Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
The Dreamcast had a controller with a reel
Sega sold a fishing controller with a handle for reeling in a virtual catch. Instead of translating every action into an ordinary button press, it gave one…
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Brawls happening under the floor are totally fake
The space under the ring can be a hidden waiting area where performers rest, apply fake blood, or switch places with an identical twin.
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The same picture puzzle emerged from two Japanese inventors
Non Ishida and Tetsuya Nishio independently developed the grid puzzles now known as nonograms in the late 1980s. Numbers describe blocks of filled squares,…
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Hangman rewards a useful letter, not just a lucky guess
A correct letter can reveal several positions in the hidden word at once, while a wrong one consumes a limited chance. Every answer changes which words remain…
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Why shipping boxes need thick cardboard
A box at the bottom of a pallet may have to bear the weight of everything stacked above it during an ocean shipment.
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Bloodborne rewards you for hitting back when hurt
Bloodborne briefly leaves recently lost health available to recover by attacking enemies. The rally system makes an immediate counterattack a calculated…
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Why Mario Kart lets opponents catch up
The game uses “rubber banding” to help trailing computer-controlled opponents catch up, boosting their speed even when you’re driving well.
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Nintendo sixty-four was delayed heavily before launch
Repeated delays turned the N64's launch into an industry joke, and by the time it arrived, competing consoles had already captured substantial market share.
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Pac-Man navigates a dark maze while consuming tiny dots
A glowing blue maze, floating pellets, and pursuing ghosts turn the simple premise into a fast chase.
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Why losing to a beginner hurts so much
A beginner's lucky shot can make hours of practiced skill feel useless in an instant—especially when they eliminate you by panicking and firing blindly.
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How characters change outfits in a split second
A character can go from heavy plate armor to a tuxedo in the middle of a crowded street, with no visible time to change.
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East permanently starts as dealer in traditional Mahjong
The East player is the dealer and makes the first discard, giving that seat the opening move of the hand.
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NBA 2K games display individual drops of sweat on foreheads
A bead can slowly track down a player's face in high definition, even as the crowd in the stands looks comparatively flat.
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Social deduction games reward pathological lying
In games like Mafia, players have to deceive friends convincingly, turning a friendly gathering into a contest of bluffs and accusations.
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In some games, hitting every wall pays off
Some games hide secret rooms behind discolored walls, so striking suspicious bricks can pay off.
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Monopoly prints billions in fake money every year
More than $30 billion in Monopoly money is printed each year, much of it left to gather dust in closets.
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Twister nearly sent everyone into a Pretzel
The developers first called their body-tangling game Pretzel, but Milton Bradley found the name unavailable and chose Twister. The underlying idea was the…
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Tetris blocks have a surprisingly formal name
They're called tetrominoes, the geometric name for the game's four-square pieces—a formal label for blocks that can inspire blind panic.
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Guitar Hero almost featured a musical helicopter
Harmonix once considered a game where players flew a musical helicopter with a joystick, dodging obstacles to licensed songs. The idea gave way to the…
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Hidden letter grids rely on intense timer stress
In Boggle, players race a timer to find words in a grid of letters inside a shaking cube.
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Delivering pizzas in a yellow taxi while ignoring traffic
In Crazy Taxi, players earned tips by driving recklessly, narrowly avoiding collisions and launching off ramps as they rushed passengers to destinations like…
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Discarded equine footwear replaced solid iron rings
The game is said to have begun when Roman soldiers who couldn’t afford solid iron rings tossed discarded horseshoes at stakes.
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Tessellation puzzles have absolutely no fixed borders
Repeating geometric shapes can extend a tessellation indefinitely in every direction, leaving no corner pieces or clear point at which the puzzle is finished.
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Why friendly fire doesn't hurt your allies
The game treats allies as immune to your tactical strikes, so even a direct hit leaves them unharmed.
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