History Main / PressStartToGameOver

* In ''VideoGame/NoiszStarlivht'', the penalty for having your SPC stat at F[[note]]which would require you to play a song where the enemy has a higher Power stat than you, which applies penalties that become more severe the higher the difference in Power there is[[/note]] is that your [[LimitBreak Burst]] ability instead becomes a Self-Destruct ability that does massive, usually lethal damage (unless your HP is high enough). One of Sumire's DLC Styles, No Name, makes her automatically activate her Burst at the start of the song and keeps it going for the entire song. Starting a song as Sumire with her No Name Style and an F in SPC will immediately cause a game over right afterwards.

* Before gaining access to the solar system of ''VideoGame/OuterWilds'', there are a few ways for the player to meet their demise. The first opportunity is to get too close to the campfire in front of them when they wake up. For new players, it may be especially surprising to see [[spoiler:the credits start scrolling]] this early in the game.

** Character generation is done in stages. The first part of each stage is rolling to see if your character is still alive. Yep, your character can die before the game even starts. This measure, apparently installed to weed out characters too weak to survive the actual game, is optional in the most recent editions of the game, in which it is called "Iron Man Character Generation".

** Additionally, it's possible to make a character who dies before the game even begins. The feat Troth of the Forgotten Pharoah was ''meant'' to be used by NPCs in the Mummy's Mask adventure path, so enemies could blow themselves up after they die, but there's no rule against taking it as a player. Except... it ''permanently'' reduces your max HP by 3, and it's possible to start with 2 or less HP if your constitution is bad enough. (E.g. a level 1 wizard with 3 Con will have 2 hp) Thus, if you take the feat, you'll immediately start dying and your body essentially becomes a time bomb. This, of course, is often suggested as a way to spite GMs who force you to roll stats and keep that 3.

** On the very first screen of ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2'', going right results in the Prince being hacked to death offscreen.

* In the prologue of ''VideoGame/TheDaedalusEncounter'', you get turned into a BrainInABox after an accident. After waking up from the procedure, your companions will ask you if you can hear them. If you don't answer, they'll come to the conclusion that the procedure failed and you didn't survive, so they'll turn off your life support.

* In a ''WebAnimation/CyanideAndHappiness'' short "Bunker Blaster", the game featured ran for about a whole minute since after the "tutorial" ended with Hitler's suicide.

This can be deliberate through a KaizoTrap, SchmuckBait like a suicidal dialogue option or PressXToDie, or an [[HarderThanHard "Impossible"]] difficulty level; and may or may not result in a NonStandardGameOver. It can also be accidental, due to a GameBreakingBug, bad starting positions in RandomlyGeneratedLevels, or simply taking an action that the [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable designers never accounted for]].

* In ''VideoGame/PointBlank'', some stages have "don't shoot!" targets that cost one life each if shot, such as innocent civilians (or rather, cardboard cutouts thereof), bombs, and [[ColorCodedMultiplayer targets of the opposite player's color]]. As a result, it is possible to hit enough targets to end the game on the first stage out of 16 even if you otherwise clear the stage; you would have to take your time failing three whole stages otherwise. "Don't shoot!" targets are irritatingly common, and it's possible that your first set of four stages will have only stages that feature such targets.

* Running the 1984 DOS platform game ''Janitor Joe'' on too-fast hardware or with the cycles too high in UsefulNotes/DOSBox will cause the player's OxygenMeter to run out in just a few seconds. Better yet, selecting a number higher than 6 with the StageSelect code deposits the player in a glitched level where they immediately lose all their lives.

* Running the 1984 DOS platform game ''Janitor Joe'' on too-fast hardware or with the cycles too high in UsefulNotes/DOSBox will cause the player's OxygenMeter to run out in just a few seconds.

* Early ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' sets included GameBreaker cards that can let you win the game on your first turn. (There's even a [[http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/turn-0-win-wait-what/ specific combination of cards]] that, if your opponent went first, lets you win the game ''[[UpToEleven before]]'' your first turn.) Most tournaments do not allow players to use those cards, and those that do restrict them to one copy per deck. There are other examples that allow you to kill ''yourself'' on the first turn or two, such as dumping [[https://scryfall.com/card/cns/120/phage-the-untouchable Phage the Untouchable]][[note]]One of her abilities makes you lose the game if she enters the battlefield without being cast from your hand.[[/note]] into your graveyard and reanimating her.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', it is possible to build the PlayerCharacter in such a way that he is a OneHitPointWonder. One of the first tasks the player is faced with is getting the PlayerCharacter's tie down from the motel room's loft ventilator. This can quite possibly result in said character losing that one health point, resulting in him dying of a heart attack from the exertion.

* ''VideoGame/{{EZ2|DJ}}ON'' has a song called "Sudden Death", known for having simple charts but deliberately stricter-than-usual timing windows and stricter lifebar. In its ''[=EZ2ON=] REBOOT : R'' incarnation, the Super Hard chart in particular not only features a "Kool" timing window of only ''two milliseconds'' and the timing windows for the lower non-miss judgements similartly tightened, but anything below a Kool will take away ''99%'' of the player's lifebar, when in other songs it would take about 15 misses in a row for the player to fail the song. As a result, the ''vast'' majority of attempts on "Sudden Death" SHD will [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1I8dp4h-PE end after the player misses the first two notes]].

-->1. f3[[WhatAnIdiot ?]] e5\\
2. g4[[TooDumbToLive ??]] [=Qh4=][[GameOver #]]

* The [[Anime/LoveHina]] VisualNovel in UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance allow you to not stay in the Hinata dorm altogether, ending the story just there.

* [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/kimi-ga-shine/images/b/b2/No_one_dies.jpg/revision/latest One 4koma]] of ''VisualNovel/YourTurnToDie'' parodies it, more specifically in ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma'': everyone refuses to participate in the DeadlyGame, so [[{{Troll}} Sue Miley]] just sends them all home with no strings attached.

** [=deadEarth=] seems to follow a mechanic where you have to roll for "Radiation Manipulations", which can actually kill you or cripple your ability to use certain skills before you even start playing. You roll for the manipulations after you've done the rest of the character generation work (i.e., after you've rolled your stats and skills), so you can't create your character in anticipation of how badly he/she will be affected. And depending on how strictly the rules are followed, you might only get three character sheets ever. [[http://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/downloads-games/deadearth-resources/ As seen here.]]

* It's the mark of a well-played game of ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' where the party kills itself off during ''the mission briefing''. Or while trying to figure out where the mission briefing ''is'' and how to get there.