Who You Calling ‘NPC’?

‘Non-Player Character’ Has Become an Insult. But Its D&D Origins Tell a Different Story

I tripped over the term NPC, quite literally, on my way to an event the other night. Rushing to get there, I fell right in front of the venue. Embarrassed by how many people had just watched me eat concrete, I texted my friend Claire.

“They’re just NPCs,” she wrote back instantly. “Who cares what they think?”

NPC, the acronym for “non-player character,” is a gamer concept that’s been around for 50 years now. Often thought of as a background character—a villager, a barkeep, a shop owner—who helps to flesh out the world …

by Jackie Mansky | June 28, 2024

Where I Go: Becoming a Pokémon Champion

For the Last 15 Years, These Cute Digital Creatures Have Helped Remind Me That I Can Overcome Any Challenge That May Come My Way

by Rithwik Kalale | August 10, 2023

Most kids are obsessed with things—fantasies, foods, films—that they eventually outgrow.

It’s only natural. Our taste ages as we do.

But for me, it’s been 15 years since my parents got me …

How Mahjong Laid Tiles for Chinese America

The Popular Game Helped Forge a New Identity as it Crossed Classes, Genders, and Generations

by Annelise Heinz | June 30, 2022

The rumble of shuffling mahjong tiles filled the air in Chinatowns across the United States in the 1920s. Before even seeing the game, you could hear it being played in …

Before Wordle, There Was Cross-Word Mania

In the 1920s, Puzzling Inspired a Broadway Musical, Built a Publishing House, and Counted the Queen of England as a Fan

by Jackie Mansky | April 1, 2022

In its short lifespan, Wordle has already made the tricky transition from cult phenomenon to established part of our daily lives.

Created by a software engineer in Brooklyn for his partner …

The Anti-Capitalist Woman Who Created Monopoly—Before Others Cashed In

The Beloved Board Game’s Long-Hidden Origin Story Debunks the Myth of Male Lone Genius

By Mary Pilon | March 27, 2017

For decades, the story of Monopoly’s invention was a warm, inspiring, Horatio Alger narrative. A version of it, tucked into countless game boxes, told the tale of an unemployed …

Will Pokemon Go Put an End to Gamer Stereotypes?

The Wildly Popular Augmented Reality Game Brings Players Into Their Communities and Helps Them Connect

By Katherine Isbister | September 6, 2016

The sensation that is Pokemon Go has gotten millions of players off the couch and into their neighborhoods. The game’s artful use of augmented reality (AR) has demonstrated perhaps more …

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