The first trailer for Disney+'s Loki is packed full of references. Some were to his looks from the comics, others were to Marvel's version of the devil himself and one might even feature Black Widow -- but probably not. References to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the comics are expected. However, what really came out of left field was the appearance of a retro arcade cabinet for an infamous game that never actually existed.
There is a Polybius cabinet tucked away in the corner of a shot focused on Loki in what looks like a post-apocalyptic campaign rally. It's an easy detail to miss, but eagle eyed Reddit user macredblue caught it.
The story of Polybius sounds like something out of The X-Files. Appearing in Portland, Oregon arcades in 1981, it supposedly induced psychoactive reactions in players as part of an experiment by the United States Government. The story even includes literal men in black collecting mysterious data from the cabinet. Players supposedly became so addicted to playing Polybius that the game drew long lines, which often devolved into fist fights over the next turn. Prolonged exposure to the Polybius was said to cause side effects ranging from hallucinations to amnesia.
One detail explains away the reasonable objection of skeptics that who'd never heard of or played Polybius. It was pulled from arcades after a month, never to be seen again. Whichever shadowy government agency commissioned the experiment got the information they were looking for.
That might sound like "I have an uncle who works at Nintendo" level malarkey, but it helped give the story enough credibility that it spread through the internet starting on message boards in the early 2000s. It became one of gaming's creepiest urban legends over the years. Polybius has endured to inspire a podcast, movie and even actual games.
Polybius' fame was spread by a 2003 article in GamePro magazine, the first mainstream outlet to write about it. They declared that proof of the game's existence was "inconclusive," leaving enough plausibility for the legend to survive. In 2006, a man named Steven Roach came forward claiming that he was one of the game's programmers. He offered details about Polybius' gameplay, and he even had a plausible reason for the its disappearance from arcades: its publisher, Sinneslöschen, quickly pulled it from arcades after a child suffered an epileptic seizure while playing it.
The existence of the game has never been proven. No one has ever produced a ROM, much less a full cabinet. The complete lack of coverage of such a sensational story is also suspect. Fact checking site Snopes considers the legend of Polybius debunked.
Polybius' inclusion in the Loki trailer could just be an Easter egg placed by a fan of the urban legend. Given that you'd have to go out of your way to create a cabinet for the game, it seems more deliberate than that. Its presence could have something to do with Loki disturbing the time stream and multiverse. A reality where Loki is a serious contender for the presidency would be a credible home to a game as sinister as Polybius.
Owning a Polybius cabinet may be one of the reasons why the Time Variance Authority is after him. He may have broken the laws of time and space to get his hands on it, drawing the ire of the Marvel's time cops. That would be the supervillain equivalent of Al Capone's income-tax fraud indictments.
The game's alleged origins as a government experiment could tie it into any number of shady organizations in the MCU, from Hydra to S.H.I.E.L.D. It may have been Arnim Zola's foray into game development, and an active hero like Hank Pym might have stopped its spread in the '80s. Loki having a Polybius machine is consistent with other real-world mysteries the trailer referenced, including the implication that Loki was D.B. Cooper. The show seems to be folding actual urban legends into Loki's Earthly misadventures. Even if it's just seasoning to the broth, it's appropriate.