Unfun - A fun language game

Unfun the Headline!

Below, you are given the headline of a satirical news article. (Click on it to see the full article.)
Your task: Turn it into a headline that could have been published by a real news source (e.g., CNN, Fox News, The New York Times) or magazine (e.g., Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, Scientific American), changing as few words as possible (it's case-insensitive).
Your version doesn't need to refer to an actual event, but it must sound realistic enough such that it could refer to an actual event.
Reward: 50 points right away + up to 1,000 points when other players think your headline is real (more points the more real they think it is, and more points the fewer words you change).

Real or Not?

For each headline, decide how likely it is to be real news.
Adjust the slider to reflect your belief. For instance, sliding 80% to the left means you're 80% sure it's real news.
Reward: up to 200 points (more points the closer your guess is to the truth).

Your current name is [Change]

Unfun is a language game that tests how good you are at recognizing and creating realistic news headlines. If you like playing with words, you'll find that Unfun is fun!

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How it works

There are two types of challenge: “Unfun the Headline!” and “Real or Not?”. You are given challenges of both types in random order.

Unfun the Headline!

In the “Unfun the Headline!” challenge, you'll hone your word-juggling skills by turning satirical news into real news while changing as few words as possible:

[+] Rewards

50 points right away + up to 1,000 points when another player judges your headline in the “Real or Not?” challenge (see next panel). More points the more real they judge it, and more points the fewer words you've changed.

Real or Not?

In the “Real or Not?” challenge, the headline you created is shown to other players, who will indicate how real they think your headline is:

[+] Rewards

Here the active player doesn't get points. Instead, the answer is used to calculate how much reward the player gets who created the headline in the “Unfun the Headline!” challenge (see previous panel).

You will also be shown original headlines from real and satirical newspapers. This way you will test your ability to tell “fake” news from real news:

[+] Rewards

Up to 200 points. More points the closer your guess is to the true answer. If you're not entirely certain whether the headline is real or satirical, you can choose something in between to reflect your belief.

About

Unfun was created as part of an academic research project exploring the foundations of humor. The project is inspired by questions such as "Why do we laugh?", "What do we find funny, and why?", and "Can computers learn to create jokes that would make us laugh?" As you play this game, you are contributing valuable data that may help us get a little bit closer to answering some of these questions.

The project was started during a Microsoft Research summer internship by Bob West (then a computer science PhD student at Stanford, now a faculty member at EPFL), mentored by Eric Horvitz, as part of interests that Bob and Eric share on the cognitive and (potentially) computable foundations of humor. The work continues as an ongoing collaboration between EPFL and Microsoft Research.

Contact

We'd love your feedback! Please send email to to let us know what you think.

The background image is borrowed from Pixabay.

Unfun the Headline!

Real or Not?

“Real or Not?” ( guesses)

“Unfun the Headline!” ( headlines)

Your current name is [Change]

Today’s elite (last 24 hours)

All-time Hall of Fame

Some great unfunned headlines (judged at least twice)

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How it works

Unfun the Headline!

Real or Not?

About

Contact

Unfun the Headline! Show instructions

Real or Not? Show instructions

“Real or Not?” ( guesses)

“Unfun the Headline!” ( headlines)

Your current name is [Change]

Today’s elite (last 24 hours)

All-time Hall of Fame

Some great unfunned headlines (judged at least twice)

Log in as a guest ...

... or via Facebook

How it works

Unfun the Headline!

Real or Not?

About

Contact

Unfun the Headline!

Real or Not?