Here's a full research paper on the subject.

It very thoroughly data-mines a strategy WoW forum and observes how their discussion about the hidden variables of the game world mirrors quite clearly the scientific study of the natural world.

A: "I suggest that the Octopus Lord is vulnerable to fire." B: "Good idea! I have a fire sword and an identical ice sword, I'm off to try." C: "Wait! Maybe he's just resistant to ice! We need to design a better test."

It's actually a lot more complex than that (there's a HUGE spreadsheet quoted in the paper), but you get the idea.

Reverse engineering isn't quite the same as science (because you know from the start that all natural laws must be traceable back to a short piece of human-written code), but they are definitely kin.