Score Multipliers

Lore & Background

The concept of a high score first achieved cultural significance with the rise in popularity of pinball machines and electro-mechanical arcade games. Players who achieve a high score are often greeted with a congratulatory message and are able to enter their initials or name into the machine. Their score and name will remain there until someone 'knocks' them off the high score list by achieving a higher score. For this reason, high scores are inherently competitive and may sometimes involve one-upmanship against other players.

In Their Own Story

The music pulses as the first blue wall approaches, demanding a specific pose. The player shifts their head and hands into the correct positions. A successful move. The combo meter rises. A second wall appears, faster now, requiring a lunge. The player nails it. The combo meter climbs again. A third wall, a red one, needs a punch at the marked area. The player breaks it with a precise strike. The combo meter reaches its first level. A fourth wall, a yellow one, forces the player to duck their head while their hands pass through. Success. The combo meter locks at x2. The screen glows brighter as the player pushes through the song, chaining more moves to reach x3 and finally x4, the maximum multiplier, as the song reaches its crescendo.

Reader's Guide

In video games that feature scoring, points are usually an optional, side component of gaming. Players may achieve points through normal gameplay, but their score will often not have an immediate relevance to the game itself. Instead, playing to beat a 'high score' set by the game program, another player or oneself becomes an extra challenge, adding replay value. In puzzle games, scores are usually gained by solving the puzzles quickly. Higher scores can be gained by performing combos of puzzle solving. There is often a time bonus which can add extra points. The level number is often a multiplier on the points, so higher scores are possible on harder levels. Level multipliers can also be picked up in some games, to further multiply your points bonus. In other games, points are typically gained from defeating monsters and enemies. When defeating a boss, a proportionally large number of points is usually rewarded. Extra points can be gained from gathering items, such as power-ups or other pick-ups. Usually, when a player gets a certain number of points, they may get an extra life or go on to a higher level. Points can be often used as currency which can be redeemed for rewards and player upgrades.

Did You Know?

• The first video game to use the term 'high score' was Midway's Sea Wolf (1976).
• The high score concept changed in July 1978 with the release of Taito's shoot 'em up Space Invaders, where high scores were determined by gamers playing for as long as they could to stay alive, as high scores kept rising
• In December 1978, Exidy's Star Fire allowed the player to save their name as initials next to their high score.
• The high score's prominence in video game culture has led to various pieces of art and entertainment, including a 2007 documentary, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, which follows the attempts to beat the high sco