Health is a necessity in almost every video game to date but over the gradual transition of gaming tropes, it's been visually represented in a countless number of shapes and forms. In the early days of gaming the most common way to restore health was via food, usually the scale and quality of the meal reflected the amount it would heal, e.g. a chocolate bar would restore a small amount, a pizza might restore a fair amount of health, while a chicken or a ham would grant a large or full heal. Later on, medical equipment or hearts were the go-to medium, med-kits in particular became a staple asset of action games. While most games stuck to restorative methods that made sense and were straightforward such as food, hearts or healing spells, certain games went for the road less traveled. In praise of the more interesting methods used in video games to keep heroes alive, we bring you 9 unusual ways to restore health in gaming history. The entries on this list are organized in terms of how unusual, unlikely or alternative the idea is, whilst also considering the logic behind whether these methods would actually be likely to heal you in any way, in a real life situation.
Sam is an experienced Film, Gaming and Wrestling writer, critic and journalist who was written for a vast number of different entertainment websites. Follow him on twitter at @Sams_Reel_Views.
