Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Shuffling flat paper rectangles to determine a victor
A standard 52-card deck supports thousands of strategic games, with players shuffling and dealing to keep their hands hidden from opponents.
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One early putting club gave women their own course
The Ladies’ Putting Club of St Andrews was founded in 1867, when conventions restricted women’s participation in full golf. A putting course offered…
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Cramming into a dusty closet to avoid friends
Some children choose dangerously tight hiding places in hide-and-seek; under a pile of winter coats, a child could even pass out while everyone else forgets…
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Hitting small dimpled balls into grassy holes
That’s golf: an expensive walk across manicured lawns, punctuated by swings at tiny dimpled balls and polite applause when one drops into a distant cup.
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Running frantically after fleeing people
Players chase one another and tag opponents with a slap on the shoulder, turning pursuit into a simple playground game.
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Intricate carved tiles heavily rely on complex strategy
Players must choose which carved tile to discard while anticipating opponents’ hidden hands, turning a matching game into a contest of strategy and prediction.
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Corner game squares ruthlessly slow down rapid gameplay
The corner squares can halt a player’s movement or impose a penalty, breaking up the game’s roll-and-move rhythm.
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Trying desperately to ride aggressively fast giant birds
The birds are difficult to control, so riders can wind up tumbling off or getting pecked instead of finishing the race.
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The chess castle started out as a chariot
Earlier versions of the rook represented a chariot, and stylized pieces reduced it to a block with projections. European sets eventually made the piece…
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Early roleplaying dice were molded from very cheap plastic
Their edges wore down after just a few sessions, so players sometimes had to color the numbers back in with crayons to see whether they’d survived a dragon…
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Arguing endlessly over the bounds of tag
Calling “time out” just before a tag can spark playground arguments over whether the caller is suddenly untouchable—and which other loopholes count.
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Bruising knuckles in thumb wars
The hand-locking contest can leave bruised knuckles, and a fingernail pinch is one particularly dirty move.
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Black and white word crosses in papers
The first crossword puzzle was a diamond-shaped design, unlike the familiar black-and-white grid.
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Ancient dice already had the shape of a modern D20
Surviving twenty-sided dice from the ancient Mediterranean carry letters rather than the familiar numbered faces of a role-playing die. Their exact uses are…
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Why children think hiding behind a curtain works
Young children may assume that if they can’t see someone, that person can’t see them either. Covering their own face can make hiding feel successful.
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Running around dark rooms shooting plastic guns
Players sprint through fog-filled mazes in glowing vests, trying to land infrared hits that their equipment actually registers.
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Elderly crowds sit silently waiting for numbers
Participants stamp numbers onto paper grids as a caller announces them, and the room can feel as tense as a championship final.
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Dealers face severe mathematical disadvantage in blackjack
House rules usually require dealers to keep drawing until they reach a set total, so they can’t choose to stop when the odds turn against them.
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Jump-rope songs turn a turning rope into a shared clock
Group skipping combines movement with a rhythm everyone can hear. The chant helps coordinate when to jump and can supply rules, counting, or challenges…
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Jigsaw pieces have no official names
The tabs and holes on jigsaw pieces have no official names, so puzzlers make up terms such as “knobs” and “sockets.”
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A bowling ball doesn't have to knock every pin flat
Once a pin tilts far enough that its center of mass passes outside its base, gravity finishes the fall. Pins also strike one another, spreading the effect of…
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A checkpoint only protects progress the game has actually saved
In a checkpoint-based game, losing sends you back to the last recorded state, not necessarily the last place that felt safe. The gap between those two can…
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Why hide-and-seek is every parent’s favorite game
For parents, hide-and-seek can mean five minutes of quiet—and a brief chance to hide in a closet themselves.
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Dartboards began as slices of tree trunks
As wood dried, radial cracks divided the board into wedges, while its growth rings inspired the concentric scoring rings.
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