I don't know how these rocks got stacked or why

November 9, 2021 4:18 PM

Stack rocks. That's it.
posted by slater (31 comments total)

Any cheat code for more rocks?
posted by deadaluspark at 4:34 PM on November 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

Does what it says on the box.
posted by nestor_makhno at 4:46 PM on November 9, 2021

clacky balloon rocks. I like them.
posted by Glinn at 4:55 PM on November 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

Gaaaahhh. It's like they took half of physics away, and left the bits that make rocks act wrong. I kind of like it.
posted by pipeski at 5:06 PM on November 9, 2021 [10 favorites]

I'm bad at stacking rocks and it's not a good rock throwing simulator.

So I clicked the neal.fun logo, switched to "Ambient Chaos", set "hospital" to 50% and "couple arguing" to 100%, and now I'm listing to a European family arguing about Nana's estate.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the result.
posted by CaseyB at 5:14 PM on November 9, 2021 [17 favorites]

I don't like how if you make two rocks completely overlap neither of them gets launched into space
posted by aubilenon at 5:19 PM on November 9, 2021 [4 favorites]

It’s fine to do this in the metaverse or internets or whatever, but please don’t do it on real trails.
posted by sjswitzer at 5:21 PM on November 9, 2021 [24 favorites]

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla has a minigame embedded in it stacking stones into cairns, you can see it here. It's beautifully simulated and done. The problem is it's absolutely a terrible game for a computer screen and game controller. First, they did it in three dimensions (not the 2d of this link); that's lovely but now you have the problem of camera projection. Much worse, stacking rocks is an intensely tactile and physical phenomenon. You really need to feel the weight and balance of each stone. Naturally that's impossible in the game. Most AC:V players consider it the most frustrating part of the game.
posted by Nelson at 5:25 PM on November 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

Take only screenshots, leave only rockstacks.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:38 PM on November 9, 2021 [8 favorites]

this is what I needed.
posted by Going To Maine at 5:44 PM on November 9, 2021

Cheating at the screen edge made it easy peasy
posted by BrotherCaine at 6:07 PM on November 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

Very nice thunking sounds.
posted by kristi at 6:14 PM on November 9, 2021

You can't even sprinkle sand on a rock before stacking another one on top of it (and then blow the excess sand away).
Nor can you mush the first rock down into the ground a little so it doesn't roll. I'm disappointed.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 6:21 PM on November 9, 2021

Can we skip these?
posted by y2karl at 6:25 PM on November 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

reminds me of my island of origin :'-)
posted by _benj at 6:27 PM on November 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

So I clicked the neal.fun logo, switched to "Ambient Chaos", set "hospital" to 50% and "couple arguing" to 100%, and now I'm listing to a European family arguing about Nana's estate.

Ooooh! Volcano approaching an unsuspecting marching band at a carnival!
posted by mochapickle at 6:53 PM on November 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

I know this post is about stacking rocks, but the rest of neal.fun is pretty interesting, if not a bit depressing.
posted by piyushnz at 8:05 PM on November 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

Oh ... that how you spend your day link piyushnz shared IS depressing to horrifying!
posted by esoteric things at 8:47 PM on November 9, 2021

...was looking for another arguing couple. Now I found them, resonant like hell. My day is made.
posted by Droll Lord at 9:00 PM on November 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

Maybe having this online tool will stop people from going to natural areas and stacking rocks, which is really bad for the things that live there and folks trying to navigate by cairns
posted by hydropsyche at 5:07 AM on November 10, 2021 [7 favorites]

The problem with the how you spend your day thing is it's clearly pre-COVID and doesn't account for the fact that I now spend my days at work AND at home.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:11 AM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Stack rocks is having a moment.

In the last day or so, Boing Boing, Laughing Squid, and the AV Club have all shared it (and, in turn, reminded me that their sites are still operational).
posted by box at 7:58 AM on November 10, 2021

please don’t do it on real trails

This. Good places to scratch a rock stacking itch are at home, or on beaches where the next high tide is sure to knock your stack over, or right on the waterline at a frequently used swimming hole just before a rain. That's pretty much it. The principle is to avoid moving stuff that wouldn't move anyway without your help.

If you're not at home, confine your art materials to rocks smaller than your fist, and don't move them more than a metre from where you found them. And regardless of where you are, if you can already see somebody else's rock stack then that's your clue that you should both leave it alone and resist the temptation to build another.
posted by flabdablet at 11:12 AM on November 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

EIVOR HATE THIS GAME
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:42 AM on November 10, 2021

I like it, but Eivor has anger management issues.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:43 AM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

What a fun site to explore!
posted by davidmsc at 1:09 PM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Lawnmower at 5%. Office at 37%. Coffee Shop at 16%. Finish with Low-fi beats at 46%... Vaguely sounds like 2019... Remember 2019?
posted by Nanukthedog at 1:42 PM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

If you're not at home, confine your art materials to rocks smaller than your fist, and don't move them more than a metre from where you found them. And regardless of where you are, if you can already see somebody else's rock stack then that's your clue that you should both leave it alone and resist the temptation to build another

Bah ha ha ha ha!
Now we have the rock stacking police?

If you don't want to see a rock stack, why don't you just knock it down? It's not like they're permanent.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 1:50 PM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

I provided a link above that answers this question. In summary, 1) in areas without trees, rock cairns are used for trail marking, and building things that look like cairns can mislead people, and 2) in all of nature, those rocks are providing habitat and preventing erosion, and moving them around can hurt living things and cause erosion.
posted by hydropsyche at 1:57 PM on November 10, 2021 [11 favorites]

Now we have the rock stacking police?

No, we don't.

Best we can do is rely on good-hearted people doing the right thing so as not to compound damage caused by the ignorant and/or apathetic.
posted by flabdablet at 2:01 PM on November 10, 2021 [8 favorites]

Damn. I thought I was just honoring the Old Gods. Guess I'll confine it to the back yard, then.
posted by Sweet Dee Kat at 10:36 AM on November 11, 2021