Nolen Royalty, an independent software engineer and game developer, launched “One Million Checkboxes” a week ago. The idea behind the site is simple: As the name suggests, there are a million checkboxes that anyone can check or uncheck. When a checkbox is checked, it’s checked for everyone, and when it’s unchecked, it’s checked for everyone. “That’s it,” Royalty wrote in a blog post announcing the launch. “Enjoy!” Royalty called “One Million Checkboxes” the “dumbest website of all time,” and said working on it was one of the most fun times of her life.
In an interview with People, the developer explained, “The Internet of my childhood was full of fun sites and flash games that were made just for the fun of sharing something with the world,” Royalty added. “It’s really special to build something that harks back to that era. I really hope this inspires someone to build a simple, joyful site without worrying about scalability or monetization,” he added. “The Internet can still be fun.” Speaking about the work behind launching the site, Royalty said he built it in two days, initially thinking it would attract “a couple hundred players total.” Instead, it has already welcomed hundreds of thousands of players who have checked hundreds of millions of boxes. The Sunday after its launch, the site crashed from too many visits.