Difference between revisions of "April Fools' Day comics"

Latest revision as of 14:19, 31 August 2025

For a list of comics, see Category:April Fools' Day comics.

The xkcd April Fools' Day comics are special releases that commemorate April Fools' Day, often using experimental formats and interactive features. They have been posted almost yearly since 2007, starting with the unnumbered comic Syndication. The most recent April Fools' Day comics are often interactive and engage readers through collaborative editing, voting systems, or games. Several comics have been significantly delayed, sometimes by weeks, due to their complex features, with the most delayed being 2765: Escape Speed in 2023, which arrived 18 days late. However, with the exception of 2009 and 2017, an April Fools' Day comic has been released every year since 2007.

The table below explains all April Fools' Day comics, including their release dates and schedule changes. Hover over the column headers to learn what the colors mean, or click to sort in ascending and descending order.

#	Released on	Comic	Explanation	April 1st fell on a	Replaced regular comic?
	2006-04-01		No special April Fools' comic was released in 2006. The closest surrounding comics were 83: Katamari, published on March 31, and 84: National Language, published on April 3. Neither references April Fools' Day or contains any unusual features, indicating that no April-themed content was posted that year. This was also before any April Fools' tradition was established on the site.	Saturday
1	2007-04-01 (Sunday)	Syndication	The first April Fools' Day comic was posted as an unnumbered entry titled Syndication. It was published on a Sunday, deviating from the normal Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule specifically to honor April Fools' Day. The comic no longer exists on the site and is preserved only through a forum archive. This marked the beginning of xkcd's April Fools' tradition and introduced the idea of experimenting with the site's format. It came sequentially between 242: The Difference and 243: Appropriate Term.	Sunday	Monday
2	2008-04-01 (Tuesday)	404: Not Found	The second April Fools' Day comic was 404: Not Found, a meta-joke in which the comic appears not to exist. Rather than displaying an image, the page produces a standard "404 Not Found" error, making it a self-referential gag. Although technically a numbered comic, it was unique in being both a published entry and a hidden absence. This was not a regular comic replacement but an extra comic released between Monday and Wednesday. It is later referenced in the April Fools' Day menus of 1193: Externalities and 1975: Right Click, establishing its place in the recurring joke canon.	Tuesday	No
	2009-04-01		No April Fools' Day comic was released in 2009. Although 563: Fermirotica was published on April 1 and contains some unconventional content, it lacks any thematic connection to April Fools' Day. However, he did make an April Fools' joke in another way that day: Randall, Jeph Jacques, and Ryan North altered their DNS records to point to each others' websites.	Wednesday
3	2010-04-01 (Thursday)	unixkcd	The third April Fools' entry introduced a full-site transformation known as unixkcd. The website was replaced with a simulated command-line interface that allowed for basic interaction using typed commands. This marked the first April Fools' joke involving a major change to the site itself, rather than a single comic. It was released while 721: Flatland was the newest comic, which had been published March 31st and had no connection to April Fools' Day.	Thursday	No
4	2011-04-01 (Friday)	880: Headache	880: Headache was the fourth April Fools' Day comic and the first to fall on a regular Friday release day. The comic featured a 3D viewing effect that made every xkcd comic up to and including this one appear in 3D, forcing readers to endure 3D viewing on their computer screens. The 3D view remains available at 3d.xkcd.com for all comics prior to this one. This began the practice of releasing April Fools' comics annually, except for 2017.	Friday	No
5	2012-04-01 (Sunday)	1037: Umwelt	1037: Umwelt was posted on Sunday, replacing the expected Monday comic. It featured dynamically generated content based on the reader's browser, location, and other metadata, making each viewer's version vastly different. This was the first April Fools' comic to use adaptive web technology. The next release was not Monday but Wednesday, so it replaced the Monday release. This comic displays the previous comic 1036: Reviews when viewed on unixkcd.	Sunday	Monday
6	2013-04-01 (Monday)	1193: Externalities	1193: Externalities included a dropdown menu linking to previous April Fools' comics such as 404: Not Found and 1037: Umwelt. This comic acknowledged the growing tradition of April Fools' specials and embedded a summary of past jokes in its interface. It retained the regular publishing schedule but used site features for a layered experience.	Monday
7	2014-04-01 (Tuesday)	1350: Lorenz	1350: Lorenz introduced the ability to collaboratively edit a comic in real time with others. It featured a grid of editable tiles based on user-drawn contributions and was named after Edward Lorenz of chaos theory fame. This was the first Tuesday release, but the other two releases that week fell normally on Monday and Friday, so it replaced Wednesday's release.	Tuesday	Wednesday
8	2015-04-01 (Wednesday)	1506: xkcloud	1506: xkcloud was an interactive comic that allowed users to submit panels and vote, generating a "cloud" of storylines. It included massive audience participation, expanding on the collaborative experiment from 1350: Lorenz. The interface was part of the growing series of collaborative April Fools' projects.	Wednesday	No
9	2016-04-04 (Monday) (3d late)	1663: Garden	1663: Garden was a delayed release originally planned for April 1, which fell on a Friday. It featured a living digital ecosystem where users planted and grew text-based plants. The delay was attributed to technical difficulties, with header text explaining the delay and changing multiple times before release. Due to the delayed launch, 1662: Jack and Jill received more attention than usual. There were only two comics released in the week before this Monday release.	Friday	Monday
	2017-04-01		No April Fools' comic was released in 2017. 1818: Rayleigh Scattering came out on March 31 and 1819: Sweet 16 on April 3, but neither referenced April 1 or included any joke or interactive elements. This year marked a rare break in the annual tradition that had formed since 2010. There was also no delayed April Fools' comic as has been the case in other years.	Saturday
10	2018-04-01 (Sunday)	1975: Right Click	1975: Right Click presented a mock right-click context menu on the comic page, referencing several previous April Fools' jokes including 404: Not Found, 1037: Umwelt, and 1193: Externalities. The interface blended nostalgia and humor while being fully interactive. It was the first April Fools' menu to acknowledge the complete tradition in a single interface. This marked the resumption of annual April Fools' comics after the 2017 break. The next release was not Monday but Wednesday, so it replaced the Monday release.	Sunday	Monday
11	2019-04-01 (Monday)	2131: Emojidome	2131: Emojidome featured emoji-based battle tournaments where users voted between pairs of emojis in a bracket system. The interactive comic ran for 24 hours starting on April 1, 2019, with 512 different emojis competing in elimination rounds. The title referenced "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome", and the Milky Way emoji ultimately won the tournament.	Monday	No
12	2020-04-03 (Friday) (2d late)	2288: Collector's Edition	2288: Collector's Edition was published two days late due to technical problems and included a parody of media collector culture with multiple "variant covers" that randomized on reload. The original planned Friday comic 2289: Scenario 4 was then released on Saturday April 4th. One of the developers, Max Goodhart, confirmed this was the intended April Fools' Day comic.	Wednesday	Friday
13	2021-04-01 (Thursday)	2445: Checkbox	2445: Checkbox was the first April Fools' Day comic to be released on a Thursday. It featured a clickable checkbox that dramatically altered the comic when toggled. The comic's UI-based humor and hidden functionality continued the tradition of April 1 experiments. Only Saturday has yet to see a special release. The next release was not Friday but Monday, so it replaced the Friday release.	Thursday	No
14	2022-04-01 (Friday)	2601: Instructions	2601: Instructions introduced an audio narration feature, making it one of only two xkcd comics to include audio at the time. It built on the prior year's 2445: Checkbox and expanded the experimental features of April Fools' entries. Visually it was similar to the previous year's comic, having only a radio button initially. The audio was a vital part of the joke, and both this comic and Checkbox had mute buttons that worked in reverse of each other, making audio/muting a recurring April Fools' theme.	Friday
15	2023-04-19 (Wednesday) (18d late)	2765: Escape Speed	2765: Escape Speed was not published until April 19, a full 18 days late. Its release went unannounced at the time, leading to debate about whether it was meant to be an April Fools' comic. The debate was settled when a developer confirmed it was an April Fools' Day comic. The delay was likely due to its complex game-like interface and interactive design. 2757: Towed Message was released closest to April 1st on March 31st, followed by 2758: My Favorite Things on April 3rd. This is the most delayed April Fools' Day comic.	Saturday
16	2024-04-05 (Friday) (4d late)	2916: Machine	2916: Machine was released four days after April 1. Despite the delay, it was acknowledged on the xkcd Facebook page as that year's April Fools' entry with the message "Happy Belated April Fool's Day!" 2914: Eclipse Coolness had been published on April 1st but was unrelated. Hidden keyboard shortcuts were discovered, including follow balls and debug overlay functions.	Monday	Friday
17	2025-04-09 (Wednesday) (8d late)	3074: Push Notifications	3074: Push Notifications appeared eight days late and was explicitly labeled "April 1st (observed)" in the comic's introduction. There was no comic released on April 1st; the surrounding comics were 3070: Orogeny from March 31st and 3071: Decay Chain from April 2nd. Since delaying April Fools' Day comics had become common, xkcd readers were still hoping for a late comic, marking the fifth time such a comic has been delayed since 1663: Garden in 2016.	Tuesday	Wednesday

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Comics (or other happenings related to xkcd) that were put up on {{w|April Fools' Day}} (or shortly after) as an {{w|April Fools' Day}} joke. There have been an annual celebration of April fools' Day every year since 2007, with a comic celebrating it released  every year since 2011, except for 2017, where there was no celebration of any kind.
+<noinclude>:''For a list of comics, see [[:Category:April Fools' Day comics]].''
-'''Click''' to expand for a more detailed explanation:
+</noinclude>The [[xkcd]] [[April Fools' Day comics]] are special releases that commemorate {{w|April Fools' Day}}, often using experimental formats and interactive features. They have been posted almost yearly since 2007, starting with the unnumbered comic [[Syndication]]. The most recent April Fools' Day comics are often [[:Category:Interactive comics|interactive]] and engage readers through collaborative editing, voting systems, or games. Several comics have been significantly delayed, sometimes by weeks, due to their complex features, with the most delayed being [[2765: Escape Speed]] in 2023, which arrived 18 days late. However, with the exception of 2009 and 2017, an April Fools' Day comic has been released every year since 2007.<noinclude> <!--
-<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
-<br>
-==Explanation==
-In 2006, the first year that xkcd released in March and April, there was no comic released on April 1st and no April Fools' comic was released. The two comics before and after were [[83: Katamari]] from March 31st and [[84: National Language]] from April 3rd.
-[[Randall]] first posted an April Fools' comic on Sunday, April 1, 2007.  This comic ("[[Syndication]]") was not numbered;  sequentially, it came between [[242:  The Difference]] and [[243:  Appropriate Term]].  It has not been preserved in the official xkcd archives<!--,
+    The text below is hidden from the page [[Category:April Fools' Day comics]]. If you want the text to be transcluded into the category, place it above the <noinclude> tag above
- FORUMS DEAD though it survives on a [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3701 thread in the xkcd forums]-->.
+-->
-For April Fools' Day 2008, Randall created [[404: Not Found]], which is a meta-comic, since it in fact doesn't exist. But that he considers it a comic is both made clear in the explanation for said "comic" and also since he links to it in his 2018 April fools' comic [[1975: Right Click]], from a fools' menu that links to all his comic alphabetically by title.
+The table below explains all April Fools' Day comics, including their release dates and schedule changes. Hover over the column headers to learn what the colors mean, or click to sort in ascending and descending order.
-The comic for April 1st, 2009, had no obvious ties to April Fools' Day, but on that day Randall made an April Fool in another way. See the [[563: Fermirotica#Trivia|Trivia section]] for [[563: Fermirotica]], released that day.
+{| class="sortable wikitable"
+! scope="col" data-sort-type=number | {{abbr|#|Number of past April Fools' Day comics}}
-For April 1st, 2010, Randall altered the site to mimic a {{w|Unix}} {{w|command-line interface}} and called it [[unixkcd]]. This happened wile [[721: Flatland]] was the newest comic, but it was released March 31st and had nothing to do with April Fools' Day. For more information, see its [[721: Flatland#Trivia|trivia section]].
+! scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | {{abbr|Released on|GREEN means it was released in time for April 1st ㅤ ㅤ RED means it was delayed ㅤ ㅤ GRAY means it didn't come out.}}
+! scope="col" | Comic
-Starting on Friday, April 1st, 2011 with [[880: Headache]], Randall has released a real April Fools' Day joke annually, except 2017. Although on several occasions these comics have been delayed because the project got out of hand and could not be finished in time.
+! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Explanation
+! scope="col" | {{abbr|April 1st fell on a|GREEN means it fell on Monday/Wednesday/Friday ㅤ ㅤ RED means outside the standard xkcd release schedule.}}
-Beginning with the second year in that row, with [[1037: Umwelt]], he moved the release day to Sunday April 1st 2012, and thus began the practice of releasing an April Fools Day comic on April 1st, notwithstanding [[#Release Weekday|what day of the week]] it fell on by shifting the comic's release to that day. Typically it would thus replace the next release day, so there would not be a comic on Monday the 2nd or 3rd of April, if April 1st fell in the weekend.
+! scope="col" | {{abbr|Replaced regular comic?|Did the April Fools' Day comic replace a standard comic that was planned, or were they both posted? FOR EXAMPLE, if April 1st fell on a Sunday, the April Fools' Day comic could have delayed the Monday comic until Wednesday, or they could have both been posted (one on Sunday and the next on Monday)}}
+|-
-This worked for the next three years with [[1193: Externalities]] in 2013, [[1350: Lorenz]] in 2014 (first Tuesday release) and [[1506: xkcloud]] in 2015. But then the project became so complicated that in 2016, the release was delayed until [[1663: Garden#Monday 4th of April release|Monday April 4th]] with [[1663: Garden]].
+|
+| <center>2006-04-01</center>
-The yearly trend thus continued until 2017, where no comics were released on April 1st. And the two comics around the date had nothing to do with such a joke. See more on this in the [[1818: Rayleigh Scattering#No April Fools' Day comic in 2017|trivia section]] of the first of these two, [[1818: Rayleigh Scattering]]. There was also no delayed fools' comic as has been the case in other years where the release of a fools' comic was delayed to later than April 1st.
+|
+| No special April Fools' comic was released in 2006. The closest surrounding comics were [[83: Katamari]], published on March 31, and [[84: National Language]], published on April 3. Neither references April Fools' Day or contains any unusual features, indicating that no April-themed content was posted that year. This was also before any April Fools' tradition was established on the site.
-Then from 2018 Randall once again began releasing April Fools' Day comic every year. In 2018 he again moved the release day from Monday April 2nd to Sunday April 1st with [[1975: Right Click]]. In this comic he both links to [[404: Not Found]] and [[unixkcd]], two of his previous comic April Fools' Day jokes. In 2019 April 1st was a Monday so a normal release day, and he released [[2131: Emojidome]], another user generated comic.
+| {{No|Saturday}}
+|-
-In 2020, he again had trouble and the release of [[2288: Collector's Edition]] was delayed two days for a [[2288: Collector's Edition#Trivia|Friday April 3rd release]]. Instead the planned Friday comic [[2289: Scenario 4]] was released on Saturday.
+! 1
+| {{Yes|2007-04-01 ([[:Category:Sunday comics|Sunday]])}}
-In 2021, [[2445: Checkbox]] was released on Thursday April 1st, making it the first April Fools' Day comic to be released on a Thursday. Only Saturday has yet to see a special release. It could have happened either in 2017 or 2023, but 2017 was the year without such a comic and 2023 was the most delayed fool's comic so far. See below.
+| <center>[[Syndication]]</center>
+| The first April Fools' Day comic was posted as an unnumbered entry titled [[Syndication]]. It was published on a Sunday, deviating from the normal Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule specifically to honor April Fools' Day. The comic no longer exists on the site and is preserved only through a forum archive. This marked the beginning of xkcd's April Fools' tradition and introduced the idea of experimenting with the site's format. It came sequentially between [[242: The Difference]] and [[243: Appropriate Term]].
-In 2022, [[2601: Instructions]] was released on Friday April 1st, a normal release day. There was though an interesting fact related to this release. First of all it visually was similar to the previous Fools' comic, which had only a {{w|checkbox}} to begin with. Instructions only had a {{w|radio button}}. But more interesting, like last year, this comic had an audio part. Thus making it a recurring Fools' theme, and also making these two comics the, at that time, only [[:Category:Comics with audio|comics with audio]]. Although in Instructions the sounds was a vital part of the joke, which was not the case the year before. (Also both comics had a mute button, that could toggle the sound on and off. But the two comics similar buttons worked in reverse, so the mute button had muted sound in the first, but the audio on in the second of the two comics...)
+| {{No|Sunday}}
+| {{Yes|Monday}}
-In 2023, [[2757: Towed Message]] was released on Friday March 31st. The next comic, [[2758: My Favorite Things]], was released on the normal schedule on Monday April 3rd. So for a year the Explain xkcd community thought there was no April fools' comic in 2023. But it turned out that the actual "April fools'" project, [[2765: Escape Speed]], was so delayed that it was not released until Wednesday April 19, 18 days too late. There was some debate about if this was actually meant to be a fools' comic with so much delay and no mention of this (as with Garden). But then a link to this article [https://chromakode.com/post/xkcd-gravity-escape-speed/ Development notes from xkcd's "Gravity" and "Escape Speed"] by [https://chromakode.com/ Max Goodhart], aka Chromakode, was provided. Max was one of the developers of both Escape Speed and the earlier [[2712: Gravity]]. And he writes at the top of the article "On April 20th, xkcd published Escape Speed, the 14th annual April Fools comic we’ve made together". (In xkcd's archive it is listed as released on the 19th of April, but maybe that is just because then it was a Wednesday, and in Max's time zone it was already the 20th). This settles the debate, as it is now clear that this was meant to be the April fools' comic of 2023. See also the [[2765:_Escape_Speed#Trivia|trivia section]] of Escape Speed.
+|-
+! 2
-In 2024, [[2914: Eclipse Coolness]] appeared on April 1st without having any relation to April fools'. But four days later [[2916: Machine]]  came out on Friday 5th of April. This turned out to be that the year's April fools' comic, see the [[2916:_Machine#Trivia|trivia section]] for that comic. It is, however, the first time a release day has fallen on April 1st without Randall making any note of it on the day. Not since 2009 has there been a comic released on April 1st without it being an April fools' comic. But that year he found another way to make an April fools', thus making this year the first ever where a comic was actually released on April 1st without any mention of April fools'. First time such a delay happened Randall made several notes about this, see the section about [[Garden]] below.
+| {{Yes|2008-04-01 ([[:Category:Tuesday comics|Tuesday]])}}
+| <center>[[404: Not Found]]</center>
-In 2025, there was no comic released on April 1st; the two comics before and after were [[3070: Orogeny]] from March 31st and [[3071: Decay Chain]] from April 2nd. The April fools' comic finally came on Wednesday, April 9th, as [[3074: Push Notifications]], and was expressly acknowledged as an "April 1st (observed)" comic in its first message.
+| The second April Fools' Day comic was [[404: Not Found]], a meta-joke in which the comic appears not to exist. Rather than displaying an image, the page produces a standard "404 Not Found" error, making it a self-referential gag. Although technically a numbered comic, it was unique in being both a published entry and a hidden absence. This was not a regular comic replacement but an extra comic released between Monday and Wednesday. It is later referenced in the April Fools' Day menus of [[1193: Externalities]] and [[1975: Right Click]], establishing its place in the recurring joke canon.
+| {{No|Tuesday}}
-Randall discusses several April fools' comics in his talk at [https://vimeo.com/78912850 Øredev 2013].
+| | <center>No</center>
+|-
-===Release Weekday===
+|
-*Here is a list of the day of the week (and date) where the "real", and numbered in the xkcd archive, April 1st comic was released. This is thus not a list of alle April fools' events Randall has made, but only of those comics that are part of the normal released comics. See above for other types of fools'.
+| <center>2009-04-01</center>
-**Those not on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, have been moved to hit April 1st (and their day of the week is written in '''bold''').
+|
-***The first to do so was [[1037: Umwelt]], which was planned to be released on Monday April 2nd but came out Sunday April 1st, 2012. The following comic, [[1038: Fountain]], skipped Monday and came out as normal Wednesday April 4th.
+| No April Fools' Day comic was released in 2009. Although [[563: Fermirotica]] was published on April 1 and contains some unconventional content, it lacks any thematic connection to April Fools' Day. However, he did make an April Fools' joke in another way that day: Randall, Jeph Jacques, and Ryan North [[563: Fermirotica#Trivia|altered their DNS records to point to each others' websites]].
-**Several comics have been delayed and thus not released on or even near April 1st.
+| {{Yes|Wednesday}}
-***The first to do this was [[1663: Garden]] in 2016 which was then released on Monday April 4th instead of Friday April 1st.
+|-
-***In all five cases as of 2025 these have been released on a normal release day (and for those comics the release day have been written in '''bold'''').
+! 3
+| {{Yes|2010-04-01 ([[:Category:Thursday comics|Thursday]])}}
-#2008 '''Tuesday''' April 1st:
+| <center>[[unixkcd]]</center>
-#*[[404: Not Found]]
+| The third April Fools' entry introduced a full-site transformation known as [[unixkcd]]. The website was replaced with a simulated command-line interface that allowed for basic interaction using typed commands. This marked the first April Fools' joke involving a major change to the site itself, rather than a single comic. It was released while [[721: Flatland]] was the newest comic, which had been published March 31st and had no connection to April Fools' Day.
-#*This was technically not a comic, but it did specifically "not come out" on April 1st.
+| {{No|Thursday}}
-#*But it DID not come out, between the normal Monday and Wednesday release making it "not" an extra comic that week.
+| rowspan="2"| <center>No</center>
-#2011 Friday April 1st:
+|-
-#*[[880: Headache]]
+! 4
-#2012 '''Sunday''' April 1st:
+| {{Yes|2011-04-01 ([[:Category:Friday comics|Friday]])}}
-#*[[1037: Umwelt]]
+| <center>[[880: Headache]]</center>
-#*The next release was not Monday but Wednesday, so it replaced the Monday release.
+| [[880: Headache]] was the fourth April Fools' Day comic and the first to fall on a regular Friday release day. The comic featured a 3D viewing effect that made every xkcd comic up to and including this one appear in 3D, forcing readers to endure 3D viewing on their computer screens. The 3D view remains available at [https://3d.xkcd.com 3d.xkcd.com] for all comics prior to this one. This began the practice of releasing April Fools' comics annually, except for 2017.
-#2013 Monday April 1st:
+| {{Yes|Friday}}
-#*[[1193: Externalities]]
+|-
-#2014 '''Tuesday''' April 1st:
+! 5
-#*[[1350: Lorenz]]
+| {{Yes|2012-04-01 ([[:Category:Sunday comics|Sunday]])}}
-#*This was the first Tuesday release, but the other two releases that week fell normally on Monday and Friday, thus it replaced Wednesdays release.
+| <center>[[1037: Umwelt]]</center>
-#2015 Wednesday April 1st:
+| [[1037: Umwelt]] was posted on Sunday, replacing the expected Monday comic. It featured dynamically generated content based on the reader's browser, location, and other metadata, making each viewer's version vastly different. This was the first April Fools' comic to use adaptive web technology. The next release was not Monday but Wednesday, so it replaced the Monday release. This comic displays the previous comic [[1036: Reviews]] when viewed on unixkcd.
-#*[[1506: xkcloud]]
+| {{No|Sunday}}
-#2016 Monday '''April 4th''':
+| {{Yes|Monday}}
-#*[[1663: Garden]]
+|-
-#*This comic was supposed to be released Friday April 1st but had technical problems and ended up being released on Monday April 4th.
+! 6
-#*There where thus only two comics in the week before. See here regarding the [[1663: Garden#Monday 4th of April release|Monday 4th of April release]].
+| {{Yes|2013-04-01 ([[:Category:Monday comics|Monday]])}}
-#*There was [[1663: Garden#April Fool's comic|no doubt]] that this was supposed to be the April Fools' day comic.
+| <center>[[1193: Externalities]]</center>
-#**'''2017''': There was [[1818: Rayleigh Scattering#No April Fools' Day comic in 2017|No April Fools' Day comic]] in 2017.
+| [[1193: Externalities]] included a dropdown menu linking to previous April Fools' comics such as [[404: Not Found]] and [[1037: Umwelt]]. This comic acknowledged the growing tradition of April Fools' specials and embedded a summary of past jokes in its interface. It retained the regular publishing schedule but used site features for a layered experience.
-#2018 '''Sunday''' April 1st:
+| {{Yes|Monday}}
-#*[[1975: Right Click]]
+|-
-#*The next release was not Monday but Wednesday, so it replaced the Monday release.
+! 7
-#2019 Monday April 1st:
+| {{Yes|2014-04-01 ([[:Category:Tuesday comics|Tuesday]])}}
-#*[[2131: Emojidome]]
+| <center>[[1350: Lorenz]]</center>
-#2020 Friday '''April 3rd''':
+| [[1350: Lorenz]] introduced the ability to collaboratively edit a comic in real time with others. It featured a grid of editable tiles based on user-drawn contributions and was named after Edward Lorenz of chaos theory fame. This was the first Tuesday release, but the other two releases that week fell normally on Monday and Friday, so it replaced Wednesday's release.
-#*[[2288: Collector's Edition]]
+| {{No|Tuesday}}
-#*This comic was supposed to be released Wednesday April 1st but had technical problems and ended up being released on Friday April 3rd, see the [[2288: Collector's Edition#Trivia|trivia section]] for that comic.
+| {{Yes|Wednesday}}
-#*The original planned Friday comic, [[2289: Scenario 4]], was then released on Saturday April 4th
+|-
-#2021 '''Thursday''' April 1st:
+! 8
-#*[[2445: Checkbox]]
+| {{Yes|2015-04-01 ([[:Category:Wednesday comics|Wednesday]])}}
-#*The next release was not Friday but Monday, so it replaced the Friday release.
+| <center>[[1506: xkcloud]]</center>
-#2022 Friday April 1st:
+| [[1506: xkcloud]] was an interactive comic that allowed users to submit panels and vote, generating a "cloud" of storylines. It included massive audience participation, expanding on the collaborative experiment from [[1350: Lorenz]]. The interface was part of the growing series of collaborative April Fools' projects.
-#*[[2601: Instructions]]
+| {{Yes|Wednesday}}
-#2023 Wednesday '''April 19th''':
+| <center>No</center>
-#*[[2765: Escape Speed]]
+|-
-#*See above regarding this 18 days delay.
+! 9
-#2024 Friday '''April 5th''':
+| {{No|2016-04-04 ([[:Category:Monday comics|Monday]])}}<br>(3d late)
-#*[[2916: Machine]]
+| <center>[[1663: Garden]]</center>
-#*This comic was delayed four days and another comic [[2914: Eclipse Coolness]] was released on Monday April 1st.
+| [[1663: Garden]] was a delayed release originally planned for April 1, which fell on a Friday. It featured a living digital ecosystem where users planted and grew text-based plants. The delay was attributed to technical difficulties, with header text explaining the delay and changing multiple times before release. Due to the delayed launch, [[1662: Jack and Jill]] received more attention than usual. There were only two comics released in the week before this Monday release.
-#*This made people believe that there would be no April fools' Day comic in 2024.
+| {{Yes|Friday}}
-#**Which would have made it seem like it was two years in a row. Since it was first with this release that it was found out here on explain xkcd that there had indeed been an April fools' comic in 2023. See above
+| {{Yes|Monday}}
-#2025 Wednesday '''April 9th''':
+|-
-#*[[3074: Push Notifications]]
+|
-#*This comic was delayed 8 days.
+| <center>2017-04-01</center>
-#*Since delaying of the April fools' comics has become the norm, people was still hoping for a late fools' comic, and it happened again delayed for the third year running.
+|
-#*It was the fifth time such a comic has been delayed since Garden in 2016.
+| No April Fools' comic was released in 2017. [[1818: Rayleigh Scattering]] came out on March 31 and [[1819: Sweet 16]] on April 3, but neither referenced April 1 or included any joke or interactive elements. This year marked a rare break in the annual tradition that had formed since 2010. There was also no delayed April Fools' comic as has been the case in other years.
-</div>
+| {{No|Saturday}}
-<br>
+|
+|-
+! 10
+| {{Yes|2018-04-01 ([[:Category:Sunday comics|Sunday]])}}
+| <center>[[1975: Right Click]]</center>
+| [[1975: Right Click]] presented a mock right-click context menu on the comic page, referencing several previous April Fools' jokes including [[404: Not Found]], [[1037: Umwelt]], and [[1193: Externalities]]. The interface blended nostalgia and humor while being fully interactive. It was the first April Fools' menu to acknowledge the complete tradition in a single interface. This marked the resumption of annual April Fools' comics after the 2017 break. The next release was not Monday but Wednesday, so it replaced the Monday release.
+| {{No|Sunday}}
+| {{Yes|Monday}}
+|-
+! 11
+| {{Yes|2019-04-01 ([[:Category:Monday comics|Monday]])}}
+| <center>[[2131: Emojidome]]</center>
+| [[2131: Emojidome]] featured emoji-based battle tournaments where users voted between pairs of emojis in a bracket system. The interactive comic ran for 24 hours starting on April 1, 2019, with 512 different emojis competing in elimination rounds. The title referenced "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome", and the Milky Way emoji ultimately won the tournament.
+| {{Yes|Monday}}
+| <center>No</center>
+|-
+! 12
+| {{No|2020-04-03 ([[:Category:Friday comics|Friday]])}}<br>(2d late)
+| <center>[[2288: Collector's Edition]]</center>
+| [[2288: Collector's Edition]] was published two days late due to technical problems and included a parody of media collector culture with multiple "variant covers" that randomized on reload. The original planned Friday comic [[2289: Scenario 4]] was then released on Saturday April 4th. One of the developers, Max Goodhart, [[2765:_Escape_Speed#Trivia|confirmed]] this was the intended April Fools' Day comic.
+| {{Yes|Wednesday}}
+| {{Yes|Friday}}
+|-
+! 13
+| {{Yes|2021-04-01 ([[:Category:Thursday comics|Thursday]])}}
+| <center>[[2445: Checkbox]]</center>
+| [[2445: Checkbox]] was the first April Fools' Day comic to be released on a Thursday. It featured a clickable checkbox that dramatically altered the comic when toggled. The comic's UI-based humor and hidden functionality continued the tradition of April 1 experiments. Only Saturday has yet to see a special release. The next release was not Friday but Monday, so it replaced the Friday release.
+| {{No|Thursday}}
+| rowspan="3" |<center>No</center>
+|-
+! 14
+| {{Yes|2022-04-01 ([[:Category:Friday comics|Friday]])}}
+| <center>[[2601: Instructions]]</center>
+| [[2601: Instructions]] introduced an audio narration feature, making it one of only two xkcd comics to include audio at the time. It built on the prior year's [[2445: Checkbox]] and expanded the experimental features of April Fools' entries. Visually it was similar to the previous year's comic, having only a radio button initially. The audio was a vital part of the joke, and both this comic and Checkbox had mute buttons that worked in reverse of each other, making audio/muting a recurring April Fools' theme.
+| {{Yes|Friday}}
+|-
+! 15
+| {{No|2023-04-19 ([[:Category:Wednesday comics|Wednesday]])}}<br>(18d late)
+| <center>[[2765: Escape Speed]]</center>
+| [[2765: Escape Speed]] was not published until April 19, a full 18 days late. Its release went unannounced at the time, leading to debate about whether it was meant to be an April Fools' comic. The debate was settled when a developer confirmed it was an April Fools' Day comic. The delay was likely due to its complex game-like interface and interactive design. [[2757: Towed Message]] was released closest to April 1st on March 31st, followed by [[2758: My Favorite Things]] on April 3rd. This is the most delayed April Fools' Day comic.
+| {{No|Saturday}}
+|-
+! 16
+| {{No|2024-04-05 ([[:Category:Friday comics|Friday]])}}<br>(4d late)
+| <center>[[2916: Machine]]</center>
+| [[2916: Machine]] was released four days after April 1. Despite the delay, it was acknowledged on the xkcd Facebook page as that year's April Fools' entry with the message "Happy Belated April Fool's Day!" [[2914: Eclipse Coolness]] had been published on April 1st but was unrelated. Hidden keyboard shortcuts were discovered, including follow balls and debug overlay functions.
+| {{Yes|Monday}}
+| {{Yes|Friday}}
+|-
+! 17
+| {{No|2025-04-09 ([[:Category:Wednesday comics|Wednesday]])}}<br>(8d late)
+| <center>[[3074: Push Notifications]]</center>
+| [[3074: Push Notifications]] appeared eight days late and was explicitly labeled "April 1st (observed)" in the comic's introduction. There was no comic released on April 1st; the surrounding comics were [[3070: Orogeny]] from March 31st and [[3071: Decay Chain]] from April 2nd. Since delaying April Fools' Day comics had become common, xkcd readers were still hoping for a late comic, marking the fifth time such a comic has been delayed since [[1663: Garden]] in 2016.
+| {{No|Tuesday}}
+| {{Yes|Wednesday}}
+|}
+[[Category:April Fools' Day comics| ]]
 [[Category:Comics by date]]
 [[Category:Comics from April]]
 [[Category:Dynamic comics]]
 [[Category:Holidays]]

Difference between revisions of "April Fools' Day comics"

Latest revision as of 14:19, 31 August 2025

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