Adding lives to a game in Scratch is a great way to add an extra layer of challenge and engagement to your game. By giving players multiple chances to complete a task or reach a goal, you can increase the replay value of your game and keep players coming back for more. 

In this tutorial, we will cover the basic steps of how to add lives to a Scratch game, so whether you are a beginner or an experienced Scratch user, this blog will help you in understanding how to add lives to your games. So let’s get started!

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How to add lives to a Scratch game?

To add lives to a game in Scratch, just patiently follow the below steps:

• Step 1: Open Scratch and start creating sprites. For this game, you will be using the pre-made Scratch cat sprite as the player, so rename it as ‘Player’ to avoid confusion while coding.

• Step 2: It’s time to choose another sprite, so to choose another sprite, click on the blue circle with the cat icon.

• Step 3: After clicking on the blue circle for choosing a sprite, select the first option from below that says ‘Choose a Sprite’.

• Step 4: Once you click on the ‘Choose a Sprite’ option, the following screen will appear.

• Step 5: Search for ‘Crab’ and select it, as shown below. Rename the sprite as ‘Crab’ to avoid confusion while coding.

• Step 6: Now, it’s time to choose the backdrops for this game. So, to choose the backdrop, click on the blue circle available at the extreme bottom right of the screen.

• Step 7: After clicking on the blue circle for choosing a backdrop, select the first option from below that says ‘Choose a Backdrop’.

• Step 8: Once you click on the ‘Choose a Backdrop’ option, the following screen will appear.

• Step 9: Search for ‘Beach’ and select it, as shown below. Change the name of the backdrops to ‘Beach’ to avoid confusion while coding.

• Step 10: After selecting the sprites and the backdrops, it’s time to make the variables of the game. So, go to the “Variables” block in the block palette, click on the ‘Make a Variable’ option, and create variables named ‘Lives’. Make sure to select the ‘For all sprites’ option while creating the sprites.

Code for the ‘Player’ sprite

It’s time for coding, so let’s start by creating a code for the ‘Player’ sprite. Make sure that the ‘Player’ sprite is selected while coding this part.

• Step 1: Go to the “Events” block in the block palette, select the ‘when green flag clicked’ block, and drag it to the coding area.

• Step 2: Go to the “Variables” block in the block palette, select the ‘set ( ) to ( )’ block, drag it to the coding area, and place it under the ‘when green flag clicked’ block.

• Step 3: In the ‘set ( ) to ( )’ block, select the first value as ‘Lives’ from the drop-down menu and enter the second value ‘3’.

Code for the ‘Crab’ sprite

Now, every time the player touches the crab, the player will lose one life. Make sure that the ‘Crab’ sprite is selected while coding this part.

• Step 1: Go to the “Events” block in the block palette, select the ‘when green flag clicked’ block, and drag it to the coding area.

• Step 2: Go to the “Control” block in the block palette, select the ‘forever’ block, drag it to the coding area, and place it under the ‘when green flag clicked’ block. 

• Step 3: From the “Control” block in the block palette, select the ‘if ( ) then ( )’ block, drag it to the coding area, and place it inside the ‘forever’ block.

• Step 4: Go to the “Sensing” block in the block palette, select the ‘touching ( )?’ block, drag it to the coding area, and place it in the if condition of the ‘if ( ) then ( )’ block. 

• Step 5: In the ‘touching ( )?’ block, select the value ‘Player’ from the drop-down menu.

• Step 6: Go to the “Motion” block in the block palette, select the ‘go to (random position)’ block, drag it to the coding area, and place it in the then condition of the ‘if ( ) then ( )’ block.

• Step 7: Go to the “Variables” block in the block palette, select the ‘change ( ) by ( )’ block, drag it to the coding area, and place it under the ‘go to (random position)’ in the then condition of the ‘if ( ) then ( )’ block.

• Step 8: In the ‘change ( ) by ( )’ block, select the first value as ‘Lives’ from the drop-down menu and enter the second value ‘-1’.

Again code for the ‘Player’ sprite

Make sure that the ‘Player’ sprite is selected while coding this part.

• Step 1: Go to the “Events” block in the block palette, select the ‘when green flag clicked’ block, and drag it to the coding area.

• Step 2: Go to the “Control” block in the block palette, select the ‘forever’ block, drag it to the coding area, and place it under the ‘when green flag clicked’ block.

• Step 3: From the “Control” block in the block palette, select the ‘if ( ) then ( )’ block, drag it to the coding area, and place it inside the ‘forever’ block.

• Step 4: Go to the “Operators” block in the block palette, select the ‘( ) < ( )’ block, drag it to the coding area, and place it in the if condition of the ‘if ( ) then ( )’ block.

• Step 5: Go to the “Variables” block in the block palette, select the ‘Lives’ block, drag it to the coding area, and place it in the first value place of the ‘( ) < ( )’ block. In the second value place of the ‘( ) < ( )’ block, enter the value ‘1’.

• Step 6: Go to the “Control” block in the block palette, select the ‘stop (all)’ block, drag it to the coding area, and place it in the then condition of the ‘if ( ) then ( )’ block.

Once you follow all the above-mentioned steps, you will be successfully able to add lives to your game in Scratch!!

Looking to learn Scratch coding? Explore Wiingy’s Online Scratch Coding Classes For Kids to learn from top Scratch coding experts.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

We hope you understand how to add lives to a Scratch game. If you have any doubts, you can ask your doubts in the comment section. If you this blog interesting and want to learn about how to create different types of cool games in Scratch, then read our game tutorial on Scratch games!