10 Video Games That Punish You For Dying

2. The Game Deletes Itself - Lose/Lose

Sifu Age
Zach Gage

Lose/Lose is a 2009 video game-cum-art project developed by Zach Gage - a Galaga-esque shoot 'em up in which each alien you encounter represents a file on your own computer, and for every alien you kill, a file will be permanently deleted for real. Yup.

Because the aliens don't open fire on the player, you can simply attempt to dodge them, though this will almost certainly eventually result in your own demise.

And the punishment - or, some might say, gift - for dying? The game deletes itself from your computer immediately.

Ultimately Lose/Lose was classified as malware by Symantec, given the likely outcome that players would lose files crucial to the running of their operating system, but if you die before killing even a single alien, then the game will jettison itself from your hard drive before any real damage is done.

Still, for anyone actually attempting to play through the game, it's surely a major pain in the ass having to reinstall it after it deletes itself.

Hilariously, developer Gage told Kotaku, "I'm shocked anyone has played it at all."

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.