Terminally Online
Explain an internet thing to a jury of adults.
Take something that only makes sense if you were online at the time, and present it like a documentary: what it is, where it came from, why it matters, and a final verdict. Rated on Translation, how Chronically Online you are, and whether it held up.
How it works
- 1.Everyone gets a different internet artifact
- 2.Present it like a documentary, not a group chat
- 3.Assume the audience has never been online
- 4.Deliver a verdict at the end
Your deck is already started
Nobody starts at a blank white slide. Every player gets these 4 slides pre-laid-out in the Terminal theme, with a prompt on each one telling you what goes there.
The Artifact
Historical Context
A timeline of how it spread
Why It Matters
Make the case that this changed something.
Verdict
Your final ruling: did it hold up?
How you're scored
After each presentation the room votes on three things specific to this mode, not generic “was it good”.
Translation
Could an outsider follow that?
Still lost → Crystal clear
Chronically Online
How deep in was this person?
Touches grass → Never logs off
It Held Up
Does it still land today?
Aged badly → Timeless
Terminally Online prompts
Every player is dealt a different one of these.
- Explain a meme to a judge
- Defend your most embarrassing algorithm
- A niche internet war, presented as journalism
- My For You Page: a psychological profile
- Why this one sound is on 400,000 videos
- The lore of a person you have never met
- A timeline of a discourse nobody won
- An internet feud, told from both sides
- The rise and collapse of a single account
- A comment section, close-read
- Explaining your search history under oath
- The most consequential post of the last decade
Ready to run Terminally Online?
Free, in the browser, nothing to install. Share a six-character code and your friends are in.
Start a partyOther game modes
Classic Shuffle
The original. Everyone gets the same random topic.
Startup Roast
Pitch a startup that should not exist.
Things I'd Replace My ___ With
Replace something in your life, then convince the room.
Conspiracy Defense
Defend a conspiracy theory with no evidence.
Corporate Cult
Run the onboarding for a company that seems a bit off.
Red Flag Runway
Present your worst quality as if it's a strength.