Glitch facts for kids

For other uses, see Glitch (disambiguation).

A computer affected by a visual glitch

A glitch is a small, short-lived problem in a system. Think of it as a tiny, temporary fault that often fixes itself. This makes it hard to figure out what went wrong. The word "glitch" is often used when talking about computers, electronics, and especially by people who play video games. But any system, even human groups or nature, can have glitches!

A glitch is usually minor and doesn't last long. It's different from a more serious bug, which is a real problem that breaks something. A writer named Alex Pieschel once said that "bug" sounds more serious and like someone is to blame. "Glitch," however, suggests something more mysterious. It's like a surprise problem caused by unexpected inputs or things outside the computer's code. Some people even jokingly say "glitch" means "gremlins lurking in the computer hardware"!

Where Does the Word "Glitch" Come From?
What is an Electronics Glitch?
What is a Computer Glitch?
Video Game Glitches
Television Glitch
See also

Where Does the Word "Glitch" Come From?

The word "glitch" likely comes from the German word glitschen (meaning "to slip") or the Yiddish word glitshn (meaning "to slide" or "to skid"). It's a fairly new word in English.

It became well-known in America around 1965. Astronaut John Glenn helped explain it. He wrote that a glitch is a small, sudden change in electricity in a circuit. You might notice lights dimming when you turn on a big appliance. Normally, fuses protect against big changes. But a glitch is so tiny that a fuse can't stop it.

The word was also used by the Air Force at Cape Kennedy during rocket launches. If something went wrong and they couldn't figure out why, they called it a "glitch." Time magazine even had to explain the word in 1965, calling it "a spaceman's word for irritating disturbances." This is why many people think the term became common during the American Space Race of the 1950s. It described minor problems in rockets that were hard to find.

However, the word "glitch" was actually used even earlier! In 1940, a novelist named Katharine Brush wrote about it. She said that when radio speakers made a small mistake, they called it a "fluff." If they made a bad mistake, they called it a "glitch." So, the word was used in radio for mistakes in speaking or scheduling. By the 1950s, it moved from radio to television. It described problems like horizontal lines on the screen or a "momentary jiggle" when editing TV commercials.

What is an Electronics Glitch?

An electronics glitch is a quick, unwanted change in an electrical signal. This often happens in digital circuits. Imagine a signal that should go from "off" to "on." A glitch might make it briefly go "on" and then "off" again before settling to its final "on" state.

These glitches are usually very short electrical pulses. They can happen when two signals that come from the same source arrive at slightly different times. This is called a race condition. Sometimes, in carefully designed circuits, these small changes are normal and don't cause problems. But in other cases, a glitch can be a mistake in the design. This can lead to a device not working correctly. Some electronic parts, like flip-flops, need a pulse of a certain length to work. A pulse that is too short might be called a glitch.

What is a Computer Glitch?

A computer glitch happens when a computer system fails to do its job or doesn't do it correctly. Often, these errors aren't noticed right away. They might show up later as wrong data or bad decisions made by people.

Things often called computer glitches include:

Mistakes in software code (called software bugs).
Wrong instructions given by the person using the computer.
Bad information put into the computer that isn't caught.
Problems with how computers communicate with each other.
Harmful programs like computer viruses or Trojan attacks.
People trying to break into or misuse computer systems (sometimes called "hacking").

These glitches can cause many problems. Your keyboard might stop working, numbers might not type correctly, or your screen could turn sideways. Programs might crash randomly, or register things incorrectly.

For example, in 2010, a computer glitch caused a water filtration plant to shut down unexpectedly. In Austin, police had problems with their dispatch system, leading to 911 calls not being answered. Even the Cassini spacecraft had a glitch in 2010 that made it go into "safe mode." Glitches can also be very expensive. In 2015, a bank couldn't raise interest rates for weeks because of a glitch. This cost them over a million dollars every day!

Video Game Glitches

The start-up screen of the Virtual Boy is affected by a visual glitch.

Glitches in video games can affect many parts of the game:

Texture or Model Glitches: These make game graphics look wrong. A character or object might look stretched, twisted, or not as the game creators intended. Games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are known for these. Games that use ragdoll physics (where characters flop around realistically) often have funny glitches like this.
Physics Glitches: These are errors in how the game handles movement and forces. An object or character might move in an unintended way. Sometimes players can use these glitches to their advantage. For example, in the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game, hitting a certain crate in a specific way could launch Sonic a huge distance!
Sound Glitches: These stop sounds from playing correctly. Sounds might play when they shouldn't, or not play at all. Sometimes a sound will loop over and over. Or, sounds might play incorrectly, like being too high-pitched, too quiet, or even playing backward!

Other common game glitches include graphics looking wrong, problems with collision detection (where characters pass through walls), the game freezing or crashing, and other strange issues. Graphical glitches are especially annoying in platforming games. A texture might show ground where the game code says it should hurt you. Or, a wall might not appear where it should be, creating an invisible wall. Some glitches can even be dangerous to your saved game data, like MissingNo. from the Pokémon games.

"Glitching" is when players purposely use these faults in a game's code. They do this to get an unfair advantage over other players or computer characters. This could mean running through walls or flying when you shouldn't. Players can even cause glitches on purpose on some old game consoles. They might tilt a game cartridge to briefly disconnect it. This can cause weird graphics, music, or gameplay errors. But be careful! Doing this can crash the game or even permanently damage the game cartridge.

Glitches are often used by players trying to complete a speedrun of a video game. A speedrun is when you try to finish a game as fast as possible. One type of glitch used is called a stack overflow. Another, much harder glitch to do, is arbitrary code execution. This makes an object in the game do something completely outside its normal function.

Game testers, who work for game companies, spend a lot of time finding and reporting glitches. They tell the programmers about the problems so they can fix them. Many modern games can even get updates online to fix these coding errors.

Sometimes, game creators put fake glitches into games on purpose. This can be to scare the player, make them feel uneasy, or as part of the game's story. Games like Eternal Darkness and Batman: Arkham Asylum have parts that look like your game system is failing. The Animus in the Assassin's Creed series shows occasional glitches. This helps the player feel like they are experiencing memories through a computer system.

Glitches can also be found in electronic toys. For example, the Bop It Beats game from 2013 had a glitch. Players would get a "fail" sound even after completing a pattern correctly in certain modes. The company, Hasbro, knew about it but couldn't fix the toys already made. However, versions of the game sold in other countries were fixed.

It's important not to confuse glitches with exploits. While both involve unintended actions, an exploit isn't a programming error. Instead, it's something the developers simply didn't think of. Examples include "bunny hopping" (repeatedly jumping to move faster) or taking advantage of opponents who are experiencing lag in online games.

Television Glitch

In TV broadcasting, a corrupted signal can cause glitches. You might see jagged lines, misplaced squares, static, freezing pictures, or inverted colors on the screen. These glitches can affect the video, the audio (like sound cutting out), or the way the signal is sent. They can be caused by many things. This includes interference from phones or microwaves, damaged cables at the TV station, or even bad weather.