{
  "id": 10034308,
  "title": "Video Game Menu: The Game is all about everyone's favourite gaming pastime: pressing random buttons in the menus and seeing what they change",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/video-game-menu-the-game-is-all-about-everyones-favourite-gaming",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-26T17:51:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Rock Paper Shotgun",
    "slug": "rock-paper-shotgun",
    "url": "https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/video-game-menu-the-game-is-all-about-everyones-favourite-gaming-pastime-pressing-random-buttons-in-the-menus-and-seeing-what-they-change"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Game is all about everyone's favorite gaming pastime: pressing random buttons in the menus and observing what changes. This is the premise behind Video Game Menu: The Game, a satirical video game that explores the often-overlooked aspect of gaming. The game's Steam page humorously questions the constant barrage of challenges, levels, and gameplay in modern titles. Instead, it offers a refreshing alternative by focusing solely on the menus.\n\nIn Video Game Menu: The Game, players can leisurely click through menu after menu without any interruptions. The gameplay revolves around exploring various menu screens and pressing buttons to discover what alterations they bring about. Standard options like graphics quality, V-sync, FPS targets, and brightness are present but quickly give way to more whimsical choices. Players can rotate the screen, adjust game bloat, turn off glasses, or even activate airplane mode with a cockpit overlay.\n\nThe cursor-phobic option adds a layer of difficulty, causing other buttons to flee from the cursor's approach. Another amusing feature allows text and buttons to shrink dramatically upon cursor proximity. While the game's menu-based gameplay may not cater to those seeking lengthy gaming sessions, it provides a lighthearted and entertaining alternative for those craving a momentary respite from more conventional gaming experiences. Video Game Menu: The Game is currently available on Steam.",
  "summary": "Tense platforming? Riveting, punchy action combat? Complex, thought provoking puzzles? Is this what we come to video games for? Of course not! It's for the menus, those sweet, sweet collections of pixels that let us tailor our experience and commit crimes like turning off the music so you can listen to a podcast you'll only half pay attention to. Well, that's at least what Video Game Menu: The…",
  "key_points": [
    "Video Game Menu: The Game focuses on random menu button presses",
    "Steam page humorously critiques modern gaming challenges",
    "Whimsical menu options include screen rotation and airplane mode"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}