Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Yahtzee boxes include a chance category as a final fallback
When you inevitably fail to roll the specific numbers you desperately need, this category is waiting to catch your garbage hand. It acts as the ultimate…
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GoldenEye once used handshakes to reload weapons
Nothing screams international espionage quite like a polite greeting in the middle of a frantic firefight. During early development, the team at Rare didn't…
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Why Cooking Mama smiles while chopping meat
Culinary preparation requires a cheerful demeanor, even during the grisly parts. This endlessly peppy woman will flash a blindingly bright smile as she…
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Resident Evil’s healing herbs are based on real plants
Before you mix them together to heal brutal zombie bites, you should know they are biologically accurate. The designers looked at actual holistic remedies to…
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The Skyrim bug that launched players into the sky
Bethesda is famous for their 'features' disguised as bugs, but the Skyrim Space Program is easily the greatest. When a low-level player is killed by a Giant's…
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Double buffering hides messy rendering in invisible hardware
Watching a computer draw a scene pixel by pixel is a horrifying experience. Double buffering completely hides this messy construction by quietly rendering the…
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A video game was advertised on real gravestones
To promote a supernatural title, this notoriously unhinged publisher literally offered to pay relatives of the deceased to put mini-billboards on family…
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Mass Effect’s deadliest machines have a soft inspiration
The terrifying, galaxy-ending synthetic deities responsible for harvesting all advanced life forms are undeniably imposing. That is, until you realize their…
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Rolling two ones in Craps is universally called snake eyes
Landing the absolute lowest possible value on two dice instantly earns you this menacing reptile-themed nickname. It is generally a disastrous outcome for…
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Blackjack lets you surrender half your bet
In some forgiving establishments, looking at your horrible sixteen against a dealer's ace allows you to simply give up. You forfeit half your money…
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League of Legends has a character who rolls a giant snowball
While others are casting massive spells or swinging giant swords, one guy just pushes frozen precipitation around until it gets large enough to bowl people…
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Banjo-Kazooie changes its music by location
Walking near a pirate ship shouldn't be silent. As the bear and bird wander through different areas, the main melody stays identical, but the background…
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Why Jack’s romance was cut from Mass Effect
Because the only thing scarier than an army of synthetic space squids is angry conservative television anchors. The character Jack was originally written and…
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Why video games put bottomless pits everywhere
Rather than build a believable mountain range, creators just delete the floor and let you fall into a pitch-black void of instant death. It is the ultimate…
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When gamers finally give in to fast travel
Stubbornly declaring that you want to enjoy the scenery completely fades after thirty minutes of wandering through identical gray corridors. Pride is…
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Why you can't win at three-card monte
Street hustlers love pretending this is a legitimate test of visual tracking, but you literally cannot win. The dealer uses pure sleight of hand to ensure the…
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Connect Four was solved decades ago
Why bother playing a game when a computer already beat it forever? In 1988, scientists mathematically 'solved' Connect Four. They proved definitively that if…
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Ansem's name comes from a medieval philosopher
Because injecting actual theological scholarship into a universe featuring Goofy is a completely logical choice. The dark seeker from Kingdom Hearts derives…
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Sonic got his shoes from Michael Jackson's “Bad”
You cannot run past the sound barrier in generic sneakers. The famous red and white boots worn by the blue blur were heavily modeled after the footwear seen…
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Why you can't pause an online match
Families worldwide still firmly refuse to comprehend that the internet does not wait for dinner time. Explaining that a live lobby of random strangers will…
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Half-Life protagonist Gordon Freeman has never spoken a word
You would think a brilliant theoretical physicist fighting an alien invasion would have at least one observation to share. Instead, he just aggressively…
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Sega thirty-two expansion required heavy spacer plates
Slapping this massive mushroom-shaped upgrade onto your existing console required installing literal heavy brackets to prevent electromagnetic interference.…
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Why craps is named after a toad
The incredibly popular casino staple stems from the French word 'crapaud,' which literally translates to toad. Early players would dramatically squat down on…
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Minecraft villagers trade raw emeralds for basic wheat
Economic inflation makes absolutely no sense in a blocky world. These large-nosed locals will happily hand over the rarest gemstones in the earth just because…
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