First things first, is this your pug?

It is not! The original photo was found on Unsplash and is by Matthew Henry, he also has a large array of pugs within rugs that are all insanely cute and that are generously available under the Unsplash license! It was this particular pug in a rug that lay the inspiration for this useless website!

 
How many levels ‘of pug’ are there in pug in a rug?

As of writing, there are 19 different “levels of pug”, starting as a jr assistant, and quickly rising through the ranks you can eventually achieve hermit, lord, or even king of pug! That said, I’m not stuck to the 19, and have considered adding more layers of complication to your rise. But yes, for now: 19 levels.
 

Is there any special sauce in this site? How was it made?

Hmmm, special sauce. There are a few little nuances that were accidental that have had some surprising effects. At the moment when you’re sitting on the page accumulating your… I don’t know what I’d call them, “honoring pug points” you can grow levels. The thing is though if you’ve got the tab open but unfocused in another screen the counter will still continue to increase, but the browser will do some tricky business to make sure the tab isn’t taking up too many resources, which means the counter may miss its exact seconds counted to level you up… this results in lots of seconds without as many levels. A happy accident.
 

You can watch me make the pug in a rug here:

 

There’s also a second video where I make the whole experience a little more interactive! If you prowl through the videos or the code, you’ll be able to see some of the hidden levels of pug too!

 
So we have a horse, a pug, a pigeon, and cats… what animals are next on The Useless Web?

That is a good point, The Useless Web is a veritable zoo, often with these animal-based sites being some of the most popular out there. I guess at the end of the day these cute and weird animals are just catchy, funny, and memorable. There’s about animals that can really inspire people’s weird creativity as well!

If I were to say anything is missing, I’d say it’s frogs or turtles. I’ve got a couple of turtle ideas come to think of it, especially considering they’re known to be slow they’ll fit perfectly in my great desire of time-wastey simple fun. So I guess watch this space!

 
Any plans for the future of pug in a rug?

I’ve had a few ideas, potentially incorporating some different pugs in different rugs, or even branching out into different breeds of dog, but for now, I am loyal to the pug in a rug! I wouldn’t mind having some kind of tool to increase your count legitimately, but perhaps that energy is better spent on something new. Either way, watch this space I guess!