Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Why looking at your feet helps on a narrow beam
By blocking the view of the drop, looking at your boots can make the crossing feel less frightening and help you keep moving straight.
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Mahjong tiles are typically molded from solid melamine
The hard tiles make a loud, sharp clacking sound as they hit one another.
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Roulette dealers use wooden dollies to mark numbers
The croupier places a wooden marker on the winning chips to stop players from slipping late bets onto the winning number.
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Original Xbox included a built-in internal hard drive
Its built-in 8-gigabyte drive made the Xbox the first major home console with internal storage, changing how updates and local data could be handled.
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Marco Polo turns swimming into a listening game
The player with closed eyes calls 'Marco,' and everyone else answers 'Polo.' Those replies reveal directions and distances without a clear view. Unlike true…
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Spyro the Dragon headbutts chests for shiny rare gems
Instead of picking a lock, Spyro smashes the metal chests with his head to get the gems inside.
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Licensing chips block third party titles
The console checked a proprietary chip in each cartridge; without a successful handshake, the game wouldn't run.
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Rare was once called Ultimate Play the Game
The Stamper brothers founded the company in the 1980s and made games for the ZX Spectrum before moving on to Nintendo. They shortened the unwieldy name to Rare.
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Taskmaster's challenges are tested in a garage
Before a challenge reaches the comedians, the show's creator often tries it at home to check whether it's possible and gauge how miserable it will be.
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Why a wrist rest may make your desk less comfortable
A wrist rest can absorb arm sweat, then flatten into a hard surface that offers little cushioning.
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Black Flag gave its pirate crew a working soundtrack
In Assassin's Creed IV, sailors sing sea shanties while you travel by ship, and collecting song sheets expands the repertoire. Repeated voyages gain a…
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The simple trick for escaping most mazes
Keep one hand on the same wall as you walk, and you can trace your way through most connected mazes to an exit.
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A Millionaire winner used his final lifeline to announce the answer
John Carpenter called his father before winning in 1999—not to ask for help, but to say he knew the answer. The call reversed the purpose of the lifeline. A…
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Why the N64 controller had three grips
Nintendo gave the controller a third grip to isolate the analog stick, hoping players would understand how to navigate 3D space. It was an ergonomic…
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Half-Life: Alyx set its return before Half-Life 2
Valve's 2020 VR game follows Alyx Vance between the first two main games. That let players return to the occupied world through a different protagonist rather…
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Space Invaders got harder because its workload got lighter
The original hardware drew the aliens in sequence. As you destroyed them, it could update the remaining formation sooner, so the survivors moved faster.…
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Majora's Mask was made in just one year
Reusing assets from the studio’s previous hit helped the team build a new adventure on that tight schedule.
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Operation penalizes players the second they touch the edges
Touching the metal rim triggers the game's red nose light, turning a tiny hand tremor into an instant penalty.
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Sheep are widely considered Catan's least valuable resource
Sheep can feel like Catan's least useful resource early on: wood and brick build roads, while sheep are mainly useful when you need development cards. If you…
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Microsoft once tried to buy Nintendo
Microsoft executives flew to Japan to propose buying the company outright. Nintendo’s executives reportedly found the offer so amusing that they laughed it…
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Sadie Adler lived quietly as a homesteader
She once lived quietly in the snowy mountains, ranching with her husband. A home invasion upended that life and set her on the path to becoming a bounty hunter.
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Star Wars turned a Celtic poem into a Sanskrit chorus
For Duel of the Fates, John Williams used Sanskrit words drawn from an English translation of The Battle of the Trees. He wanted the choral sound to give the…
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Why dropped weapons glow in video games
The bright aura marks dropped guns as pickups, not ordinary scenery, and makes them easy to spot and claim.
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Clue requires players to deduce three secret central cards
The solution—who committed the murder, with what weapon, and in which room—is hidden in an envelope at the center of the board. Players move through the…
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