Saving variable values when course is not set to resume?

Hi everyone -- newbie question here that may be so basic as to not need to be stated, but I can't seem to find an answer for it. When a course is set not to resume where the learner previously leaves off, is it possible to still carry into their new session the variable values from previous sessions? (In our case, the number of quiz attempts.) So far, this does not seem to be working but I am hoping I'm just not doing something right.

 I am really hoping this is an option as it seems the most straightforward way to resolve our quiz dilemma in which a launch of a "limited number of attempts" quiz = an attempt. I am struggling with how to resolve those who exit the quiz file (by closing the browser window) rather than completing it and making sure that those early exits are captured correctly as previous attempts when they return.

If I can force them to restart on each launch of the file, but carry forward variable values from their previous visits, I think I could imagine how this might work. Otherwise, I really am stumped. Don't know if this makes any difference, but this quiz is hosted in SCORM cloud and published in Storyline 2 for TinCan.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer up any help with this.

Best, Camilla