Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Mad Libs makes you write a story before you're allowed to read it
One person supplies nouns, verbs, and adjectives without seeing where they will go in a prepared passage. The grammar still works while the meaning veers into…
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Voice actors often record lines without knowing the story
Studios sometimes give voice actors isolated lines with little context, so an actor may be asked to sound devastated without knowing what the plot twist is.
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Why intense focus can upset your stomach
Under stress, the body prioritizes the brain and muscles over digestion, which can leave your stomach feeling unsettled.
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Why Castlevania hides healing food in its walls
Whipping candlesticks or blocks can uncover a hot meal, giving players a way to survive while Dracula's minions close in.
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Keno gives the house unusually good odds
Keno's payout structure gives the house an unusually large edge, so players lose more on average over time.
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Fall Guys jelly beans bounce off giant padded windmills
Each hit sends the bean-shaped contestants flying across the obstacle course, turning a failed jump into slapstick.
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Connect four diagonals span four rows and columns
Look for a slanting line of four pieces; it can cut across four rows and columns while escaping a player's focus on horizontal and vertical lines.
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Why beer pong cups are filled with water
The cups hold water for the game, while players drink from a separate can instead of consuming liquid a ping-pong ball may have touched.
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Why Electronic Arts made its own game cartridges
To avoid hefty royalties, EA reverse-engineered its hardware partner's console and made its own bulky, yellow-tabbed cartridges, prompting a compromise.
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In Elder Scrolls Online, the witness is part of the crime
Stealing where nobody sees you can spare you a bounty. Let someone catch you, and the same action becomes a problem with the guards. The justice system makes…
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Snooker began as a military insult
A British military officer used “snooker” as an insult for inexperienced cadets; the name later stuck to the game.
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Bottomless pits cause instant and unavoidable defeat
Even a heavily armored character can lose instantly by falling into a pit, and one misjudged jump can reset progress.
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In Stardew Valley, spouses water crops in the rain
They may even say they got up early to water the crops, despite the thunderstorm already doing the job.
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The phone game that reached 400 million devices
Nokia engineer Taneli Armanto created Snake for the Nokia 6110 in 1997 to showcase its infrared link. Its simple, addictive gameplay helped it reach an…
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Master Chief’s “Chief” is an actual military rank
In the games, he holds the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer, the same noncommissioned-officer rank used by the U.S. Navy.
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Hitman distraction coins generate massive decibel spikes
In the game's audio system, a tossed coin can register louder than gunfire, drawing guards from surprisingly far away.
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Movie weapons can appear from outside the frame
A character reaches behind their back and produces a weapon too large to hide there. Framing and editing let the film supply the prop without showing its…
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In Go Fish, you can't ask for cards you lack
To ask another player for a rank in Go Fish, you must already hold at least one card of that rank. Your question therefore gives something away: everyone…
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Reviewing epic stories while attending chaotic conventions
Media professionals may have to write reviews of emotional epics at cramped hotel desks while a fan convention rages outside.
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Harvest Moon makes a cow's affection part of the milk business
In Magical Melody, brushing and other care help raise a cow's affection, which affects the quality of milk it can produce. You still collect the milk with a…
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Rolling two sixes in craps is called boxcars
The name comes from the two sixes’ pips, which supposedly resemble train cars.
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Zelda musicians play simple ocarinas to travel time
In the games, memorized melodies played on a small ocarina can change the weather and let characters travel through time.
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Snoop Dogg once threatened to leave Xbox Live for PlayStation
During an Xbox Live outage in 2016, Snoop Dogg posted an angry video calling out Bill Gates and threatening to switch to PlayStation if the servers weren’t…
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Persona 5 features a soundtrack sung entirely in English
Though the game is set in Tokyo and centers on Japanese high school life, every vocal track is sung in English, giving its soundtrack a striking contrast with…
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