Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Why Link was once left-handed
Southpaws rarely get proper representation, but the green-clad hero has traditionally favored his left arm. The creators only flipped his entire character…
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Why some wooden pieces are cut at odd angles
If a wooden piece has uneven cut angles, its center of mass will drag it face-first into the table. Manufacturers must mathematically slant the edges so they…
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PlayStation 2 memory units store precisely eight megabytes
An entire childhood of meticulously saved progress, unlocked outfits, and completed profiles had to aggressively fight for space on a ridiculously small…
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Why motion-capture actors sometimes hold it in
Acting like a fearsome space marine is tough when you literally cannot go to the bathroom. The intricate array of zippers, reflective dots, and tightly bound…
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Why the Dreamcast launched on 9/9/99
In a rare moment of brilliant marketing symmetry, they chose a release date consisting entirely of the number nine. It was a beautifully memorable publicity…
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Old maid revolves around dodging one unmatchable card
The entire deck perfectly pairs up except for a single solitary queen. The entire session is just a paranoid exercise in trying to hand off this cursed…
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Twister became a hit after Eva Gabor played it on TV
Sex sells, but late-night television celebrity endorsements sell even more. Milton Bradley was mere days away from pulling Twister off the shelves due to…
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Link was inspired by Peter Pan
Shigeru Miyamoto heavily based his iconic green-clad hero on the legendary boy who refused to grow up. The pointy ears, the vibrant green tunic, and the…
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Why new video game releases cause pizza gridlock
The true backbone of digital entertainment is melted cheese logistics. Entire delivery fleets experience localized gridlock solely because millions of adults…
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Why crossed legs make your feet tingle
Nothing says recreation like depriving your lower extremities of oxygen. Maintaining this posture for hours compresses the peroneal nerve, which is exactly…
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The speedrun that takes 300 hours
Nothing says optimal efficiency like waiting around for literal weeks. Baten Kaitos mandates acquiring a specific shampoo item and waiting for it to age in…
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Why actors avoid noisy fabrics on camera
Fashion takes a backseat to audio clarity. Actors showing up to a gig wearing corduroy, heavy denim, or a windbreaker will immediately be told to change or…
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Among Us characters wear tiny suits and toilet paper hats
In a tense environment where anyone could be a deceiver, players choose to dress their colorful beans in the most ridiculous outfits possible, including a…
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Why roulette balls are coated like frying pans
To prevent any sort of predictable trajectory, these little spheres are coated in pure non-stick polymer. It turns out the key to absolute randomization is…
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League of Legends once gave its champions giant pizza feet
Before it was a global e-sports titan with an arcane Netflix show, it was a messy indie project running on spaghetti code. In the early days, Riot's…
Discover moreMortal Kombat lets you turn rivals into babies
Instead of violently ripping out a spine, you can press a highly specific sequence of buttons to instantly turn your defeated opponent into a diaper-wearing…
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Grand Theft Auto IV allows players to get completely drunk
If you visit a digital bar and consume entirely too much heavily pixelated alcohol, the entire camera aggressively wobbles. You then have to desperately…
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In strategy games, stealing resources can starve an army
Because nothing asserts dominance like stealing another person's digital gravel. By aggressively occupying all the gathering points on the map, you passively…
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Codenames uses a grid of twenty-five single word text cards
Two rival spymasters stare at a flat arrangement of seemingly random nouns, trying to link them together with a single, desperate clue. The tension of…
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Risk began as a French game called The Conquest of the World
The game that takes seven hours and ends in tears was conceived by a French director named Albert Lamorisse. He originally titled it 'La Conquête du Monde'…
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Building intricate prisons that operate worse than dungeons
You wanted to build a rehabilitation center, but somehow you ended up with a blazing inferno of rioting inmates. Prison Architect gives you total control over…
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RollerCoaster Tycoon lets you trap guests forever
The phrase 'no exit' is taken extremely literally. Park managers routinely delete the single path leading back to the entrance, trapping thousands of…
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The Mousetrap game that often trapped itself
The incredibly elaborate plastic contraption featuring a diving guy and a falling cage looked utterly amazing on television commercials. In actual living…
Discover moreSpider-Man trades webs for a skateboard
Instead of swinging through the city saving people, a legendary superhero decides to grab a board and grind down a halfpipe in a warehouse. It makes…
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