The Urban Legend

Portland, Oregon
1981
A new game popped up in select arcades. Its simple black cabinet was inconspicuous among the loud branding of Pac-Man, Tempest, and Star Castle. Only the title stood out: Polybius.
Gamers, curious about the new arrival or lured in by a screen that sometimes began playing on its own, found it to be abstract in concept with geometric graphics not unlike other space shooters or tunnel navigation games around it. However, they kept coming back for more and more, spending hours staring at its screen.
When asked what the game was about or what it was like playing it, the players could only recall snippets. Even then, their accounts contradicted each other. It was as if the game changed depended on who was playing it.
No one paid the game much mind and the arcade owners were happy to make money from the seemingly addictive Polybius. Players formed lines around the game and fights broke out even among kids and adults who were described as usually mild tempered.
Aggression wasn’t the only side effect that began to be reported. Gamers started to have adverse reactions to the game. Headaches at first, not uncommon when staring at a screen too long. Then amnesia, night terrors, sleep walking, and hallucinations.
Just as attention started to rise around these reactions, one month after the games appearance, Polybius vanished as quickly and as quietly as it arrived.
When the arcade owners were asked about it, they reported that men in black from a company called Sinneslöschen brought the games in, offering the cabinet for free. The arcade owners could keep all the money the cabinet earned. If asked, the men in black only said that it was a test module, that they were looking for player feedback.
Since that fateful year, Polybius hasn’t been seen and only rumors of government testing and strange memories remain.

The Truth Behind the Legend

The following timeline may have led to the creation of the Polybius urban legend.

  • 1980 The United States Army approached Atari to develop a version of their game, Battlezone, to help train soldiers. The Bradley Trainer commissioned by a consultant group of retired generals. There was some controversy when some programmers at Atari refused to work with the military. Ed Rotberg, Battlezone lead programmer, eventually agreed but only with the understanding this would be the first and last request from the military.
  • November 29, 1981 The Eugene Register newspaper reported 12-year-old Brian Mauro played Asteroids for more than 28 hours, trying to break the record, as local television crews watched. He finally bowed out with stomach discomfort, attributed to anxiety and all the Coke he drank.
  • That same day, it was later reported, Michael Lopez developed a migraine headache while playing Tempest. Lopez was reported to the police when he collapsed in pain on someone’s lawn.
  • December 9, 1981 The FBI raided several Portland arcades. They made 52 Portland arcade arrests and another 25 in 1982. This was following a crack down on gambling and drug deals that frequently occurred in arcades.
  • April 3, 1982 Peter Bukowski collapsed while playing Berserk. The cause of death was later reported due to heart failure unrelated to the game but by then the rumors had spread not only by witnesses but also news reports.
  • 1985 Poly-Play by VEB Polytechnik, the only arcade cabinet to come from the German Democratic Republic arrives in the US. Only 2000 were made and it contained mostly clones of other popular games.
  • 1989 The FBI began its “Winners Don’t Use Drugs” campaign. Arcade cabinets created or imported to the US were set up with this public service announcement during its attract mode. The slogan and campaign were phased out in 2000.
  • 1996 General Charles C. Krulak, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, issued a directive to use wargames for improving “Military Thinking and Decision-Making Exercises.” The Automated Information Systems Office created a modification of Doom II called Marine Doom.
  • September 2003 GamePro released the earliest known reference to Polybius.

Media inspired by Polybius

Movies

Daywalt Horror: Polydeus (2011) directed by Drew Daywalt
POLYBIUS – The Video Game That Doesn’t Exist (2017) directed by Stuart Brown
Polybius: A Retro Short Film (2020) directed by LaFave Bros
Ashens and the Polybius Heist (2020) directed by Riyad Barmania
Polybius (2020) directed by Jimmy Kelly
Polybius (2021) directed by Alex Rouleau
Polybius (2022) directed by Michael Bruce Wright
Polybius (2023) directed by Cadar Saxon and Viper Malcomess

Books

Polybius by Collin Armstrong
Jade Evergreen and the Perils of Polybius by Kara Buchannen
Polybius by David Irons
Polybius by Nicole Preston
The Arcade Dead: Polybius (Creepy Cosmos) by Chirimbolito (Author), Javier Olazábal (Illustrator)
Polybius: El videojuego maldito by Hard Candy
Polybius by Phillip Urlevich
POLYBIUS: A Horror Play by Max Landis
Grimm Tales of Terror #7: Polybius by Ralph Tedesco (Author), Javier Garcia-Miranda (Artist)
Arcade by Brian Maxxe

Podcasts

The Polybius Conspiracy
Run, Fool! episodes Polybius 1 & 2 from September 2024

Games

Polybius by Llamasoft, Ltd.
Polybius Invaders by Jonni the Dodger
Polybius by Rogue Synapse
Public Access by The Gauntlet, Xxagreus mystery.

TV Shows

The Simpsons (2006) “Please Homer, Don’t Hammer ‘Em”
The Goldbergs (2013) “The Age of Darkness”
Dimension 404 (2017) “Polybius”
Smiling Friends (2020) “Davebius”
Loki (2021) “Journey Into the Mystery”
Paper Girls (2022) “Hell Day 1988”