game over

English

Etymology

The message originated on pinball machines and has been very widely used in video games.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɡeɪm ˈəʊ.və(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɡeɪm ˈoʊ.vɚ/

Phrase

game over

1. (video games) A message signaling that the game has ended, usually because the player failed (for example by losing all of their lives) but sometimes following successful completion of the game.
   • 1984, Robert Maxxe, Arcade:

     Before I could figure out what the hell was the object of the game, I hear the thing go boom-boom, and the screen lights up with a sign: game over.

2. (by extension) The end of some ongoing situation due to either failure or success, typically failure.

   If your wife finds out about us, it's game over!

   • 1986, Aliens:

     That's it, man. Game over, man. Game over! What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?

   • 2004, Ryan Russell, Stealing the Network: How to Own a Continent, page xxi:

     Once we started attacking that network from the inside, it was pretty much game over.

   • 2025 August 20, Paul Clifton, “A driver's eye view of East West Rail”, in RAIL, number 1042, page 30:

     "Game over," Waddicor warns. "Look at the fuel gauge. Someone's forgotten to fill up." The heavily laden train has come from Freightliner's Maritime Terminal in Southampton's western docks. Waddicor reckons there might not be enough diesel in the tank to complete the journey.

3. (by extension) death.

   When you have cancer, you pretty much have two options: chemotherapy, or game over.

Translations

message

Arabic: اِنْتَهَت اللُّعْبَة f (intahat al-luʕba) Azerbaijani: oyun bitdi Bulgarian: играта свърши (igrata svǎrši) Czech: konec hry Esperanto: finita ludo Finnish: peli ohi French: game over (fr) m, fin de jeu f, jeu terminé, partie terminée, fin de partie (fr) f Georgian: თამაში დასრულდა (tamaši dasrulda) German: Game over n Hindi: खेल ख़त्म m (khel xatma) Hungarian: vége a játéknak Italian: gioco terminato Japanese: ゲームオーバー (gēmu ōbā) Korean: 게임 오버 (geim obeo) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: lîstik xelas Mongolian: тоглоом дууслаа (togloom duuslaa) Norwegian: game over Persian: بازی تمام شد (bāziy tamām šod) Polish: koniec gry Portuguese: fim de jogo (pt) m Russian: игра́ зако́нчена (igrá zakónčena) Spanish: partida terminada f, jugada acabada f Swedish: spelet är över, spelet är slut Tamil: ஆட்டம் முடிந்தது (āṭṭam muṭintatu) Turkish: oyun bitti Urdu: کھیل ختم m (khel xatma)

end of some ongoing situation

Finnish: peli ohi Hindi: खेल ख़त्म (khel xatma) Japanese: ゲームオーバー (gēmu ōbā), 詰んだ (tsunda) Polish: po ptokach (pl) Portuguese: fim de jogo (pt) m Tamil: சோழி முடிந்தது (cōḻi muṭintatu) Vietnamese: qua đi

See also

• time over

Noun

game over (plural game overs)

1. (video games) An appearance of a game over message.

   When you die too many times in this game, you get a game over.

Verb

game over (third-person singular simple present game overs or games over, present participle game overing or gaming over, simple past and past participle game overed or gamed over)

1. (video games, rare, intransitive) To receive a 'game over' message.
2. (video games, rare, transitive) To deliver to someone a 'game over' message.

Alternative forms

• game-over

Further reading

• game over on Wikipedia.Wikipedia