Guides to the good parts of the internet
Every list here is built from the catalogue behind the red button, which means two things: nothing recommended is a dead link, and nothing stays recommended after it stops working.
All posts (18)
The best useless websites, all still workingA hand-checked list of the internet’s most gloriously pointless websites. Every one loaded in a real browser, so none of them is a dead link.
Cool websites worth an actual visitInteractive art, sound toys and things built by people who just wanted to build them. Hand-picked and verified working.
Weird websites that are somehow still onlineThe genuinely strange corners of the internet — optical illusions, single-joke pages and things nobody can explain. All verified working.
Websites to visit when you are boredSomething to do online that is not scrolling. Games, toys and oddities, all hand-picked and all still working.
Interesting websites that teach you somethingSites that leave you knowing something you did not — explorable explanations, live data and illusions that reveal how your own senses work.
Optical illusions you can try right nowInteractive optical illusions that work in the browser — motion aftereffects, impossible figures, and tricks that keep working after you know how.
Old internet websites that are somehow still onlinePages from the early web that never went away — still hosted, still loading, still exactly as strange as they were. Each one checked in a real browser.
Secret websites worth actually knowing aboutGenuinely obscure corners of the ordinary, indexed web — not the dark web, not anything that needs a special browser. Every one verified working.
Creepy websites that are unsettling, not unsafeGenuinely eerie corners of the web — uncanny generated faces, illusions that fool your own eyes, and pages with no explanation. All checked and all safe to open.
Oddly satisfying websitesSand, sound, paint and physics — browser toys built around repetition that feels good. No account, nothing to install, all verified working.
Internet rabbit holes worth falling intoSites that open onto something bigger than themselves — live data, explorable explanations and archives with no bottom. All verified working.
Fun websites that are actually funA hand-checked list of genuinely fun websites — games, toys, sound machines and nonsense. Every one loaded in a real browser and verified working.
Sites like Neal.funIf you liked The Deep Sea or Spend Bill Gates’ Money, these are the closest things on the web — interactive explainers you play rather than read.
Browser games with nothing to installGames that load in a tab and start immediately — arcade ports, physics toys, puzzles and shooters. All verified working in a real browser.
Flash games: what survived, and where to play themFlash died in December 2020 and took a decade of the web with it. What was preserved, how it is played now, and which browser games replaced it.
Websites for five minutes off at workQuiet, quick, no sound by default and nothing that looks alarming over your shoulder. Hand-picked and verified working.
Gaming websites that are not on the big portalsBrowser games that live on their own domains rather than the big aggregators — obscure, free, and each one verified working.
The sites we lost, and why each one diedWe check every site in our catalogue in a real browser. This is the record of the ones that failed — what they were, and exactly how they broke.