Rewarded ads ('watch to continue')
Watch an ad to keep going, get an extra life or double your reward.
Watch · Fine if you understand it
You choose to watch an ad for a reward, which is better than a forced one, but it trains you to treat failing as the moment you pay with attention.
What it does to the fun
Losing stops being the end of a run and becomes a choice: watch a short video or let it go. That decision arrives at the worst moment, when you're keen to keep going, and it takes both the sting and the lesson out of failing. Over time you can find yourself playing towards the next ad reward rather than getting better. Without it, a loss is just a loss, and the next try starts straight away.
What you're actually buying
A continue, a bonus or a refill, paid for in minutes of attention rather than money. The ad is the price.
How it works
The arcade continue countdown (insert a coin within about ten seconds or lose your run) is the direct ancestor of every 'watch an ad or pay to keep going' prompt on phones. Rewarded video is the opt-in version: players choose the ad in return for a benefit. Crossy Road was a rewarded-video pioneer, showing that players will opt into ads for extra depth rather than hit a paywall. Subway Surfers went further and made continue-via-ad the default. Either way, every failure becomes a small transaction.
When it's fine
When the ad is genuinely optional, the reward is small, and the game is fun without it.
Where it came from
The continue countdown is often traced to SNK's Fantasy (1981) and stayed rare until Atari's Gauntlet (1985). On mobile it evolved into 'watch an ad or pay to keep going', and Crossy Road (20 November 2014) passed $10 million in revenue within three months, largely through opt-in video ads. Subway Surfers made continue-via-ad the default.
Historical prices and revenues are in US dollars at the time unless marked A$.
By the numbers
The 'continue' countdown is often traced to SNK's Fantasy (1981) and stayed rare until Atari's Gauntlet (1985).
Crossy Road passed $10 million in revenue and 50 million downloads within three months of its 20 November 2014 release, monetised largely through opt-in video ads.
Games that use it
Related badges
Covered in Video Games & Money: Ep 4 · Arcade golden, Ep 31 · Hyper casual.