Wikipedia
Sploofus is a web site featuring trivia quizzes and other online games.
Trivia quizzes are submitted by site members and checked by one of 28 site editors before going live. WordPuzzles (similar to the game hangman) are written by both editors and paying players, and the Trivia Questions of the Day (selected randomly for each user from a large database of questions submitted by the editors) are created by the editorial staff. WordRounds and WordMatches are designed to test vocabulary knowledge and dexterity and are created by an independent third party for the webmaster.
The base play is free, and there are two paying levels: Gold, which stops pop-ups and outside advertising and allows for twice-daily play of the WordPuzzles, and Platinum, which allows players to write WordPuzzles.
Contestants can challenge other members directly above them in the total-point ranking to a Showdown. This allows the challenger to win or lose points, while the person challenged would break even if he loses the Showdown or win points from the challenger if he is victorious in the Showdown.
Additionally, Wagers allow every contestant to bet any number of points up to a predetermined maximum, based on 25% of each player's total points. Successful wagerers won that number, and losers forfeited that number.
The Sploofus site was originally created by Justin Morton in 2004 and grew to a membership of more than 67,000 members by November 2009. It went offline in June 2010 with no notice, but a new version of the site, called "Sploofus Island", began to appear in November 2010. This version of the website allowed no interaction and had no game play capability. This version went down in March 2011 when Sploofus announced that it was returning in April 2011 under new management. The site returned in its original (pre-Island) state on April 20, 2011.