One Million Checkboxes

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall reception

  • Widely described as fun, satisfying, and “global fidget toy”–like, despite (or because of) its pointlessness.
  • Many users report losing several minutes to it; others bounce off due to performance or chaos.

Design and UX choices

  • Key choice: grid width is fluid, not fixed.
    • Some dislike this because drawings and words only align at specific viewport widths.
    • Others enjoy “scanning” for images and treating width as a secret “cipher key.”
  • Some want sound effects (e.g., bubble-wrap pops) and clearer keyboard navigation.
  • Suggestions include locking width, using primes for rows/cols, or adjacency rules (only check boxes next to already-checked ones).

Technical implementation and scaling

  • Backend described as multiple tiny Flask servers, a bitset in Redis, and WebSockets broadcasting updates.
  • Frontend uses windowed rendering to avoid drawing all 1M checkboxes at once.
  • Initial implementation sent too-frequent updates; later switched to batching for performance.
  • Hug-of-death issues, white screens, and lag are common reports; developer added more servers and reintroduced faster rate limiting.
  • Reported cost so far is on the order of tens of dollars, expected to rise with bandwidth.

Scripting, bots, and emergent gameplay

  • Numerous scripts shared to check, uncheck, randomize, or defensively re-check boxes.
  • A client-side alert (“CHILL LOL”) appears when clicking too fast.
  • Clear “factions” emerge: checkers vs uncheckers, with localized “wars” over specific boxes or regions.
  • Some enjoy the chaos; others feel bots ruin the human, manual aspect.

Content moderation and abuse

  • Users quickly notice swastikas and genital drawings, echoing the known “swasticock problem” in UGC.
  • Some argue for detection or shuffling algorithms; others see moderation as paternalistic or futile.

Bugs, compatibility, and issues

  • Reports of problems on Firefox, Safari, and mobile: slow loads, counts not updating, or non-functioning UI.
  • Occasional state inconsistencies, including total-checked counts exceeding one million.

Related ideas and extensions

  • Comparisons to r/place, bubble-wrap apps, milliondollarhomepage, pixelflut, and collaborative canvases.
  • Ideas floated: levels, SHA-256 hash challenges, stats dashboards, time graphs of checked count, microtransactions, ads, or even physical flip-disc displays.