Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Pool halls got their name from gambling pools
The sophisticated image of a felt table completely falls apart when you check its roots. The name originates from collective wagering 'pools' in back-alley…
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Why broken games get the same apology graphic
The modern digital release cycle heavily relies on an emergency public relations template. When a highly anticipated title launches in a completely broken…
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Hacky sack began as knee rehab
Kicking a tiny woven bag in a circle was not originally designed for college campus lawns. It was literally invented in 1972 by an American who desperately…
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Xbox 360 external power brick is absurdly massive
A completely separate, heavy block of circuitry entirely external to the console. It required hiding a giant adapter behind the entertainment center, acting…
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Half-Life began with Quake's engine
Valve didn't even build their first massive hit from scratch. They licensed the Quake engine from their competitors, ripped out most of the code, duct-taped…
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Tekken’s bear is literally named Bear
Why bother creating an intricate background when you can just drop a massive grizzly into a martial arts tournament? Kuma literally just translates to bear in…
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Why Team Fortress 2 took nine years to arrive
If you think modern games get delayed, look at Valve's masterpiece class-based shooter. Originally announced in 1999 as a hyper-realistic modern military…
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Why gamers keep a claw-shaped hand at rest
Years of dodging digital bullets permanently rewires human muscular defaults. Competitive players will unconsciously rest their left fingers in a highly…
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Super Smash Bros target tests heavily rely on pause buffers
To perfectly execute intensely demanding inputs, players rapidly mash the pause button to advance the screen one visual update at a time. It completely turns…
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How a car can be steered while airborne
Launching a car off a massive ramp grants you magical aerodynamic control, allowing you to tilt and rotate a two-ton chassis using a steering wheel.
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Guide authors replaying identical sections until exhaustion
Mapping out every possible outcome destroys the magic of discovery immediately. Writers drafting official walk-throughs must play the exact same hallway fifty…
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Why spades always win in Spades
Unlike literally every other trick-taking card game where the power suit changes based on bidding, this specific game decided to keep things incredibly rigid.…
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Sonic the Hedgehog's surprising middle name
Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of robotic supervillains quite like the name Maurice. According to the official comic lore, everyone's favorite blue…
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Roulette wheels maintain flawless balance to avoid bias
Even microscopic dust buildup can alter the spin. Mechanics rigorously test the massive wooden wheels with electronic lasers to ensure absolute perfection,…
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Using a steering wheel controller to play shooter titles
Plugging in completely improper hardware simply to challenge yourself often results in absolute vehicular chaos. Watching a player try to carefully aim a…
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A chain-link fence can send bullets ricocheting
Firing through a wire mesh seems incredibly straightforward until your projectiles spark against the invisible forcefield between the wires. That thin…
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Blind pool pursuit was invented in suburban yards
Yelling a famous explorer's name while completely blindfolded in chlorine has zero historical backing. The real Venetian traveler never actually played this…
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LucasArts was originally called Lucasfilm Games
George Lucas simply loved slapping his surname on absolutely every creative endeavor he touched. Formed in 1982 to explore interactive media, the division was…
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The string trick inside Rubik's Magic
It looks like black magic, but it is just clever threading. The flat, folding cousin of the famous cube works entirely via an internal string looping…
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Compass bars compress digital spaces into spinning lines
Keeping spatial awareness is hard, so UI designers compress the horizon into a single spinning strip. Compass bars mathematically flatten 360 degrees of…
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Decal systems slap flat graphical stickers onto architecture
Decorating endless walls with unique stains is highly inefficient. Decal systems project entirely separate, flat graphical stickers directly onto existing 3D…
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Pictionary started in a waiter's living room
Absolute proof that nobody believes in your stupid little doodle game until it randomly makes a million dollars. Robert Angel came up with the idea while…
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Skyrim's dragons started as giant birds
Bethesda’s creation engine is essentially held together by duct tape and prayers. When they needed majestic, terrifying dragons to fly smoothly around the…
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Why Animal Crossing's raccoon shopkeeper buys bugs
A robust local economy is built entirely on capturing tiny insects. If you hand a colorful butterfly or a large beetle to the village shopkeeper, he will…
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