Notpron

A Masquerade of sorts for the 21st century (only without the prize), Notpron is a collection of obtuse problems that only a nerdy polyglot could make sense of -- but fortunately the Internet is full of those. This game presents a very simple premise (proceed from one webpage through to the next until the full suite have been traversed) and then makes it as difficult as possible to proceed, using every dirty trick (or, if you prefer, rarified challenge) the developer and all his friends could come up with, requiring techniques such as phonetic and visual wordplay, cryptography, source code analysis, external applications and such frequent use of Google researching that a search window has been embedded into many pages for the players' convenience on this scavenger hunt of knowledge. To corroborate the claims of varied tactics, one need only consult the terms praised on the dummy of the certificate issued to those who complete the game's now 140 levels (3 to date, from some 13.5 million casual visitors, though 168 players have achieved all but the last level):

"Furthermore, competence in the following areas have been displayed: Sound editing * Graphic editing * Musical understanding * Insight into HTML programming * Rapid learning of new programs * Efficient online research techniques * Insight into the complex workings of a computer"*

Often a page's title bar will hold some tantalizing clue regarding its nature. Most pages, when correctly interpreted (typically after numerous attempts), will yield knowledge that can lead to a username/password combination allowing advancement to the next page.