skip to the good part
birthday websites, made by friends

everyone, everywhere, all at once.

birthdayland is a birthday website your friends fill together. on the day, every one of them is waiting on one little island to hug the birthday person.

start a site — freeor walk the demo island
on the island: the birthday blob in a party hat meets a friend's blob, who throws a doodled stick figure with a sunny face at them, Sam's photos hanging on the polaroids behind

every friend is a blob wearing their face, or a doodle of one. walk up, say hi, get attacked with love.

  • 12 mini-games
  • video cards
  • works on phones
  • no account for friends
  • pay once, never monthly
  1. a friend's blob wearing their selfie holds up a taped note while another throws a doodled heart; a three-tier cake waits between them

    friends leave a card

  2. the birthday blob in a party hat sleds down a grassy slope with arms up, marker arrows labelled v equals way too fast and m g mostly cake; a friend cheers with a flag at the top

    the birthday person drops in

  3. at a striped game booth the birthday blob swings a mallet at a gnome popping out of a hole; beside it a friend blob dances under floating arrow notes

    then: games

three steps. zero glue.

you set it up once. the group chat does the rest.

  1. make it

    their name, their birthday, a few photos. a countdown starts ticking.

    a birthday site's front page: the name SAMLAND as a big pink sticker, five taped photos of sam and a row of little blob friends under a torn kraft-paper nav

  2. friends add cards

    one link in the group chat. a note, a doodle, a video, a selfie. two minutes, no account.

    the card maker, step one of seven, under the demo's look-only note: your name and your blob colour, with a propeller-beanie blob preview

  3. reveal day

    they walk in: an island of every friend, a cake that lights a candle per hug, and 12 games starring them.

    on the island: the birthday blob in a party hat meets a friend's blob, who throws a doodled stick figure with a sunny face at them, Sam's photos hanging on the polaroids behind

the whole flow, step by step

everyone brings something.

a card takes about two minutes. nobody signs up for anything.

  • write ita note, as long or as short as they like.
  • draw itmarker doodles. on the day they fly at the birthday person.
  • photo dumpthe good ones, the bad ones, the screenshot from 2019.
  • film ita short clip. sing badly. do a bit.
  • bring your faceone selfie and their blob on the island wears it.
drawing on the card maker: a marker heart on a paper canvas with colour swatches
the card maker: seven little steps, a paper canvas, no account

every photo of them, everywhere.

drop in your camera roll. it piles up on the front page, hangs round the island and slips in between the cards.

  • a drawn photo: sam in a party hat blowing out five candles on a pink cake, jordan and priya cheering under the bunting
    make a wish
  • a drawn photo: sam in a straw hat finishing a sandcastle while theo lounges in shades under a beach umbrella
    beach day
  • a drawn photo: a squashed group selfie of jordan, sam and noor in front of a ferris wheel at dusk
    the group selfie
  • a drawn photo: sam at the wheel of a little blue car, jordan and priya waving from the back, a suitcase and a surfboard on the roof
    road trip!
  • a drawn photo: sam in a mortarboard holding up a diploma, lucía and theo either side, caps in the air
    graduation day
  • a drawn photo: jordan and sam toasting marshmallows at a campfire by the tent, lucía with a mug of cocoa, a sky full of stars
    s'mores o'clock
  • a drawn photo: sam singing karaoke in the spotlight, priya dancing in headphones, theo on the tambourine, a disco ball overhead
    karaoke night
  • a drawn photo: a picnic in the park, theo asleep on the checked blanket, sam with a sandwich, lucía flying a kite
    picnic (theo napped)

see them on the demo

then they open it.

three doors. no instructions needed.

  • the board: a strip of taped photos of sam under the title, then friends' cards taped to a kraft-paper wall, each with a name sticker

    the board

    every card on one scrapbook wall. taped, tilted, torn at the edges. tap one to read it and play the video.

  • on the island: Jordan's message types out in a taped paper dialogue box beside their blob

    the island

    every friend is a blob wearing their face (or a doodle of one). walk up, press E, get attacked with love. then they say their piece.

  • the dance-off mid-round: arrow notes slide down four lanes toward the bar while the birthday blob faces a friend called Theo

    the festival

    12 booths. whack-a-gnome, karaoke, a dance-off. the birthday person stars in every one, and the friends show up as the crowd.

the festival line-up

every booth stars the birthday person. the crowd, the rivals and the targets are their friends.

all 12 games, and how friends show up in them

postcards from the island.

every picture on this page is the real demo, captured in a browser. no mockups.

  • a wide view of the island: the birthday blob with a balloon on a flower meadow by a balloon arch, Lucía waiting by the path, the three-tier cake ringed with photos and the festival arch
    the whole island from up the meadow. every blob down there is a friend.
  • a card opened on the board: Lucía's note and a photo of her cat, with prev and next buttons
    tap a card on the board: lucía's note, and a photo of her cat.
  • the middle of the island: a giant three-tier cake ringed with Sam's photos, confetti on the path and a friends-hugged counter
    the cake in the middle lights one candle for every friend they hug.
  • the front page's countdown: six friends on the board so far, 78 days until sam's birthday on desk-calendar pages
    the front page counts down, and counts the friends who've signed.
  • the festival grounds on the island: the birthday blob walks under the festival arch toward a ring of booths, the fishing dock, the dance-off floor and the karaoke stage
    the festival grounds: an arch, a ring of booths, one birthday person.
  • further down the board: more taped cards with photos, doodles and handwritten notes
    keep scrolling: doodles, photos, everybody's handwriting.
  • the festival's booth grid: kind filters and LOVE, plays and party totals over six taped booth cards, whack-a-gnome to dance-off, each with a play button
    or play the festival straight from the page. every game is a taped card.

pick a look.

the paper, the type, the nav, even the scrollbar. ten looks, one free.

  • the demo site's front page in Sticker Saga: a torn kraft strip of colour stickers for a nav with home starred, SAMLAND as a big pink die-cut sticker with a sparkle, a stack of taped photos and four blob friends

    Sticker Saga

    • butter paper
    • kraft
    • bubblegum
    • tangerine
    • lemon highlighter
    • sky sticker

    free

  • the demo site's front page in Amber Notebook: a ruled notebook sheet on steel rings for a nav, five coloured index tabs under it with front page in a vermilion seal, and SAMLAND as an amber sticker on graph paper

    Amber Notebook

    • rice paper
    • amber
    • vermilion seal
    • turmeric
    • key cyan
    • tea jade

    milestone

  • the demo site's front page in Glossy Valley: a sky-blue glass bar of glossy pucks with white icons, home lit in a white ring and a teal halo, SAMLAND in rounded blue letters and a framed picture of a gem over green hills

    Glossy Valley

    • sky top
    • panel blue
    • glass blue
    • navy
    • mint
    • sunburst

    milestone

  • the demo site's front page in Garden Party: a rack of seed packets for a nav with front gate standing up with a sprout, an invitation line over SAMLAND in peony-pink serif letters, and a pink button on cream linen

    Garden Party

    • cream linen
    • sage card
    • peony
    • fern
    • butter
    • lavender

    milestone

  • the demo site's front page in Comic Pop: a strip of inked comic panels for a nav with cover red on its burst, SAMLAND in red comic capitals on a yellow action burst, and the lead in a speech bubble

    Comic Pop

    • newsprint
    • pulp
    • pop red
    • burst yellow
    • pop blue
    • bubble cyan

    milestone

  • the demo site's front page in Candy Shop: a striped awning over a shelf of gumball jars with the shop's lid popped open, SAMLAND in round pink letters and sprinkles across a mint page

    Candy Shop

    • vanilla cream
    • mint cream
    • strawberry
    • lilac
    • lemon drop
    • spearmint

    milestone

  • the demo site's front page in Starlight: a constellation of stars for a nav with home shining gold, SAMLAND in rounded periwinkle letters with twinkling stars at its corners, on a lavender-to-peach dusk

    Starlight

    • moonlight cream
    • lavender mist
    • periwinkle
    • star gold
    • peach glow
    • rose horizon

    milestone

  • the demo site's front page in Groovy Sunshine: a capsule with a wavy rainbow band for a nav, the porch in mustard with a daisy, SAMLAND in fat mustard letters with a stacked shadow, and sunbeams behind the page

    Groovy Sunshine

    • warm cream
    • oatmeal
    • mustard
    • burnt orange
    • sunflower
    • dusty rose

    milestone

  • the demo site's front page in Pixel Party: a game menu of pixel tabs with start filled cherry and three hearts on its frame, SAMLAND in red pixel letters, and the lead in a game dialogue box on an off-white pixel grid

    Pixel Party

    • screen white
    • cartridge grey
    • cherry
    • coin yellow
    • level-up green
    • sky blue

    milestone

compare every look

far away and after the party

keep the whole party.

on Party and up, the site stays up after the birthday, then quietly turns into an archive. download every card and video as a zip. (free Sketch sites close 30 days after.)

how long each plan stays up

it's not a board. (ok, it's also a board.)

a typical online group card next to a birthdayland site.

a typical online group card vs a birthdayland site
featurea typical group cardbirthdayland
a wall of messages and photosyesyes
video messagesoften on paid tiersyes
friends need no accountusuallyyes
a 3d island to walk aroundnoyes
friends as characters wearing their selfienoyes
12 mini-games starring the birthday personnoyes
pay once per celebrationusuallyyes

the honest kudoboard comparison

one price per birthday.

pay once, never monthly. friends always join free.

  • Sketch

    freeforever

    try it with your closest five.

    • 5 friends' cards
    • the board, the island and the countdown
    • 2 festival games
    • open 30 days after the birthday
    start free

  • Party

    good for most groups

    $19once

    the whole group chat, all twelve games.

    • 50 friends' cards
    • all 12 festival games
    • 3 GB of photos and video
    • download every card as a ZIP
    • open a year, then kept as an archive
    • surprise reveal at midnight their time (soon)
    start with party

  • Milestone

    $39once

    for the 21st, the 30th, the big ones.

    • unlimited cards
    • the signature themes
    • all 12 festival games
    • 15 GB of photos and video
    • remove the badge
    • open two years, then kept as an archive
    start with milestone
custom look

Bespoke · $149: a theme made by hand for one birthday site: their colours, their jokes, their own nav. kevin emails within two days to plan it with you, a few slots at a time. book a custom look. questions? k.bowen.liu@gmail.com

everything in every plan

questions, answered.

the ones everyone asks first.

  • do friends need an account?

    no. a friend opens the link, makes a card in about two minutes and closes the tab: no account, no app, no email address. only the host signs in, to set the site up and look after the cards. a friend can still edit their card later from the same browser they made it on.

  • does it work on phones?

    yes. leaving a card works on a phone: the card maker films or uploads the video, takes the selfie and lets you draw with a finger. the board stacks into one column, and the island has a thumb stick and big buttons, so the birthday person can walk around and play the games on a phone too.

  • what does the birthday person actually do?

    three things, in any order. they read every card on the board, walk the island and hug each friend (their doodles fly, their message types out and a candle lights on the cake), and play the 12 festival games, where their friends are the crowd. nothing needs explaining, and nothing can be lost.

  • who can see the site?

    anyone you give the link to. birthday sites are unlisted: they're kept out of search engines and AI crawlers, and no list or sitemap ever names one. only the storefront you're reading now is meant to be found. photos and videos sit at long, random addresses nobody can guess.

  • how much is it?

    Sketch free, Party $19, Milestone $39, one payment per birthday site. Sketch takes 5 friends' cards and 2 festival games; Party takes 50 and opens every game; Milestone adds the signature themes and room for every friend. friends never pay, and nothing is a subscription.

  • when can i start one?

    now. press "start a site", sign in, and set it up in about ten minutes: their name, their birthday and a few photos. every site starts free on Sketch, and you only pay once if the group outgrows five cards. friends never need an account.

every question

not a card. a whole island.

make it tonight. send the link tomorrow. watch them lose it on the day.

start a site — freeor walk the demo island