Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Total combinations of a standard 3x3 sliding puzzle
There are 181,440 possible arrangements of the tiles in a standard 3×3 sliding puzzle.
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Yakuza's tough guys can lose a fight with a claw machine
The Yakuza/Like a Dragon games include UFO Catcher arcade machines, letting a crime-drama protagonist spend time trying to lift a plush toy. The controls…
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The outlaw named Bill was actually born Marion
He adopted Bill as an alias; Marion was a relatively common male name in the 19th century.
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Zelda's flying dragon borrowed from Star Fox
Nintendo developers described reusing an Arwing flight routine while building Ocarina of Time's Volvagia. The games look like different worlds, but both…
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Monopoly houses must be built evenly across colored blocks
You must build evenly across every property in a color set before adding a second house to any one property, so one lot can't get all four houses first.
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Super Mario Kart began with two cars on a split screen
The first prototype tested whether two players could race in split-screen, using plain cars. Mario and other characters came later, after the team found the…
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Before Sonic, Sega built jukeboxes
Sega's own timeline begins in 1960 with the SEGA 1000, Japan's first domestically made jukebox. Arcade machines and home consoles came later. The company was…
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Donkey Kong rides rhinos instead of safely walking around
His rhino companion Rambi can charge through obstacles that would slow Donkey Kong on foot.
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Even a modified wrestling chair can leave a real injury
Cody Rhodes described a prepared prop chair used for his 2019 Fyter Fest chair shot. The stunt still cut his head and required staples. Choreography can…
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The universe's most powerful weapon has a toddler-level lock
Despite its immense power, the weapon's security system is simple enough for a moderately clever toddler to figure out.
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Why saying Uno puts a target on you
Calling “Uno” tells everyone you’re down to one card, giving them a chance to use draw cards to slow you down.
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Battleship players must announce their shots out loud
You have to call out your blind guesses across the table, then wait for your opponent to say “hit” or “miss.”
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How a narrow pass can stop a huge army
A narrow pass forces a large force through a bottleneck, letting a few defenders hold it up.
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RollerCoaster Tycoon lets you pick up the customers
The game's pincers can lift a guest and place them on another path, including an isolated patch with no exit. That makes bizarre experiments possible, but it…
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The yo-yo needed demonstrators before it became a craze
Pedro Flores built a toy business in the late 1920s and hired skilled players to show what his yo-yos could do. The demonstration sold the idea: a wooden disk…
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In two-player Uno, Reverse skips your opponent
With only two players, Reverse sends play straight back to you, so it functions like a Skip and gives you another turn.
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Call of Duty grew out of the team behind a rival
Developers who had worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault formed Infinity Ward and created Call of Duty. The new series entered the same crowded World War…
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Edward Fortyhands traps you with your own drinks
Players tape large bottles of malt liquor to both hands, making ordinary tasks like opening a door or using the bathroom difficult until they finish the drinks.
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Majora's Mask lets you slow time by playing a song backward
Reverse the note sequence of the Song of Time and it becomes the Inverted Song of Time. The altered tune slows the countdown toward the falling moon, giving…
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How to dismantle a Rubik's Cube in seconds
Turn the top layer halfway, then pry an edge piece out with your thumb. The cube comes apart in seconds—but it won’t be solved.
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Naughty Dog once had a very different name
Before becoming Naughty Dog, the studio was called JAM Software. Founders Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin used that name for their early interactive titles.
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Shell game relies entirely on visual sleight of hand
The operator may secretly palm the pea, leaving you to track three empty cups while you think you know where it is.
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World largest jigsaw puzzle features fifty-four thousand
It weighs roughly as much as a large dog, turning a picture puzzle into a serious storage-and-handling project.
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An eighteenth-century card table could unfold into a whole games collection
A table held by Colonial Williamsburg has a green-baize playing surface, then another folding layer with checker and backgammon boards. A frame for backgammon…
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