Imagine being asked to create a password — and then being told it must include this month’s name, a Roman numeral that multiplies to 35, the atomic symbols of elements adding up to 200, and a tiny on-screen chicken you have to keep alive. That’s The Password Game, the gloriously absurd browser puzzle that has been played more than ten million times. We at GetMyPassword explain what it is, how it works, and the surprisingly useful lesson hiding inside the madness.
What is The Password Game?
The Password Game is a free browser game created by developer Neal Agarwal and released in June 2023 on his site neal.fun. The premise is simple: type a password into a single box. The catch is that the rules keep appearing, one after another, each more ridiculous than the last — and every new rule can break the ones you’ve already satisfied. Built in about two months, it went viral almost instantly and remains one of the most shared web toys on the internet.
How the rules escalate
There are 35 rules in total, and each one unlocks only when all the previous ones are met. It begins gently:
- at least 5 characters;
- include a number;
- include an uppercase letter;
- include a special character.
Then it spirals. The digits in your password must add up to 25. It has to contain a month of the year, then a Roman numeral, then Roman numerals that multiply to exactly 35. Later rules demand a sponsor’s name, a valid chess move, the length of a specific YouTube video, and — most famously — a chicken named Paul that hatches in your password box and slowly gets eaten if you’re not careful. Most people who finish take between two and four hours.
The serious lesson behind the joke
The game is a parody, but it’s poking fun at something real: overcomplicated password rules don’t make passwords safer — they make them worse. When a website forces a tangle of symbols, numbers and capital letters, people respond with predictable patterns like Password1!, which are easy for computers to guess. Security researchers agree that a long, simple passphrase beats a short, “complex” password almost every time.
The Password Game is funny precisely because we all recognise the frustration. A good password should be easy for you and hard for a computer — not the other way around.
Make a real password that actually works
After an hour of feeding a virtual chicken, you may fancy a password that’s genuinely strong and takes two seconds to make. That’s exactly what our password generator is for — long, random and uncrackable, with none of the chess moves. Run the result through our strength checker to see how tough it is, and if you’d like to understand what really makes a login secure, read our short guide on what makes a strong password.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Password Game free to play?
Yes. It’s a free browser game on Neal Agarwal’s site neal.fun — there’s nothing to download or pay for, and it runs on any modern browser.
How many rules are there, and how long does it take?
There are 35 rules, each unlocking once the previous ones are met. Most players who complete it take between two and four hours.
Should I use a password like the ones in the game?
No — the game is a joke. For real accounts, use a long, random password or passphrase from a generator and store it in a password manager, rather than cramming in symbols to satisfy strict rules.