Hands.wtf is the latest inexplainable internet treat

The Internet needs more jazz hands.

That’s what Stinkdigital’s hands.wtf is for—if it has any real purpose, that is. “We created for no good reason at all,” the creative agency says. But here it is: two hands—Killer Mike and El-P are the credited hand models—floating in digital space. Type in a 3-letter word, the game compels you. Each letter brings up a different hand. Some appear to be plated with nickel, others are sheathed in red crocodile skin.

try to guess all the words

The hands spin around, their fingers extended as if a child was about to trace a hand print. Type in one of 37 pre-coded words, however, and the hands make special celebratory gestures. Those motions can be downloaded as gifs, which are basically trophies. If you want to make a game out of hands.wtf, you can try to guess all the words.

There is no need, however, to give this exercise a goal. Sufficient pleasure can be derived from simply typing random strings in hands.wtf. Each letter brings its own graphics and sound. You can therefore treat the keyboard as a soundboard, an unorthodox instrument to be played towards no particular end. Hands.wtf’s extremities don’t do sign language in the traditional sense—letters do not trigger symbols—but they do give you signs when you’re doing well. Like a date, the options are binary: impassive stillness or excitement. Try it. Stinkdigital has created jazz hands for the Internet.

You can play hands.wtf in your browser.