Player death and respawn mechanics

Hi! I recently started learning Unity and C# Scripting in my free time (which I’m finding quite enjoyable). I’ve begun working on some small 2D top-down pixel art projects, and I’m currently learning about proper implementation of player death and respawn mechanics.

Initially, I thought these mechanics required destroying and reinstantiating the player object each time. However, as I researched more, I discovered simpler approaches like resetting the player’s position or toggling the player’s active/inactive state. These methods work well with my project and don’t require dealing with the complexities of destroying and reinstantiating GameObjects, which often interferes with my scripts.

I wanted to ask: Are these simpler methods considered valid approaches for beginners, or are they viewed as “hacky” solutions that should be avoided?

Thanks!

The official answer would be: it depends. Though from experience I can tell you it’s often better to destroy the old player instance and create a new one, especially if physics is involved. Just make sure your other systems learn about the new player instance.