How a single programmer is resurrecting the spirit of the Weird Web
In short: From launching his first website at age nine to developing viral hits like The Password Game, Neal Agarwal uses creative coding to revive the sense of discovery found in the early internet. His work seeks to build a new era of independent, unpolished digital experiences through his neal.fun platform.
Neal Agarwal, an American programmer and game designer born in 1998, has built a digital ecosystem centered around neal.fun. His work often parodies internet conventions or functions as educational tools. His journey began in 2006 when, at just nine years old, he used a WYSIWYG editor to launch Kidcrash, a site compiling his favorite Adobe Flash games. By age 12, he was already programming on Scratch and had developed a 'knockoff' of the show Wipeout.
After mastering HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Agarwal's early projects included the mobile game Toast Man and web experiments on his Kamogo site, such as Text to Hodor and Silicon Valley Idea Generator. His current platform, neal.fun, launched in 2017 while he was a student at Virginia Tech. This site hosts a variety of browser-based experiences, including Infinite Craft, Draw a Perfect Circle, I'm not a Robot, and Spend Bill Gates' Money.
Agarwal's creative philosophy is deeply rooted in what he calls the 'Weird Web 1.0'—an era of the internet characterized by long, independent rabbit holes and Adobe Flash games. By developing games like Internet Roadtrip and Sandboxels, he aims to contribute to a possible 'Weird Web 2.0.' After a brief period working at MSCHF, he transitioned to making neal.fun his full-time focus, supported by ad revenue. He also maintains Just For Fun, a site dedicated to showcasing other examples of creative coding.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Neal Agarwal
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