Hostile Volume – A game about adjusting volume with intentionally bad UI — HRCB

Name: HRCB Evaluation: Hostile Volume – A game about adjusting volume with intentionally bad UI
Item: Hostile Volume – A game about adjusting volume with intentionally bad UI
Rating: 0
Author: Human Rights Observatory

Alpha This system is experimental. Scores and classifications are early-stage research and may be unreliable. Methodology →

Model: @cf/meta/llama-4-scout-17b-16e-instruct lite 0.00 @cf/meta/llama-4-scout-17b-16e-instruct lite ND claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 0.00 @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast lite ND @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast lite 0.00 Compare

0.00	Hostile Volume – A game about adjusting volume with intentionally bad UI (hostilevolume.comS:ND)
	117 points by Velocifyer 1 days ago \| 79 comments on HN \| Neutral High agreement (3 models) Product · v3.7 · 2026-03-15 22:12:44 0

Summary Digital Access & Accessibility Undermines

Hostile Volume is an interactive gamified web application that deliberately obstructs user agency through artificial friction, mandatory verification barriers, and inaccessible design. The structural implementation systematically undermines principles of human dignity, equal access, informed consent, and inclusive design by treating user frustration as entertainment and quantifying users as 'victims.' No editorial content engages with human rights; the negative impact is entirely structural.

Rights Tensions 2 pairs

Art 2 ↔ Art 26 — Equal access (Article 2) conflicts with educational accessibility (Article 26) because deliberately hostile design excludes users with disabilities and limited technical literacy without providing alternative pathways.

Art 1 ↔ Art 12 — Human dignity (Article 1) is subordinated to privacy intrusion (Article 12) by gamifying informed consent and integrating tracking (reCAPTCHA) without transparent disclosure.

Article Heatmap

Negative Neutral Positive No Data

Aggregates

0.00

Weighted Mean	0.00	Unweighted Mean	0.00
Max	0.00 N/A	Min	0.00 N/A
Signal	0	No Data	31
Volatility	0.00 (Low)
Negative	0	Channels	E: 0.6 S: 0.4
SETL ℹ	ND
FW Ratio ℹ	57%	13 facts · 10 inferences
Agreement	High	3 models · spread ±0.000

Evidence 7% coverage ℹ

  4M  1L  31 ND 

Theme Radar

HN Discussion 20 top-level · 19 replies

Findecanor 2026-03-14 19:03 UTC link

I have encountered the rate-limited spinner (#8) and the self-resizing slider (#5) in real desktop UIs.

#3 are almost like Google Maps' zooming buttons. They jump around more, making you click on the map itself or swap in/out.

jupin 2026-03-14 19:06 UTC link

Laughed out loud but gave up at level 5

Retr0id 2026-03-14 19:11 UTC link

There are two types of volume slider I've encountered thus far, "too logarithmic", and "not logarithmic enough".

dsmason321 2026-03-14 19:14 UTC link

Level 17 is NOT bugged. The slider is backward and the volume nonresponsive. Its a planned feature.

jimkleiber 2026-03-14 19:22 UTC link

Got an error on Level 17, just a heads up.

Love the game, btw.

TheLNL 2026-03-14 19:40 UTC link

Finished the game. It was fun to play. I got stuck for a while on the opposite level where the display doesn't update, but was able to go through the rest just fine

xnx 2026-03-14 19:42 UTC link

The worst volume control UI in the world (2017): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27819384

graypegg 2026-03-14 19:43 UTC link

This is not an issue at all, but when ever I come across something like it, I like to poke at the frontend in dev tools a bit. You can pass most levels with `setVolume(25)` in the web console, since that function is just sitting in the document object. That feels like the ultimate volume UI puzzle heh.

DrSiemer 2026-03-14 19:50 UTC link

Plenty of annoyance in here for sure. Looks like 17 cannot be finished on mobile though. Switching to desktop view resets progress.

jonathanlydall 2026-03-14 20:13 UTC link

My favourite bad volume control was in Real Player around 1997 where changing the volume in the application actually changed the global volume of Windows.

wild_pointer 2026-03-14 21:24 UTC link

Hilarious, some of them are easy with the keyboard

pimlottc 2026-03-14 22:21 UTC link

This works for almost all levels:

   for (i = 0; i < 50; i++) { document.querySelector("#l3-down").click(); }

mdx97 2026-03-14 22:28 UTC link

Level 27 is not possible.

apublicfrog 2026-03-14 22:42 UTC link

Great fun, well done to the horrible person who made it. Apparently my RSS reader leaves the browswr live in the background, as the audio is still playing. Horrible to do on a mobile device. Worst level by far was 17.

susam 2026-03-14 23:50 UTC link

I often write small userscripts to neutralise hostile or annoying UI patterns. I played the 'Hostile Volume' game for a while. Nice game! After a while, I wondered: if this were a real hostile website, could I write a userscript to make each level happy? Here is the script:

  // ==UserScript==
  // @name  Hostile Volume Winner
  // @match https://hostilevolume.com/
  // ==/UserScript==
  (function () {
    const s = document.createElement('script')
    s.textContent = `
      (function () {
        function visible (id) {
          return !document.getElementById(id).classList.contains('hidden')
        }
        function win () {
          if (visible('victory-screen')) return
          if (visible('instructions-modal')) {
            document.getElementById('start-btn').click()
            setTimeout(win, 2000)
            return
          }
          setTimeout(function () {
            document.getElementById('l13-age-input').value = '01011970'
            window.cancelAnimationFrame(levels[currentLevelIndex].frame)
          }, 100)
          window.setVolume(25)
          setTimeout(win, 3500)
        }
        win()
      })()
    `
    document.body.appendChild(s)
  })()

If you don't have a userscript manager, you can just copy the script between the two backticks and paste it to the web browser's Developer Tools console.

ua709 2026-03-15 00:55 UTC link

I am familiar with this game. I play a variant of it on iOS everyday, sometimes multiple times a day, with my AirPods and iPhone. I'm not very good though. Somehow iOS always wins and finds a hostile volume to initiate playback with regardless of what I do with the UI.

Culonavirus 2026-03-15 09:18 UTC link

Ended on the wheel of misfortune. Ain't nobody got time for dat!

VerifyID 2026-03-15 12:33 UTC link

level 19, after watching the video a wonderful 4 times it doesnt unlock anything to change the volume. the only saving grace setVolume(25) has been patched :(

ahme 2026-03-15 12:48 UTC link

Unbearable. 9/10

ironcow 2026-03-15 14:24 UTC link

Very interesting idea! Was happy when It was over haha good work!

dsmason321 2026-03-14 19:31 UTC link

Its intentional. Glad you like it!

embedding-shape 2026-03-14 19:38 UTC link

That's because one ear is logarithmic-based and the other is exponential-based. Which one differs per person.

dsmason321 2026-03-14 19:55 UTC link

It works fine on mobile. Planned feature. You'll encounter the same offscreen popup on desktop.

dsmason321 2026-03-14 19:55 UTC link

I'll have to patch that!

RRRA 2026-03-14 20:30 UTC link

Not sure how on desktop either, I've inspected the value and set it to 25 to no avail :P

edit: ok... somehow my approach didn't work the first time, but got to 18!

whycome 2026-03-14 20:33 UTC link

That was a hardware/software thing as far as I remember. If it was using something like DirectSound it would adjust the audio independently. Other media players did the same thing.

anyfoo 2026-03-14 20:39 UTC link

I feel like that was super common. Apart from changing the volumes of entire channels (e.g. changing the level of Line In vs. digital sound), volume was a relatively “global” thing.

And I’m not sure if that was still the case in 1997, but most likely changing the volume of digital sound meant the CPU having to process the samples in realtime. Now on one hand, that’s probably dwarfed by what the CPU had to do for decompressing the video. On the other hand, if you’re already starved for CPU time…

macromagnon 2026-03-14 21:01 UTC link

I could tell in edge that right side was muted based on the icon next to the address bar and noticed you could use arrows to move one by one so just pressed left 25 times.

chaps 2026-03-14 21:09 UTC link

Yeah, I took that to mean to refresh the game and so I did.... and then lost my progress :(. I really want to play the rest but I don't want to go through the rest of the levels.

tenderfault 2026-03-14 21:16 UTC link

that’s not an error

Waterluvian 2026-03-14 21:17 UTC link

I was so confused by the CD drives of that era. They all had a volume wheel and a headphone jack, but never once did I experience those working. The audio CDs were always “owned” by the OS, which piped the audio through the normal channels out my speakers or the PC headphone jack.

I imagine the existence of those means that CD drives had their own DAC and other logic. I guess there was an idea of wanting to play CD audio without it being a PC concern? Or on PCs without audio capability?

darknavi 2026-03-14 21:52 UTC link

It's funny because Microsoft Teams does this today, in 2026.

ErroneousBosh 2026-03-14 22:25 UTC link

It's actually possible to turn a linear pot into an approximation of a log pot by wiring a resistor in parallel with the wiper and one end. The volume pot is a voltage divider so the amount it "scales" by is given by Scale = Rbottom / (Rtop + Rbottom).

But, if you put a resistor in parallel, you need to work out that:

R = 1 / ((1 / R1) + (1 / R2)) or Rbottom = 1 / ((1 / Rbottom) + (1 / Rfixed)) where Rfixed is the amount you're "bending" it by.

So you could make the amount of "logness" be adjustable by having another (linear) control to vary Rfixed.

You'd work out, for a pot rotation Vol from 0 to 1:

Rbottom = 1 / ((1 / Vol) + (1 / Rfixed)) Rtop = 1 - Vol Scale = Rbottom / (Rbottom + Rtop)

Now for those better at arithmetic than me, how can you reverse this? Imagine you've got a pot in a piece of equipment with a resistor between the wiper and ground giving a log curve, and you've got to read that with an ADC and turn it back into the linear position of the wiper.

It ought to be possible but I've always sucked at arithmetic.

apublicfrog 2026-03-14 22:40 UTC link

Yes, this took me a very long time to work out.

apublicfrog 2026-03-14 22:41 UTC link

Look where the slider sits initially at 75%, not the same as earlier levels ;)

washadjeffmad 2026-03-15 01:55 UTC link

I still like to pretend that everyone played flash games growing up

SkySkimmer 2026-03-15 10:08 UTC link

For some time this was the default in pulseaudio on linux https://200ok.ch/posts/2019-05-20_disable_flatvolume_for_pul...

The debian bug linked there implies it started 2012 or earlier, and ended in 2019.

mort96 2026-03-15 11:26 UTC link

iOS is great! I especially like how they tied the "alarm through speakers" volume to the "notifications through earbuds" volume so that you can choose between "loud enough to wake you up in the morning and also burst your ear drums when you receive a notification with earbuds in" and "quiet enough to make notifications comfortable and also not wake you up in the morning". Truly genius parody of hostile UX.

zeknife 2026-03-15 19:01 UTC link

It's a bit of misdirection, since you actually have more options than just clicking the button.

Editorial Channel

What the content says

Preamble Preamble

Low Practice

No content addressing dignity, equality, or inalienable rights.

Article 1 Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood

Medium Practice

No editorial content addressing equality or rationality.

Article 2 Non-Discrimination

Medium Practice

No content addressing discrimination or distinction.

Article 3 Life, Liberty, Security

No content addressing right to life and security.

Article 4 No Slavery

No content addressing slavery or servitude.

Article 5 No Torture

No content addressing torture or cruel treatment.

Article 6 Legal Personhood

No content addressing legal recognition.

Article 7 Equality Before Law

No content addressing equality before law.

Article 8 Right to Remedy

No content addressing legal remedy.

Article 9 No Arbitrary Detention

No content addressing arbitrary detention.

Article 10 Fair Hearing

No content addressing fair trial.

Article 11 Presumption of Innocence

No content addressing presumption of innocence.

Article 12 Privacy

Medium Practice

No editorial content addressing privacy.

Article 13 Freedom of Movement

No content addressing freedom of movement.

Article 14 Asylum

No content addressing asylum.

Article 15 Nationality

No content addressing nationality.

Article 16 Marriage & Family

No content addressing marriage and family.

Article 17 Property

No content addressing property.

Article 18 Freedom of Thought

No content addressing freedom of thought, conscience, or religion.

Article 19 Freedom of Expression

No content addressing freedom of opinion or expression.

Article 20 Assembly & Association

No content addressing freedom of assembly.

Article 21 Political Participation

No content addressing participation in government.

Article 22 Social Security

No content addressing social security.

Article 23 Work & Equal Pay

No content addressing work or fair labor.

Article 24 Rest & Leisure

No content addressing rest and leisure.

Article 25 Standard of Living

No content addressing health and welfare.

Article 26 Education

Medium Practice

No content addressing education.

Article 27 Cultural Participation

No content addressing cultural rights.

Article 28 Social & International Order

No content addressing social and international order.

Article 29 Duties to Community

No content addressing community responsibilities.

Article 30 No Destruction of Rights

No content addressing limitations on rights.

Structural Channel

What the site does

Domain Context Profile

Element	Modifier	Affects	Note
Legal & Terms
Privacy	—		No privacy policy visible on accessible page content.
Terms of Service	—		Terms and Conditions appear as a gamified element within the interactive experience, not as formal legal documentation.
Identity & Mission
Mission	—		Site presents as a gamified audio experience with deliberately hostile/frustrating mechanics; no stated mission regarding human rights.
Editorial Code	—		No editorial code or ethics statement present.
Ownership	—		No ownership or authorship information disclosed.
Access & Distribution
Access Model	0.00		Appears to offer free access to the interactive experience.
Ad/Tracking	-0.10	Article 12	reCAPTCHA integration suggests tracking/monitoring; no disclosure of data practices.
Accessibility	-0.15	Article 2 Article 26	Site relies heavily on interactive volume control and timed challenges; no apparent accessibility features for users with hearing impairments, motor disabilities, or visual limitations.

Preamble Preamble

Low Practice

Site design deliberately frustrates and obstructs user agency through artificial barriers, timed challenges, and mandatory obstacles; contradicts dignity and equal access principles.

Article 1 Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood

Medium Practice

Site design treats all users identically through identical obstructive mechanics, but the deliberate infliction of frustration and suffering contradicts equal treatment with dignity.

Article 2 Non-Discrimination

Medium Practice

No apparent discrimination based on protected characteristics, but structural barriers exclude users with disabilities without accommodation or alternative pathways.

Article 3 Life, Liberty, Security