Fun with Wikipedia: Click to Jesus

Working between Christmas and New Year's? Still with relatives for the holidays and looking for a Christmas-themed way to pass the time till your flight home? You can play a game with coworkers or family called Click to Jesus.â€

1. Go over to Wikipedia.
2. Click "Random Article" just below the Wikipedia unfinished Death Star logo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
3. Choose the link in the article you think will get you closest to the Jesus article.
4. Keep track of the articles. Continue step 3 until you arrive at Jesus.

Scoring:
1 point for Random page
1 point for each click
1 point for Jesus page

Tally and compare with friends!
â€ Fun variants include Click to Buddha, Click to Muhammad, Click to Hitler, or Click to Cher. Sadly, Click to Raptor Jesus can no longer be played, since that article was merged to "internet meme" after heated debate.

Andrea James is a writer, director, producer and activist based in Los Angeles. Her work often focuses on consumer activism, the free culture movement, exogenous mysticism, humor, and LGBT rights.

MORE: Culture • guestblog

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Anonymous

5 clicks to jesus
Tom Zarek
Lucifer (Battlestar Galactica)
Lucifer
Temptation of Jesus
Jesus
petezombie

Back to the world

Back to the world (Curtis Mayfield album)
Vietnam

Christianity in Vietnam

Society of Jesus

Jesus
Anonymous

Let’s See:

Ingemar (random page) > Ingemar Vanerlov > Christian Democrats > Free Church > Christian Denomination > Jesus

5 links
Snowtred

Pretty fun. Although Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha are all pretty easy. In most cases an random article has a hotlink for a country. Click that, go down to religions, and you are usually done in 4 points.
Anonymous

Eric Cohn
Hebrew
Jerusalem
Jesus!
robotrevolution

1st Try:
Shap (village in England)
Cairn
Burial
Christian
Jesus

2nd Try:
Mark Walters
Europe
Christian
Jesus

3rd Try:
Intraspecific antagonism
Fungus
Europe
Christian
Jesus

Seems pretty easy to get to Jesus in 4-5 steps using the Europe/Christian angle.
dbarak

Four clicks from “Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics â€“ Men’s 200 metres”
- Anonymous
  
  In three clicks: Athletics at the… -> Paris -> Catholicism -> Jesus
Bevatron Repairman

This is fun.

Random: History of the Pittsburg Pirates–>Roberto Clemente–>Puerto Rico–>Roman Catholic Church–>Jesus.
Xenu

It’s more challenging if you try to get a link to the Kevin Bacon article.
Anonymous

2nd try. Wanted to go for Buddha.

Dancing_The Dream
Jesus_Christ
Gautama_Buddha

KEK
Bevatron Repairman

One more: Catanese surface â†’Surfaces of a General Typeâ†’ Algebraic Geometryâ†’Cassini Ovalâ†’Giovanni Cassiniâ†’Pope Clement IXâ†’Popeâ†’Catholic Churchâ†’Jesus

I don’t know anything about math beyond first year college calculus, so it took a few steps to get out of deep advanced geometry. I think the surest path is to head for the tall grass of geography, since that will usually get you a country and then a religion section.
tuckels

We have “wikipedia races” as we call them at school, whenever we should be doing something more productive. One person elects a starting and finishing page, and the winner is the first one on the last page.
Antinous / Moderator

This is pretty much how I clear my cache when it’s being obstreperous.
- Lobster
  
  I learned a new word today. :)
Anonymous

Nourlangie > Incest > Jewish bastards > Separation of church and state > Gospel of John > Jesus
Anonymous

My first two were a five and a four:
Eleanor Bartlett> Cannabis> Spain> Christianity> Jesus
Eastern Mosquitofish> United States> Christianity> Jesus

Both done with links in the text, but I agree with an earlier poster and think the greater challenge would be to do it without using a country.
Chainring

This is fun!

Cleveland E. Dodge, Jr.
YMCA
Christian
Jesus

3 clicks!
Anonymous

Franklin, Tasmania > John Franklin > Cannibalism > Christian > Jesus
Anonymous

I got the impossible set:

1. Anachalcos
2. Scarabaeidae
3. Egypt
4. Christianity
5. Jesus

… Wow, I was not expecting that to be so easy.
Cowicide

Heh… love how my random link started with a dinosaur…

1) Random link goes to a dinosaur called an Indricotheriinae.

2) The beast lived in what is now known as China.

3) Christianity in China.

4) Jesus Christ!
Anonymous

A mate and I actually used to play that with the “hacker” entry of the German Wikipedia about three years ago. But I didn’t know it was that common.
jonesey

51 comments, and nobody has linked to the Wiki Game article on Wikipedia? The regular commenters must be on vacation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Game

Note variation #5, “Find Hitler!”

Oh crap, Godwin’s Law. Sorry, folks.
TEKNA2007

Is it just me, or does He look like Richard Reed, a.k.a. the Shoe Bomber, in that mosaic/picture?

Nah, that can’t be right.
netdiva

So, I got an easy one the first time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennar_Davies (a Welsh clergyman)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregationalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ

—-

The second one was a bit more difficult, I thought I was in the weeds:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujiwara_no_Michinori (advisor to a Japanese emperor)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Nijo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_of_Japan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus
chryss

I think we need to exclude country pages.

Rick_Wakeman’s_Criminal_Record (random page) -> Switzerland -> Christianity -> Jesus ==> 4 pt.
bkad

That’s funny, my friend and I were playing this game just last weekend (only we were trying to click to “Aquatic Ape Theory’ instead). I didn’t realize other people wasted time the same way.
edwinx2

Monkey Fun! Reminds me of a game we played a long time ago called “Web That Smut!” (“I can web that smut in 5 clicks, Alex!”)

Here’s my first try:

Random Article = “BÂ²FH” +1
=> “Carl Sagan” +1
=> “History of the Jews in Russia” +1
=> “Christianity” +1
=> “Jesus” +1
= 5 points

Scoring is confusing, though. Adding 1 for each click as well as +1 for the “Random” and “Jesus” pages seems at odds with the intuitive goal of reaching “Jesus” with the fewest clicks. I suppose it is “low score wins,” then?

That works out to:

Very unlikely: Random page is “Jesus” = score of 2 points (+1 for random, +1 for “Jesus”, no clicks)

Unlikely: Random page directly links to “Jesus” = score of 3 Points (+1 for random, +1 for “Jesus”, +1 for clicks)

Likely: Two or more pages are between the random link and “Jesus” = score of 4+ Points (+1 for random, +1 for “Jesus”, +1 each for at least two intermediary clicks)

So, it may make more sense to discard the points for the “Random” and “Jesus” pages and just track the in-between clicks, with 0 points being a perfect score.

Anyway, neat idea and welcome to Boing-Boing, Andrea!
Ehkzu

Random click –> Sanrio (Japanese marketing company that does Hello Kitty & has rights to Peanuts characters)

Click to Peanuts.

Click to Charley Brown Christmas.

Click to Gospel of St. Luke.

Click to Jesus of Nazareth.

So–5 points.

But another poster was right. The boring efficient thing to do is go to the country. In this case:

Random: Sanrio.
Click to Japanese.
Click to Christianity.
Click to Jesus of Nazareth.

Only four clicks. But a little bo-ring.

Ditto everything else I guess.

Random: Eddie Worth (infielder)
click on Pennsylvania (birthplace)
click on Catholic Church
Click on Jesus.

4 points.

Bored now. (to quote Willow when she becomes a vampire)
Sef

7 point run:

University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee (Random article)

University of South Florida

United States

Christianity in the United States

Christianity

Christ

Jesus
hacky

Essentially the same thing
http://wikirace.org/
Anonymous

London_Buses_Route_51->Woolwich->Anglo-Saxon->Christianization->Jesus
glamaFez

3 clicks:

Assumption Of Mary
Last Supper
Jesus

I feel cheated because there was no clickable Jesus link in the first article.
Anonymous

this is way fun!

I got:
1) Linda Hamilton
2) Cleveland, Ohio
3) Polish American (see what I did there?)
4) Catholic Church
5) Jesus Christ
Anonymous

5 clicks

Bob Connely
Congleton Town FC
England
Christianity
Jesus

Nice…

I didn’t know how I would go from the guy to Jesus, but I figured that going to a broader university (club > city > country) would do the trick.
asterisk

using words found within the text of the article…

#1

random page >>>
gunilla (a swedish female name) >>>
gunilla johansdotter bielke (2nd spouse and queen consort of John III of sweden)>>> catholicism >>>
jesus

#2

random page >>>

N3krozoft Ltd, previously N3krozoft Mord or N3kr0z0ft (pronounced /ËˆnÉ›kroÊŠsÉ’ft/), is a transnational electronic art group founded in the early 1990s. The group has experimented with the intersection of technology, information and arts, exploiting the creative potential of, what was then, the new media technologies of CD-ROM, multimedia, live audiovisual jamming[1], and computer-generated video installations. >>>

kabbalistic (redirecting to kabbalah)>>>

Creator (to creator diety)>>>

Jesus

#3
random page>>>

+1 Aislinge Meic Con Glinne (Middle Ir.: The Vision of Mac Conglinne) is a Middle Irish tale of anonymous authorship, believed to have been written in the 11th century.[1] A parody of the “Vision” genre of religious text, it has been described as the “best major work of parody” in the Irish language.[2] >>>

+1 psalms >>>

+1 Jesus.

3 points for that last one?… or does ‘random’ count as a click?
Anonymous

Wow, first attempt, got it in two clicks:

Juju Music
Bob Marley
Jesus Christ
SamSam

Six Degrees of Wikipedia

(A pretty silly article, and one that I imagine will be cleaned up pretty soon)

Also: Six degrees of Wikpedia Tool for automatically making the links.
Anonymous

hehe, okay, how about a conceptual one?

1) Open Archival Information System
2) Digital Preservation
3) National Archives and Records Administration
4) Census
5) Kingdom of Jerusalem
6) Christianity
7) Jesus

more steps than many, but come on… ’tis the season and all ;)
ciacontra

Hmmm my first five tries took only four steps, so I think that’s probably what most often will happen (especially if you can link to a country, then religion/Christianity/jebus. I am assuming you have to get to the actual Jesus Christ page, not just ‘Christianity’ or ‘Catholic Church’.

The one time so far it hasn’t been 4 steps was: Individually Ventilated Cages/Sterilization/Middle Ages/Catholic Church/Jebus. But I tried a few ways on that one, also made it in five by going Individually Ventilated Cages/Sterilization/Israel/Church of the Nativity/Jebus. Finally, my favorite and I kid you not: Individually Ventilated Cages/HEPA/Feces/Profanity/Jesus Christ!
- cowtown
  
  Yeah, this seems to be a par-4 course. For instance, Sef’s 7-point run could have been:
  University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee
  Tampa, Florida
  Catholic Church
  Jesus Christ (auto-redirects to Jesus)
Anonymous

10 points. I had a tough draw starting with W80 Nuclear Warhead.
- 3eff_jeff
  
  10 points. I had a tough draw starting with W80 Nuclear Warhead.
  
  You can at least halve that score. W80->LANL->New Mexico->Catholic Church->Jesus (playing by strict, only-links-in-the-text rules). As another anonymous pointed out, Jesus and Nuclear Warheads are closer than one might think.
- Anonymous
  
  #13
  > 10 points. I had a tough draw starting
  > with W80 Nuclear Warhead.
  
  I would think that nothing would get you to Jesus quicker than a Nuclear Warhead!
Daneel

5 here.

Jannice Pennington
Playboy
Muslim
Jesus in Islam
Jesus
dharmapunk623

I was amused my first attempt led me to Jesus through evolutionary developmental biology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortalis_aequifera
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tephritidae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosophila
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_biology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_developmental_biology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus

8 points is not a great score, but it made me chuckle.
Anonymous

Another fun variant is to click to Hitler and measure how long it takes to get to something completely unrelated and back.
binky79

I play a game where (if i have free time) I will attempt to get to the Wikipedia article i am looking for by starting at the homepage and not using the keyboard.
dotytron

4 clicks

Einars RepÅ¡e > Painting > Bible > Jesus

I think that using the links on the side of the page is cheating…should be limited to links in the article only.
IshmaeLeaver

First try:

Random Article: “Peter Donolo”
First Click: Milan
Second Click: Christians
Third Click: Jesus

4 points!

Second try:

Random Article: “MSID”
Random Article: “Castle Law”
First Click: “Historic Scotland”
Second Click: Scotland
Third Click: Christians
Fourth Click: Jesus

6 points!
Anonymous

SMBC did a comic about this but the target article was sexual intercourse. Chewbacca to sex in 3 clicks . . . think you can do it?

http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1654#comic
skeptacally

Rue Saint-Louis
Quebec
Catholic
Jesus

dang. i thought with Rue Saint-Louis i could get it in 3.
skeptacally

woo-hoo!

2nd time is the charm:

Kelly Miller Smith (had never heard of her — we canadians don’t often come across american baptist preachers…)
Baptist
Jesus

if i can get 2, i’m retiring a champion!
IshmaeLeaver

Kevin Bacon:

First try:

Random Article: “Network (mathematics)”
First Click: “Network theory”
Second Click: social networks
Third Click: six degrees of separation
Fourth Click: “Kevin Bacon”

5 points! Pretty lucky!
Anonymous

Fun journey!

Roxann Dawson
Broadway theatre
White Christmas (musical)
Musical Theatre
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus
KDBryan

4 Clicks on my first try!

1. White-Sided Jackrabbit
2. Mexico
3. Roman Catholicism (which redirects to “Catholic Church”)
4. Jesus!
anachronismo

My random page: Silk Satin Fetishism
then:
sexual fetishism
psychoanalysis
Austria
Christianity
Jesus Christ
Dyson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Convergence_Server
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_antisemitism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus
Anonymous

“Night Call”, The Twilight Zone, Republican Party, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Jesus Christ. Pretty win.
Avram / Moderator

When I saw this random pick I was sure it’d take me more than four clicks, but no:

• PCDHGC3 ➝ Gene ➝ Gregor Mendel ➝ Priest ➝ Jesus (5 pts)
Anonymous

1. The Live Desk
2. Fox News Channel
3. Adolf Hitler
4. Jesus!
Anonymous

Maybe a rule could be to NOT go through an article of a Country/Nation…
- Anonymous
  
  hear, hear. Good idea, that… otherwise we’re going to be at like 4 or 5 constantly. No fun.
Anonymous

Four!

1. Trailer Trash
2. Redneck
3. Church of England
4. Jesus
RainyRat

Reminds me of Google roulette; collect a few colleagues, stand around a PC and type increasingly risquÃ© phrases into Google. Last one to get fired wins.
Anonymous

My path:
Filbert’s Old Time Root Beer (Thatâ€™s the random page)
Prohibition
Methodism
Christianity
Jesus
Avram / Moderator

It always seems to come down to four or five points:

• Tigran L. Petrosian ➝ Armenia ➝ Christianity ➝ Jesus (4 pts)

• Barclay Church (disambiguation) ➝ Barclay Viewforth Church ➝ Church of Scotland ➝ Eucharist ➝ Jesus (5 pts)

• Ramon Frade ➝ Santo Domingo ➝ Society of Jesus ➝ Jesus (4 pts)

• Neva Jane Langley ➝ Wesleyan College ➝ Category:Universities and colleges affiliated with the United Methodist Church ➝ Methodism ➝ Jesus (5 pts)

• Shika, Ishikawa ➝ Japan ➝ Christianity ➝ Jesus (4 pts)
oh not anymore

ok, I started small…
HIST3h3
Protein
Gene
Cell
Organism
Ancient Greek
Koine reek
Christian
Son of God
Jesus
MelSkunk

Three!

Achilles, Kansas âž Methodism âž Jesus

Ouch! I think that would be hard to beat with anything short of a Christianity or religion related random
Anonymous

Attempt 1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_booth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_voting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egoistic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suitheism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ

Attempt 2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Brand_You_Can_Trust
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoop_Dogg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Very_Merry_Muppet_Christmas_Movie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Wonderful_Life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Eve
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus
Anonymous

Four or five points!

FA Challenge Cup (Botswana)
Coca-Cola
Santa Claus
Christian
Jesus

or from Santa Claus to Baby Jesus for four.
Anonymous

I actually created a version of this game that let’s you earn points and badges for playing: http://www.wikipediamaze.com
Anonymous

Random: Okan KoÃ§
1: Turkish people
2: Israel
3: Bible
4: Jesus
Anonymous

Hmm…funny journey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briedern -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus
Anonymous

Magic_(Robin_Thicke_song) -> Philippines -> Christianity -> Jesus
Caroline

Fun!

Random article: “Faklen”
Politics
Religion
Jesus
Score: 4

Second try:
Random article was “Eastpoint, Florida”
United States
Christianity in the United States
Jesus
Score: 4
mattruben

Jesus to KB in four clicks:

Jesus
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Salt Lake City
Lehi, Utah
Kevin Bacon
Anonymous

I got there in three clicks:

Started at HDR PhotoStudio.
Clicked on Visual Arts, which led me to Michaelangelo then to Jesus.

Whee! Fun stuff!
Anonymous

I think this should be made into a drinking game… every click is a drink until you get to “jesus” or whoever then everyone else drinks… just a thought
jeligula

Yes, let’s just hoover Wikipedia’s bandwidth when they are hurting for money, why don’t we?
JohnBerry

Every time I see a picture like this I think Jesus is giving us his gang sign.
Sam

4 clicks from “southpaw engine”
Southpaw engine –> Doom II –> Hell –> Christianity –> Jesus
Anonymous

Three points for me, went from New Boston-Morea, Pennsylvania —> Marriage —> Jesus
saywhatagain

This reminds me of a Wikipedia game I play with my friends.

1) Player 1 names any topic at random
2) Player 2 names any second topic at random
3) Starting at topic 1, both players attempt to reach topic 2 as quickly as possible, using only in-article links.

voila, wikiracing, one of my favorite pass times.
The Sando

Nickelodean theatre > problem plays > shakespeare’s religion > Protestantism > jesus christ

though the second one was better

yeshua name > jesus
tubacat

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group->
Sony Pictures Classics->
QuinceaÃ±era (film)->
Virginity->
Virgin (disambiguation)->
Mary (mother of Jesus)->
Jesus

5 clicks, no countries or people…
- tubacat
  
  I think I counted wrong – are you supposed to count every page? Then it was 7 points.
  
  Plus I guess Jesus and Mary were people (I wasn’t there!)
siliconsunset

I have to agree with “jeligula | #29″.

This game is a unnecessary hog of Wikipedia’s bandwidth, and at a time when they are in need of money… poorly-timed, if anything. Wikipedia really is an important resource, something that sadly too many people take for granted.
kc0bbq

Is it cheating to use disambiguation links?

Random: Extension (metaphysics)
Click: Mass
Click: Mass (Liturgy), one of two disambiguation links along with Mass (Disambiguation)
Click: Jesus

I feel dirty, like I cheated baby Jesus out of something.
Alan

Hmm, I started with “Cardassian” from Star Trek, thinking it’d be tough, but it was easy enough.

Cardassian
William Shakespeare
Eucharist
Jesus

Didn’t click on a country or religion/denomination to do it, either.
Talia

Joaquim Gomes > Portugal > Christianity > Jesus.

Hehe.
utt73

Woot! Scored a lucky birdie with only 3 pts:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaineer_Hotel > Weddings > Jesus
kc0bbq

I would have thought My Little Pony and Friends would have been tougher, but it’s only 4 points.

My Little Pony and Friends -> Syndication -> The Lawrence Welk Show (redirects to Lawrence Welk) -> Universal Life Church -> Christ (redirects to Jesus)
Antinous / Moderator

That’s What I’m Talking About > 2004 in Music > Madonna > Stigmata > Jesus
Anonymous

Dang. Getting from my random page (T-nut) to Jesus took nine steps. I was amazed it could be done at all; thank goodness for Newton. :)
kc0bbq

Haha, My Little Pony and Friends is the same distance from Jesus as it is from Adolph Hitler.

I wonder if that means anything?
hollimer

random = Mark McKinney +1
clicked to Mel Gibson +1
clicked to Jesus Christ +1

3 points!
Anonymous

Just for the fun of it:

Adolf Hitler > Jesus Christ (1 Click)
Jesus Christ > Jew > Adolf Hitler (2 Clicks)

Those two seem pretty close :)
Anonymous

We used to play a version of this with the allmusic guide, clicking to the Beatles.
Anonymous

I know this game, but you have to get to Fat Joe. :D
Anonymous

Two clicks:
1. Olympe-Philippe Gerbet ->
2. Eucharist -> Jesus
Feenicks

Nicholas Mayall
Observational astronomy
Telescope
Galileo Galilei
Catholic Church
Jesus
Anonymous

Random article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minuscule_561
click to New Testament
click to jesus
3
opinionated&free

7 clicks from Gary Gottlieb. This is fun! I’m shareing this article with my minister friends (that is, my friends that happen to be ministers. I’m not one of them.)!
hbl

I went from random: Diptheroides to
Genus
Kingdom (biology)
Latin
Roman Catholic Church
Jesus

You’d be surprised how few instances of ‘jesus’ are actually hyperlinks on the RC entry. Also, I’m gonna claim extra credit for only using links found in the entry’s main body of text.
Anonymous

Random: Pekka Halonen -> Paul Gauguin -> Vision after the Sermon -> Angel -> Jesus; didn’t realize until reading dotytron’s posting I could do Random: Pekka Halonen -> Painter -> Biblical -> Jesus.

Also, try the recaptcha on your posting:

Nahuatl -> Jesuits -> Christianity -> Jesus

[That's right, there's no direct link from the Society of Jesus article to the Jesus article, which suggests a fun game: the largest number of occurrences of a proper noun (not the name of the subject of the page) on a Wikipedia page with no link to the page for whatever the proper noun names. But the folks concerned about Wikipedia's bandwidth probably won't like that, as it's more difficult.]
Anonymous

4 points

Random: The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was
Click 1: Fairy tale
Click 2: Religion
Click 3: Jesus of Nazareth