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submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by Demigodrick@lemmy.zip to c/thebutton@lemmy.zip

Theme: Star Wars Β· Duration: 25h 39m Β· Started: 2026-05-04 20:00 UTC Β· Ended: 2026-05-05 21:39 UTC


πŸ† Winner: Purple

A genuine four-way scrap. Every faction crossed 21% of total hold time, and the gap between 1st and 4th was less than 8 percentage points.

Rank Faction Hold % Hold time
πŸ₯‡ 1 Purple 29.41% 7h 32m
πŸ₯ˆ 2 Green 25.75% 6h 36m
πŸ₯‰ 3 Blue 23.12% 5h 55m
4 Red 21.70% 5h 34m

πŸ”˜ The Button

  • 473 presses from 172 unique players
  • 213 active recruits (faction members) across the season
  • 30 referrals signed up via referral links
  • Median timer at press: 14m 18s (858s)
  • Game duration: 25h 39m 38s

Press distribution

Faction Presses Members Unused presses
Purple 161 59 213
Green 148 56 85
Red 85 45 126
Blue 79 53 157

Purple's win was carried by sheer participation. The most members and the most presses.


🎬 First & last press

  • First click: stegodon (stegodon.social, πŸŸͺ purple) - 14m 53s left on the clock at 2026-05-04 20:00:07. Less than a second after the gates opened.
  • Last click: livligkinkajou (slrpnk.net, 🟩 green) - 14m 49s left at 2026-05-05 21:24:45, with 15 minutes to spare before the timer ran out for good.

The opening flurry (first 8 presses)

# Player Faction Timer left
1 stegodon πŸŸͺ 14:53
2 volore πŸŸ₯ 14:39
3 wagnast 🟩 14:36
4 elettrona πŸŸͺ 14:47
5 winged_hussar πŸŸ₯ 12:57
6 roydbt 🟩 14:48
7 zloubida πŸŸͺ 10:30
8 nusm 🟩 14:54

πŸ”₯ Closest calls

Five players took the timer all the way to a single-digit second count:

Player Faction Hold When
livligkinkajou 🟩 0:01 2026-05-04 23:57
comradepupivy πŸŸ₯ 0:01 2026-05-05 00:51
tigeruppercut 🟩 0:02 2026-05-05 03:59
demigodrick πŸŸͺ 0:05 2026-05-05 03:37
squirrel πŸŸͺ 0:08 2026-05-05 20:15

livligkinkajou got the badge for closest-to-zero overall.


πŸ₯‡ Most active pressers

Player Faction Presses Total time held Longest single hold
zedstrian 🟩 15 3h 15m 15:00
squirrel πŸŸͺ 15 2h 15m 14:59
dunstabzugshaubitze 🟩 12 2h 45m 14:57
netweirdo πŸŸͺ 10 2h 23m 14:58
livligkinkajou 🟩 10 2h 03m 15:00
stegodon πŸŸͺ 10 1h 55m 15:00
sebas 🟩 10 1h 53m 14:58
  • The longest holds were by Chancellors!

πŸ›οΈ The Galactic Senate

Six elections were held over the course of the game. Five chancellors used their term; the final election ran out the clock with no nominations:

Term Chancellor Faction
1 stegodon πŸŸͺ Purple
2 zedstrian 🟩 Green
3 havatra πŸŸ₯ Red
4 corvuscornix 🟦 Blue
5 rajtinka πŸŸͺ Purple
6 (unfilled) β€”

Notable chancellor moves:

  • stegodon opened with a flurry - three royal decrees, two custom badges (⭐ and 🦾), two bonus presses, and a timer bonus
  • zedstrian and havatra both leaned hard on Galactic Largesse, twice each
  • corvuscornix burned three royal decrees in 20 minutes, a Blue blitz mid-game
  • rajtinka wrapped up with two faction bonus presses for Purple, very likely the deciding shove

Senate Voter Turnout

Election Faction-vote ballots Chancellor-vote ballots
1 (start of game) 30 20
2 (overnight) 9 8 ← lowest turnout, the dead-of-night election
3 (early morning) 20 18
4 (lunchtime) 20 14
5 (final) 19 22 ← highest turnout, peak engagement

Engagement climbed steadily into the final hours.


🧩 The Stranded Jedi puzzle

Master Kellin Vos was waiting in the holocron channel for anyone who could hear him.

  • 2 players completed all 9 steps:
    • 🟦 m_f finished 2026-05-05 12:34 (light/dark final reached first)
    • πŸ₯ˆ w3dd1e finished 2026-05-05 15:33
  • 2 more reached step 8 havatra and marauderiic (decoded the VigenΓ¨re but didn't speak the mantra)
  • 3 reached step 7 zedstrian, shimozu, corvuscornix
  • 5 broke past step 1 beyond that
  • 246 messages in the hidden #holocron channel

πŸ’¬ Chat

4,272 messages across all channels:

Channel Messages
#main 2,743
#purple 375
#holocron πŸ”’ 246
#senate 223
#green 211
#red 204
#corvid-chat (pop-up) 144
#blue 126

Top 10 chatters

# Player Faction Messages
1 w3dd1e πŸ”΄ Red 473
2 corvuscornix πŸ”΅ Blue 424
3 squirrel 🟣 Purple 228
4 rajtinka 🟣 Purple 218
5 havatra πŸ”΄ Red 192
6 zedstrian 🟒 Green 153
7 stegodon 🟣 Purple 126
8 demigodrick 🟒 Green 119
9 dmmacniel 🟒 Green 112
10 comradepupivy πŸ”΄ Red 79

Top 5 reaction emojis

Emoji Count
❀️ 200
πŸ¦β€β¬› 182
πŸ˜‚ 133
πŸ‘ 131
πŸ’― 117

The crow emoji, added to the picker only hours before the game ended, landed in second place behind the heart. A late-game phenomenon.


πŸŽ–οΈ Final badges

  • πŸ₯‡ stegodon - first to press the button
  • πŸ₯ˆ w3dd1e - runner-up Jedi
  • 🟦 m_f - light-side Jedi master
  • πŸ›‘οΈ Sentinels - demigodrick, comradepupivy, squirrel, zedstrian, tigeruppercut, havatra
  • πŸ›‘οΈπŸ livligkinkajou - sentinel + closest-to-zero
  • ⚑ siv9939 - chancellor's electric custom badge

πŸ” Top referrers

Recruitment chain MVPs:

Player Faction Sign-ups brought in
zedstrian 🟩 8
dunstabzugshaubitze 🟩 7
squirrel πŸŸͺ 5
livligkinkajou 🟩 3
snoopy 🟩 2

Green ran the strongest referral game (20 sign-ups), but Purple's existing roster was already big enough to translate into wins on the board.


πŸ“Š By the numbers

)

  • Most presses by one player: 15 (zedstrian and squirrel, tied)
  • Average press timer remaining: 14:18
  • Unused presses across all factions: 581 (more than were actually used!)

⏰ Hourly Heatmap

Press volume climbed steadily into the final evening (UTC):

Shading legend: 0 Β· β–‘ 1–2 Β· β–’ 3–5 Β· β–“ 6–9 Β· β–ˆ 10+

Hour (UTC) 🟦 Blue 🟩 Green πŸŸͺ Purple πŸŸ₯ Red Total Bar
May 04 20:00 β–’ 4 β–ˆ 10 β–“ 9 β–“ 6 29 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 04 21:00 β–‘ 1 β–’ 4 β–’ 4 β–’ 3 12 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 04 22:00 β–’ 5 β–’ 5 β–’ 3 β–’ 5 18 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 04 23:00 β–’ 3 β–’ 5 β–‘ 2 β–‘ 2 12 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 00:00 β–‘ 2 β–‘ 1 β–‘ 2 β–‘ 2 7 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 01:00 β–“ 6 β–’ 3 β–‘ 2 β–’ 3 14 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 02:00 β–‘ 2 β–’ 3 β–‘ 2 β–’ 4 11 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 03:00 0 β–’ 4 β–‘ 2 β–’ 3 9 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 04:00 β–’ 3 β–‘ 1 β–‘ 2 β–’ 3 9 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 05:00 0 β–‘ 1 β–‘ 1 β–‘ 1 3 β–ˆ
May 05 06:00 β–’ 3 β–“ 8 β–’ 3 β–’ 5 19 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 07:00 β–‘ 2 β–‘ 2 β–“ 6 β–’ 3 13 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 08:00 0 0 β–“ 7 β–‘ 2 9 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 09:00 β–’ 5 β–’ 3 β–‘ 2 β–‘ 2 12 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 10:00 β–‘ 1 β–’ 4 β–“ 6 β–‘ 2 13 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 11:00 β–’ 3 β–’ 3 β–“ 6 β–’ 3 15 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 12:00 β–“ 8 β–ˆ 14 β–ˆ 20 β–‘ 2 44 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ ← peak
May 05 13:00 β–“ 8 β–ˆ 15 β–ˆ 15 β–’ 4 42 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 14:00 β–’ 3 β–“ 6 β–’ 5 β–’ 3 17 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 15:00 β–’ 3 β–’ 3 β–’ 3 β–“ 6 15 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 16:00 β–‘ 1 β–“ 7 β–“ 8 β–’ 4 20 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 17:00 β–‘ 1 β–‘ 1 β–’ 5 β–’ 3 10 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 18:00 β–‘ 2 β–“ 8 β–“ 9 β–ˆ 10 29 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 19:00 β–’ 5 β–ˆ 20 β–ˆ 21 β–’ 3 49 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ ← peak
May 05 20:00 β–“ 7 β–“ 9 β–ˆ 10 β–‘ 1 27 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
May 05 21:00 β–‘ 1 β–“ 8 β–“ 6 0 15 β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆ
Total 79 148 161 85 473
Chat volume followed a similar curve, peaking at 323 messages in the 20:00 hour as the season raced toward the finish.

🌐 The Fediverse Showed Up

Players came from 49 different Fediverse instances. Top contributors:

Instance Players
lemmy.zip 65
lemmy.world 32
feddit.org 22
sh.itjust.works 13
piefed.social 7
lemmy.ml 7
discuss.tchncs.de 5
sopuli.xyz 4
startrek.website 3
piefed.zip 3

…plus 39 more instances with 1–2 players each. A genuinely cross-platform crowd.


πŸ¦β€β¬› Honourable Mentions

  • Corvid Chat - the first admin pop-up channel ever spawned. 144 messages in roughly an hour. The crow emoji that arrived in the same patch promptly took silver in the reactions chart.
  • The 8-vote election - election 2 fired at 02:30 UTC and got 8 chancellor votes. The dead-of-night turnout floor.
  • The Light Side Choice - m_f could have hoarded ten bonus presses for themselves. They didn't. Whoever you are: that's a Jedi move. 🟦

Bugs!

There were a couple of bugs in this Season, for which I apologise profusely for. One ended up wiping the database mid game. I managed to recover most things, but fastest press is not correct sadly, just an approximation based on chat timestamps :(


Until next season. πŸŸͺ

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submitted 22 hours ago by Demigodrick@lemmy.zip to c/thebutton@lemmy.zip

I keep adding stuff to The Button, here's one thing you might be interested in:

You can check yours out by going to thebutton.lemmy.zip/u/yourusername@yourinstance

Yes, I am also changing the domain to be a bit friendlier, but the old subdomain will redirect when I do swap it over.

You can also unsubscribe from getting DMs from the bot with updates - you can do this by going into the settings tab and toggling off the DM option, or by going to thebutton.lemmy.zip/unsubscribe and entering your username and instance, then clicking the link you get sent.

:)

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submitted 2 days ago by W3dd1e@lemmy.zip to c/thebutton@lemmy.zip

Good game everyone! That was so much fun!

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submitted 2 days ago by W3dd1e@lemmy.zip to c/thebutton@lemmy.zip

We have started a new religion inside the game. FOLLOW THE CROW. CA-CAW!

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Season 3 of The Button has begun!

Join in now, team up, and you might even get to become Galactic Chancellor for a bit :)

Hope to see you there!

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Don't miss out :D

7
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I just found out about The Button

It's cool to see more experimental fediverse gamification taking place.
"Season 3" of @thebutton starts May 4th. I hope I remember to press it.

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Will There Be a Season 3? (peachpie.theatl.social)

If so, when?

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submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by Demigodrick@lemmy.zip to c/thebutton@lemmy.zip

The Button returns for a third season, no bonus points for guessing the theme!

The game will start Monday 4th May at 20:00 UTC (that's 16:00 EST, 13:00 PDT, 22:00 CEST)

You only get one press, but without giving away too much, you decide who the ultimate power is. Will they give you your press back? Let's hope you've put your faith in the right person!

Preregistration will open 24 hours before the game does, on Sunday 3rd at 20:00 UTC. You'll be able to get your unique referral link and whoever can refer more people, may get rewarded...

Chat opens 3 hours before the game begins at 17:00 UTC.

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I mean I think there should be a button (yes of course it'd be a button) that, if within 1 hour, gets pressed by at least 50 different users, it automatically begins a new season, without an admin needing to manually start it.

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submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by Demigodrick@lemmy.zip to c/thebutton@lemmy.zip

The Button - Season 2 Stats

Winner: Green Faction

Green held the button the longest, narrowly beating Purple by just 2 minutes and 50 seconds.

Game Overview

Stat Value
Game Duration 16h 23m 35s
Total Players 244
Players Who Pressed 205
Total Button Presses 242
Chat Messages 1,549
Unique Chatters 99
Referred Players 14

Faction Standings

Rank Faction Time Held Share Players Presses
1st Green 4h 31m 34s 27.6% 67 64
2nd Purple 4h 28m 44s 27.3% 79 76
3rd Blue 4h 14m 10s 25.8% 54 53
4th Red 3h 9m 6s 19.2% 44 49

Achievement Badge Holders

Badge Player Achievement
πŸ₯‡ First Presser @weddingcrasher@lemmy.zip First to press the button
🏁 Latest Presser @skipwappallypap@lemmy.world Last player to press
⚑ Fastest Reaction @nusm@peachpie.theatl.social 129ms reaction time
πŸ›‘ Last-Second Save @tamlyn@lemmy.zip Pressed at 1.16s remaining
πŸ” Mystery Solver @solace@lemmy.blahaj.zone Found the easter egg

Top 5 Closest Saves

Player Faction Timer Remaining
@tamlyn@lemmy.zip Purple 1.16s
@tamlyn@lemmy.zip Purple 2.25s
@hellhound1@lemmy.world Purple 4.22s
@birne@feddit.org Blue 5.25s
@lvxferre@mander.xyz Red 6.84s

Top 5 Fastest Reactions

Player Faction Reaction Time
@nusm@peachpie.theatl.social Green 129ms
@merdaverse@lemmy.zip Red 372ms
@sebas@lemmy.zip Purple 688ms
@allero@lemmy.today Blue 856ms
@susaga@sh.itjust.works Green 987ms

Most Active Chatters

Player Faction Messages
@calmblue75@lemmy.ml Blue 201
@allero@lemmy.today Blue 96
@mschae@discuss.mschae23.de Green 77
@solace@lemmy.blahaj.zone Purple 59
@demigodrick@lemmy.zip Green 59

Top Referrer

@deathbybigsad@sh.itjust.works (Purple) referred 7 players

Press Activity by Hour (UTC)

Time Block Presses
Apr 5, 12:00 25
Apr 5, 13:00 20
Apr 5, 14:00 19
Apr 5, 15:00 16
Apr 5, 16:00 24
Apr 5, 17:00 15
Apr 5, 18:00 10
Apr 5, 19:00 11
Apr 5, 20:00 6
Apr 5, 21:00 16
Apr 5, 22:00 17
Apr 5, 23:00 14
Apr 6, 00:00 9
Apr 6, 01:00 11
Apr 6, 02:00 13
Apr 6, 03:00 11
Apr 6, 04:00 5

The opening hour saw 25 presses as players rushed to claim the button. Activity stayed strong through the afternoon (15–25 presses/hour) before tapering off overnight. The timer finally ran out at 04:23 UTC on April 6 after a quiet stretch with just 5 presses in the final hour.

Fun Facts

  • The average timer value at press was 10m 59s - most players pressed well before the 15-minute deadline
  • 13 presses were made with less than 60 seconds on the clock
  • 39 players registered but never pressed the button
  • The margin between 1st and 2nd place was just 2 minutes 50 seconds out of 16+ hours
  • Purple had the most players (79) and most presses (76) but still came 2nd
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Suggestion Box (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by solace@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/thebutton@lemmy.zip

I'll start: A button to ping the admin chat for when the chat is accidentally paused

Secondary suggestion: move the pause chat button somewhere less pressable

My girlfriend's suggestion: add an easter egg that can pause chat once every 24 hours

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submitted 1 month ago by tamlyn@lemmy.zip to c/thebutton@lemmy.zip
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submitted 1 month ago by calmblue75@lemmy.ml to c/thebutton@lemmy.zip

This is a thread for reporting bugs encountered in season 2 of the Button.

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Yes, The Button is returning for a second season!

This time around, your press resets after 24 hours and you get to press again (if the game makes it that far!)

The chat will open from 10:00 UTC on Sunday, 2 hours before the game begins.

A new feature this time around, in addition to the reset press, is achievements in chat for things like first presser and fastest presser. There may even be an Easter egg to find...

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submitted 1 month ago by Mac@mander.xyz to c/thebutton@lemmy.zip

Hey all,

I just wanted to open a brainstorming post for possible future variations on the game.
Note that this is just for fun and that i hold no weight toward game decisions.

Here's a couple ideas floating around in my own head, what's in yours?

  • Speed click: First team to press 100* times wins
    *Obviously this should be calibrated based on expected participation
  • Short timer, for length: No teams, only community effort to make it last as long as possible but the timer is shorter
    Perhaps instead of short timer, the press value degrades over time. Basically a sub-a-thon, tbh
  • Lowest score after 24hrs* wins, but still have to keep the game alive until then or else nobody wins
    *Needs calibrated for feasibility

Share your thoughts!

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The Reds were meant to be the last stronghold to keep The Button alive. Dozens of us held off our push in the name of longevity.

But it lasted less than a meager 24 hours.. we have failed, and for that, my comrades, I am sorry.

18
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Almost have a working setup for a season 2 of The Button.

I am thinking 3 presses each, with an hour minimum between each press? Should give plenty of life to the game.

Also curious as to when the community would like to see it run again. I'm mindful it was originally an April Fools thing so I can run it again in a few hours so that everyone can get a go today. Or I can wait a couple of weeks so people don't feel to burned out on it?

If there is a season 3 though, that will probably be a couple of months away to give people a chance to miss playing it!

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Hello everyone - I hope you enjoyed the first season of The Button! I certainly did πŸ˜€

Below are some stats based on Season 1, which I hope you find interesting!


The Button β€” Season 1 Final Stats

Overview

Stat Value
Duration 12.6 hours
Total Players 378
Total Presses 292
Chat Messages 2,906
Fediverse Instances 58
Median Timer at Press 13:32

Faction Standings

Faction Control % Members Presses
Purple 29.8% 124 99
Green 29.6% 107 79
Blue 26.0% 94 76
Red 14.6% 53 38

Purple wins by just 0.2% over Green.

Records

Record Player Faction Value
First Press @weddingcrasher@lemmy.zip Purple 14:59 remaining
Last Press @mschae@discuss.mschae23.de Green 13:29 remaining
Fastest Reaction @simpliston@programming.dev Green 63ms after reset
Closest to Zero @melvisntnormal@feddit.uk Purple 1.4s remaining

Milestones

Press # Player Faction
1st @weddingcrasher@lemmy.zip Purple
10th @ptz@dubvee.org Blue
25th @protoknuckles@lemmy.world Red
50th @potter297@lemmy.zip Purple
100th @stellarextract@lemmy.zip Purple
150th @caesium@lemmy.world Blue
200th @hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works Blue
250th @chunes@lemmy.world Red
292nd (final) @mschae@discuss.mschae23.de Green

Top Instances

Instance Players
lemmy.zip 118
lemmy.world 64
sh.itjust.works 34
piefed.zip 14
piefed.social 11
feddit.org 11
lemmy.dbzer0.com 8
lemmy.ca 8
sopuli.xyz 7
lemmy.blahaj.zone 7

Hourly Activity

Hour (UTC) Presses
2026-03-31 20:00 25
2026-03-31 21:00 19
2026-03-31 22:00 21
2026-03-31 23:00 36
2026-04-01 00:00 33
2026-04-01 01:00 29
2026-04-01 02:00 24
2026-04-01 03:00 13
2026-04-01 04:00 22
2026-04-01 05:00 17
2026-04-01 06:00 20
2026-04-01 07:00 13
2026-04-01 08:00 11
2026-04-01 09:00 9

I am working on updating the platform to support multiple seasons with modifiers :) more info soon!

The Button

166 readers
21 users here now

The Button is a social experiment game where the objective is to press a button.

Yes. You read that right.

founded 1 month ago
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