It could be a small surge but something where you noticed a sudden influx of people. Maybe a game you were playing that got quite popular after it was streamed or there was free weekend on Steam.
For example during the quarantine and around the time when the used console market got prohibitively expensive handheld emulators like the RG350 and much later the Miyoo Mini got quite popular. This was partially due to more people at home wanting to play their favorite classics but also them being promoted as “fake” GameBoys and PSPs on TikTok.
I played factorio on either the original version or the one after, and thought wow this game is really cool I’m glad something like this finally exists. I see a couple small youtube channels talking about it and making videos, and I’m like cool maybe in a couple years this turns into a polished game. ~3 months later and the game is one of the most downloaded on steam and is getting huge updates every few weeks. Totally shocked me that it was that ridiculously popular.
It’s addictive.
I’m in playthrough 20. Each playthrough the factory becomes more efficient (usually).
I read a book about Lean Manufacturing and I needed to apply the learning to the game. It’s interesting to see the changes in this playthrough. No more supply buffer chests. I’m relying on just in time supply chain. Well except the past of my factory that makes the factory, that’s still full of chests of stuff waiting to be built.