Checkpoint Design

The placement and frequency of save points that determine how much progress is lost on failure, one of the highest-stakes UX decisions in any action or adventure game.

In games, this means

A checkpoint placed 20 minutes before a difficult boss means players replay 20 minutes of content on every death. Checkpoint density communicates the game's implicit contract with the player around time and frustration. Too sparse: the game feels punishing and disrespectful of player time. Too frequent: tension and consequence evaporate.