Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Samus Aran was named after soccer legend Pelé
The most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy owes her nomenclature to a Brazilian soccer legend. When creating the protagonist for Metroid, the designers…
Discover more
A perfect darts game takes just nine throws
It sounds wonderfully straightforward until you realize the sheer physical precision required. Achieving this flawless run demands a level of steady-handed…
Discover more
The physics trick behind a perfect cup flip
Forget athletic talent; this beloved relay race is nothing more than a masterclass in fluid dynamics and lever principles. To successfully flip a cup, the…
Discover more
Roulette wheels have perfectly distributed odd and even slots
Chaos is meticulously organized when it comes to house odds. The alternating red and black pockets are heavily engineered so that no specific section of the…
Discover more
Audio looping carefully hides seams in background tracks
A three-minute ambient track cannot possibly cover a ten-hour session without aggressive repetition. Audio looping carefully engineers the tail end of a sound…
Discover more
The game where you invent fake dictionary definitions
Most people respect the sanctity of reference books, but this activity turns everyone into academic fraudsters. Players are given an obscure word and must…
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.
Castlevania heroes collect hearts to fuel their items
Cardiovascular organs are apparently an excellent source of ammunition. Instead of restoring health, gathering bright red floating hearts allows these…
Discover more
Fall Guys are six feet tall with horrifying skeletons
Those cute, bumbling little Tic-Tacs you see falling off seesaws are actually horrifying giants. The official Fall Guys social media account released the…
Discover more
Nintendo had a hotline for stuck gamers
Before YouTube walkthroughs entirely ruined the mystery of gaming, you literally had to call an adult in Washington state to find out how to beat a boss.…
Discover more
Delta time mathematically binds virtual speed to reality
Tying simulation speed directly to frame rates is a spectacular way to break a universe. Delta time measures the exact fraction of a second that has passed…
Discover more
Yoshi's saddle was meant to be used
Dinosaurs are highly notorious for their comfortable seating arrangements. Despite looking completely reptilian, the creators originally intended for the…
Discover more
Spade suit always acts as the trump card
In its namesake card game, a lowly two of spades can mercilessly crush the highest ranking card of any other suit. It teaches a valuable lesson that absolute…
Discover more
Metal Gear Solid became a stealth game because of weak hardware
Hiding in a cardboard box wasn't born out of tactical genius; it was born out of technical desperation. Hideo Kojima originally wanted to make a fast-paced,…
Discover more
Running straight into clearly defined map boundaries
A giant, ominous red line drawn on the mini-map is basically an invitation to sprint directly toward it. We constantly test the absolute limits of the virtual…
Discover more
Stardew Valley farmers can carry hundreds of pumpkins
Back pain simply does not exist for agricultural entrepreneurs. An ordinary city worker can move to a farm and immediately develop the ability to casually…
Discover more
Go Fish was once an adult parlor game
Adults used to have incredibly low standards for entertainment. The aquatic-themed card-matching activity was heavily documented as an adult parlor pastime in…
Discover more
Why smashing your keyboard cannot fix lag
It turns out that violently assaulting plastic peripherals does not appease your internet service provider. Gamers consistently treat their typing equipment…
Discover more
Why men are more likely to throw rock first
Because human beings are hilariously predictable, a massive percentage of untrained males will default to throwing rock right out of the gate. If you want to…
Discover more
Pac-Man ghosts may reveal where they're going
If you get cornered, you genuinely have no one to blame but yourself. The spectral enemies constantly telegraph their precise future movements by shifting…
Discover more
When thousands of people control one game character
Crowdsourcing decision making is usually a terrible idea, let alone doing it in real-time. 'Twitch Plays' streams mapped chat commands directly to software…
Discover more
Electronic Arts original logo consisted of basic shapes
Before adopting their iconic shiny modern branding, their corporate identity was literally just a simple square, a circle, and a triangle. It looked…
Discover more
Opening wooden chests requires dramatic effort
Regardless of the terrifying monsters currently chewing on your legs, unlocking a wooden box mandates a slow, agonizing three-second animation.
Discover more
The game so broken trucks could drive through mountains
E.T. might get all the hate, but at least its code technically functioned. Released in 2003, Big Rigs literally had zero collision detection, allowing trucks…
Discover more
Jet Set Radio skaters tag walls using massive spray cans
These rebellious rollerbladers carry around aerosol cans roughly the size of their own torsos to paint elaborate murals in seconds. It completely ignores all…
Discover more