11 gaming glitches that will make you laugh until you vomit

Swing sets are a school yard staple, but they probably wouldn't be if they launched kids like a missile into the stratosphere. No, they'd be deemed too dangerous for use by anyone, much less children. Thankfully, however, skyrocketing swing sets do exist in the virtual world of Grand Theft Auto 4.

Scattered across Liberty City are swings that wished upon stars and dreamt of being catapults. For whatever reason, the fairy swing mother came around and made their greatest aspirations a reality. Back a car up into a seemingly innocent pair of swings and you’ll be sent sky high. Heck, you don’t even need a car. Just hang onto the bars and you’ll send yourself rocketing into the air. Glitches like this equal hours of sheer enjoyment.

Many RPGs let you develop a relationship with characters in-game, but few allow you to court anyone you want. Dragon's Dogma does it right by letting you choose any of its NPCs as a soul mate. And I mean any--even that obnoxious court jester. Unfortunately, the freedom here is entirely unintentional.

In a normal scenario, you can appease the soul mate you’ve chosen for yourself by striking up conversation and bringing gifts to said character. But, due to a bug in the game, whichever person you talk to the most during your journey through Dragon's Dogma ends up becoming your lover. That person could be your go-to shopkeeper, the innkeeper, or even some poor under-aged village boy--who knows? Your true love is revealed to you during the game’s final confrontation and, often, it won’t be who you expected--or wanted, for that matter.

Red Dead Redemption is your typical western, open-world RPG filled with horses, rabbits, and… IS THAT A COUGAR-MAN!? Damn right it is. John Marston's world contains plenty of oddities. Of course, not all half-human-half-animal transmutations are bad. Most just want to create a normal life for themselves, even if that means being a man with a bird’s brain or a dog who learned how to use a gun. Somebody warn Travis.

The mutant animals spawn at random, but they’re definitely there. For whatever reason, the game will combine various humans and animals so you can have anything from flying girl-deer to cougar-men, but you’ll have to look for them in the wilderness.

A sword and a rocket launcher are two different things, but sometimes video games just don’t care. Pretend your energy sword has the range of a bazooka, and you can send Spartans in Halo 2 where no Chief has gone before by lunging to places unreachable via rocket jumping.

To properly Rocket Lunge, one must acquire an Energy Sword, a rocket launcher, and a friend. The launcher has much more combat range than the sword. By swapping the two weapons fast enough while aiming at a target, you can open a window of opportunity that forces the reticule on the sword to turn red, lunging you a few extra meters. This glitch opens up opportunities to explore Halo 2's maps in new ways, granting access to areas that are otherwise unreachable. Difficult to pull off, but it sure is fun.

This is more of an exploit of Minecraft’s cat mechanics than a bug or glitch. You see, in Minecraft, cats follow their owners everywhere, and even go as far as teleporting to you once they’ve decided you’re too far away. By luring them atop a super high structure, you can create an ever-flowing fountain of teleporting cats. How can you NOT be amused by such a creation?

The trick is to create a one-block, towering skyscraper, and make it as tall as you can. Once you fly high enough, any cats left on the ground will teleport onto the structure's tiny surface. Then they will try to walk closer to you (or simply get shoved off the ledge by the sheer volume of other cats). They fall. They teleport. They fall again. You laugh repeatedly. You’re a monster, and PETA knows it.

Hockey sure is a violent sport. A bunch of dudes with razor blades strapped to their shoes skate around the ice, smashing into each other with incredible force. Sometimes they "accidentally" hit each other with giant, wooden sticks and, to top it all off, they’re strong enough to knock each other straight off the ice rink. Yeah, no thanks--I'd rather be a pro hockey player from the safety of my own couch.

In hockey, “check” is a term to describe players using physical force on another player to disrupt them or gain possession of the puck; ideally without breaking any rules (or bones). It’s common for another dude to check someone else into the boards in real-life hockey, but in NHL13, doing so near the side doors triggers a glitch that sends your target flying out of the arena and into the audience. The glitch was funny enough for EA to recognize it and create a joke video stating it was all intentional.

Golf is an expensive game. As a new player, you have to buy an ungodly amount of equipment. Then there's the fact that you can actually lose some of that equipment in the course of a game. Water hazards are demonic obstacles that consume golf balls without remorse. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just grab your club, walk on the water, and keep on playing? In Tiger Woods: PGA Tour 08, you can.

The Jesus Shot is a common occurrence in PGA Tour 08. While a good number of balls fall into the water hazard, never to be seen again, there are a few moments where Tiger Woods will take his next shot while standing on top of the water.

The killer has been found. The story is coming to a “SHAAAAUUUUNNNN” close. My heart beats faster as I begin to “SHAUNNNNNNN” unravel this mystery. The pieces are falling in “SHAUUUUUNNNNN” place. I think I know who did “SHAUUUUNNNNN” it. Good God, why does Ethan Mars keep yelling the name of his child during totally inappropriate moments?

During the final cinematic of Heavy Rain--you know, the part with the most dramatic narrative--players can press the X-button to yell the name “Shaun.” Thing is, you're not supposed to be able to do so. Spamming it makes for an interesting take on what is supposed to be a dramatic reveal. Best of all, other characters don't even react to his frantic shouting, which is a humorous thing all its own. So long as the glitch isn't ruining your first playthrough, it'll have you in tears if it happens.

See, broken things can be fun. While glitches and bugs technically prove the games they appear in are broken, they can make them more fun for us. If you enjoyed this list of glitches, comment on which one you liked the best or tell us tales of your own ‘broken’ experiences.

And if you're looking for more, check out the Top 7 major game features you didn't know were originally glitches and Secrets in games you were never meant to see.