In This Videogame, Death Means You'll Never Play Again

In videogames, death is rarely fatal. If you take a shotgun blast to the noggin, a simple restart gets you back in the action. That’s what makes the twist behind the upcoming PC game Upsilon Circuit so scary: If you die in this world, you’re done. Nope, can’t even start over. You can never play again.

The goal of indie game studio Robot Loves Kitty is to see how players behave when any misstep could mean the permanent end of their existence. (They’re calling it perma-permadeath.)

The setup: Two teams of four meet in a fantasy arena, where monsters and traps threaten at every turn. “What I’m hoping happens is that the experience evolves,” codeveloper Calvin Goble says, “and that the people who live longest will respect their one life, be more cautious and careful.” Yes, only eight people play at a time, but a vast audience of spectators can stream the game live—plus they’re empowered to toss aid or obstacles to the all-too-mortal players. In the event of a perma-permadeath, a random viewer becomes the next player, like a contestant on The Price Is Right summoned up from the crowd. “The only way we can go a step up from this is if we actually start killing the contestants in real life,” Goble says. OK, now you’re really freaking us out.