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
When faced with crossing a perilous gorge on a wooden plank, tilting the camera to stare directly at your boots offers immense psychological comfort. By…
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Mahjong tiles are typically molded from solid melamine
Once carved from organic matter, these blocks are now mass-produced from a dense synthetic resin. It guarantees that they make an incredibly loud, concussive…
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Roulette dealers use wooden dollies to mark numbers
Instead of just pointing, the croupier ceremoniously places a physical marker on the winning chips. It is a classy, traditional way of physically blocking you…
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Original Xbox included a built-in internal hard drive
A bold declaration that removable storage modules were for the weak. It became the first major home console to feature an internal eight-gigabyte drive,…
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Marco Polo turns a pool game into echolocation
By closing your eyes and shouting a name, you must blindly paddle through the water relying purely on auditory reflections to locate targets. It is a…
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Spyro the Dragon headbutts chests for shiny rare gems
Keys are entirely optional when you have a thick skull. This tiny purple reptile completely ignores lockpicking, choosing instead to aggressively ram his…
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Licensing chips block third party titles
Monopolies are best enforced with silicon. To prevent a flood of unlicensed trash from ruining the market, early consoles required a proprietary…
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Rare was once called Ultimate Play the Game
This sounds less like a corporate entity and more like a desperate command shouted by a desperate parent. Founded by the Stamper brothers in the 1980s, the…
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Taskmaster's challenges are tested in a garage
Before comedians are subjected to absurd public humiliation, the creator has to ensure it is actually possible. Many of the bizarre creative requests are…
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Why a wrist rest may make your desk less comfortable
That squishy rectangular pad is supposedly designed to save your joints, but mostly just absorbs an ungodly amount of arm sweat. Over time, it flattens into a…
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Assassin's Creed's sea shanties use trained singers
Instead of a bunch of gruff, tone-deaf sailors screaming over the waves, you get pitch-perfect, professionally trained vocalists harmonizing beautifully. It…
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The simple trick for escaping most mazes
You do not need an incredible sense of direction to survive a labyrinth. By simply placing your hand on the right wall and never letting go, you will…
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When the audience gives the wrong answer on purpose
The crowd is absolutely not your friend. During the Ask the Audience lifeline, studio members would sometimes maliciously vote for the completely wrong option…
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Why the N64 controller had three grips
If you've ever wondered why you needed three hands to properly hold this plastic monstrosity, blame the plumber. Nintendo was terrified that consumers…
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How Half-Life 3 keeps teasing fans
Legal paperwork is the ultimate tool for emotional manipulation. For over a decade, pranksters and corporate lawyers alike would file trademark renewals for…
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Why Space Invaders gets faster as you win
Losing your entire army is a massive motivator for moving faster. As you blast the pixelated aliens from the sky, the remaining few suddenly realize they are…
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Majora's Mask was made in just one year
Nothing fuels creativity quite like an insane, crushing deadline. The studio forced their team to reuse assets from the previous massive hit to pump out an…
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Operation penalizes players the second they touch the edges
Instead of surgical skill, this classic tabletop staple tests your ability to not tremble under immense pressure. One microscopic slip of the tweezers against…
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Sheep are widely considered Catan's least valuable resource
While wood and brick build your early roads, and ore buys cities, sheep are the sad, fluffy losers of the island. Unless you are desperately trying to build…
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Microsoft once tried to buy Nintendo
Desperate for a foothold in the living room, tech executives literally flew to Japan to propose an outright buyout of their biggest rival. The legendary…
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Sadie Adler lived quietly as a homesteader
Before she transformed into a ruthless, dual-wielding bounty hunter, her life was incredibly mundane. The fierce fan-favorite character spent her earlier days…
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Why movie choirs sometimes sing complete nonsense
When you need a majestic choral track but cannot afford a proper translator, just make it up. Composers frequently write epic, booming choir arrangements…
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Why dropped weapons glow in video games
Dropped guns defy gravity, hovering gracefully in mid-air with a bright glowing aura just waiting for you to walk over them.
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Clue requires players to deduce three secret central cards
Hidden safely inside a tiny envelope in the middle of the board lies the exact truth of the murder. You spend the entire session wandering through mansion…
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