This is a submission for the DEV April Fools Challenge
What I Built
I built a button. One button. A big, red, very important button that says DO NOT PRESS.
It does nothing. There is no easter egg. There is no secret. There is no reward. There is only the button, your poor decisions, and a Regret Level meter that fills up every time you make the wrong choice — which is every time you press it.
Why did I build this? That's the wrong question. The right question is: why did YOU press it?
Demo
🔴 Try it live: https://sarvesh555.neocities.org/do_not_press_button
Code
The entire project is a single HTML file. No framework. No dependencies. No npm install. No build step. No CI/CD pipeline. No cloud infrastructure. Just a button, some JavaScript, and 25 handcrafted messages of escalating disappointment.
<!-- The most important part -->
<button id="big-btn" onclick="pressIt()">DO NOT<br>PRESS</button>
The pressIt() function:
- Increments a counter
- Displays a new consequence message (there are 25)
- Updates the Regret Level meter
- Judges you via an escalating verdict system
- Changes the page title after 10, 20, and 30 presses
- Files a complaint with HR on your behalf
How I Built It
HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript. That's it. The most technologically complex part was deciding how many times someone would press a button they were explicitly told not to press before giving up. The answer, based on extensive research, is: way more than you'd expect.
The regret meter starts red, turns amber at 70%, and goes fully dark red at 100% -- a subtle UX touch to indicate that you have gone too far, and yet here you are.
Total build time: less than an hour. Total usefulness: zero.
Prize Category
Community Favorite -- because nothing brings a community together like being told not to do something and then all doing it anyway.
This button is a mirror. What does it say about you that you pressed it?
Press it and find out.
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