I played Polybius

“The game Polybius was unknown to me until I came across it unintentionally at an arcade in Asia. I never thought anything about it until I came across a forum that explained the myth of the game. The forum I came across said the game was a myth and a legend. The game isn’t a myth or a legend as I have personally played the game. However, much of what I read about what it does to it’s players maybe true as I have had some symptoms and some strange things have happened to me.”

Here is my story, you can try to find the game if it still exists in the location and if it hasn’t removed by someone who has read this.

I had just gotten off the subway train after a long day and was ready to kick back and play some old school arcade games at one of the many arcades that littered the streets. I had some luck with the arcades that seemed to be dimly lit and smelled of alcohol and cigarettes. The games in these locations were original and quite surprisingly in English for the most part with the occasional game in Japanese or Korean. I walked to my street where the arcades were numerous and full of adults and children alike. I walked into the madness but I veered off about two blocks in. I went to the dark side off the main road this is where you could find the old arcade boxes that had been used since the late 70’s and early 80’s. I walked into a arcade that smelled of mould and stale cigarettes. There were about twenty arcade games with a handful of people in the location. I went up to the street fighter game and popped in a few coins. Street fighter is always a great way to release some stress and it’s a great game as well. I played it for about and hour. My pocket was getting light and I was more tired than I expected. So I was going to play another game and then call it a night. I checked out a few of the games and stopped at POLY PLAY.

I hadn’t seen this cabinet before and was quite interested in the cabinet. I noticed that the game cabinet’s language was in German and that there were numerous games included in the cabinet. I played through a couple of the games and died really fast. The games were like clones of other popular from the mid 80’s. There was a hunting game that was quite fun and I spent my last money on it. Once my pocket was dry of coins, I had to either continue playing by exchanging my bills for coins or call it a night. I was really tired and could come back any night of the week so I decided to call it a night. I left POLY PLAY and went for the door before leaving the arcade though I did exchange some bills for coins just in case I ran into a friend who wanted to play.

I noticed that there was a separate door at the exit that lead down some stairs. Above the door was a sign that said vintage arcade games. I was tired but I couldn’t pass this up I had already discovered a new arcade cabinet. Maybe there would be a gold mine of games in the basement. Forgotten games go to die in basements. So, I decided to take a chance and go down the stairs. I was surprised when I reached the bottom of the narrow stairwell. There were about 10 cabinets and just 2 players down there. I looked at the cabinets and the games were old and tattered. To my amazement I seen another POLY PLAY cabinet, the cabinet must either be really common here or the arcade has a monopoly on the remaining games. I also noticed beside the POLY PLAY was a game called Polybius.

The Polybius cabinet really mimicked the POLY PLAY cabinet but didn’t seem to be as well played. I went up to the cabinet and put in a couple coins. The game started with a flashing screen that read POLYBIUS!!!. The game was vector style almost like the stereotypical game of the late 70’s. I entered my name into the cabinet which was weird as usually these games only require your name after you reached a high score. The game had an array of flashing blue, red, and green lights. It reminded me of flashy anime that could cause seizures apparently to people who are sensitive to seizures. I noticed that every time I got points my name got bigger in the corner of the screen. I was really getting into the game it was like a puzzle-shooter style game. It was really fun and addicting I felt my pocket get lighter and lighter until it was void of all coins. It was late now and I worked later so I had to leave.

As I walked up the stairwell, I noticed that there was a condemning sign that said the building was slated to be torn down within the year. Over the next months I played Polybius occasionally up until the day the arcade shutdown. I never knew about the game’s rarity or mythical status. If I would have known about it I could have taken a picture of it or even tried to buy it. Anyways the arcade is long gone now and all I have is the memories. The game was quite addicting with the gameplay and the flashy screen. I do feel like I dream about it a lot and that it could possibly cause seizures. This could be why the game has been eradicated. I have never felt that way before while playing a game and probably never will again.