| In one line | Arcade slang for an extra life awarded at a score milestone. |
|---|---|
| Spotted in | Star Defender, Retro Pinball, Juggle Master |
| Related ideas | Extra life, 1UP, Score multiplier |
The Full Story
Extend is the arcade word for an extra life earned at a score threshold, named for the EXTEND banner that classic shooters flashed when you crossed the line. First extend at 20,000, second at 70,000: numbers like these were memorized like phone numbers.
Extends turned scoring into survival strategy. Points stopped being bragging rights and became fuel: risky play that harvested points bought the lives that made more risky play survivable. The best players planned entire runs around extend thresholds.
Our machines award their versions at milestones too, and the strategy transfers whole: when a bonus life is close, the risky line becomes the correct line. Check each game's scoring FAQ for its thresholds.
Heard on the Arcade Floor
“I'm 900 points from the extend, so watch me do something extremely unwise on purpose.”
Where You'll Feel Extend on This Floor
Definitions stick better with a joystick in hand, and extend is live machinery in 3 of our machines, starting with Star Defender:
- Star Defender (hold the line - the swarm comes in waves) - patrol the vertical line and gun down enemy waves streaking in from deep space, and extend helps decide whether you manage it.
- Retro Pinball (flippers, bumpers, and one silver ball with plans) - keep the ball alive with your flippers and rack up bumper points forever, with extend doing quiet work underneath.
- Juggle Master (one paddle, three balls, no apologies) - keep an ever-growing set of bouncing balls airborne with a single paddle, where extend shows up on every single run.
Five minutes inside Star Defender and extend stops being theory.
