10 Things You Didn’t Know About Video Game UI

9. Hidden Tricks Of A Health Bar

Dead Space
Nintendo

The health bar is pretty much as ubiquitous as UI comes, but I bet you didn’t know that we design them with a few sneaky tricks in mind!

The chances are, if you’re like me when playing a game, you tend to be a bit more daredevil-like when you’ve got a full health bar when compared to being at death’s door. But have you ever noticed that, when you’re on your last legs, you tend to totally go ham, ekeing out that last 1HP and you get out by the skin of your teeth like a badass?

Well, sorry to let you in on a secret here, but that last bit of health?

That’s usually artificially inflated to make you feel like you could die at any moment for just a bit longer than you expect, and by contrast, the start of your health bar sometimes depletes a bit faster so it’s more obvious that you’re damaged.

Next time you look at a health bar, think of the raw numbers. 100-90 HP will deplete in a flash, 89-2HP will deplete at a normal rate, and that last 1HP might actually be more like a hidden 10-20%.

Best trick, bar none.

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Dead Space
 
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Hiya, you lot! I'm Tommy, a 39-year-old game developer from Scotland - I live on the East coast in an adorable beachside village. I've worked on Need for Speed, Cake Bash, Tom Clancy's The Division, Driver San Francisco, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, Kameo 2 and much more. I enjoy a pun and, of course, suffer fools gladly! Join me on Twitter at @TotoMimoTweets for more opinion diarrhoea.