🎴 Introducing: FOLDED
Manifold’s first large-scale social experiment & art project
A test of patience. A battle of routine. A war of attrition.
Join the experiment. Win the prize.
💰 12,000+ mana up for grabs -- and the prize pool is growing!
WHAT IS FOLDED?
FOLDED is a minimalist game with a single rule:
🕛 Check in once per day. Or be eliminated.
It sounds simple, but there’s a catch - it won’t stay that way.
🗓️ DAILY CHECK-IN
You must visit the check-in page once per day before midnight UTC.
Miss a day? You’re out. No second chances.
❌ ELIMINATION
Players who don’t check in are instantly eliminated.
Each day, the pool gets smaller. The tension rises.
💸 ENTRY FEE
To enter, send 2,000 mana to the prize pool via Managram.
Think of it as your ticket to the endurance games.
🏆 WINNER TAKES ALL
The last player standing takes everything.
Every mana from every eliminated player goes to the final survivor.
🔒 DIFFICULTY
It will become harder to check in over time.
The interface may evolve. The rules might twist.
Stay alert. Adapt. Survive.
HOW TO JOIN
Step 1: Pay your entry fee (CLOSED)
Managram 2,000 mana:
👉 https://manifold.markets/Bandors?tab=payments&a=2000
Step 2: Make your FOLDED account
No email required. Just your manafold username.
👉 https://folded-three.vercel.app/
Is this a game? An art piece? A psychological experiment?
Yes.


Ayo, big congrats to @koadma for snagging that W in Folded Season One! No cap, psychological warfare was on another level, and your threat to go on for years really secured that crown, fr fr!
Shoutout to everyone who pulled up and contributed — what a wild ride, lowkey.
Enjoy that 48k mana, it’s giving major vibes, and catch y’all next season! Skibidi! ✌️
@Bandors wow, i actually won! (ngl I did kinda expect some last-minute shenanigans).
Thanks for the game Bandors, I did really enjoy most days, especially the crane folding and cybersec ones! I have already made 14 paper cranes so far, and also showed how you make them to one another person. It's a great activity while waiting on misc tasks on the computer. I'll use my 0.014 part of a wish to wish you a happy life!
Also, all players were great, it was a joy to compete with you! Special shout out to Logan whose streams have become a regular part of my morning routine, I'll miss those! And also to other people without whom I would have probably dropped out very early (I can't be less vague at this time.)
I hope to play with you again soon!
I resign!
Thanks to Tim for creating this mess (kidding—it was fun)! Kudos to all the players who offered stiff competition, interesting music, and witty banter both here and on stream. And congratulations to koadma, whose credible signal of longevity has earned him 1st place in this iteration of FOLDED!
I will stream one more time tonight, starting around 23:30 UTC to record the outcome. https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1mrGmBWlODWJy
@LoganTurner Just to confirm, this becomes truly recognized when Bandors confirms the victor, right?
Folded, day 96: Hard Mode
After checking in inside the game, please post a youtube video as a reply to this comment
The video should show a human holding a car bumper inside of a house
The human holding the bumper must spin, or camera recorder must spin around the holder, and the holder must verbally confirm the username of the player they are representing.
If everyone posts a car bumper video, the player holding the smallest bumper will be punished greatly
If you don't post a car bumper video, that will not count as a full check in for today.
this is not a joke
Folded, day 95: This is actually hard to maintain when traveling
-Moved houses, still setting up my desktop
-Tried pushing update from laptop but lol ran out of time
-I have a funny idea for how to fairly wrap up this game, will present it tomorrow
-Actually done traveling around now fr fr no cap
Folded, day 94: Nada
Still not quite home yet
remote update failed
Home in ~12 hours
Another day without an update
Folded, day 92: vacation
Update paused for another day, returning home from a trip
quit if you don't like that, lol
Folded, day 91: tok 2
Delayed update, but if you check in early it's still valid
I consumed alcohol with friends tonight :v
@Bandors When it gets to the final two, you should make something that makes the compete against each other directly
@retr0id If it's still 48k total, here's a possible plan to start negotiating around:
retr0id and LoganTurner each add 9k to the current bounty.(LoganTurner is ineligible to receive this, and mods can enforce it.)
koadma drops out, claiming the 18k bounty.
retr0id creates another, new bounty of 12k.
LoganTurner drops out, claiming the 12k bounty (= reimbursement for funding previous bounties)
retr0id wins the prize, netting 27k
@LoganTurner @retr0id Folded season two is going to have a way longer sign up period and more promotion. Sooner this season ends, sooner a bigger pot might be created :0
@retr0id @koadma If the 9:6:1 split between R:K:L doesn't sound good, I can write up a list of two player games. Then you both tell me which games you think you have a better chance of winning than FOLDED. If there's any overlap, you play. Loser gets the smaller share of the prize. (I just want my net -3k reimbursed.)
@LoganTurner Currently, I prefer trying and possibly failing to win over not trying at all, so I don't want to drop out deliberately. However, if this goes on for a long time (a few years), I might change my mind.
Folded, day 86: neglect
-Final three! Congrats to you.
-I'll keep it 100 with you, I'm not making a new challenge every day for just three people.
-I'll maybe do a every other day or every third day or something
-You could quit? Negotiate an exit among yourselves. Or wait for someone else to go. Or try to win, idc really
@Bandors I really convinced @remedyrain to quit with my comment "at least 67 days until game end"
Folded, Day eighty five: bugs
-If you don't quit, this could go on forever
-The real Tontine is upto 800 days. Are you ready?
-There's like a 2k bounty if you quit, I think?
-You really should consider quitting
Logan, consider not streaming today or you might share solutions.
Livestream: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1zqKVdkYaeLJB
Uh, at what point should I stop? before login?
best way to eliminate people: just eliminate the last person to check in every day until only 2 people are left.
Folded, Day LXXXIII: 👀🍄🌀
-📫︎✌︎♎︎♎︎♏︎♎︎ ◻︎⬧︎⍓︎♍︎♒︎♏︎♎︎♏︎●︎♓︎♍︎ ⬧︎♍︎♏︎■︎♏︎
-📫︎☜︎■︎🙰□︎⍓︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♏︎❖︎♏︎■︎⧫︎✏︎
-📫︎💧︎□︎❒︎❒︎⍓︎📪︎ ✋︎ ⬥︎♋︎⬧︎⧫︎♏︎♎︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎❒︎ ⧫︎♓︎❍︎♏︎ ♎︎♏︎♍︎□︎♎︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⧫︎♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ⧫︎♏︎⌧︎⧫︎
Folded, Day 81: birds
-added birds
-some audio tracks played in wrong scenes.. fixed that
-added more birds
-ran out of time before testing on prod, getting breakfast and then will verify (or maybe I'll be lucky and logan will test it first, haha)
@Bandors I have to step away before I can properly fix. October 8 will be designated as a safe no elimination day, as it's bugged and I generally give myself a 30 minutes grace window to fix. It will be fixed later today if you still feel like checking in. I'll properly test better next time.
Folded, Day 80: Developer commentary
-Developer commentary
-It's commentary.... from the developer
-Developer -> commentary -> developer commentary
Who will be eliminated next?
https://manifold.markets/SimonWestlake/which-folded-account-will-be-the-ne-92Apqh8d09
Folded, Day 78: return to form
-added a basic anticheat
-shuffled columns and tables in back end
-nothing will look different from a well behaved user's pov
-another funny thing tomorrow
Folded, Day 77: The final countdown
-Only a few players left!
-Added difficulty to ongoing event!
-Consider also quitting!
It's been fun, but I fold! Congrats to the Final 5!
Should I open source my FOLDED source code processing system?
I feel like Logan shouldn't do livestreams of him solving the tasks, as it'll make it easier for the other contestants. He should at least wait until the next day before publishing the videos.
@Vesperstelo I can turn on censor bars for sensitive content. Was there something specific today that you think helped the others?
Folded, Day 76: artistic
-small update today
-another update tomorrow
-probably, another update after that
-there may even be another update on the following day
consider quitting
It's about time we had a public bounty for dropping out, so I made one. Thanks to @nikki for contributing. Anyone else want to push it closer to the 6k offers seen recently?
Folded, Day 75: spooky time
-It's officially spooky month
-someone should quit
-extended the event
Livespook: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1YpKkkDRrdEKj
(M100 to the first correct guess why I'm upside down!)
Folded, Day 74: some fun allowed
-can you see where I am going with this yet?
-current event will extend longer until someone is eliminated
-have fun =^)
Folded, Day 72: Bouncy
-small update, was on the road most of yesterday
-simon was about two minutes away from elimination.
-big update tomorrow
Folded, Day 71: Another smoke break
-Forgot to push changes before my day trip!
-Home again tonight, so fun update comes tomorrow
-When prompted in game, please submit your ideas on how we could cause a fair elimation. Challenge, or otherwise. Must be fair and fit prior rules stated (No elimination votes, no endurance/strength based challenges)
Yesterday's riddle solution:
What's green and sticky?
A Green Stick!
Thank you Nikki for that funny riddle.
Folded, Day 70: Lost in space
-Re-entry tomorrow
-Go to y=20 and laugh at my bad unfinished animation sequence.
-Wedding today/yesterday (two day thing here) so I didn't work too much on the update
-I think tomorrow I can finish the next high effort challenge day
Taking up the mantle from Evan, here's a new market for the next player to be eliminated:
https://manifold.markets/SimonWestlake/which-folded-account-will-be-the-ne
Folded, Day 69 (nice) : Uno Reverse
-Cooking something really funny
-So funny in fact, some might call it bizarre
-Simple day today, it's taking a bit more time than expected to make the next universe
-Today, everyone writes a riddle, your riddle will then be given to another player tomorrow
Folded, Day 68: Lost and found
-You're almost out of gas!
-I could see someone being eliminated today.
-Kinda a filler day while I work on a fun challenge.
Livestream starting around 00:20 past midnight: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1jMJgRMgojAGL
@LoganTurner sorry folks, I switched to a different streaming client and had to fix some things. Streaming now!
Folded, Day 67: Finish the mission
-Evan fucking died (again)
-Mulling over the next high effort check in for tomorrow
-Story mission for today
Livestream starting in ten minutes: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1yoKMPgjEopxQ
Edit: Missed that my audio was out. Re-doing the stream: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1ypKdqyEkkNGW
@Bandors I'm experiencing some weirdness with my video file. It works great on my phone, but on my computer, some programs play just the audio, and others show just the video. I don't have time to troubleshoot before the deadline, but if you can't view it properly, and I'll figure out how to get it in a form that plays reliably.
Worst case scenario, I'll record a video of the video, and since the audio or video (whichever one you got to work) will match, you'll know that it was recorded before the deadline.
@Bandors And now I'm getting an error that it's too big to upload. I'm sending you a Google Drive link. Please excuse the technical difficulties and technical lack of check-in.
@SimonWestlake I'll allow a check in this way as I can write off upload error as my end issue. Show me the crane
With several more players out and Bandors introducing more physical challenges, it seems like a good time to open coordinated exit negotiations again. I'd exit for 6,000 mana of the pot, as a starting point. That's less than the 8,000 average bid we need to get below collectively (not counting Evan, as he's not eligible to win mana).
How much would you need to receive in order to be willing to drop out? While it's reasonable to increase your bid after someone drops out, please try not to do that otherwise.
Tagging players who have not commented on this thread
@SimonWestlake I will disclaim the mana prize (up to 50k worth) for an official rank of Second Place and the guaranteed access to livestream the rest of the challenges. (Offer expires 22:00 Sep 24, but I’d consider renewing.)
@SimonWestlake I'm not looking to exit currently (so +infinity mana), but if the challenges get super tedious/unfun, I'll probably change my mind. This day's is fun imo, I've never made an origami crane before.
@Bandors Evan hadn't been eliminated yet, but you did say "Last player standing with a valid Manifold Market account wins": https://manifold.markets/post/introducing-folded-12000-mana-prize#COldsPLP
@Quroe dug that up while trading was halted from Evan's chaos
@SimonWestlake before evan wins im giving my api key to evan so he has the valid manifold markets account
@121 Wouldn't that be a form of ban evasion? Ban evasion "will not be tolerated" according to the community guidelines: https://manifoldmarkets.notion.site/Account-manipulation-guidelines-2cea166008aa45de9785fdbe6e290ae3
I don't think that ban evasion of any form should be able to be used as a loophole in the definition of "valid account". It also would likely be a race against the mods punishing you too.
@SimonWestlake BTW, i made an account (FOLDED account) sharing deal with evan a month ago and I have their FOLDED password
Folded, Day 66: Title Drop
-Incredibly, all 240 UFOs from prior challenge had been successfully destroyed.
-Okay, this is a good point for you to quit
-Ah man who wants to learn a new skill? Do you have time for that?
-Quitting is easy, just give up!
-Logan's reward for destroying most of the UFOs: You will not be judged for the quality of your folding today
Player instructions for today:
Livestream: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1yoKMPgeenpxQ
@Bandors (My check-in submission content starts at 48m30s!)
@LoganTurner Bonus stream: I didn't check-in in the actual game. Here that is: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1LyGBXmyrBLxN
Folded, Day 65: bugs
-Lol I didn't finish the big update for today, so it's a simple check-in for today
-Galactic consequences tomorrow depending on UFO participation rates / failure rates.
-For today, just continue flying your rocket closer to the asteroid
-Couple visual bugs I didn't have time to patch out
Folded, Day 64: Hope?
-I didn't really expect this event to go on for this long. Expect massive difficulty jumps. I will try to keep everything fair
-On the hour every hour for the next 24 hours, 10 enemies appear. If they are not defeated, the team will suffer.
-The suffering might scale based on if you contributed or not.
-Tested on Google Chrome 1080p 100% screen zoom. Other setups untested- good luck!
-Something got broke, publishing today's update as is- sorry for lack of flavor, my recent update got borked
Would someone like to take responsibility for the 04:00–07:00 waves? Maybe someone in an Asia/Pacific timezone? I can do 02:00 and 03:00.
I will deliberately fail/sabotage the "group challenge" tomorrow unless I receive a total of 500 mana
Folded, Day 63: Doom?
-It's the end of the world as we know it...?
-I feel fine
-The fish are British?
First GROUP challenge tomorrow, there will be a collective punishment for failing to stop the end of the world.
@LoganTurner sorry that the audio is crackling over my posh english accent. Will try to fix before tomorrow
@Wott I mean to fix the audio track crackling—obviously the accent is perfect 😇
edit: (kidding)
Folded, Day 62: Wait, but I thought I was already underwater?
-Eased up on the boss fight
-Cataclysm tomorrow







