Polybius (video game)

Basic Information

According to urban legend, Polybius was a video game that appeared in several arcades in the Portland, Oregon area in 1981. The game was allegedly addictive and psychoactive, leading to fights between fans of the game causing amnesia, insomnia, nightmares, night terrors, and even suicide. The arcades were also frequently visited by Men in Black who collected some "unknown data" from the machines. Allegedly, some people still have ROMs of the game.

See Also

• Basilisk Image - possibly the game included them.

Sources

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia entry

2. Arcana Wiki Map entry

Game and Story Use

• The mind control technology used in modern video games which now influences the youth according to THEIR agenda was first tested in this game. As a result, a ROM of this game would be incredibly useful for countermeasures, and thus a first rate MacGuffin.
• The "official" story - arcade games triggered photosensitive epilepsy in ways that weren't as obvious as grand mal seizures, and the black-suited men were investigating entirely unrelated reports of illegal gambling and money laundering - might also be worth mining for ideas.
  • A new piece of tech causes side effects in a tiny portion of the population. Is this a deliberate attack, or simply a problem that didn't show up in testing?
  • Law-enforcement PCs might have their actions blown entirely out of proportion by rumors, especially if something else is happening at the same time.