The World's Easyest Game

The joke in Mad Science Industries' 2012 quiz is that it means what it says. After years of browser games promising a challenge and delivering cruelty, this one promises simplicity and delivers exactly that: more than a hundred questions that a child could answer, a cheerful cat who wants you to do well, and nine lives you will probably finish with intact. The misspelling in the title is intentional, and it is the first hint about the register the whole thing is written in.

Comedy Built From Low Stakes

Nearly every quiz game of this era is adversarial. The writing exists to catch you out, and the fun comes from the moment you realise you have been had. This one removes that entirely and finds humour in the absence. Questions ask you things like which of these is a colour, or how many of something is on the screen, and the answers are right there, correct and unambiguous.

What makes it funny rather than boring is the framing. The cat reacts warmly to your success at tasks that require nothing. The music is relentlessly upbeat about it. Being congratulated for identifying a square generates a specific kind of comedy that only works if the game commits fully, and it does. There is no rug-pull waiting at question fifty.

It also functions as a direct joke about The World's Hardest Game, the notoriously punishing browser title it is named against. That pairing is the point: one game exists to make you fail repeatedly, and this one exists as the exact inverse.

Nine Lives You Will Struggle to Spend

You get nine attempts across the quiz, which is generous to the point of absurdity given the difficulty. They exist mainly so that the format looks like a real quiz, but they do occasionally matter, because a handful of questions are less trivial than the rest.

The ones that catch people fall into two groups. Some are interactive rather than multiple choice — you might need to move something with the keyboard, or type an answer rather than click one. Others are simple questions that punish speed rather than ignorance, where an inattentive player skims and clicks the wrong easy answer. Neither is difficult. Both are enough to cost a life if you are treating the game as something to click through as fast as possible.

Controls

Getting a Clean Run

• Look at what the question actually asks. Losing a life here is embarrassing precisely because the question was not hard, and it always comes from skimming.
• Watch for the questions that need the keyboard. Sitting there clicking when the game wants you to type or move is the most common way to stall.
• Count carefully when asked to count. The one skill the quiz genuinely tests is basic attention, and counting questions are where it shows.
• Play with the sound on. The music and the cat's reactions are a real part of the experience, and muted it is just a form with buttons.

Who It Is Actually For

There is a straightforward case for this game as something to hand to a young child, and that is a perfectly good use of it. But it works just as well as a palate cleanser for adults, particularly after something that has been beating you up. Fifteen minutes of being told you are correct by an animated cat is not a deep experience, and it is not trying to be.

The design lesson underneath is more interesting than the game itself: difficulty is not what makes a browser quiz enjoyable, tone is. Strip out every trap and this is still entertaining, because the writing and the presentation know exactly what they are doing. Plenty of much harder games from the same period are far less pleasant to sit with.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the game really as easy as it claims? Essentially yes. A handful of questions require you to pay attention or use the keyboard, but nothing is designed to trick you.

Why is "easyest" spelled wrong? Deliberately. The misspelling is part of the joke and sets up the game's tone before you have answered anything.

How many lives do I get? Nine, which is far more than the quiz needs. They are mostly there for the format, though the interactive questions can eat one or two.

Who developed it? Mad Science Industries, who released it in January 2012.

Are all the questions multiple choice? No. Some ask you to move something with the keys or type a response, and those are the ones that surprise players expecting to click through everything.

Is it connected to The World's Hardest Game? Not as a sequel or by the same developer, but the name is a direct joke aimed at it — this is the deliberate opposite of that game's design.