Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Guitar Hero note charts are completely mapped by hand
Artificial intelligence cannot appreciate a blistering guitar solo. Every single descending colored gem on the plastic instrument tracks was meticulously…
Discover more
The NBA game that ended 186–184
Defense is apparently just a polite suggestion in professional basketball. In December 1983, the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets decided they just…
Discover more
Tomb Raider players trapped the butler in a freezer
Before there were complex narrative choices, there was the sheer joy of domestic abuse against digital servants. In classic Tomb Raider, the tutorial level…
Discover more
Why Bethesda is called Bethesda
It takes true geographical pride to name a purveyor of apocalyptic wastelands after a pleasant census-designated place. Christopher Weaver founded the company…
Discover more
Blank Scrabble tiles give zero points despite high utility
You finally draw a blank tile, the holy grail of saving your unplayable, consonant-heavy hand. But the rules punish your relief by making it worthless in…
Discover more
Ganon's full name sounds oddly ordinary
Even the incarnation of pure, unadulterated evil has to fill out tax forms eventually. According to the official manual for A Link to the Past, the human form…
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.
GTA V's map is bigger than real Manhattan
You can spend literally hours driving from the fake Hollywood hills out to the endless dusty deserts. It is a stunning achievement in virtual urban planning…
Discover more
Why Halo ringworlds would tear themselves apart
Those awe-inspiring galactic super-weapons look incredible in a skybox, but applying any logical physics breaks the illusion. Without impossibly strong…
Discover more
Why Skyrim came with a map worth keeping
Modern retail problems occasionally require incredibly medieval solutions. To combat the massive used-game market at GameStop, Bethesda packaged beautiful,…
Discover more
I Spy appeared in print as early as 1928
The ultimate desperate road-trip distraction has surprisingly deep roots in published literature. Decades before parents used it to silence screaming children…
Discover more
Why cats attack things moving behind screens
Your pet does not think it is playing; it genuinely believes there is a small, erratic animal trapped behind the glass. Their visual cortex is hardwired to…
Discover more
Why voice actors chew green apples
The secret to an award-winning vocal performance is apparently a Granny Smith. To prevent their mouths from making grotesque, sticky clicking noises into…
Discover more
Why giant swords never hit doorways
Strapping a seven-foot blade to your back never causes spatial issues; it simply phases right through doorframes and ceilings without a sound.
Discover more
EVE Online added Excel to the game
When your space economy is so aggressively convoluted that normal interface menus fail, you call in the corporate big guns. EVE Online heavily relied on…
Discover more
Audio diaries are scattered terribly
Doomed facility workers apparently spent their final, agonizing moments tossing tape recorders into the most inaccessible, remote air vents they could find.
Discover more
When a legendary sword breaks after 40 enemies
The mythical blade forged by the gods themselves loses all structural integrity after slicing through about forty basic, unarmored thugs.
Discover more
Fire marshals threatening to shut down crowded halls
The greatest boss battle at any major convention is the local fire department. When enthusiastic crowds swarm too tightly around a highly anticipated preview…
Discover more
In games, fire obeys the plot
You can wield a flamethrower and completely coat a timber cottage in blazing napalm, but the walls will remain impeccably intact. The environment is entirely…
Discover more
South Korea’s military team for pro StarCraft players
When your country takes macro-management so seriously that it becomes a matter of national defense. South Korea requires all able-bodied men to serve in the…
Discover more
Shadow buff requires identifying friends by silhouettes
Before high-definition photography, people entertained themselves by hanging a sheet over a light source to cast shadows. The 'buff' had to guess the identity…
Discover more
River cards provide the final chance to ruin hands
The fifth and final community card exists solely for dramatic irony. It is the statistical final nail in the coffin, turning a perfectly mathematically sound…
Discover more
Tilting the world to guide singing blobs through tight gaps
You can't actually control the characters; you just shift the gravitational axis of the earth. LocoRoco tasked players with rolling squishy, singing blobs…
Discover more
Sudoku columns mandate digits one through nine
The fundamental cruelty of the grid lies in its absolute refusal to allow duplicates. Every single vertical line must represent a perfect numerical sequence…
Discover more
A second Yahtzee can rescue any lower category
Rolling five of a kind once is lucky, but doing it again breaks the game. The rules reward this statistical anomaly by letting you force massive points into…
Discover more