a free game with one button and a grudge

He has never swum past plastic.

not once. he says he's 31.

Tidekeeper is a sea turtle with the longest memory in the ocean. Hold to stop and stare plastic down. Let go to swim. Same ocean for everyone, every day.

Play The Standoff free, in your browser. no download, no sign-up.

Daily Standoff

hold = stop and stare it down
let go = swim on
jellyfish are not plastic. don't stop.

HOLD to stop and stare

let go to swim. that's it. that's the game.

jellyfish are not plastic. he knows. do you?

Tap to play

0plastic swum past, ever

He's not an activist. He's petty.

About 11 million tonnes of plastic go into the ocean every year. Tidekeeper has taken every tonne personally, labelled it, and filed it by year. He refuses to move until it leaves first.

Source: Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ, Breaking the Plastic Wave (2020).

try it on The Bag

hold until the meter fills.

psst. he's swimming down this page with you. he stops for plastic. fling the page and he can't.

The Big Bag

five days. one bag. no blinking.

Day 1: something big drifts into his bay. He cancels his plans. — **Day 1**plans: cancelled

Day 2: the biggest bag he has ever seen. The standoff began at 07:12. — **Day 2**07:12. it begins.

Day 3: Gull brought snacks and a chair, and is now selling tickets. — **Day 3**Gull is selling tickets

Day 4: two hundred fish gather and three crabs start a podcast. — **Day 4**the crabs have a podcast

Day 5: a diver removes the bag in four seconds. He calls it a team effort. — **Day 5**"a team effort"

Four panels at a time

all true. he checked.

Comic: a bag drifts into his path, the stare begins, day 212 neither has blinked. — day 212. neither has blinked.

Comic: Gull says just swim around it, gets stared at, joins the stare. — Gull learns.

Comic: an octopus therapist asks what brings him in. They're all the bag. — therapy is going well

Comic: the bag drifts away, then drifts back. Oh, so we're doing this. — oh, so we're doing this.

He moves now

tap one for sound

sound off

This turtle has one rule.

sound off

Things he refuses to swim past, ranked.

sound off

Tidekeeper meets a jellyfish.

sound off

The scariest costume in the ocean.

sound off

POV: you're the bag.

The Turtle Report

Every week he files the numbers. Plastic stared down, plastic swum past, apologies received, and his mood, which is reported with total honesty.

plastic swum past has been 0 every single week. he'd like that noted.

Turtle Report week 3: 31 stared down, 0 swum past, mood briefly pleased

Turtle Report week 2: 23 stared down, 0 swum past, mood disappointed in Gull

Turtle Report week 1: 14 stared down, 0 swum past, mood litigious

Use him for anything

mondays. reply-all. your ex. he will not swim past it.

Meme: Gull says just swim around it. Tidekeeper glares.

He doesn't hold grudges. He files them by year.

Tidekeeper at 4am, still thinking about a straw from 2019.

His weekly screen report: 41 hours staring at a bag.

Someone: it's just one straw. Tidekeeper: furious.

He out-stared a six-pack ring for 9 hours, then did a 40-minute victory lap.

This is The Bag. It will outlive everyone.

He asked to speak to the ocean's manager.

Poll: Gull tried to date The Bag. Thoughts?

He isn't angry. He'll just remember this for 80 years.

His Halloween costume: a bag that won't leave.

Weekend plans: find the bag that looked at him on Tuesday.

Everyone: relax, it's the weekend. Tidekeeper: recognises a straw from 2019.

Tidekeeper has posted a professional update.

Everyone down here has a problem

it looked at me first.

Tidekeeper

Sea turtle. Deadpan outside, unhinged inside. Has never lost a staring contest. Several are still technically ongoing.

...

The Bag

The nemesis. Never speaks. Never wins. Will outlive everyone you know, and is smug about it.

just swim around it!

Gull

Best friend, no thoughts. Once tried to date The Bag. In fairness, The Bag is very white and very flappy.

One ocean a day

1A new Daily Standoff opens at midnight UTC. Everyone on earth gets the same plastic in the same order.
2Your first run of the day is the one that counts. Practise as much as you like after.
3Every run ends with a card made for posting. Your friends will ask what it is.

The Standoff #1 🐢
212 grudges filed
Plastic swum past: 0
Awkward jellyfish: 2
Beard: 14%
🥤×9 🧢×6 🎈×3 🛍️×4

example result

wait what is this

ok i'm playing. 2 awkward jellyfish is embarrassing for you

Your turn.

Play The Standoff