Ever thought about the history of your favorite games? If you’re like the majority of us, then the answer is probably no, you haven’t. And that makes perfect sense — it’s not exactly common to sit there thinking about the backstory of a game when you’re in the middle of playing it.
However, if you were to dig a little deeper, you’d find that many games you’ve probably taken for granted have backstories that are more surprising than you might think.
And we’re here to prove it! In this post, we’ll run through the little-known histories of some of the world’s all-time biggest games.
The Oregon Trail Was an Educational Tool
Even if you’ve never played The Oregon Trail then you’ve probably still heard of it. This smash hit game was, for many people, their first introduction to the hardships experienced by the pioneers of yesteryear. No one plays The Oregon Trail and romanticizes the Westward expansion. Instead, it makes you happy that you live in a time when getting attacked by wildlife when you’re just trying to find a place to live is unlikely.
And that is, actually, the whole point of the game. The game was developed by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger, three teachers, as a way to teach their students about the brutal reality of life in the United States in the 19th century. It became popular as a teaching method before eventually finding its way into the home computing market, and the rest is history.
Roulette Began as a Science Experiment
Roulette has long been one of the most popular casino games. Today, online casinos offer roulette in a number of variants, and you’ll find the game played extensively in both Europe and the United States. Fun fact: roulette is slightly different depending on where you play it; there are more numbers on the board in the United States, for example.
Given the overwhelming success of the game, it might surprise you to learn that the game began its life as a science experiment. Or rather, the roulette wheel did. Back in the 17th century, Blaise Pascal accidentally invented the roulette wheel in an attempt to make a perpetual motion machine. When it turned out that such a machine was not possible, they simply added numbers and repurposed it as a roulette wheel. We’re fairly confident that Pascal would have had no idea that his failed invention would be such an integral part of an iconic game several centuries after his death.
Sonic Was a Desperate Ploy
Sonic the Hedgehog very much stands on its own two feet these days, but that wasn’t always the case. When Sonic came into this world, he didn’t arrive as a bona fide star ready to transform the video games industry. Rather, he was developed simply as a way for Sega to get back in competition with Nintendo, who already had a smash hit — Mario — on their hands.
So, yep, Sonic was developed to be a mascot for the struggling video games company, rather than as a legitimate video game. And the ploy very much worked; in the years that followed, Sega became one of the largest video game companies on the planet.
Rugby: One Man’s Crazy Move
We’ve only included standard games so far on this list, but we think rugby’s origins make it a worthwhile inclusion, even if it’s a sport rather than a game. Though rugby can seem like an old, traditional sport, it’s actually much more of a recent invention than many people realize. Legend has it that rugby was invented back in 1823 by one William Webb Ellis, who, during a game of soccer, simply decided to pick up the ball and run to the end. That must have been annoying to the other players on the pitch, but at least the world gained another sport! Even if that story isn’t verified, we like to believe it’s true due to the rivalry between rugby and soccer fans.
