In times of unyielding, epic boredom, my nerdiest groups of friends and I used to play a game we called “Random Connections.” The game was simple: a moderator chose two seemingly unrelated things – they could be physical items, people, places, or even abstract concepts. The goal was to connect the two random entities using a fewer amount of connections that your opponent (or, in some cases, a more interesting set of connections – no matter the amount).
For instance: Carabiner and Primus. People keep keys on a carabiner > keys go into the ignition > “Ignition” is song by R. Kelly > R. Kelly was featured on South Park episode Trapped In The Closet > Primus wrote the original theme song to South Park. Done.
In our later years, this all turned into a drinking game with disastrous results. Seriously, try to tell a drunk guy that his connection makes no sense and ask him to elaborate – chaos will ensue.
That game, which I in no way think we invented, has found its logical conclusion in WikiWars.
WikiWars, too, is simple. Players must connect the dots between two seemingly unrelated words by navigating through Wikipedia. The only catch is that they can only click on links provided in the Wiki articles to get from entry A to entry B. Of course, this game can be played alone when desperately bored, but as with most things, it’s much better when it’s turned into a competition.
Cue Autotune the News’ Gregory Brothers, whose latest YouTube upload pits Evan against Michael in a best-of-three fight to the Broccolini. As they say, “victory requires mental focus, precise clicking, a surprisingly large need for a knowledge of geography, & the ability to not start hyperventilating.”
Check out the intense action below: