Cursor Effects

90's Cursor Effects is a brisk gallery of browser flourishes that trail, float, shimmer, or otherwise refuse to let the pointer mind its own business. One click moves you to the next bit of polite chaos.

What is Cursor Effects?

The page is a tribute to the era when a cursor was never content to be just an arrow. Its entries line up a menu of visual sidekicks: rainbow trails, stray bubbles, falling emoji, ghosts, snow, and other small acts of interface mischief. Each demo signals that a click will move to another effect, while links beside the names point toward the source. The result is best treated as a short tour, not a productivity aid. There is a useful modern footnote, though: the associated project says its effects step aside for system reduced-motion preferences.

What you can do there

• Move a pointer to trigger an effect
• Click to cycle the active effect
• Open source links for an effect

Why we picked it

It has a very clear joke and lets the visitor reach it immediately. The gallery gives retro web decoration a tidy home without trying to turn a tiny visual gag into a full-blown application.

How to get the most from it

Move the pointer around to meet the current flourish, then click the page to advance through the collection. Dip into the linked source when a particular effect earns a second look, but keep expectations loose: this is a toy shelf, not a design system.

Good to know

The live effects were not run during research, so their current speed, exact behavior, mobile response, and browser support remain unverified. The project's public repository says reduced-motion settings prevent its cursor effects from appearing.

Who made it, and when?

Tim Holman is the credited creator or organization.