The Password Game

What it is

The Password Game is a single text box that asks you to choose a password, then keeps adding rules. Five characters at least. Then a number. Then an uppercase letter. Then things get strange, and every new rule stacks on the old ones, so the password you had a minute ago is suddenly wrong again. The site describes it as a test of your password strength, your patience and your will to live.

How to play

Type in the box. A rule appears under it. Satisfy the rule and the next one appears, with a tick for every rule you still meet and a cross for the ones you just broke. Edit, satisfy, repeat. A character counter sits beside the box, and the box accepts formatting. At the start, typing is all there is: the whole game is the text you are writing.

What makes it different

The rules work like a puzzle that argues with itself. Later rules reach back and fight earlier ones, and the password gets longer and stranger with every fix. Telling you how is the spoiler, so we will not. The result is a game about the exact feeling of being told your password is not good enough, stretched until it snaps, and it is funnier than that sounds.

Why it is on Bored

Nobody has ever wanted to keep going with a password box, and this one gets people to keep going far longer than planned. It is also better with two people at one keyboard, because two people spot a broken rule faster than one. Expect the site's consent dialog on the way in.

Tips

• Fix one cross at a time, the others move when you do
• Read every rule again after each change
• Keep a copy of a password that worked, somewhere outside the box
• Do not paste your real password in, obviously

FAQ