The humble health bar is not made to be remembered. It’s there primarily for information, and yet the best games use health bars (as well as other UI elements) to add beauty, express personality, or more deeply immerse us in the world around it.
Health bars aren’t as commonplace as they used to be in big-budget games—in fact, a whole generation of shooters left them behind in favor of regenerating health—but they’re back on the rise in this golden age of RPGs we find ourselves in. The past few years alone have given us some of the cleanest, most unique, and downright pretty health bars I’ve ever seen.
We stare at these stalwart rectangles for hours, but how well can we remember them? Have we taken these artful communication tools for granted, or have their identifying qualities burrowed a permanent home in our brains?
Test your HP mettle in the quiz below, identifying games only by their health bar. Expect a mix of old and new, with a slight skew toward shooters (I have a type). Make sure to type your own guesses into the answer box. The answer will autofill if correct.
How did you do? Did I trip you up with the vague green rectangle? I’m sure I missed some great HP bars that could’ve made the cut (like Isaac’s back in Dead Space), so sound off on your favorites in the comments.
Read the full article here
