Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Pushing in blackjack means you merely survive a hand
A push is a tie: your original bet comes back, so you neither win nor lose the hand.
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Paper game Consequences generates incoherent narratives
Players fold the paper to hide each contribution, so everyone adds to the story without seeing what came before. The result can be a wildly incoherent…
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Celeste's hardest strawberries mostly buy you a better pie
The ordinary strawberries are optional challenges, often placed away from the easiest path through a room. Collecting more changes the pie and reactions in…
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Baccarat allows players to bet on a highly unlikely tie
A tie bet pays heavily because ties are rare, but the odds are long compared with betting on the banker or player.
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Wii Sports crowds gasp when you bowl backward
Release the ball behind you, and the unseen crowd gasps as the virtual spectators jump in unison.
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Why actors get rewritten dialogue on recording day
A line that reads well on the page can sound awkward aloud, so writers may revise dialogue in the recording booth as actors perform it.
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The Ouija board supposedly named itself
According to the patent holders, the board spelled out “Ouija” when asked what it wanted to be called and said the name meant “good luck” in ancient…
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The bathroom scale obsession behind Wii Fit
Shigeru Miyamoto’s family grew tired of hearing about his weight-tracking charts, inspiring the idea for a balance-board game. Wii Fit went on to sell 43…
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PlayStation began as a Nintendo partnership
Sony and Nintendo worked on a CD-based system before their partnership fell apart. The surviving Nintendo Play Station prototype combines a cartridge slot…
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Centurion challenges require mathematically paced consumption
The Centurion challenge calls for 100 servings of beer, one every 60 seconds. That strict schedule leaves little room to slow down or skip a serving.
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Why Silicon Valley loved playing Settlers of Catan
Players need resources they cannot always produce themselves, so getting ahead means bargaining with competitors. That mix of scarcity, deals, and calculated…
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The Rubik's Cube was once called the Magic Cube
Its creator, Erno Rubik, first gave the puzzle the generic name Magic Cube before it took his surname.
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Why one last game can last until sunrise
Wanting to quit on a win can keep you chasing another round—even after several losses.
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Kratos carries his family's ashes on his skin
In God of War's story, Kratos is cursed to wear the ashes of the wife and daughter he killed while deceived by Ares. His pale skin is therefore a permanent…
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Old Maid makes one unmatched card everyone's problem
Players remove pairs, then draw from one another while trying not to finish with the lone card. A hand can look nearly solved until someone passes the…
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Dreamcast optical discs hold precisely one gigabyte
GD-ROMs held more data than standard CDs, and their proprietary format was intended to make unauthorized copying harder.
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Why Team Fortress 2 players stack ridiculous hats
Its absurd cosmetic hats turned the gritty shooter into a kind of runway show, with players spending hours stacking three flaming top hats on a sniper.
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The crying koala that replaced a censored scene
When Australian censors refused to rate a South Park game over an explicit scene, developers replaced it with a crying koala and a paragraph spelling out what…
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Hearts centers entirely on avoiding the Queen of Spades
Players try to avoid taking penalty cards, especially the Queen of Spades, which can wreck a hand’s score.
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Why gamers reload after firing one bullet
After firing one round, players often reload to avoid entering a fight with a partly empty magazine. But they can get caught off guard while the reload…
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Jumping over obstacles is preferred over using open gates
In some games, characters will vault a crumbling wall even when an open doorway is nearby, making navigation look more like showing off than taking the easy…
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Baccarat third-card rules operate on an automatic chart
Players don’t choose whether to draw; fixed rules determine when the player and banker receive a third card.
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The floor is lava turns furniture into a map
Once the floor becomes imaginary danger, a sofa is an island and a chair becomes a possible route. The room's layout suddenly matters in a new way, even…
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Arthur Morgan previously owned a dog named Copper
Before the events of Red Dead Redemption 2, Arthur had a stray dog named Copper. He occasionally mentions the dog in quiet moments.
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