Otherworldly bugs: outstanding software crashes

Updated on: 15 November 2023

Vilius Petkauskas
Deputy Editor

Everyone has encountered a software bug at least several times over the eons we’ve spent in front of the computer screen. Some glitches, however, are so humongous it‘s impossible to look away. In case you‘re among the lucky ones who‘ve never seen one, let us show you some of the worst there are.

As with hardware related malfunctions, there is a dedicated community on Reddit, where people share the most unusual cases of cataclysmic software failures that produce a funny spectacle for procrastinators to scroll through. It‘s called software gore. And it shows that applications are no strangers to mistakes, be it a game, an OS, or a coffee machine.

„To fully understand what Software Gore is, think about software failures in terms of a murder scene. Software Gore is when there are 11 bodies and blood all over the room. Gore is not a papercut, minor scrape, or something you can just ignore. Take that thought, and twist it into software,“ the dictionary of r/softwaregore explains.

There are rules about what fits the picture, though. It should not take a computer science PhD to understand that a picture or a video is an obvious glitch in the matrix. Gore has to be unintentional and must not show a design flaw.

But most importantly, no ‘done to death’ posts are allowed, which translates to a trove of spectacular failures a community of over 1.2 million redditors can offer. If a piece of content seems to depict a known failure, but the content is too unique to miss, it will be marked with an ‘exceptional done to death’ flair.

So, strap in and get ready, as we’ve picked some of the all-time best gory pieces for you to awe at. Note that some of the videos contain audio. Be careful with the volume of your device, as the content might be loud.