how it works

the short version

1. 1make ittheir name, their birthday and a few photos. a countdown starts.
2. 2friends add cardsone link in the group chat. two minutes each, no account.
3. 3reveal dayan island of friends, a cake that lights up, 12 games starring them.

1. make the site

you (the host) tell it who the birthday is for: their name, the date, and a handful of photos of them. that's enough for a front page with their name as a giant sticker, a pile of their photos, and a countdown to the day.

you get one link to share with friends. the site is unlisted: it's kept out of search engines, so the only people who find it are the people you send it to.

2. friends add cards

you drop the link in the group chat. each friend opens it on whatever they have (phone or laptop) and goes through a short card maker. there's no account, no app and no email address to hand over. the whole thing takes about two minutes, longer if they get carried away drawing.

1. who are you: their name and a blob colour, plus eyes and a hat if they want to fuss.
2. say the thing: the message. their blob says it out loud on the island.
3. draw something: marker doodles on paper. optional, but they fly on the day.
4. add a pic: photos with captions. optional.
5. record a clip: film up to 30 seconds right there, or upload a video up to a minute. optional.
6. your face: a selfie, a photo or a clip becomes their blob's face on the island (or it keeps its doodle face).
7. stick it: a preview of the card on the board, then it's stuck.

changed their mind? a friend can edit their own card later from the same browser they made it on. and you can hide or remove any card before the birthday person ever sees it.

3. reveal day

on the birthday you send them the link. they find three doors, and no instructions are needed for any of them.

the board

every card on one scrapbook wall: taped, tilted, torn at the edges. tap a card to read it, flip through the photos and play the video.

the island

a little 3d island where every friend is a blob wearing their selfie. walk up to one and press E: their doodles fly at the birthday person in a shower of +999 LOVE, then their message types out on a paper card. every hug lights a candle on the cake in the middle.

the festival

12 short games at booths around the island, from whack-a-gnome to karaoke. the birthday person is the star of every one, and once three friends have signed, the friends turn up inside the games: the rival in the dance-off, the targets at the water-balloon toss.

getting around

on a laptop it's WASD or the arrow keys to walk and E to say hi. on a phone there's a thumb stick and big buttons. nobody needs to be good at games: every festival round is about a minute, nothing can be lost, and if motion is too much, the whole site follows the reduced-motion setting and calms right down.

after the party

the site doesn't vanish the next morning. on Party it keeps taking cards for a year (for the friends who are always late), then stays up as a read-only archive, and you can download every card and video as a zip. the free Sketch plan stays open 30 days after the birthday.

what it costs

starting is free: Sketch takes up to 5 friends' cards. Party is a one-time $19 for 50 cards and every game. friends never pay anything, and nothing is a subscription. the details are on pricing, and the questions people ask most are on the faq.