The Password Game, created by Neal Agarwal, is a browser game that has gained notorietyamong players and streamers, even beingmodified to test the patience of scammers. The game requires creating a password by following certain rules. These start off like the standards players might expect from a password creation; must contain a capital letter, must contain a number, must contain a special character, and similar.
These gradually get more convoluted and outright outlandish. Players may find themselves wondering how hard a password creator can get until they find themselves putting out fires, playingGeoGuessr, and feeding a chicken. Yes, those are all real rules, and they only get harder from there.
Updated on Jul 17, 2025, by Nyah Payne:Although The Password Game became a bit of a brief sensation in 2023, its creator, Neal Agarwal, still has many more projects to explore, hopefully with many more in the works! Their website has various amusing (and sometimes informative) games/experiences on it, that are all worth checking out alongside the infuriating Password Game. These include unusual trolley problems, a game to spend Bill Gates' money, and a scrolling web page tour of the deep sea. And, of course, The Password Game itself, which still has to be seen to be believed.
10Oh No! Your Password Is On Fire. Quick, Put It Out! - Rule 20
Fire Emojis Ruin A Player’s Progress Until They Are All Deleted
One of the more bizarre rules to start the list, this rule is undoubtedly stressful. After working incrementally through 19 rules for passwords, the password will ‘catch on fire’. SinceThe Password Gamedoesn’t quite go to the lengths of setting a player’s device alight, this is represented by innocent-looking fire emojis popping up in a player’s password.
The catch is that these emojis will spread rapidly and replace characters within the password, undoing a player’s hard work. While it is a pain to fix the damage left by the fires, it only happens once, making it a temporary concern for the players. The same can’t be said for some of the more infuriating rules. Just verify the fire doesn’t claim Paul the chicken.
9A Sacrifice Must Be Made. Pick 2 Letters That You Will No Longer Be Able To Use. - Rule 25
Can Nullify Rules Like YouTube Links, Captchas, And Hex Codes
This isa very simple rulethat can cause a lot of problems. Players will be presented with a keyboard and told to sacrifice two letters that they will no longer be able to use in their password. This also means that any occurrence of the chosen letters already in the password has to be removed.
While players may instinctively be drawn to more uncommon letters, they will need to examine their password carefully before making their decision. By this point, the player’s password will contain a very specific YouTube link, a captcha, and a hex code, all of which can become void by the removal of a single letter that players discarded too hastily.
8Your Password Must Contain The Current Time. - Rule 35
Counters Previous Rules Requiring Specific Number Totals
This is the final rule inThe Password Game, which only adds to a player’s frustration. By the time a player encounters it, they will have jumped through countless hurdles and refined their password to fit very specific criteria. This final rule drops a huge spanner in the works, disrupting challenging rules, specifically the one that takes the number one spot.
Players may find themselves picking a time that has a convenient combination of numbers, and waiting until the time hits to make the password finally fit all the criteria perfectly. While waiting, they also have to remember to keep feeding Paul the chicken. Once this annoying little caveat is appeased, though, players will get the satisfaction of beatingThe Password Game.
7Your Password Must Include The Name Of This Country. - Rule 14
Players Must Complete A GeoGuessr Round
If players didn’t realize how nonsensical this game was before rule fourteen, they almost certainly will at this point. All of a sudden, this game about making a password forces its players to playGeoGuessr.
Another infamous browser game,GeoGuessrpresents players with a locationinGoogle MapsStreet View, and players must navigate the environment to try and work out what location they are in. Agarwal implements this into his game. While it doesn’t cause too much issue down the line, this rule can certainly be a time-consuming one, if players end up with a very obscure country.
6Your Password Must Include The Best Move In Algebraic Chess Notation. - Rule 16
Players Need To Understand Chess And Its Notations
Only two rules after players had to playGeoGuessr, they find themselves playing chess. This rule is already phrased to give players a headache, and completing it is just as mind-numbing. Players are presented with a random image of a chess board in play.
Players must not only work out what is the best move to make, sometimes harder than others, but must also write this in their password in the correct algebraic notation. Kindly, this rule links players tothe Wikipedia article for algebraic chess notation. How considerate.
5Your Password Must Include This Color In Hex. - Rule 28
Players Need To Find A Specific Hex Code
Another rule that cantake some time to complete, players are given a randomized color and must find the hex code for it, including it in their password. While this may sound more straightforward than the previous two, this one becomes more frustrating.
Players soon find that the numbers included in most hex codes cause conflicts with a very early and very frustrating rule. Thankfully, players can randomize the colors as many times as they need to find one that works, but it is a troublesome rule to make work.
4Paul Has Hatched! Please Don’t Forget To Feed Him, He Eats Three Caterpillars Every Minute. - Rule 23
Players Must Feed (But Not Overfeed) A Chicken With Caterpillar Emojis
Paul the chicken has been mentioned a few times, and caring for Paul may be one of the most stressful parts of the game. Paul is introduced as early as rule seventeen, as an egg that players must keep safe. If Paul gets deleted from the password, he will die and the game will end. This includes if he is consumed by the fire at rule twenty.
By rule twenty-three, Paul has hatched and players must feed him emoji caterpillars. These are consumed three times every minute. If Paul runs out of caterpillars, he will die and the game will end. A warning to players who may try to work around the system, however. If players give Paul too many caterpillars at once, he will be overfed, also causing him to die and the game to end.
3The Elements In Your Password Must Have Atomic Numbers That Add Up To 200. - Rule 18
Rules Like YouTube Links And Chess Notations Interfere With This Rule
The top three rules are all very early rules thatseem simple enoughon paper but become a player’s worst nightmare down the line. Rule eighteen requires any parts of the password that make the symbol for an element, such as H being hydrogen or He being helium, to have atomic numbers (1 for hydrogen, 2 for helium, etc.) that add up to two hundred.
While it’snot hard to find websitesthat show the letters for elements and their corresponding atomic numbers, making them add up to two hundred exactly can become increasingly difficult as things like YouTube links and chess moves are added into the mix. It quickly becomes a highly frustrating rule that players will have to come back to numerous times.
2The Roman Numerals In Your Password Should Multiply To 35. - Rule 9
Players Can’t Use A Capital L, C, D, Or M In Their Password
As with the previous rule, this one is simple enough to begin with. By simply having XXXV and I in the password, players have Roman numerals that multiply to thirty-five.
This rule only reveals how infuriating it can be when players find that they can’t use any YouTube links that contain a capital L, C, D, or M, as it is impossible to make these Roman numerals multiply to equal thirty-five. Since players need to find very specific links, this can quickly start to feel like a futile effort.
1The Digits In Your Password Must Add Up To 25. - Rule 5
There Are So Many Rules That Affect Numbers—So Many
It is hard to believe that a rule as early and as simple as this isthe most frustrating onein the game, but it really seems to be. With almost every new rule that is added, some more numbers will show up to ruin this rule.
Captchas, leap years, chess formulas, hyperlinks, hex numbers, current time, and even the total length of the password itself will all add digits that need to equal no more than twenty-five. It is a gargantuan task, easily one of the more frustrating in the game to deal with, and players intent on defeatingThe Password Gamewill need to amend it time and time again before they reach that sweet victory.
