MS Paint Adventures

{{short description|Set of multimedia webcomics by Andrew Hussie}}{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Use American English|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox Webcomic <!-- Part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Webcomics --> |title=MS Paint Adventures |image = 300px |caption= |author=Andrew Hussie |url=[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/newindex.php mspaintadventures.com] |status= Online (Closed from 2018 to 2025, all works moved to [http://www.homestuck.com homestuck.com]) |began=2007 |genre=Action-adventure, Puzzle, Comedy-Drama, Science Fiction, Science Fantasy }}

'''''MS Paint Adventures''''', abbreviated '''''MSPAdventures''''' or '''''MSPA''''', was a website and collection of webcomics written and illustrated by Andrew Hussie.<ref>{{Cite web | last = Krell | first = Jason | title = MS Paint Adventures provides online fun | work = Arizona Daily Wildcat | publisher = University of Arizona | date = September 22, 2010 | url = http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/index.php/article/2010/09/ms_paint_adventures_provides_online_fun | access-date = April 29, 2012 | archive-date = March 5, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305045641/http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/index.php/article/2010/09/ms_paint_adventures_provides_online_fun | url-status = dead }}</ref> According to some estimates, in April 2016 ''MS Paint Adventures'' was the largest collection of comics on the Internet, containing over 10,000 pages among its five series.<ref name="McGown">{{Cite web | last = McGown | first = Justin | title = Homestuck fans prepare for webcomic release | work = The Tartan | publisher = Carnegie Mellon | date = October 17, 2011 | url = http://thetartan.org/2011/10/17/pillbox/comics | access-date = October 23, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=Kotaku/><ref>{{Cite web | title=MS Paint Adventures: Statistics | publisher=readmspa.org | access-date= 2013-10-30 | url=http://readmspa.org/stats}}</ref>

The comics were written in serial works or "adventures" in a manner that parodied interactive fiction games.<ref name="Kotaku">{{Cite web | last = Baio | first = Andy | title = Arcade Improv: Humans Pretending to Be Videogames | work = Kotaku | date = November 9, 2011 | url = https://kotaku.com/arcade-improv-humans-pretending-to-be-videogames-5858062 | access-date = November 10, 2011 }}</ref> The characters' actions were originally driven by commands suggested by fans in the comics' official forum, but fan suggestions were eventually abandoned due to the size of the fanbase and the author's desire to tell a more coherent story.<ref name="Meeks">{{Cite web | last = Meeks | first = Elijah | title = Interview with Andrew Hussie, Creator of Homestuck | work = Digital Humanities Specialist | publisher = Stanford University Libraries & Academic Information Resources | date = December 3, 2010 | url = https://dhs.stanford.edu/social-media-literacy/interview-with-andrew-hussie-creator-of-homestuck/ | access-date = April 4, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190813034401/https://dhs.stanford.edu/social-media-literacy/interview-with-andrew-hussie-creator-of-homestuck/ | archive-date = August 13, 2019 | url-status = dead }}</ref> The comics tended to draw inspiration from video games, imitating and parodying genres such as RPGs and simulation games.<ref>{{Cite web | last = Weiler | first = Lance | title = How Problem Sleuth Turns a Comic Into a Game | work = Culture Hacker | publisher = WorkBook Project | date = January 25, 2009 | url = http://workbookproject.com/blog/2009/01/25/culture-hacker-how-problem-sleuth-turns-a-comic-into-a-game/ | access-date = September 24, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101130222827/http://workbookproject.com/blog/2009/01/25/culture-hacker-how-problem-sleuth-turns-a-comic-into-a-game/ | archive-date = November 30, 2010 | url-status = dead }}</ref> They frequently reference other aspects of current internet culture. Despite its name, the site's comics have been created primarily in Adobe Photoshop, not Microsoft Paint, other than the first page of ''Jailbreak''; Hussie decided after that page that telling a story using Paint was not feasible.<ref name=Meeks/> Over time, the comics evolved from simple static images and captions to frequent animations set to original music, and occasionally to interactive games created in Flash<ref name=McGown/> and HTML5.

One adventure, ''Homestuck'', has given rise to a large fan community as made evident by the increasing amount of fan art<ref name="PW">{{Cite web | last = Price | first = Ada | title = Manga at NYCC 2011: Viz, Yen Press, Kodansha, Vertical and 'Homestuck' | work = Publishers Weekly | date = October 19, 2011 | url = http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/49170-manga-at-nycc-2011-viz-yen-press-kodansha-vertical-and-homestuck-.html | access-date = October 23, 2011}}</ref> and cosplay at comic book conventions.<ref name="Geeks">{{Cite web |last=Christodoulides |first=Alex |date=October 16, 2011 |title=Geeks in disguise: New York Comic Con enthusiasts take costumes to extreme ahead of Halloween |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2011/10/16/geeks-in-disguise-new-york-comic-con-enthusiasts-take-costumes-to-extreme-ahead-of-halloween/ |access-date=2025-03-22 |work=New York Daily News}}</ref> The rapid rise in the popularity of ''Homestuck'' led to its recognition at the Toronto Comics Art Festival for two years running,<ref name="TCAF">[https://archive.today/20130204141826/http://torontocomics.com/news/update-new-exhibitors-at-tcaf-new-books-and-some-cancellations/ "Update: New Exhibitors at TCAF, New Books, and some Cancellations!"], Toronto Comics Art Festival website. Retrieved April 4, 2012.</ref> and it brought, on average, over 600,000 unique views to the site daily.<ref name=Kotaku/> An adventure game spinoff of ''Homestuck'' titled ''Hiveswap'' was released September 14, 2017, and was produced with funds contributed by fans of the comic via Kickstarter.<ref name="Wired">{{cite news |title=What The Heck Is Homestuck, And How'd It Get $750K On Kickstarter? |author=Ryan Rigney |url=https://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/09/homestuck-kickstarter/ |newspaper=Wired |date=September 6, 2012 |access-date=September 6, 2012}}</ref> This project raised nearly $2.5 million, exceeding its goal of $700,000 in a little under two days, at that time being the 6th largest Kickstarter drive. A followup titled ''Homestuck: Beyond Canon'' was launched October 25, 2019.

''MS Paint Adventures'' supported its author financially, formerly through the sale of merchandise on the online store TopatoCo<ref name="Chen">{{Cite web | last = Chen | first = Jialu | title = See you in the funny pages | work = Boston.com | publisher = The New York Times Company | date = August 2, 2011 | url = http://articles.boston.com/2011-08-02/lifestyle/29843469_1_comic-strip-creators-webcomics-diesel-sweeties/3 | access-date = October 24, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111211130626/http://articles.boston.com/2011-08-02/lifestyle/29843469_1_comic-strip-creators-webcomics-diesel-sweeties/3 | archive-date = December 11, 2011 | url-status = dead }}</ref> as well through advertising, and the site's own store and record label, What Pumpkin.<ref name="WP">{{cite web|url=http://www.whatpumpkin.com/|title=What Pumpkin Projects and Stores|publisher=What Pumpkin Studios|access-date=June 13, 2016}}</ref> Music used in the comics is sold through Bandcamp.<ref>{{Cite web|title=HIVESWAP: ACT 2 Original Soundtrack, by James Roach, Toby Fox, and Clark Powell|url=https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/|access-date=2020-12-01|website=Homestuck}}</ref> In 2014 a majority of merchandise began a slow migration to We Love Fine.<ref name="Hussie">{{cite web | last = Hussie | first = Andrew | title = introdoucing, 20104............ the NEWD YEAR | work = MSPaintAdventures.com | date = January 24, 2014 | url = http://mspaintadventures.com/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140208014631/http://mspaintadventures.com/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = February 8, 2014 }}</ref> In October 2017, VIZ Media announced acquisition of the publishing rights to ''Homestuck'', and their plans to republish the graphic novel adaptations of ''Homestuck'' starting in April 2018.<ref name="VIZ">{{cite web | url = https://www.viz.com/news/newsroom/v/1006506 | title = VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION AND PUBLISHING PLANS FOR HOMESTUCK COLLECTOR'S EDITION SERIES | publisher = VIZ Media | access-date = April 8, 2018}}</ref>

Today, the MS Paint Adventures website redirects to ''homestuck.com''; ''Homestuck'' and Problem Sleuth were gradually republished over several months, while most works outside of those are currently unavailable. Later works such as ''Homestuck: Beyond Canon'' are on their own websites. MS Paint Adventures is still available online, albeit in a slightly buggy form, at its website.{{efn|Which is {{URL|mspaintadventures.com/newindex.php}}}}

==Works==

===Early adventures=== '''''Jailbreak''''', the first adventure written by Andrew Hussie, was originally a forum game following an unnamed man as he attempts to escape from a prison cell, first launched on September 25, 2006.<ref name=Kotaku/> The first page of ''Jailbreak'' is the only panel of any ''MS Paint Adventures'' work actually created using MS Paint; Hussie created the rest of ''Jailbreak'' and later webcomics using Photoshop.<ref name=Polygon>{{cite web|url=http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/24/3780850/land-of-memes-and-trolls-the-epic-and-ridiculous-self-aware-world-of|website=Polygon|title=Land of Memes and Trolls: The Epic and Ridiculous Self-Aware World of Homestuck|last=Funk|first=John|date=2012-10-15}}</ref> ''Jailbreak'' was written entirely as a forum adventure, and the first suggestion anyone posted was taken, however ridiculous, leading to a rambling and haphazard story line. ''Jailbreak'' was only drawn to a vague conclusion, and Hussie considers it unfinished, but wishes to leave it as is. This led to the creation of the ''MSPA'' site and the closed format of later adventures.<ref name=newreader>{{cite web|url=http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?viewpage=new|publisher=MS Paint Adventures|title=New Reader?|access-date=June 13, 2016}}</ref> In 2011, a short official ending was added to ''Jailbreak'' as a callback during a notably lengthy ''Homestuck'' hiatus.

The second adventure, '''''Bard Quest''''', was an experiment in creating multiple, branching paths rather than a single linear storyline. In ''Bard Quest'', Hussie provided choices as hyperlinks in a choose-your-own-adventure format.<ref name=Polygon /> It was the first adventure to be hosted on its own website, but was ultimately left unfinished due to the difficulty Hussie faced in maintaining the complex web of branching storylines.<ref name=newreader/> ''Bard Quest'' was updated from June 12 to July 6, 2007, after which the site was left on hiatus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?viewlog=2|publisher=MS Paint Adventures|title=Bard Quest Adventure Log|access-date=June 13, 2016}}</ref>

===''Problem Sleuth''=== A parody of interactive fiction games and the film noir genre, '''''Problem Sleuth''''' began by presenting three detectives who are attempting to escape from their respective offices, though the story quickly turned into a pastiche of video games and science fiction.<ref name=Meeks/> ''Problem Sleuth'' ran from March 10, 2008, to April 7, 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?viewlog=4|publisher=MS Paint Adventures|title=Problem Sleuth Adventure Log|access-date=June 13, 2016}}</ref> Unlike its predecessors, it received a proper ending, becoming the first complete adventure. It is the second-longest comic on the website so far, after ''Homestuck'', with 1,674 pages.

===''Homestuck''=== {{main|Homestuck}} ''Homestuck'' is the longest adventure hosted on ''MS Paint Adventures'' with over 8,000 pages and over 800,000 words.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://readmspa.org/stats/|title=MS Paint Adventures: Statistics|website=readmspa.org|access-date=2019-03-26}}</ref> It ran from April 13, 2009, to April 13, 2016, and follows four teenagers as they play a reality-altering video game that brings about the end of the world. They must work with an alien species from another universe to create their own universe and essentially become its "owners". ''Homestuck''<nowiki/>'s basic premise is inspired by games like ''The Sims'', ''Spore'' and ''EarthBound''.<ref name=McGown/> As in ''Problem Sleuth'', the adventure is characterized by time travel, mystery, a complex fictional universe, and frequent references to pop culture and previous adventures. Changes from previous stories include an emphasis on contemporary society, such as online gaming and Internet culture, which contrasts with the historical settings of ''Bard Quest'' and ''Problem Sleuth''.<ref name=Meeks/> Additionally, this adventure introduced complex Flash animations and games, many making use of music and assets contributed by other artists.<ref name="Beta">{{cite news |title=A Noob's Guide to Homestuck, the Favorite Webcomic of Internetty Teens Everywhere |author=Jessica Roy |url=http://betabeat.com/2012/09/a-noobs-guide-to-homestuck-the-favorite-webcomic-of-internetty-teens-everywhere/ |newspaper=Betabeat |date=10 September 2012 |access-date=11 September 2012}}</ref> This represented a step-up from previous adventures which exclusively used GIF images for animation. Ten major soundtrack albums have been released under the comic's own record label, What Pumpkin, in addition to fourteen side albums.<ref name=Kotaku/><ref>{{cite news |title=Behind the wonderful and weird soundtrack to Homestuck |author=Lauren Rae Orsini |url=http://www.dailydot.com/culture/homestuck-music-clark-powell/ |newspaper=The Daily Dot |date=3 September 2012 |access-date=13 September 2012}}</ref>

''Homestuck'' has a large following and fandom. ''Homestuck'' has been compared to James Joyce's ''Ulysses'' in relation to the webcomic's complexity and how the task of finishing it is an example of effort justification.<ref>{{cite news |title=Is Homestuck the Ulysses of the Internet? |author=Mike Rugnetta |url=https://www.pbs.org/arts/gallery/idea-channel-season1/idea-channel-s1e20-homestuck/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918082832/http://www.pbs.org/arts/gallery/idea-channel-season1/idea-channel-s1e20-homestuck/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 18, 2012 |newspaper=PBS Idea Channel |date=September 5, 2012 |access-date=September 5, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Is Homestuck the "Ulysses" of the Internet? |author=Lauren Rae Orsini |url=http://www.dailydot.com/culture/homestuck-ulysses-james-joyce-internet/ |newspaper=The Daily Dot |date=6 September 2012 |access-date=13 September 2012}}</ref> ''Homestuck''{{'}}s Adventure Game Kickstarter reached approximately $2,485,506 of a pledged $700,000 by the ending of the fund, and had 24,346 backers. The video game was expected to be released some time in early to mid 2015, but was delayed to January 2016 and then again to January 2017 until September 14, 2017, when ''Hiveswap'' was released. Hussie also stated that he will make an epilogue for ''Homestuck'' with Viz Media's help.

===''Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff''=== ''Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff'' is a spin-off of ''Homestuck''. Within ''Homestuck'', the comic ''Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff'' is written by the character Dave Strider, and several actual comics were produced by Hussie. It is presented in a different format than the other adventures, formatted more similarly to that of a traditional comic, having multiple panels per page.

===''Jester Quest''=== ''Jester Quest'' is an ongoing sequel to ''Bard Quest''. It was announced in The Official Homestuck Discord Server on September 7th, 2025, being the first MS Paint Adventure to begin since ''Homestuck'' started in 2009. It follows an unnamed jester who reads ''Bard Quest'' and notices it has not updated in 18 years. Updates to ''Jester Quest'' were paused on September 10, 2025, and Act 2 was released on December 12, 2025.

=== Associated works === Other works have been sequels of MS Paint Adventure stories, but never hosted on that website. ''The Homestuck Epilogues'' is a partially canon continuation of ''Homestuck'' that ran from April 13 to April 20, 2019. This also is formatted differently from the other adventures, as there are no pictures. There are two different plotlines, a "more canon" one represented by meat, and a "less canonical" one, represented by candy. ''Homestuck: Beyond Canon'' is the second most recent work of Homestuck's franchise. It was launched on October 25, 2019, and continues the plot of ''Homestuck'' and its epilogues. The new webcomic was at first a collaboration between What Pumpkin and Snake Solution Studios LLP. It started with a new writing team led by Kate Mitchell and Andrew Hussie, who both later resigned from the writing team and the comic was put on hold indefinitely on December 25, 2020. On October 8, 2023, it was announced that production had been restarted by a new group of authors (many of whom have worked on the series in the past) under the name "Homestuck Independent Creative Union", spearheaded by Hiveswap composer James Roach and Hussie acting as Executive Producer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Homestuck^2: News |url=https://www.homestuck2.com/news|access-date=2023-10-29 |website=Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon}}</ref> Updates are planned to be monthly and several have already been published.

== Conversion from Flash and closure of website == On April 2, 2018, the site was updated to automatically redirect to Homestuck.com, although the majority of content on the MS Paint Adventures site is still available on Homestuck.com. Pages operating through the Flash software were converted by workers at VIZ Media into HTML formats or video files. Andrew Hussie said that he had been thinking about the obsolescence of Flash and that it was never his intent for MSPA to last forever "or to concern myself with maintaining a labyrinthine, crudely-coded website for the rest of my life."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Homestuck News|url=https://www.homestuck.com/news|access-date=2018-04-16|website=www.homestuck.com|language=en-US}}</ref> However as of 2024, the site is online and does not redirect to Homestuck.com when visited directly. Due to the broken state of Homestuck.com, several community members have created an unofficial collection to view Homestuck in its original state, with a fork run by the Homestuck Independent Creative Union as of 2024.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Unoffical Homestuck Collection |url=https://github.com/homestuck/unofficial-homestuck-collection |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=github.com}}</ref> Homestuck.com began to republish the comic in September 2025, and would finish this process on January 8, 2026. Problem Sleuth and Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff are also fully available to read, though Jailbreak and Bard Quest are not directly linked to from the comic are still unavailable.

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== {{Portal|Internet|Comics}} * {{Official website|http://www.homestuck.com/}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.mspaintadventures.com |title=MS Paint Adventures |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625194237/http://www.mspaintadventures.com/ |quote=(c. Bard Quest) |access-date=February 13, 2009}} * {{wikia|homestuck}} * {{cite web|url=http://www.whatpumpkin.com/|title=What Pumpkin|work=Directory|series=Fan sites and merchandising}} * {{cite web |url= https://topatoco.com/collections/mspa |title= MS Paint Adventures |series= Merchandising |website= TopatoCo }}

{{MSPA|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ms Paint Adventures}} Category:MS Paint Adventures Category:2000s webcomics Category:2010s webcomics Category:2007 webcomic debuts Category:Video game webcomics