Ever heard of praying to RNGesus and wondered what the heck that means? What is RNGesus, exactly? Here’s all you need to know.
RNGesus Meaning in Games
RNGesus is a silly portmanteau of an acronym RNG (random number generator) and Jesus and it’s meant to represent a deity that’s responsible for all your luck – or lack thereof – in video or tabletop games.
Randomness is a vital gameplay element in a large number of games. It adds a bit of uncertainty and surprise, making gameplay more interesting and replayable if done correctly.
Take role-playing games, for example. In combat your character gets a chance to perform a critical hit and deliver a much more powerful strike than usual. That’s the random part, as you never know when the character will do it, but it always feels good when it happens. It may also be a difference between life and death – just imagine that one character gets lucky and gets crit after crit, allowing them to defeat much stronger opponents if stars align.
Take hack-and-slash games, where you’re farming equipment pieces by killing certain enemies over and over again, hunting for a specific item with the correct stats – that’s the random part, as you never know when you’ll get the desired item, if at all.
Card games feature randomness in the form of drawing cards, as you never know what card will come next and you’ll have to adjust your strategy on the fly, based on what you have at the moment.
The term RNGesus was coined as a funny way of personifying fate and luck in games. Now you have someone to lean on when wishing for a favorable outcome. If you wish to draw the card you need, you can say that you’re praying to RNGesus to make your wish come true. When you lose a duel, it surely wasn’t your skill at fault; just shrug it off and blame RNGesus for it.
Randomness in Hearthstone
Hearthstone is a card game; drawing the right card at the right moment can make or break the duel. That’s where RNGesus comes in: ask him for the desired card and perhaps, if you’re worthy, your prayers will be answered.
Professional players are able to construct their decks in such a way that they’ll be able to quickly react to a wide range of threats at any moment, but having a bit of extra luck wouldn’t hurt, would it?
Randomness in Gacha Games
Gacha games may offer multiple layers of randomness, but the most notable one is when you’re spending virtual currency to roll for new characters. Ask RNGesus politely and, who knows, maybe he’ll be in a good mood and you’ll get exactly what you wanted in your next pull.
It’s worth noting that some gachas are more forgiving than others in that regard and may offer safeguards against extended losing streaks, such as a pity system, guaranteeing that you’ll eventually get what you want even without divine intervention.
Randomness in Borderlands
Borderlands games combine RPG and looter shooter genres. If you want to build the most powerful character, prepare for the grind – you’ll have to kill hundreds if not thousands of monsters to get the gear you need. Unless you ask RNGesus and get his blessing, of course.