Videogame Glossary : Fountain

A fountain refers to a place in a videogame where the player can acquire unlimited healing and/or currency, usually through repeated tasks.

The term originates (for me personally, since this is my own glossary) from The Legend of Zelda (NES), where fountains exist with fairies that heal the player each time the player returns. By staying within a few screens of the one with the fountain, the player can fight nearby monsters, acquire their rupees, and return when their injuries warrant it.

Another example of a fountain would be the place in Beyond Good and Evil where newly loaded sections of the game world respawn breakable crates that may contain useful healing items. By crossing the boundary between the sections and enduring the loading screens over and over, the player who is low on health may regenerate it before facing the new challenges that lie ahead.

Although the gameplay aspect of working a fountain may seem repetitious, it often has the advantage of safely advancing the player's finances to obtain better items sooner than they would through normal adventuring.