It suffices to say that the Fallout 76 hype died out pretty soon after launch, but what is interesting is how much the community of existing players have clung together. Taking the Fallout 76 math camp initiative (which we’ll go into further below), the players keep coming up with new initiatives to keep the game fresh.
What is the Fallout 76 math camp?
If you’re a non-Fallout 76 player, then you might be wondering what the heck we’re going on about, and you’d be right to be concerned. A Canadian guy called Mike that goes by the alias of Vault101manguy has created some pretty illicit addition to Fallout 76 such as the murder church, the player oven, and the deathclaw maze. These ‘additions’ are essentially features added to the game that challenges players to test out their skills or meet their doom if they fail. The Fallout 76 math camp is the latest addition to the set of death traps, which gets players to sit in a classroom and do maths or get killed, simples.
When he first introduced the Fallout 76 math camp, Mike constructed a very attractive-looking school which had all the features you’d expect; lockers, bookshelves, desks etc. Mike even added the smaller details such as a blackboard touting the words “page nine math homework due on Monday”. Very convincing. It all looks charming from the outside thanks to its resemblance to an American School, but players would get the lesson of their life if they step into the “tutoring room.”
In a Reddit Post, Mike explained that “Curious wastelanders who investigate the school and enter the room suddenly find the door mechanically locked behind them,” and then “The game then begins.”
Players that are trapped in the class will see a keypad beside the door telling players to know their work, with a sign nearby stating “keep calm, do math, open door to live” If you recall BIDMAS from before your high school days then you’ll remember it’s merely 230 x 10 + 2. It might be tricky to think logically when your impending doom is on your mind as your surroundings burn away though. Mike goes on to say “If they fail they are burned and irradiated until they die,” and further added “They cannot fast travel away. Locked in the room above is a single bloatfly that keeps them in combat long enough for damage to interrupt fast travel. His name is Charles.”Stimpaks and radaway buy time, but the only way to survive is to solve the math.”
Charles the bloatfly is not anywhere to be seen though, and you’ll see in the clip below some are finding the challenge harder than their classmates. We do sympathise for the poor kid who figured out the answer to the question just before burning alive.
There must have been some special TLC going into creating The Fallout 76 math camp, and Mike soon realised the sign needed tweaking after many never actually read them. Once people understood what was expected of them, Mike introduced the burning flames, good lad.
So why exactly did Mike create this addition to Fallout 76? He explains that “I’ve seen a lot of player built trap camps over the last few months. Usually, it’s someone trapping another player in a room with no exit and then burning them until they die. That can be funny sometimes, but usually, there isn’t much sport to this. Where is the game? Where is the excitement? If every time you flip the switch, you already know the outcome, it leaves no suspense… no thrill. A game needs to be winnable.” and adds “Corpses may burn, but nothing burns brighter than the hope of survival.”
Many players enjoyed the task and saw the funny side, with many going back for more, explains Mike. He did give them a helping hand though, allowing the burnt victims to go and collect their gear, proving he was “being legit” by heading into the room with them.
From what we can gather, the Fallout 76 maths camp lesson to be learned here isn’t that it’s amusing to get burnt alive in a game, but rather that “…test results show that many people have trouble doing math when suddenly being burned alive.”
Now, it’s time to go and try out this torture maths class myself!
