“Spelling bee to the death” is not a phrase one expects to come across in their everyday life. But that’s not the only surprising thing in Grand Theft Auto Online and is exactly what players are doing.
The popular multiplayer mode for Grand Theft Auto 5 has been a significant draw since its addition to the game. More than seven years after it came out, Grand Theft Auto Online is still enormously popular. Many fans have been finding creative ways to keep the open-world crime sandbox game fresh.
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These high stakes spelling bees involve two players standing on the railing of an overpass. One asks the other to spell a word as a small group of other players train their weapons on the contestant. Winners get to step off the railing and join the next round’s firing squad. The losers get doused with gunfire and flung into traffic. Apparently, some Grand Theft Auto Online players think regular spelling bees just aren’t stressful enough. Not that being hurled through the air is unusual in GTA Online.
Youtuber Mamatica recently uploaded a video of herself and some friends playing the game, with hilarious results. One player, Mike, repeatedly flubs the word “extraordinary.” He gets as far as “e” on his second try before he starts laughing. This did not count as the right answer, and another player immediately blasted him with a ray gun. Mamatica fared better, although she still manages to go flying off the railing accidentally during someone else’s failed attempt. For some, it's as funny as GTA turning players into dogs.
While Mamatica is getting the attention, this game seems to go all the way back to the early days of GTA Online. A bit of digging through YouTube videos reveals a clip of a similar game from 2014. While this early version lacks the overpass or busy highway, it’s the same basic idea in action. This original video comes from an obscure and seemingly abandoned YouTube channel called Msae Row, which claims to have invented the game.
Regardless of origin, the GTA Online spelling bee is an excellent alternative for anyone who would struggle to sit through the real thing. The only prize is watching opponents get flung off a bridge, but that can be pretty rewarding in its own right. And this is just one of the many pieces of emergent gameplay that drive the continued growth of GTA Online.
Grand Theft Auto Online is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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Source: Games Radar