n degrees of Wikipedia

June 1, 2010 1:39 AM

Link Martin Lawrence to Pope Benedict XVI or Diplomacy to the Antichrist using only wiki links with The Wikipedia Game.
posted by mexican (48 comments total)

My brother and I have been playing a self-styled version of this for years. Awesome to have an interface to generate goals, but sad that you can't choose your own starts and finishes (or can you and i'm missing it?).
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 1:49 AM on June 1, 2010

Your start page is: "Ether" you are looking for "Cervical Cancer"

I just thought that was funny.

Someone got: Ether » Anaesthetic » Chemotherapy » Cancer » Cervical cancer
posted by delmoi at 1:55 AM on June 1, 2010

I won one (Well, I was winner #2, anyway)!

I linked from Cuba (the country) to C (the programming language) using: Cuba » University of Havana » Computer Science » Programming languages » C (programming language)

Kind of sucks that when a new game comes on, the old one seems to disappear.
posted by delmoi at 1:59 AM on June 1, 2010

aw yeah. this is awesome.
posted by jeffj at 2:03 AM on June 1, 2010

Wow. Without even checking, I'm pretty sure I know how both of the links go. Martin Lawrence, Other people named Martin, Martin Luther, Catholicism, Der Pap, Current Pope.

The second one is more depressing. Diplomacy, United Nations, Conspiracy Theories about the UN, UN as seat of the Antichrist, Antichrist.

Did I win a prize?
posted by Ghidorah at 2:03 AM on June 1, 2010

hrm. well I had the more elegant click path that time.
posted by jeffj at 2:07 AM on June 1, 2010

that counts for something, right? :)
posted by jeffj at 2:08 AM on June 1, 2010

This is awesome. But how do I stop the clock? I got to the Great Lakes in about six seconds and nothing... did I have the wrong Great Lakes? Is there a stop button?
posted by doublehappy at 2:17 AM on June 1, 2010

I got Martin Lawrence --> Pope Benedict in only two links.

Martin Lawrence has a link to "Germany" on his website because it's where he's from.

Germany has a link to Pope Benedict XVI.

Ta-dah! :)
posted by darkstar at 2:18 AM on June 1, 2010

*on his wiki page
posted by darkstar at 2:19 AM on June 1, 2010

_{OLED to "Islamic Calender" via: Organic light-emitting diode » Panasonic Corporation » Japan » Russia » Kazakhstan » Islam » Islamic calendar}

Part of the problem with this game is that you get rounds that are way to easy (like wwII to great lakes) and some that are way to hard, like (like "History of video games" to Radiohead)
posted by delmoi at 2:22 AM on June 1, 2010

Ohhhh, I get it. Everyone is playing at the SAME TIME! I guess that's fair cause it means I can't change the page in anticipation.
posted by doublehappy at 2:39 AM on June 1, 2010

Anybody else notice that the waving squid thing on the right is apparently named Wendell?
posted by sascha at 2:49 AM on June 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

<sub>Two win #1s:
Robert Plant » England » United States » American Civil War » Ulysses S. Grant
X Window System » Internet » History of the Internet » Al Gore and information technology » Al Gore

I also came in third with: Hydrocodone » Opiate » Heroin » Netherlands » Amsterdam, which I found kind of funny. And I came in third (and got ripped off with) Electric chair » Nikola Tesla » Radio » WiFi » Wi-Fi Alliance » Wi-Fi. Except WiFi and Wi-Fi were the same page</sub>

This is such a time suck.
posted by delmoi at 3:10 AM on June 1, 2010

Hah! I just won CN Tower to Meryl Streep!
posted by Lucinda at 4:07 AM on June 1, 2010

Haha delmoi, that was you? I got completely lost with Wi-Fi - somehow ended up at 22 clicks and reading about Brandenburg-Prussia for some reason.
posted by doublehappy at 4:16 AM on June 1, 2010

This is good.
posted by zardoz at 4:54 AM on June 1, 2010

I've thought about this being a fun game before, but was never sure how to execute it. This works really well and is more fun than I had imagined.
posted by scottreynen at 5:21 AM on June 1, 2010

It's really hard to get out of articles about mathematics. Almost all the links are to other articles about mathematics.
posted by scottreynen at 5:32 AM on June 1, 2010

We used to play this game once a day, starting from the Article of the Day and going to the Picture of the Day.
posted by kaibutsu at 6:07 AM on June 1, 2010

Hah, surprisingly fun.

Guest31653S IS WINNER #2, WITH 4 CLICKS:
Moonstone (comics) » Marvel Comics » American Broadcasting Company » NBC
posted by knapah at 6:10 AM on June 1, 2010

How do I end it when I get there...Oh, I see! "Claim your win" on the side. Awesome.
posted by misha at 6:14 AM on June 1, 2010

If you're stuck, you can use this "six degrees of Wikipedia" tool as a quick answer key. It's based on a 2008 database dump, but most of the links should hold true. For instance:

MetaFilter
1999
Euthanasia
Persistent vegetative state
Cortex

4 clicks needed

(don't take it personally, cortex... the chain from Mefi to my hometown is worse)
posted by Rhaomi at 6:26 AM on June 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

We used to play this game on Allmusic, before allmusic turned to suck.
posted by wingless_angel at 6:27 AM on June 1, 2010

"You are looking for: Consciousness"

Well, ain't that the truth.
posted by davidjmcgee at 6:43 AM on June 1, 2010

I have done this for years, usually by clicking "Random Article" twice and finding my way from the second click back to the first. I started doing this after I had been doing the six degrees of Kevn Baconish thing on imdb.com first, but with two widely separated actors. Orson Welles to Will Smith with two intermediaries!
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:58 AM on June 1, 2010

But can you get from Metafilter to Mornington Crescent?
posted by tzikeh at 6:59 AM on June 1, 2010

Ghidorah: Wow. Without even checking, I'm pretty sure I know how both of the links go. Martin Lawrence, Other people named Martin, Martin Luther, Catholicism, Der Pap, Current Pope.

Ah, but as far as I can recall from the official rules (it's been a while), the links can only be from the main Wikipedia entry--nothing from the sidebar to the right, and nothing from the bottom of the page, which is where you'd find "Other people named Martin."

Care to give it a go?
posted by tzikeh at 7:04 AM on June 1, 2010

richochet biscuit- linking Orson Welles to a contemporary actor is easier than he sounds; just remember that he was in the Transformers Movie with Judd Nelson and (if you want to stretch things) Wierd Al.

The trick with Wikipedia is the year articles, which considerably shorten the diameter of the graph overall, but you need to know which ones will be relevant.
posted by Jpfed at 7:13 AM on June 1, 2010

Metafilter - London Bombings - London Underground - Mornington Crescent
posted by Jpfed at 7:44 AM on June 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

I was particularly proud of my chain between "David Vitter" and "Academy Award"

David Vitter > Hustler magazine > Larry Flynt > The People vs. Larry Flynt > Academy Award
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:08 AM on June 1, 2010

richochet biscuit- linking Orson Welles to a contemporary actor is easier than he sounds; just remember that he was in the Transformers Movie with Judd Nelson and (if you want to stretch things) Wierd Al.

As I recall, I went through Touch of Evil with Chuck Heston, who was in Hamlet with Kenneth Branagh, who was in Wild Wild West. There may be a shorter route with only a single intermediary.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:19 AM on June 1, 2010

I was thinking Transformers with Judd Nelson to Relentless with Robert Loggia to Independence Day with Will Smith. Still two intermediaries.
posted by Jpfed at 8:32 AM on June 1, 2010

heh, I play this game all the time. I'd usually start with some concept in mind as my target, then using only links off the main wiki page, find my way to that target. I call it a 'wiki walkabout'. It's usually pretty easy, since wikipedia is so well-cross-referenced.
posted by kenotron at 9:08 AM on June 1, 2010

Guest13424K IS WINNER #1, WITH 4 CLICKS:
The Walking Dead » USA » Martin Luther King, Jr. » Malcolm X
posted by numbskeleton at 9:09 AM on June 1, 2010

Orson Welles was in The Muppet Movie, with Steve Martin, Charles Durning, Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, Mel Brooks...

and Mornington Crescent.

(The Mornington Crescent part is a lie.)

(No it isn't.)

(okay, it is.)
posted by tzikeh at 9:13 AM on June 1, 2010

So how do I see what the other winners' click paths were?
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 9:25 AM on June 1, 2010

I think they're having some issues with the server right now — earlier this morning you could see other users' paths, but when I was playing a few minutes ago you couldn't, and now they're down for maintenance.
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:27 AM on June 1, 2010

One more variation that some friends and I play--generally over chat or email when we're at work. Hit random, then make your way toward something that pop culture has asked you to find/get to/locate. Half the fun is choosing your own target. Examples:

Joe DiMaggio
San Jose
Love
Sesame Street
Bill

etc.

Strive for the most creative, rather than shortest, route.
posted by tzikeh at 9:28 AM on June 1, 2010

"Our fun little website is being featured on a big, popular website :-). Come back soon, sorry!"

Bummer!
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 9:46 AM on June 1, 2010

It's like the Wikipedia Game I've been playing for years, except they go from a random page to a random page instead of going from a random page to John Maynard Keynes.
posted by atbash at 10:32 AM on June 1, 2010

Something's wrong with the site - it's not giving me my wins!

I *did* get from Nude to Uma Thurman in time!
posted by Lucinda at 10:49 AM on June 1, 2010

I just got from Las Vegas (TV Show) to Norway, but it didn't give me credit for my win. Is it a problem with IE, or just general site bugginess?
posted by codacorolla at 11:38 AM on June 1, 2010

Huh, my friends and I have played the Wikipedia game for years but our version is to start from a random page (from the 'random article' link) and try to get to Hitler within 6 links or fewer. I shall have to give the new way a go.
posted by badmoonrising at 1:35 PM on June 1, 2010

Why can't I claim my wins? Whenever I click the button it just gives me a little pop-up box about sharing on Facebook and Twitter.
posted by punchdrunkhistory at 3:40 PM on June 1, 2010

Fun. I've basically been doing this with Imdb too. If I'm looking for something, I never put it in the search field. Instead I find things on the front page to link through until I get where I want. Never thought to try it on Wikipedia. Surprisingly easy actually.
posted by saffry at 4:24 PM on June 1, 2010

SnideBromide IS WINNER #1, WITH 4 CLICKS:
American middle class » Physicist » Astronomy » Sun
posted by [expletive deleted] at 12:31 AM on June 2, 2010

Heheheh:

Winner #6!

Bob Saget » Television movie » Film » Propaganda » Politics » Religion » Agnosticism


See? I told you that the existence of Bob Saget led to agnosticism! He's surely casts doubt on the idea that there is a God.
posted by darkstar at 5:35 PM on June 2, 2010