Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Sierra began in a cabin in the woods
Ken and Roberta Williams founded it as On-Line Systems in Coarsegold, California, then renamed it Sierra after the nearby mountain range.
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First official game of baseball was played in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1846 and the losing team scored one run
The New York Nine beat the Knickerbockers 23–1 in four innings. Alexander Cartwright, credited with writing the game’s rules, played for the losing team.
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Jigsaw puzzles began as geography lessons
John Spilsbury mounted a map of Europe on wood and cut it along national borders so students could learn geography.
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Resident Evil 4 lets you turn an egg into ammunition
Leon can eat eggs to recover health, sell them to the Merchant, or throw them. The same ordinary object sits between food, money, and a very undignified…
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Why playing cards have a dark layer inside
A dark carbon layer sandwiched between the paper keeps light from passing through, so you can’t glimpse the cards’ faces from the back.
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Night Trap helped push video games toward age ratings
The 1993 U.S. congressional hearings singled out its filmed scenes of young women threatened by intruders. In the game, the player actually used traps to…
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Why Sea of Thieves pirates eat bananas with the peel
The game’s pirates swallow bananas whole, peel and all, turning a scurvy-fighting snack into a bizarre sight.
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Doom Eternal hides a Dopefish
A secret corner contains a buck-toothed Dopefish, a goofy aquatic cameo amid the game’s heavy metal soundtrack and intense action.
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A pachinko parlor turns tiny impacts into a wall of sound
Each steel ball makes a small clatter as it strikes pins and other balls. Multiply that by rows of machines running at once, then add electronic music and…
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Spinning tops depend entirely on heavy gyroscopic stability
Its spin gives it angular momentum that helps keep it upright. As friction slows it, it wobbles and eventually topples.
Discover morePhoenix Wright cross-examines a talking parrot in court
Phoenix questions the brightly colored bird as a witness in a murder trial, hoping its testimony will help uncover the truth.
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Magic's first printing can be spotted by its corners
Alpha cards have more rounded corners than the Beta printing that followed. That small manufacturing difference helps collectors distinguish cards that…
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A Rubik's Cube has fixed color anchors
On a standard 3×3 cube, the six centers keep their positions relative to one another even as you scramble the surrounding pieces. They tell you which color…
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The nine boxes that changed Dungeons & Dragons
The nine-box alignment chart gave players a shorthand for their characters’ ethics—and a ready-made excuse for chaotic behavior.
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Super Mario must eat mushrooms to grow visibly taller
A mushroom found inside a brick wall doubles Mario’s size, helping him withstand a bump from a slow-moving turtle.
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Audio engineers actively worsening high quality mixes
Engineers test mixes on cheap speakers to see whether the music still sounds good on basic equipment. If it falls apart on a low-quality soundbar, they may…
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Double Dutch jump rope involves crossing opposing arcs
The jumper has to time each landing between the ropes, and a clipped shoelace can bring the whole routine to a halt.
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Doctor Who lost adventures because the tapes were useful again
Early television recordings were expensive, and the BBC reused videotapes after broadcast. Film copies sent overseas became crucial to recovering some…
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Minecraft builders shatter magical stones to craft portals
In Minecraft, breaking obsidian lets players build a square frame that opens a portal to a hellish dimension.
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Why game dialogue multiplies so quickly
Every choice can split a conversation again, leaving writers to create thousands of words that most players may never encounter.
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Skyrim's dragon language was built to be spoken
The game's dragon words have meanings, and the written symbols form an alphabet rather than random decoration. Shouts turn those words into abilities, so…
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A virtual resort sold in pieces for a total of $635,000
In 2010, Jon Jacobs sold the Club NEVERDIE asteroid property in Entropia Universe through multiple transactions. The resort included revenue-generating…
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Sugary drinks cause chemical crashes that slow reaction time
A rapid rise in blood glucose can be followed by insulin release, but that doesn't mean everyone will feel a crash or have slower reflexes.
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Ultimate weapons demand ninety nine fragments
To assemble the ultimate weapon, you have to collect all 99 glowing shards scattered across the continent.
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