A life is a pause, not a purchase
Games that use lives usually start a session with three. Losing one is the game’s way of saying the current attempt ended. Puzzle games without lives can be restarted freely because experimentation is the point. Nowhere in BrainBounce do lives become items you buy, trade, or watch expire on a clock in order to keep playing.
That distinction matters. A life that can be bought turns a mistake into a checkout. A life that simply ends a round turns a mistake into information. We want the second version.
Ads sit between rounds, not inside them
After three life losses since the last eligible prompt, a video prompt may appear. It is supposed to arrive between playable states—never while you are still steering a paddle or lining up a jump. Completing, skipping when allowed, or closing the prompt resets the since-last-ad counter. A failed prompt should not pretend it succeeded.
Page advertising may also appear around the arcade. Ads are how the site stays free to play. They are not a skill check, a punishment, or a hint about the next obstacle. Clicking an ad is optional and does not improve a legitimate score.
Progress stays on this browser
Life totals, scores, and favorites live in localStorage on the current device. Clearing site data removes them. A private window may discard them when it closes. There is no cloud restore because there is no required account. That is a limitation and a privacy choice at the same time.
If you want the arcade to feel fair, treat lives as the length of a sitting. Three mistakes, a prompt, a pause, then another sitting if you still want one. The design is working when you can stop without feeling that the game hid the exit behind a wallet.