission
Every RPG has a main quest and dozens of unnecessary side quests — until you realise those are what you'll remember. …
Fast travel: why you want to skip life's boring parts
In games, fast travel is comfort — skip the journey, appear at the destination. In life, when you want to skip the …
Loading screen: what to do with the time nobody asked for
Before any big world, there's a loading screen. A barstool reflection on waiting, patience, and what changes while the …