Shadertoy
Thousands of full-screen graphics experiments, each one a few hundred lines of maths you can read and edit live.
Opens in a new tab. We do not control this site and it may have changed since we catalogued it.
How to get the most from it
Shadertoy sits in Zen Visuals under Unwind, filed as rabbit hole.
- Open it when the evening is free. It has no natural stopping point.
- Use a laptop or desktop computer — we file it as desktop only.
- It works with the sound off, so it is fine on a train or in a quiet office.
- No account needed — you can start without signing up.
- Go in expecting something mesmerising, brainy and beautiful.
About this category: Slow, quiet, low-stimulation visuals. Nothing here flashes, autoplays loudly or asks for anything. Background-tab material.
Good for
- A long evening with nothing planned
- Watching something hypnotic for a while
- Giving your brain a workout
- Looking at something lovely
- A quiet break at your desk
- Trying it with zero commitment
Shadertoy: quick answers
Is Shadertoy free?
Yes. Shadertoy is free to use and needs no account.
Do I need an account to use Shadertoy?
No. You can use Shadertoy without signing up for anything.
Does Shadertoy work on a phone?
Not well. We file Shadertoy as desktop only, so open it on a laptop or desktop computer.
Is Shadertoy safe for work?
Yes, we file it as safe for work. It also works muted.
How long does Shadertoy take?
We file it as "Rabbit hole": Clear your evening. We warned you.
More in Zen Visuals
All 13 in Zen VisualsSymmetrical generative art that blooms under the cursor, which everybody who touches it turns into a wallpaper factory.
- 10 min
An endless procedurally generated drive through mountains and deserts, with no traffic, no timer and nothing to hit.
- 10 min
- Desktop
Scroll from the surface to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, meeting every creature at the depth it actually lives.
- 10 min
The Void
AltFType anything at all and watch it drift upward and dissolve. Nothing is stored, nothing is sent, nothing can be recovered.
- 2 min
Same mood: mesmerising
All mesmerising sitesA full year of merchant shipping movements animated on one dark globe and split by cargo type, which turns global trade into a visible swarm.
- 10 min
- Desktop
A live feed of OpenStreetMap edits as they happen, zooming to each contributor's patch of the world one small correction at a time.
- <1 min
- Desktop
Enter any two articles and get every shortest path of links between them, drawn as a graph you can drag.
- 2 min
- Desktop
Roll a ball down an endless neon slope at rising speed until the geometry wins, which it always eventually does.
- 2 min
- Desktop
Keep exploring
Category
Time and mood
Have a site of your own? Suggest it for Detour or browse the AltFTool backlinks hub.