Bored? Need a mental break? Want something fun, quirky, and low-commitment to do during downtime? You’ve come to the right place.
While the internet allows us to become more productive, socialise with people from around the world, and shape society in powerful ways, it’s also full of delightful nonsense, silly distractions, and oddly creative creations that don’t serve any other purpose than to entertain. The instant engagement is what pulls you in, while the feel-good vibes are what make you stay.
If you’re ready to procrastinate with purpose, we’ve got the perfect roundup of 10 addictive websites that’ll send you down a rabbit hole.
Thisissand
Remember those little jars of sand art you used to make at local fairs? Thisissand has brought that highly satisfying experience to the internet, offering a digital playground to make the sand creations of your dreams. Once you hit the start button, you can select a colour palette or use the colour picker to start piling up sand from the ground up. Have a photo you want to make a sand version of? You can do that too. The Photo Sand tool picks colours directly from your chosen photo, so you don’t have to do the heavy lifting.
The Useless Web
Suffering from decision paralysis? Well, suffer no longer. The Useless Web is the ultimate portal to the internet and all its ridiculous corners. All you have to do is click the big pink button on the site, which’ll take you to a completely random and ‘useless’ website to entertain you. Examples include the Long Doge Challenge (an endless scroller you’ll likely keep in your collection of tabs), an art program that lets you paint with words, and the sliding number puzzle. It’s almost like a grab bag of fun websites all in one.
A Soft Murmur
Looking for less chaos and more relaxation? A Soft Murmur is a customisable online background noise generator that lets you focus or tune out your environment, whether you’re doing something creative or simply want to sit with yourself. The 10 ambient sounds include rainfall, singing bowl, white noise, crickets, crackling fireplace, waves, thunder, gusting wind, coffee shop, and birdsong, which you can adjust the volume of and turn on or off.
Slotomania
With Slotomania, there’s no need to visit a real-life casino or spend real cash. Featuring 170+ free online slot games, some with mini-games and extra fun features, the site provides an exhilarating gameplay experience that’ll make you feel like you’re on a Vegas vacation. If you’ve found your footing and want to try your luck further, start exploring online and you’ll be sure to discover popular slot sites with amazing welcome bonuses and exclusive offers.
100,000 Stars
Curious about what’s out there beyond planet Earth? 100,000 Stars gives you an interactive 3D visualisation of our galaxy, including over 100,000 nearby stars. You can zoom out from our local solar system all the way out to the Milky Way galaxy, clicking 87 stars along the way. While you can learn more about our galactic neighbourhood, it’s also a visually stunning ride.
Zoomquilt
Zoomquilt was established in 2004 and has gone through cycles of virality ever since. The site has also released Zoomquilt 2, Infinite Flowers, and Arkadia, which complement the original experience. It hosts a variety of infinitely zooming animated images that you can open in a browser window and watch for hours. Nikolaus Baumgarten started the project, with contributions from many participating illustrators who helped bring the loop to life.
Paper.io
Paper.io is a multiplayer game that doesn’t require logging in, creating a profile, or waiting to find fellow players. Once you hop on the website, you’re instantly thrust into a game as a coloured square to claim territory on a map by painting it with your given colour. Players can use tactics like drawing lines to enclose areas and eliminate players by intersecting with others’ trails. The bright colours, thrilling gameplay, and multiplayer experience give you fast-paced excitement without any time commitment or learning curve.
WindowSwap
Need a change of scenery? WindowSwap lets you open a window somewhere random anywhere in the world and continue doing so until you’ve found a view that strikes your mood. You’ll find everything from a view into a rainy yard in Central Illinois or of architecture in Marbella, Spain, to a serene body of water in Reykjavik, Iceland. If you don’t mind signing up, you can access extra features like bookmarking your favourite windows, checking out locations on Google Maps, and more.
Always Judge a Book by Its Cover
The saying typically goes, ‘Never judge a book by its cover’, but in this case, the site Always Judge a Book by Its Cover collates books with misleading and bizarre covers that make you wonder what on earth the book is about. You can go through an endless scrolling list of books with descriptions of what they’re about and links to copies on Amazon, Kindle, and Audible. Standout titles include How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack and Eating People is Wrong.
Quick, Draw!
Move on from player-to-player guess-the-drawing games and check out this version that challenges players to draw a picture of an object or idea and let artificial intelligence take a guess. Each prompt gives you something to draw and 20 seconds to do so, such as ‘springboard’, ‘rhinoceros’, or ‘frying pan’.
