Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Magnavox successfully sued multiple rivals for patents
Because they owned the original broad patents on electronic television output, they spent decades dragging almost every major hardware creator into endless…
Discover more
Why Witcher potions would kill ordinary humans
Drinking a magical brew to enhance your night vision sounds incredibly convenient until you read the label. These tactical beverages are so aggressively toxic…
Discover more
Dixit players must describe abstract art with vague clues
If you describe your bizarre, surrealist card too perfectly, everyone guesses it and you score absolutely nothing. If you are too vague and nobody gets it,…
Discover more
Microsoft Flight Simulator lets you fly over your own house
Using satellite data to map the entire Earth is a monumental technological achievement, mostly used by gamers to look at their own roofs. Microsoft Flight…
Discover more
Why CDs are so hard to recycle
A shiny circle of environmental doom. Because physical discs combine a plastic base with a toxic metallic reflective layer, standard municipal recycling…
Discover more
Quarters requires bouncing a coin perfectly into a glass
Forget high-level hand-eye coordination; true mastery is forcefully slamming a metal coin onto a wooden table so it arcs majestically into a tiny rim. It is…
Discover more
STACKY FOR IPHONEA bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.
Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.
Steam Controller features dual concave haptic trackpads
Abandoning traditional thumbsticks for massive touch-sensitive bowls. It relied entirely on advanced haptics to simulate movement, wildly dividing the…
Discover more
Elden Ring's glowing Erdtree is visible from across the map
It is not a skybox trick; it is an actual, massive golden object sitting in the center of the world constantly reminding you of how far you still have to…
Discover more
Why strategy games send scouts to die
Because map awareness is significantly more important than the lives of your cheapest laborers. The map is blanketed in artificial darkness, requiring you to…
Discover more
The video game that let you undo a fatal mistake
Missing a gap and plummeting into a pit of spikes used to mean starting over. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time handed players the ultimate 'undo' button.…
Discover more
Ken gave Ryu his iconic red headband
True friendship is exchanging sweaty pieces of fabric to mop up blood. In the Street Fighter universe, the stoic warrior originally wore a white headband.…
Discover more
The rapping dog that shaped rhythm games
Before plastic guitars invaded living rooms, there was a rapping dog. The classic musical adventure pioneered the concept of hitting buttons directly in time…
Discover more
Unskippable tutorial prompts interrupt gameplay
Just in case you forgot how to press a button after doing it thirty times, the screen will completely freeze to remind you. These mandatory text boxes pop up…
Discover more
Macromanagement proves building farms wins more battles
Epic clashes of swords and magic are entirely irrelevant if your opponent has a better agricultural pipeline. High-level strategy relies heavily on blindly…
Discover more
Why games let you mute their own music
Imagine spending millions of dollars on a licensed soundtrack just to beg players to turn it off. To save content creators from massive copyright strikes,…
Discover moreCarl Johnson returns home strictly for a funeral
Nothing brings the family back together quite like a tragic gangland drive-by shooting. The protagonist of San Andreas had successfully escaped the cycle of…
Discover more
Queen of Spades traditionally faces to the right
While the other queens are perfectly content gazing off to the left, the Queen of Spades breaks conformity. It is a subtle artistic choice that forces you to…
Discover more
How laser tag shots bounce off shiny walls
Ducking behind a plastic barrier feels highly tactical until you are magically eliminated from behind. Laser tag guns do not actually shoot coherent lasers;…
Discover more
The game where finding secrets means headbutting walls
Breaking the fourth wall is literal when you use your actual skull to smash the scenery. Astro Bot Rescue Mission uses VR to make the player a giant hovering…
Discover more
High-fiving a tiny digital mouse in a magical forest
Virtual reality isn't just for shooting; it's also for aggressively petting tiny rodents. In Moss, you act as an ethereal ghost hovering over a diorama world,…
Discover moreShenmue recreated 1986 weather day by day
If it rained on a specific Tuesday in Japan decades ago, it rains on that exact same day while you wander around looking for sailors. It is a staggeringly…
Discover more
Why game heroes go silent during trauma
Massive emotional revelations from deeply traumatized allies are met with a blank, unblinking stare and absolute silence from your hero.
Discover more
Minecraft’s ghast sounds came from a sleeping cat
The terrifying, demonic wails that echo through the perilous depths of the Minecraft Nether aren't the sounds of tortured souls. It's just a slightly annoyed…
Discover more
Why some dice slowly dissolve in water
The material used for high-end rolling cubes is essentially biodegradable. If left in a humid environment or dropped in a puddle, your highly engineered…
Discover more