Will someone check 1 million boxes? Why this new game on the internet has got people hooked

Whats entertaining about checkmarking boxes on a website A simple game One Million Check Boxes has over five lakh people hooked to checking and unchecking boxes setting off a war on the InternetThe game has one million boxes on screen which you can check and uncheck It is perhaps the most pointless game but has people racing to check the onemillionth box while several others race to undo their work unchecking the boxes The website saw over four lakh users in less than one week since its launchAs the number of visits continues to climb no one is more surprised than game creator Nolen Royalty a software programmer based in New York He had expected only a couple of 100 players He says hersquos now spending a lot of late nights to just keep it online Speaking of why he made it he says ldquoI like making games that let strangers interact on the Internet I think when I was a kid that was a very cool part of the Internet to memdashthe ability to interact with strangersrdquoNolen Royalty creatorRoyalty used to work as a programmer in a quantitative trading firm before quitting his job almost two years ago But he has always had an affinity towards the creative use of software While his colleagues wrote software to execute trades he preferred to talk to people and address their problems with his code To him building software that helps people tackle problems felt a lot like making gamesRoyalty now works as a consultant and makes games under the banner Eieiogames The quick unique game One Million Check Boxes is Royaltyrsquos most popular one yet and took only two days to develop and publish he says ldquoI thought the idea was really funny and I hadnrsquot made something public for the Internet in a couple of months I just want to make something silly and fun I donrsquot need to get very many players I can get 200 players and Irsquoll be happyrdquo he adds He says that it took him a week to figure out the technical details to build it He got to work on a Monday and a Tuesday and by Friday he had launched the gameSome other games that Royalty has created include Breaktime a brickbreaker that is a Google Chrome extension which allows you to break the bricklike shapes indicating meetings on your Google calendar Then there is a version of Wordle that runs on Firefoxrsquos address bar and a few other games that usually run as an extension on different applications But he says that he is most proud of Stranger Video where you and a stranger on the Internet just stare at each other over live video There is no chat or call feature so it keeps the creeps at bayWhatrsquos unique about Royaltyrsquos games is that the design reminds you of the early days of the Internet Most of Eieio Games are easy to play and are just what you need if you are looking to idle away time Therersquos no strategy purpose or even combat And the 1 lakh visitors that Royaltyrsquos website saw in 24 hours prove that despite advanced websites and games we are all still drawn to a simpler timeIn the world of mobile apps games with freemiums and PC games is there a place for singlepurpose websites Royalty says ldquoWe have developed a better understanding of what it could look like to monetise and scale an application on the Internet We didnrsquot have that when people were making flash games 20 years ago I am in a position where I can afford to do it without worrying about money for a bit Not forever But I do think that gives me a little bit of creative freedomrdquoWill Royalty ever monetise the games he creates ldquoProbably in some form but I would want to do it on my own terms Irsquom not going to sell ads on one of my own chat boxes Were I to do that to make money I think that would probably feel worse to me than just going back to being a software engineer for a few years I did this to have funrdquo he saysFor One Million Check Boxes users donated enough to cover his costs For now the Internet war that Royalty has unknowingly set off continues Will the site ever hit a million Log on to find out and perhaps help