{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-floating-health-bars","type":"mechanic","id":"game-mechanics--gm-floating-health-bars","lang":"en","title":"Floating health bars","summary":"A health bar follows a character on screen. The player can associate remaining health with a specific target within the combat scene.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-floating-health-bars/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-floating-health-bars.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-floating-health-bars.md","aliases":[],"tags":["Game design techniques","Health"],"sourceIds":["source-d5d666a22301538d","source-58ac01d327a6e95f","source-1dfdbb40733ab1b5"],"sources":[{"id":"source-d5d666a22301538d","title":"Game Mechanics: Floating health bars","url":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/floating-health-bars","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-58ac01d327a6e95f","title":"Assassin's Creed Origins (2017)","url":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/floating-health-bars/game/assassins-creed-origins","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-1dfdbb40733ab1b5","title":"Far Cry 6 (2023)","url":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/floating-health-bars/game/far-cry-6","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"A health indicator follows a character on screen."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### How the technique works\n\n<a id=\"gm-floating-health-bars-rule\"></a>\n\n- A health indicator follows a character on screen. <a id=\"gm-floating-health-bars-definition\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"All 199 Game Mechanics entries at the check date: player actions, systems, presentation techniques and contested patterns. Entries are grouped by their first source-card category; all categories appear in their descriptions. Definitions use original wording. References link to game-specific galleries; images and videos remain at the source."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"game-mechanics","id":"gm-floating-health-bars","title":"Game design techniques","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/game-mechanics/#gm-floating-health-bars","categoryIds":["gm-category-health"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Floating health bars","description":"A health bar follows a character on screen. The player can associate remaining health with a specific target within the combat scene.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/combat-floating-health-bars.webp","width":672,"height":378,"game":"Far Cry 6","sourceUrl":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/floating-health-bars","originalUrl":"https://cdn.gamemechanics.org/far_cry_6_health_bars.jpg","credit":"Ubisoft; image via GameMechanics.org","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Source host: GameMechanics.org. All rights reserved; excluded from the portal’s MIT and CC BY 4.0 licenses.","caption":"The bar follows an enemy","alt":"A white health bar and icon sit above an enemy walking ahead in Far Cry 6.","markers":[{"x":51,"y":26,"label":"The health bar is attached to the target"},{"x":45,"y":49,"label":"The character that owns the bar"}]},"tips":["Position the bar so it does not obscure heads or the crosshair.","Reduce clutter by showing bars by relevance or on targeting."],"examples":[{"title":"Far Cry 6","url":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/floating-health-bars"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Editorial reference index based on the 199 public Game Mechanics pattern pages checked on 2026-10-20. Original concise RU/EN definitions by gamemechanics.pro; pattern names, category associations and game-reference URLs retained from gamemechanics.org. The source gallery includes a film analogy. Linked materials retain their original rights; references are upstream attributions, not independent verification.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/game-mechanics"}}