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Frustrated.io

Useless websites and dark patterns you can actually play

Frustrated.io collects the small indignities of the modern web and rebuilds them as working parodies: cookie banners, endless CAPTCHAs, stuck loading bars, and cancellation flows that fight back. A Frustrate Me button drops you into a random one. Alongside the catalogue sit free mini-games, including Bubble Shooter, Snapzone, a one-tap reaction game, and a daily guessing game called What's The PIN.

Our verdict

This is one of the better useless-websites picks because each entry copies something real. Dark patterns are funnier when you have to sit through them, and the catalogue lets you hop between them fast. The mini-games are a decent bonus with leaderboards, no sign-up and no download.

Why we like it: It commits to the bit. Nothing is a screenshot; you actually click the thing that will not let you go. The catalogue is free, plays in the browser and needs no account, and the game updates are written up on a news page.

The catch: The whole point is to annoy you. If a CAPTCHA that never ends or a button that dodges your cursor would make you angry rather than laugh, skip it. Some entries are short gags that you will see through in a minute.

In the directory

What we feature from Frustrated.io