Your Fellow coffee maker has a secret video game hidden in its interface – here's how to play it

Fellow makes sophisticated coffee equipment including a drip coffee maker, digital scales, and variable-temperature kettles. They're made for coffee afficionados, but it's not all serious business at Fellow HQ – each appliance has a hidden retro-style video game that you can play while enjoying your morning brew.

It's not at all obvious where to find these games, and they aren't mentioned in Fellow's manuals. When I tested the Fellow Aiden Precision Drip Coffee Maker in 2024, I had no idea what I was missing until someone mentioned it at a barista skills workshop I attended. At first I thought they were joking, but the games are quite real.

In fact, for its 10-year anniversary in 2023, the company held a two-day competition where it invited coffee-lovers to send photos of their high scores for the chance to win a top prize of "a ...