# Rads and mutations > How players earn rads, what exposure levels do, how mutations and badges work, and what happens to progress made before you sign in. Rads are what the site pays you in. There is nothing to spend them on, and they only go up. Enough of them raise your exposure level, and a few things you do along the way hand out mutations. You don't need any of this to play a game. ## Earn rads You need a badge (an account with a handle) to earn rads. See [Badges](#badges). | Action | Rads | How often | | --- | --- | --- | | Play a game | 5 | Once per game per day (UTC). | | Rate a game | 10 | Once per game. Changing your rating doesn't pay again. | | Post a comment | 15 | Every comment, but only the first 10 in any 24 hours pay. | | Irradiate a comment | 2 | Once per comment. | | Have your comment irradiated | 1 | Once per person per comment. | | Set a score on a game's leaderboard | 5 | Once per leaderboard per game. | | Vote in containment | 3 | Once per game per round. You can change your vote for free. | | Vote with the containment verdict | 10 | Paid when judgment closes. Once per game per round. | | Leave feedback on a playtest | 10 | Every feedback, but only the first 10 in any 24 hours pay. | | Unlock a mutation | 25, 50, 100 or 250 | Once per mutation, by [tier](#tiers). | | Get your game released from containment | 100 | Developers only. Once per game. | Every award is recorded once. Repeating an action pays nothing, and nothing pays twice. Votes are explained in [Containment](/docs/containment) and feedback in [Playtests](/docs/playtests). ## Exposure levels Your total rads set your exposure level, from 0 to 9. Your level shows on your profile, and as a tag like `L3` beside your name on comments. | Level | Name | Rads needed | | --- | --- | --- | | 0 | Clean | 0 | | 1 | Exposed | 100 | | 2 | Irradiated | 300 | | 3 | Glowing | 700 | | 4 | Contaminated | 1,500 | | 5 | Mutating | 3,000 | | 6 | Mutant | 6,000 | | 7 | Radioactive | 12,000 | | 8 | Critical | 25,000 | | 9 | Meltdown | 50,000 | ### What your level does Two things. - **It sets your weight in containment votes.** See the table below. - **Level 8 unlocks the Critical Mass mutation.** Nothing else on the site depends on your level. It doesn't unlock features and it doesn't change what your comments or ratings do. ### Vote weight When new games are in [containment](/docs/containment), your vote counts for more the higher your level. | Levels | Vote weight | | --- | --- | | 0 to 2 | 1 | | 3 to 5 | 2 | | 6 to 8 | 3 | | 9 | 4 | Your weight is set when you vote. If you change your vote, it is worked out again at that moment. ## Mutations Mutations are achievements. Each one pays rads once, when you unlock it. ### Tiers | Tier | Rads | | --- | --- | | Alpha | 25 | | Beta | 50 | | Gamma | 100 | | Cherenkov | 250 | Alpha is the most common and Cherenkov is the rarest. ### Site mutations These come from things you do on the site. | Mutation | Tier | How | | --- | --- | --- | | First Contact | Alpha | Visit the site. It unlocks by itself. | | Geiger Happy | Alpha | Rate a game. | | Juror | Alpha | Vote in containment. | | Test Subject | Alpha | Leave feedback on a playtest. | | Field Reporter | Beta | Post a comment. | | Called It | Beta | Vote the way containment went. | | Cleared | Beta | Get developer access. | | Breach | Gamma | Get one of your games released from containment. | | Critical Mass | Cherenkov | Reach exposure level 8. | The set also includes a few easter eggs and some secret mutations. Secret ones show as a question mark on your profile until you unlock them, and this page won't spoil them. ### Game mutations Developers can give their games their own mutations, in the same four tiers with the same rads. You unlock one by playing the game while signed in with a badge. They appear on your profile under **Game mutations**, grouped by game. Game mutations only count when the game is public. In a draft preview or a [playtest](/docs/playtests), an unlock is logged for the developer and nothing is kept. ## Badges Your badge is your account. 1. Sign in with Discord or GitHub. Accounts that share an email address are linked. 2. Claim a handle. It is 3 to 20 characters: lowercase letters, numbers and underscores. Some words are reserved. It becomes your profile address. 3. Choose a display name, up to 40 characters. Until you claim a handle you can browse, but you can't rate, comment, vote or earn rads. ### Your profile Your profile is at `/u/`, and the account menu links to it as **Your badge**. It is public. It shows your level and rads, your mutations (locked ones included), your game mutations, your recent ratings and comments, and the games you have made if you are a developer. ## Irradiate a comment To irradiate a comment is to like it. Press the irradiate button on any comment except your own. - You get 2 rads and the author gets 1. - Pressing it again removes it. That doesn't take rads back, and irradiating the same comment again doesn't pay again. - You need a badge. ## Before you sign in Without an account, your progress lives in your browser's local storage. Playing games and the easter-egg mutations earn there. Rating, comments, votes, scores and game mutations need a badge, so they don't count. When you claim a handle: - **Mutations carry over.** First Contact and any easter-egg mutations you unlocked in this browser come with you. Each pays its tier's rads on your new account. - **Loose rads don't.** The server has to see you earn them, so rads counted only in your browser are left behind. - **The server's numbers win.** Once you are signed in, the level and rads you see are the account's. Clearing your browser's site data clears local progress. ## Developers Developers earn rads like anyone else, except from their own games: - Playing, commenting on, unlocking mutations in and setting scores on their own games pay nothing. They can still unlock the mutations and comment. - They can't rate their own games or vote on them in containment. - They can't leave feedback on their own playtest. - Plays of their own drafts don't count as plays. A developer whose game is released earns 100 rads and the Breach mutation.