Praise Helix: The strange mythology of a crowdsourced Pokémon game
In the first-generation Pokémon games (Red and Blue), players can earn an item called the Helix Fossil in the caves of Mt. Moon. It’s not a particularly important object, and it serves no purpose other than allowing you to capture a rare mollusk-looking monster called an Omanyte. (And Omanyte itself isn’t all that special, either.) However, to the millions of people who flocked to the video game streaming site Twitch over the last several weeks, the Helix Fossil is an object of religious significance. It’s a tribute to the power of anarchy and a symbol of what thousands of people can accomp...
