Editor's note: Jeff Minter's Polybius is out now, but the origins of that mythical game go back decades, and venture to some dark places. The Polybius story has everything. Shady government agents ...

If you’ve ever wandered into the weird side of gaming lore, you’ve probably bumped into Polybius—the “lost” arcade cabinet that supposedly showed up, messed with kids’ brains, and then vanished. The ...