A few years ago, a friend of mine bought Rayman Legends on a Steam sale, excited to play it on his laptop during a long flight. He installed it the night before, but when he launched it, Ubisoft’s Uplay launcher popped up, demanding an online login and activation. He had no internet on the plane. He was crushed.

He launched the game again—and it worked. No login, no launcher, just pure Rayman. He played through the whole “Castle Rock” level to the beat of “Black Betty” while cruising at 35,000 feet.

Here’s a fun, true-ish story from the darker corners of PC gaming: