Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Magic: The Gathering color-codes cardboard value
Expansion symbols use black for common, silver for uncommon, and gold for rare, so you can spot a card’s rarity at a glance.
Discover more
Magic players win tournaments in sideboards
The 15-card sideboard can matter more than the main 60: pros model the metagame for months, then swap in matchup-specific cards between games to counter an…
Discover more
Magic: The Gathering's London mulligan solved combo hands
The London Mulligan lets players draw seven new cards, then put a number of cards equal to their mulligans on the bottom of the deck. That gave combo decks…
Discover more
Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Pot of Greed is powerful because it asks for almost nothing
Playing it uses one card and draws two, leaving you with one more card than before. There is no elaborate setup or sacrifice attached to that basic exchange.…
Discover more
In Civilization 6, alliances can be built on mutual destruction
In multiplayer, players may ally not out of trust but because one misclick could turn both empires into radioactive glass.
Discover more
How a Skyrim rumor can launch a quest
Its Radiant Story system can generate quests based on whom you've killed and who likes you, so tavern gossip can send you on a mission across the map.
Discover more
STACKY FOR IPHONEA bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.
Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.
Touhou hitboxes are vastly smaller than sprites
In Touhou, the vulnerable hitbox is a tiny point near the character's center, much smaller than her sprite. Players learn bullet patterns and guide that point…
Discover more
Star Realms trade rows suffer market rot
In Star Realms, “market rot” is a trade row clogged with cards neither player wants or can afford. Players may leave cheap cards untouched to keep the market…
Discover more
Resident Evil 4 turns inventory into Tetris
Leon’s attache case turns gear management into a spatial puzzle: after a fight, you rotate shotguns, herbs, and ammo to fit them into limited space, giving…
Discover more
A tiny camera flash reveals when to punch in Punch-Out
In Punch-Out!!, a tiny spectator's camera flash signals when to counter Bald Bull's charge, serving as a timing cue hidden in the crowd.
Discover more
In Breath of the Wild, you can fight Ganon naked
Quests, dungeons, and special weapons are optional, so you can head straight to Ganon; the challenge is relying on your skill, even if you're armed with only…
Discover more
When Destiny's purple loot turned into blue gear
In early Destiny, a purple Legendary engram could decrypt into lower-tier blue gear, a frustrating mismatch Bungie later patched.
Discover more
Dark Souls tells its story through vertical space
The gods occupy sunlit Anor Londo above, while rot and despair pool in Blighttown below, making the descent feel like a journey down Lordran’s social hierarchy.
Discover more
The chess knight is the only piece that can jump
Its L-shaped move lets it leap over other pieces, unlike every other chess piece.
Discover more
A die follows physics even when you cannot predict it
Its starting orientation, speed, spin, collisions, and landing surface all influence the result. Small differences become difficult to track as it tumbles.…
Discover more
Early jigsaws made children rebuild the map
John Spilsbury mounted printed maps on wood and cut them into pieces in the 1760s. Putting countries back in place made geography a hands-on exercise. A…
Discover more
Roleplaying campaigns require complex probability math
A roll of a 20-sided die can decide whether an imaginary sword hits a goblin, turning a fantasy battle into a quick exercise in odds.
Discover more
In tennis, love gives you nothing on the scoreboard
The word means zero, but its origin remains debated. One explanation connects it to playing 'for love' rather than for money: doing something for nothing.…
Discover more
Why dartboards have angled wire dividers
They angle toward the board so incoming darts are deflected into the cork instead of bouncing back.
Discover more
Sitting in a dark closet waiting to be found
When everyone else gives up and goes home, the best hider can be left alone in a dusty corner, still waiting to be found.
Discover more
Filling empty grid squares with useless trivia
Crossword clues can send you hunting for obscure river names, and one wrong letter can throw off several crossing answers.
Discover more
Mahjong's gambling associations have put the tiles under scrutiny
The same game can be a family pastime or a contest for money, depending on what players stake. Restrictions aimed at gambling have therefore affected mahjong…
Discover more
Running around a dark room in a glowing plastic vest
Players wear glowing plastic vests and run through a dark room, firing harmless beams of light at one another until the game ends and the scores are tallied.
Discover more
Hundreds wait silently to shout one word
At bingo, players quietly mark their cards with ink daubers, waiting for the moment someone can shout, “Bingo!”
Discover more