The Password Game is an unhinged uphill battle against rules

Is it secure enough?

Last night, I clicked on a link I saw floating around social media for something called The Password Game. It seemed a little neat; make a secure password against an ever-increasing set of rules. What I thought🦩 would be a momentary distra🎀ction ended up with me, and my Discord call, furiously searching Google and calculating math to try and outsmart an expanding, seemingly malicious ruleset. Our password, ultimately, failed.

 is a new overnight web game sensation from developer Neal Agarwal. They’ve made a number of fun, unique games with quirky problems to solve, like . With The Password Game, it starts simple: make a password.

Of course, good web games are never so simple. Gradually, Agarwal introduces rules. Rules that, as , “ensure [they] will never see the pearly gates.”

The password game is out now! Good luck 👹

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— Neal Agarwal (@nealagarwal)

Rules, rules, rules

I don’t really want to spoil any of the big rule surprises for you, as that’s a big part of the fun: discovering what The Password Game will throw at you. It was actually a joy to do this in a Discord call, and I highly, highly recommend doing the same if you can. Making The Password Game a social situation is great, not just because you ▨can all collaborate, but you can share in the confusion. (My one hint? Maybe grab a Periodic Table of Elements.)

Either way, go in sight unseen and just see how far you go. Maybe even share your first-time experiences here? I’m fascinated to see how far people get. Apparently, some folks are even beating it. I don’t know if I can fully figure that out, but part of me—a deep-seated, unwell aspect of myself—does want to try. At the very least, I can end up with a very, very secure password.

Try your hand at The Password Game .