Menus (Start, Pause, Game Over) In Unity

Menus are the bridge between the player and your game. A start menu welcomes the player, a pause menu gives control during gameplay and a game over menu provides closure. This article covers creating all three.

Game Menus

Menus are UI screens that appear at different times during gameplay.

Start Menu: First screen player sees. Has Play, Options, Quit buttons.
Pause Menu: Appears when player presses Escape. Has Resume, Restart, Main Menu buttons.
Game Over Menu: Appears when player dies or completes game. Shows final score and Restart button.

Game-Menus-In-Unity — Game Menus In Unity

This script handles buttons on the main menu screen.

using UnityEngine.SceneManagement;
using UnityEngine;
public class StartMenu : MonoBehaviour
{
    public void PlayGame()
    {
        Debug.Log("Opening Game");
    }
    public void OpenOptions()
    {
        Debug.Log("Opening options");
    }
    public void QuitGame()
    {
        Debug.Log("Game Close");
    }
}

Output:

Start-Menu-In-Unity — Start Menu In Unity

SceneManager.LoadScene() loads the game scene. Application.Quit() closes the game (works only in built game, not in Editor).

Pause menu appears when player presses Escape during gameplay.

using UnityEngine.SceneManagement;
using UnityEngine;
public class PauseMenu : MonoBehaviour
{
    public GameObject pausePanel;
    private bool isPaused = false;
    void Update()
    {
        if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Escape))
        {
            if (isPaused) Resume();
            else Pause();
        }
    }
    public void Pause()
    {
        Debug.Log("Pause Menu open");
        isPaused = true;
        pausePanel.SetActive(true);
        Time.timeScale = 0f;
        Cursor.lockState = CursorLockMode.None;  // Show cursor
        Cursor.visible = true;
    }
    public void Resume()
    {
        Debug.Log("Game Resume");
        isPaused = false;
        pausePanel.SetActive(false);
        Time.timeScale = 1f;
        Cursor.lockState = CursorLockMode.Locked; // Hide cursor for FPS
        Cursor.visible = false;
    }
    public void Restart()
    {
        Debug.Log("Game Restart");
        Time.timeScale = 1f;
        SceneManager.LoadScene(SceneManager.GetActiveScene().buildIndex);
    }
    public void MainMenu()
    {
        Time.timeScale = 1f;
        SceneManager.LoadScene("MainMenu");
    }
}

Output:

Pause-Menu-In-Unity — Pause Menu In Unity

Press Escape to toggle pause. Cursor.lockState controls mouse visibility – useful for first-person games where cursor should be hidden.

Game over screen appears when player dies. It shows final score and options to replay.

using TMPro;
using UnityEngine.SceneManagement;
using UnityEngine;
public class GameOverMenu : MonoBehaviour
{
    public GameObject gameOverPanel;
    public TextMeshProUGUI finalScoreText;
    private ScoreManager scoreManager;
    void Start()
    {
        gameOverPanel.SetActive(false);
        scoreManager = FindObjectOfType<ScoreManager>();
    }
    public void ShowGameOver()
    {
        gameOverPanel.SetActive(true);
        Time.timeScale = 0f;
        finalScoreText.text = "Score: " + scoreManager.score;
        Cursor.lockState = CursorLockMode.None;
        Cursor.visible = true;
    }
    public void Restart()
    {
        Time.timeScale = 1f;
        SceneManager.LoadScene(SceneManager.GetActiveScene().buildIndex);
    }
    public void MainMenu()
    {
        Time.timeScale = 1f;
        SceneManager.LoadScene("MainMenu");
    }
}

Call ShowGameOver() from your player's health script when health reaches zero. The final score displays before restart options.

Menus (Start, Pause, Game Over) In Unity

Game Menus

Start Menu Script

Pause Menu Script

Game Over Menu Script

Explore