How to riot

A round, step by step

1. The round's sound plays for everyone at the same moment.
2. After a 3-2-1 countdown, everyone records one take at the same time. You can stop early with “I'm done”.
3. Takes are collected (one per player — duplicates are rejected), then played back one by one in a random order.
4. Scores are revealed: similarity 0–100 plus a breakdown, and points are added to the leaderboard.
5. The round's top scorer spins the chaos wheel. Some results need them to pick a target.
6. After the last round, the final standings are saved to everyone's history.

How scoring works

Both the original sound and your take are analysed for measurable features, then compared. The score is a weighted similarity — it measures how alike two sounds are, not how good, musical or funny your take was. It's deterministic: the same take always gets the same score.

• Pitch contour · 40%

  Your pitch track is converted to semitones relative to your own median pitch and aligned with dynamic time warping, so a low voice copying a high whistle can still score well.

• Rhythm & timing · 30%

  Onsets (the start of each hit, syllable or note) are detected and compared: how many, and where they fall in the sound.

• Attack · 20%

  The shape of the onset-strength curve and how quickly the first sound reaches full volume.

• Length & shape · 10%

  Overall duration and the loudness envelope.

Sounds without a stable pitch (clicks, noise bursts) skip the pitch component and the other weights are scaled up. Silent or very short takes score 0. A confidence rating tells you how reliable the measurement was (background noise, clipping, very short takes lower it).

The chaos wheel

The server decides where the wheel lands (using secure randomness) so everyone sees the same result. Effects that act “next round” are removed from the final round.

• Hype Boost · +15

  +15 points right now.

• Cave Echo · ECHO

  Pick a rival: their next take plays back in a cave.

• Amp It Up · ×1.5

  Your next round's points ×1.5.

• Helium Leak · HELIUM

  Pick a rival: their next take plays back chipmunk-high.

• Feedback Squeal · −10

  You lose 10 points. Ouch.

• Blown Speaker · FUZZ

  Pick a rival: their next take plays back distorted.

• Jackpot · +30

  +30 points right now.

• Bad Signal · CHOP

  Pick a rival: their next take plays back chopped up.

• Double or Nothing · 2×/0

  Next round: score 60+ similarity for double points, otherwise zero.

• Sticky Fingers · STEAL

  Pick a rival and steal 10 of their points.

• Sound Swap · SWAP

  Pick a rival: their next take is replaced by a kazoo during playback (score unaffected).

Playback sabotage changes only what the room hears. It never alters the take that was scored.

Troubleshooting

The game says my microphone is blocked

Click the lock/mic icon in your browser's address bar, allow the microphone for this site, and press “Try again”. On iPhone/iPad: Settings → Safari → Microphone.

My mic shows no level

Pick the right input in Settings → Microphone, check any hardware mute switch, and make sure no other app (calls, recorders) is holding the mic.

Scores seem low

Get close to the mic in a quiet room, use headphones so the speaker doesn't leak in, and copy the *shape*: rises, falls, and the number of hits matter more than exact notes.

I got disconnected

Just reopen the room link. You keep your seat and points; if a round was running you'll rejoin at the next phase.

The server is “unreachable”

The free server sleeps when nobody is playing and takes about a minute to wake up. Refresh after a moment. Practice and local party work offline.

Does it work on phones?

Yes — recent Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge on desktop and mobile. Mobile Safari needs a tap before audio can play, which joining or readying up provides.