Spectrum Loader screensaver

Home computers of the early 1980s, like the Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1982), loaded games from cassette tape, which could take several minutes. This screensaver recreates the show: striped borders, screeching tones, pictures that draw themselves in. The games it loads (Nerd Alert!, Nerd Overdrive and Revenge of the Nerd) are made up, and each load can look different.

Press Esc to come back here, or pick another screensaver below.

StarfieldFly through a 3D field of stars, right in your browser. Digital RainFalling green code on a CRT-style screen, straight out of 1999. Paddle BallThe 1972 arcade classic plays itself. Or grab a paddle: W/S and P/L. SynthwaveA neon 80s sunset over a rolling grid, ready for your big screen. MystifyBouncing lines trailing colourful echoes, the classic desktop screensaver. Nixie ClockGlowing orange nixie tubes tell the time, with a slot-machine spin every minute. Let There Be LightMaxwell's equations written in chalk, and then there was light. Spectrum LoaderFake 1980s game loading screens, loaded the way real tapes did: stripes, counters and reveals that change from load to load.

Want it to come on by itself? Open any screensaver and tick Start after 5 idle minutes. It's off unless you turn it on. Tick Quotes to add rotating quotes to the pictures, or Shuffle to swap screensavers every few minutes (the left and right arrow keys flick through them). Both settings only live in this browser.