really tied the level geometry together

May 28, 2021 8:47 AM

RugsInGames is a twitter account that documents the appearance of at least one rug in a given video game.
posted by cortex (29 comments total)

Now I'm wondering what the best rug is in an 8 bit game. Lo-fi intricate patterns!
posted by Nelson at 9:15 AM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

The excellent post title made me think that there would be some commentary about each rug.

Alas, there is not. SAD.
posted by Phreesh at 9:17 AM on May 28, 2021 [4 favorites]

There are TONS of really nice Persian rugs *wipes a tear*
posted by Foci for Analysis at 9:23 AM on May 28, 2021

Alas, there is not. SAD.

Let's resist the urge to pile on.
posted by curious nu at 9:23 AM on May 28, 2021 [12 favorites]

Okay, "blah in video games" Twitter accounts just may have jumped the shark with this one.

Side note: I might've smirked when I saw the post about there being a rug in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
posted by May Kasahara at 9:25 AM on May 28, 2021 [2 favorites]

The example from Elder Scrolls IV raises the question of whether a rug is still a rug if it's hanging on the wall or if it necessarily becomes a wall hanging or tapestry at that point.

Now I'm wondering what the best rug is in an 8 bit game. Lo-fi intricate patterns!

They're pretty rare, but Dragon Warrior III has what appears to be a very large rug or carpet in the king's throne room.
posted by jedicus at 9:31 AM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

All these persian rugs, and not one IKEA Stockholm Net.
posted by migurski at 9:54 AM on May 28, 2021

But can you PET the rug?
posted by The Bellman at 9:55 AM on May 28, 2021 [5 favorites]

All red/beige Persian rugs. This is clearly all the same (sentient) rug.
posted by q*ben at 10:01 AM on May 28, 2021

No flying carpets? Mario has a lot of flying carpets.
posted by oulipian at 10:40 AM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

Keep your fancy Persian rugs, I'm going old skool. I remember my brother and I being stuck on a room in that game, and it was driving me bananas. My brother finally relented and read the hint for the room. "Like most rugs, the one in this room is combustible." Being young (8 or 9?), the hint confused me, but he knew just what to do and quickly found the key we'd been looking for. And so, because of a rug in a video game, I learned the word "combustion".
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 10:50 AM on May 28, 2021 [2 favorites]

Needs more Quest for Glory. I mean, QFG2 has a rug merchant in 16-bit graphics.
posted by mstokes650 at 10:51 AM on May 28, 2021 [4 favorites]

A friend of mine remembers the first time he saw a rug in a video game-- sometime in the mid-nineties, but he doesn't remember which game.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 11:02 AM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

Immediately thinks of Kings Quest II: Romancing the Throne
posted by djseafood at 11:13 AM on May 28, 2021 [2 favorites]

the question of whether a rug is still a rug if it's hanging on the wall

Historically, it’s a rug because of the material it’s made of and the nicer it is the less likely to be on the floor - covering walls, beds, tables all as likely until the 18th or 19th century.
posted by clew at 11:16 AM on May 28, 2021

Pah. Most of these games just *give* you the rug. Way too easy. I'll stick with The Longing, where you have to learn to weave your own.

Out of moss.

That you grow.

Slowly.
posted by kyrademon at 11:42 AM on May 28, 2021

The Longening
posted by rhizome at 11:54 AM on May 28, 2021

(Look, playing "400 days of lockdown, the fantasy game" somehow helped me get through "400 days of lockdown, the actual life", heck if I understand why.)
posted by kyrademon at 11:56 AM on May 28, 2021 [3 favorites]

The Elder Scrolls example is incomprehensible. I assume the game was designed by an AI who had only ever read about the physical world?

The off-center bed rug in Red Dead Redemption might as well be a photo from my grandparents' home. (But, it needs more jars of dusty candy on the end table.)
posted by eotvos at 12:16 PM on May 28, 2021

Disappointed not to see time to first rug metrics here.
posted by mhoye at 12:23 PM on May 28, 2021 [6 favorites]

There are 3 types of rugs in Valheim...
posted by Nanukthedog at 12:26 PM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

I haven't been able to find it on any of the websites that keep track of such things, but I could swear there was a Golden Age arcade game called, y'know, "Sultan's Treasure" or something, with a flying carpet device at some stage of the game. Or Shinobi, or Yie Ar Kung Fu, or...

I'm not going to run a paint-roller over my face about it, but this might deserve further investigation.
posted by rhizome at 2:59 PM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

There are 3 types of rugs in Valheim...

But no fabric rugs. What are we even farming flax for?
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 4:50 PM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

> at least one rug in a given video game

inverting the goal - not quite "video game in a rug" but one of Faig Ahmed's artworks is a rug with pixels in it (about 20% down the linked page, see "Jameel Prize 3). As well as a lot of other pretty wild rugs.

& if you keep scrolling far enough there's some foreskin-slicing. something for everyone!
posted by are-coral-made at 7:09 PM on May 28, 2021 [2 favorites]

one of Faig Ahmed's artworks

Well that is amazing. The first (or maybe second) one that goes normal rug into LSD nightmare had me honestly thinking my phone was rendering it wrong somehow.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:39 AM on May 29, 2021

Historically, it’s a rug because of the material it’s made of and the nicer it is the less likely to be on the floor - covering walls, beds, tables all as likely until the 18th or 19th century.

as someone whose partner tromps their dirty shoes all over her yoga mat I fuckin' get it, floors are a sucker's game
posted by taquito sunrise at 5:06 AM on May 29, 2021

It appears Oxygen Not Included is not included. I can’t decide whether to file that under “oversight” or “apropos.”
posted by nickmark at 6:36 AM on May 29, 2021

The spirit of these sort of accounts is almost always "send me a screenshot and I'll add it to the feed", so I say if somethings missing and you know how to get a pic reasonably easy, do it and DM 'em.
posted by cortex at 9:36 AM on May 29, 2021

I’m gonna guess Ultima Underworld for first rug.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:25 PM on May 29, 2021