It’s been years since the Civilization series has been a staple of the video game industry, and yet, it’s still home to one of the most unlikely and humorous urban legends out there. Unfortunately, it’s a legend that was never based in reality – the myth of Nuclear Gandhi is one of the biggest trolls in the history of gaming.
The anecdote dates back to 1991, when the first Civilization game was launched. According to the story, the game had a hidden aggressiveness meter that could be modified based on the player’s actions. At the time, Mahatma Gandhi was the most peaceful leader in the game, with an aggressiveness meter that was practically zero. But what happened when you tried to reduce his aggressiveness through peaceful actions? The legend says that if you managed to do so, the meter would become negative.
The Legend of Nuclear Gandhi
In theory, the game was unable to handle these negative values, resulting in a glitch that completely altered Gandhi’s personality. The simulator would assign the highest possible value of aggressiveness to Gandhi, making him the most bellicose leader in the game. When this happened, Mahatma’s behavior would change completely, turning him into a genocidal lover of nuclear bombs. He would become obsessed with nuclear war and invasion, a far cry from his peaceful nature.
Many of us fell for this trap, including myself. The funny thing is that it was relatively easy to fact-check, but we didn’t bother. As there was no empirical way to alter Gandhi’s aggressiveness meter, not getting him to change his strategy didn’t necessarily mean the legend was a lie. However, it turned out that the story was completely false. Kevin Schultz, Marketing Chief of Firaxis, revealed the truth in a tweet, and later, Bryan Reynolds, designer of Civilization II, explained that he was 99.9% sure the story was false.
The Origins of the Legend
The creator of the series, Sid Meier, confirmed in his book Sid Meier’s Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games that it was impossible to achieve this in the original game. But how did this legend come to be? It all started in 2012 with a user named Tunafish, who claimed to have found a bug that caused Gandhi to attack everyone with nuclear bombs. Although he didn’t provide any evidence, the news spread like wildfire, and soon, others were claiming to have experienced the same thing.
The story was picked up by major media outlets, including Kotaku, which helped spread the legend even further. Redditors were soon sharing their own stories of encountering the “Nuclear Gandhi” in their games, despite it being completely fabricated.
A Lie that Becomes Reality
The legend of Nuclear Gandhi is a perfect example of how social networks can spread misinformation if we’re not careful. The story was so intriguing that people believed it without questioning its validity. However, the designers of the game eventually caught wind of the legend and decided to have a little fun with it. In Civilization V, they added an Easter egg that allowed players to experience a Gandhi-led nuclear bombardment.
Jon Safer, the main designer of Civilization V, established the “Build Nuke” and “Use Nuke” parameters for Gandhi, making it possible for the pacifist leader to build or use nuclear bombs under certain circumstances. This move gave wings to the original troll, turning a lie into a form of reality.
In Civilization VI, the game introduced a secret agendas mechanic that regulated AI behavior. Mahatma’s fixed objective was always to be a pacifist, but he had a 70% chance of obtaining the secret agenda task “Nuke Happy”, making him focus on building nuclear weapons once the competition did the same. While Gandhi might not become the genocidal maniac of legend, the game’s designers had successfully turned a troll into a fun and quirky Easter egg.
The legend of Nuclear Gandhi serves as a reminder of the power of social networks and the importance of fact-checking. It’s a humorous example of how a lie can become a reality, even if it’s just in the form of a game mechanic. So the next time you hear a story that sounds too good (or ridiculous) to be true, remember the legend of Nuclear Gandhi and take a closer look before jumping on the bandwagon.