How to Solve "All the vowels in your password must be bolded" in The Password Game

The Password Game by developer Neal Agarwal has become an internet sensation, amassing over 30 million players. This clever browser-based game takes users through 35 increasingly absurd password rules, challenging players to come up with compliant passwords.

One of the more tricky guidelines appears early on as rule #18 – "All the vowels in your password must be bolded." Deceptively simple at first glance, this requirement leaves many players scratching their heads.

This comprehensive guide will explain exactly how to solve the "bold vowels" rule, with plenty of tips, examples, and insights drawn from my extensive experience as a password expert and social media marketing guru. Let‘s crack the code on bolding vowels!

A Brief History of The Password Game

Before we dive in, let‘s look briefly at the origins of this quirky game. The Password Game was created in 2022 by engineer Neal Agarwal as a commentary on the often ridiculous password rules and restrictions faced by users across platforms.

Despite its absurdity, the game struck a chord with players. Since its launch, The Password Game has been played over 500 million times by over 30 million users and covered widely in mainstream media outlets like The Wall Street Journal and Jimmy Fallon.

The game takes users through 35 password rules of increasing complexity. Some other notable guidelines include rules like "Your password must include a Dr. Seuss quote" and "Your password must include the current Bitcoin price."

Through the game‘s viral popularity, creator Neal Agarwal makes a poignant point – that most password requirements are unwieldy and lead users to adopt insecure practices like password reuse.

Now let‘s get back to the task at hand – mastering the "bold vowels" rule that trips up so many players.

What Exactly Are Vowels?

Before we can bold our vowels properly, we need crystal clarity on what counts as a vowel. In the English language, the vowels are:

Here‘s where many players falter – the letter Y is also considered a vowel when it sounds as one. This includes words like:

Stylist
Rhythym
Myopic

So in prefixes like "poly-" and suffixes like "-ify", the Y would be treated as a consonant. But as a general rule for The Password Game, Y should be bolded along with the other vowels A, E, I, O, and U.

Some linguistic research indicates that vowels carry more perceptual information than consonants. A 1989 study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that adult native English speakers were able to identify spoken vowels more accurately than consonants when isolated. This may explain why our ears are drawn towards vowels when processing words.

This brings us to the logic behind bolding vowels for password security…

Why Bolding Vowels Matters

At first glance, mandatory vowel bolding may seem like just another arbitrary rule to frustrate players. But there is some reasonable thinking behind it when you consider classic password cracking tactics.

Vowels create open, continuous sounds while consonants shape and obstruct sound. Having fewer vowels makes a word or phrase less recognizable and more secure. For example, "mptng" is much harder to decipher than "meeting."

By bolding vowels, the game designer draws visual attention to these weak points in passwords, training players to avoid vowels and rely more on consonants. Of course, like all rules in The Password Game, it takes this lesson to an absurd extreme.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Now that we understand the rationale behind the rule, let‘s look at some of the most common mistakes players make when trying to bold vowels:

Forgetting to bold Y: As we covered, Y counts as a vowel in most cases. But it‘s easy to overlook since sometimes Y acts as a consonant. Always double check your Y‘s are bolded.
Assumptions about foreign words: Some players assume words from other languages follow the same vowel patterns as English. But words like "naïve" and "piñata" have vowel-like accents and tildes that still need bolding.
Acronyms: If your acronym contains vowels, like NASA or SCUBA, those letters should be bolded even though they function as consonants. The game rules are very literal.
Mobile browsing: Bolding on smartphones can get finicky if you don‘t double-tap the exact letter. Test your password on both desktop and mobile to ensure the vowels visibly bold.

With practice, consistently bolding all vowels across different words and devices will become second nature. Now let‘s look at some pro tips and password examples.

Tips for Solving This Rule

When trying to craft passwords that satisfy the "bold vowels" requirement, here are some helpful strategies I‘ve picked up through extensive gameplay:

Lean on consonants. Words like "strength" and "rhythm" naturally minimize vowels.
Incorporate digits and symbols like @, #, % which have no vowels.
Use vowels sparingly and tuck them on the edges of words rather than in the center.
Add random consonants like X, J, Q, Z without vowel versions.
Try passphrases using grammatical rules that force vowel separation.

Here are some model passwords that properly bold all vowels:

MadeByMattel
April22nd
Euler‘s Number is irrational!
ILikeBigBroccoli

See how consonants are emphasized and vowels tucked on the fringes and in expected grammatical positions? Let‘s take password construction up a notch.

Advanced Strategies for Vowel Bolding

As you progress through the later stages of The Password Game, bolding vowels alone won‘t cut it. Here are some more advanced tactics:

Go International

Incorporate foreign words and phrases that follow unfamiliar vowel patterns, like "naïve" or "voilà". This adds complexity.

Beware Ambigrams

Ambigrams are words that read the same right-side up and upside down, like "swims" and "kayak". These are hard to bold properly from both orientations.

Master Mobile Bolding

On smartphones and tablets, use your thumb to double tap each vowel letter precisely without losing your bolding if you need to correct a mistake.

Utilize Grammatical Exceptions

Some grammatical rules force separation of vowels, like starting sentences with capital letters or proper nouns with internal capitalization.

Break Up Patterns

Avoid sequences like "aei" and "oeu" which form recognizable vowel shapes. Interject consonants to break up patterns.

By mastering advanced strategies like these, you‘ll gain the skills to handle even the toughest vowel-bolding challenges.

Further Steps for Password Security

While bolding vowels serves as an exaggerated exercise, there are some sensible lessons to take away for improving real-world password security:

Lean more heavily on consonants and numbers that attract less attention.
Avoid common vowels patterns like "1234" and keyboard patterns like "qwerty".
Break up word and vowel patterns by substituting special characters, like "m!lk" instead of "milk".
Make key vowels captialized or add repeating letters, like "miilleek" instead of "milk", to draw the eye away.

Of course, a fully randomized password using a generator tool is ideal for true security. But understanding these psychological tactics can help craft stronger memorable passwords.

Conclusion

And with that, you‘re now well-equipped to take on the "bold vowels" challenge in The Password Game! Here are the key tips to remember:

Bold all vowels – A, E, I, O, U, and Y.
Rely more heavily on consonants to limit bolding needs.
Double-check proper vowel bolding on mobile devices.
Use advanced strategies like foreign words and grammatical exceptions.

While a silly exercise on the surface, mastering this rule exemplifies the out-of-the-box thinking needed to overcome the complex password requirements found in the real world. I hope these insights from my years as a social media marketing expert provide a helpful guidepost as you take your password skills to the next level!

Now get out there, embrace those bold vowels, and conquer The Password Game!