What's working for Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell right now?

§02

What they're making lately

Kurzgesagt currently produces a mix of short-form science explainers and longer deep dives. The short videos, typically around 70 seconds, cover diverse scientific topics such as "Let’s Cook a Planet!" and "Why Does Cocaine Feel So Good?". Longer videos, like "This Is the Scariest Place in The Universe" and "The Most Insane Megaproject You Never Heard About," explore more complex concepts with greater depth. The channel maintains a consistent upload cadence, averaging 4.5 days between uploads, with 24 of the last 25 videos being long-form content.

§03

What landed

The hits, in context

1 of 25 videos · ≥ 3× the typical view count

A typical video here pulls in around 1.4M views. One blew past that. The biggest, 5× higher than the rest.

01

This Is the Scariest Place in The Universe

6,648,019 views·Mar 2026

+360%

vs. median

The hook

The video starts by immediately posing a grand, unsettling question about the universe, suggesting that most of it is not beautiful but rather vast, silent, and empty. It promises to reveal the 'cosmic voids' and their terrifying implications.

The thumbnail

The thumbnail features the word "SUPERVOIDS" in large, white, all-caps text against a dark, intricate, web-like background. A small, glowing red arrow with a faint "Hello...?" text points into the darkness, creating a sense of isolation and mystery.

Why it broke

This video broke out because it taps into a primal human curiosity and fear about the unknown and the vastness of space, a topic Kurzgesagt excels at. The longer format (554 seconds) allows for a more in-depth exploration of this complex and intriguing subject, which is a departure from their typical 72-second median duration. The title and thumbnail effectively convey the unsettling nature of the topic, drawing viewers in with a strong emotional hook.

What they have in common

1 pattern identified

01

Videos that explore vast, existential, or potentially frightening scientific concepts tend to break out, especially when they are longer than the typical short-form content.

2 examples

This Is the Scariest Place in The Universe

The Most Insane Megaproject You Never Heard About

Median views1.4M↑ +84%cohort784.9K

Likes / view4.8%↑ +1.4ppcohort3.4%

Comments / view0.1%→ 0.0ppcohort0.1%

§04

Rhythm

25 uploads · Jan 2026 → Apr 2026

How often they posted

They uploaded about twice a week.

Taller bars = more uploads in that window. Gaps are silence.

Jan 2026each column ≈ 2 daysApr 2026

About twice a week

Roughly two videos a week, frequent enough to build anticipation.

~5 days between uploads

March 2026

Their busiest month: more uploads landed in March 2026 than any other.

peak month

Uploads per week1.6/wk↑ +30%cohort1.2/wk

Days between3.5d↓ −50%cohort7.0d

§05

Length & format

25 videos

How long they ran

Most videos run between a quick 1-minute watch and a meatier 1-minute session, landing around the 1-minute mark.

Shorts vs full videos25 total

1

Short (under a minute)

24

Full videos (longer watches)

How long they actually areshortest → longest

1m 12stypical length

2m4m6m8m10m12m

shortest59s

longest13m 6s

Each dot is one video. Most cluster in the orange band, between a 1-minute watch and a 1-minute session. The longest stretched all the way to 13m 6s.

Shorts share4.0%↓ −15ppcohort18.6%

Long-form share96.0%↑ +15ppcohort81.4%

Median length1:12↓ −94%cohort21:16

§06

Top tags

#kurzgezagt25#kurzgesatg25#kurzgsagt25#kurzgessagt25#kurzgesagtz25#kurzgazagt25#kurzgesaagt25#curzgesagt25#kurzgesakt25#kurzgesaht25

§07

How they title things

25 titles read

The voice in the headlines

Their titles are short and punchy (fits in one glance), and they really like to end with “!”.

!

A handful of titles end with “!”

12%of titles

“Let’s Cook a Planet!”

“We Made A New Channel!”

A handful of titles ask a question

12%

Just a few titles shout in ALL CAPS

8%

Just a few titles use a number

4%

None of titles use an emoji

0%

Typical length

28characters · about a sentence long

3060100

Average title length28 ch↓ −37%cohort44 ch

Titles with ?12.0%↑ +2.5ppcohort9.5%

Titles with !12.0%↑ +8.7ppcohort3.3%

Titles with #4.0%↓ −26ppcohort30.2%

Titles with emoji0.0%↓ −0.4ppcohort0.4%

§08

When they hit publish

25 uploads

Day & time of release

Most videos drop on a Thursday, usually in the afternoon.

Across the weekvideos per day

9

Mon

2

Tue

1

Wed

10

Thu

1

Fri

2

Sat

0

Sun

Thursdays are the favorite. Roughly 40% of uploads land then.

Time of dayUTC hour

12am6amnoon6pm11pm

They publish most often in the afternoon. The busiest hour is around 3pm UTC. Mornings and middays are mostly quiet.

middaywhen most uploads happen

late nightwhen uploads almost never happen

6 of 7days of the week saw an upload

§09

What to do with this

Not every tactic transfers. Here's the triage: what's safe to copy, what's stuck to this channel, and what looks great until it bites you.

Copy this

Likely to work for similar channels.

Use titles that directly ask a question or make a compelling claim to immediately capture viewer interest.
Employ strong visual contrast and minimal, impactful text overlays in thumbnails.
Break from short-form content to create longer, more detailed videos when the topic warrants it.
Focus on explaining complex scientific concepts in an accessible and engaging way.

Won't transfer

Worked here, channel-specific.

The channel's highly stylized animation and distinct visual branding are unique and would be difficult for another creator to replicate without significant resources.
The established authority and trust Kurzgesagt has built over many years allow them to tackle sensitive topics like "Why Does Cocaine Feel So Good?" with credibility that new channels lack.
The ability to consistently produce high-quality, research-intensive content requires a dedicated team, which is not feasible for most individual creators.

Watch out

Worked, but carries risk.

Producing longer, in-depth animated videos is resource-intensive and could lead to creator burnout if not managed carefully.
While existential topics perform well, consistently focusing on 'scary' or 'insane' subjects might lead to audience fatigue or a perception of sensationalism.
Tackling complex scientific topics requires rigorous fact-checking, and any inaccuracies could damage a channel's credibility.

§10

Your next move

A testable hypothesis built from this window.

Boiled down: if you wanted to learn from this channel's recent run, here's what to actually try next.

Test this

Produce a long-form video (over 5 minutes) that explores a 'what if' scenario or an existential question about the universe or humanity, using a title that makes a bold, intriguing statement and a thumbnail with contrasting text and a mysterious visual.

Why

The breakout video "This Is the Scariest Place in The Universe" (6.6M views) and "The Most Insane Megaproject You Never Heard About" (2.9M views) demonstrate that longer videos on grand, speculative, or unsettling scientific topics significantly outperform the channel's median views (1.4M views). These videos leverage strong, curiosity-driven titles and visually striking thumbnails to draw in a large audience.

What could break

This approach relies on the channel's established reputation for high-quality scientific explanation and animation; a new creator might struggle to maintain engagement for a longer duration without similar production values. Additionally, the sample size of long-form breakouts is small (2 videos), so the signal may not be robust enough to guarantee consistent results.

§11

Share this snapshot

7 tweets · Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell

An X thread built from this recent window. Numbers, the breakout, the hypothesis, and a link back. Copy as-is or edit first.

You@yourhandlenow01/07
I read Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell's last 25 videos with growth-playbook.xyz 📚 Here's what's landing right now 🧵
114/280
You@yourhandlenow02/07
✨ Existential science deep dives Long-form videos with existential or 'what if' science topics, especially those exploring the vastness or dangers of the universe, are currently driving significantly higher views and engagement.
229/280
You@yourhandlenow03/07
📊 The pace • 25 videos · Jan 2026 → Apr 2026 • a new upload every ~4 days • ~1.4M median views
95/280
You@yourhandlenow04/07
🚀 The biggest hit: "This Is the Scariest Place in The Universe" 6.6M views · 5× the typical This video broke out because it taps into a primal human curiosity and fear about the unknown and the vastness of space, a topic Kurzgesagt excels at.
245/280
You@yourhandlenow05/07
🎯 What I'd test next: Produce a long-form video (over 5 minutes) that explores a 'what if' scenario or an existential question about the universe or humanity, using a title that makes a bold, intriguing statement and a thumbnail with contrasting text and a mysterious visual. The breakout video "This Is the Scariest Place in The Universe" (6.
346/280
You@yourhandlenow06/07
💡 If you'd copy one thing: Use titles that directly ask a question or make a compelling claim to immediately capture viewer interest.
134/280
You@yourhandlenow07/07
Want this for any channel? Paste a YouTube URL → get a snapshot in ~1 min 🚀 growth-playbook.xyz
98/280