Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
Why Deus Ex left the Twin Towers out
Memory limits kept the Twin Towers out of Deus Ex’s New York skyline; the game’s story explained their absence with a fictional terrorist attack.
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Devil May Cry strictly relies on fiercely aggressive juggles
Stylish combat revolves around launching enemies into the air and keeping them suspended with repeated attacks.
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Mortal Kombat grew from an unrealized Van Damme idea
The developers explored a fighting game built around the action star, but that project did not come together. They instead developed their own fighters,…
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Halo's bouncy jeep helped pull its camera closer
Bungie co-founder Alex Seropian recalled suspension tests that looked impressive close up but lost their impact from an overhead view. The vehicle that became…
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Mass Effect's Krogan have a fourth testicle
Krogan are depicted with redundant organs and nervous systems, including a fourth testicle—a detail that fits their emphasis on biological backup.
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Fallout's deathclaws have chameleons in their fictional family tree
The series' lore traces them to prewar genetic engineering, with Jackson's chameleons among the source animals. They were developed as weapons rather than…
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Gordon Freeman never says a word
Though silent, Gordon Freeman helps organize resistance movements and fight interdimensional empires.
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How Combine soldiers enforce order with littering
They knock empty soda cans onto the floor, then order citizens to put them in a trash receptacle—a deliberately petty display of dominance.
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Why Skyrim giants can launch you into the sky
A giant’s club can send your Skyrim character soaring with an exaggerated launch effect, turning a mammoth-camp encounter into an unexpected flight.
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Joker casually dates his high school homeroom teacher
The game lets the teenage protagonist pay his teacher for maid-service work and pursue a romance with her, despite their teacher-student relationship.
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Fallout 4's Dogmeat can lose a fight without leaving your story
The companion dog can be knocked down by damage rather than permanently killed in ordinary play. You can return to a four-legged partner after a battle that…
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Why Night City's nomads reach for tank-busting weapons
The nomads' answer to trouble is often overwhelming firepower: they hijack experimental hover artillery rather than negotiate with massive corporations.
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Why BioShock's Little Sisters collect genetic material
The sea slugs implanted in the children make them consume genetic material from corpses, turning them into a grotesque cleanup crew for the underwater city.
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Factorio makes your success visible as pollution
Factories turn resources into increasingly complex products, but their pollution spreads across the map and provokes nearby enemies. Expanding production…
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Asari diplomats reproduce using purely mental gymnastics
In the game’s lore, an asari can link minds with a partner of any species to reproduce, without ordinary biological compatibility.
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Final Fantasy XV makes a royal crisis into a road trip
Noctis travels with friends toward a throne he must reclaim, but the journey leaves room for roadside meals, photographs and camping. Those ordinary stops let…
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Freddy Fazbear’s animatronics leak more than oil
At the fictional restaurant, management ignores the mascots’ blood and mucus—and even the smell of rotting flesh—to keep selling cheap pizza.
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Duke Nukem stops to pay dancers during an alien invasion
Even as aliens destroy the planet, Duke Nukem pauses his rampage to tip dancers in wrecked nightclubs.
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Why Skyrim guards keep asking about your sweetroll
In Skyrim, guards brush off reports of danger with a joke about someone stealing your sweetroll—even as dragons threaten the city.
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In Stardew Valley, children can become doves
A farmer who regrets having children can offer a rare gem at a magical shrine, turning them into doves that fly away permanently.
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Frostpunk lets you solve a labor shortage with child labor
The city's lawbook offers a choice: put children to work or provide shelters for them. Further laws can extend the jobs they are allowed to do. The decision…
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Garrus Vakarian abandons friends to calibrate big guns
He’ll leave conversations with his crew to work on the ship’s artillery cannons, even during an interstellar crisis.
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Heavy Rain turned shouting Jason into a button prompt
Early in the game, Ethan searches a crowded mall for his son, and the player can trigger his calls. An ordinary parental action becomes something you…
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Elden Ring's Dung Eater wants his curse to outlive everyone
His Seedbed Curse prevents victims' souls from returning to the Erdtree. His quest can lead to an ending that spreads the curse through the world's order…
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