Methodology
How this shelf is built
This page exists so you can check our work. It describes where the games come from, what we change, how a build gets on the shelf, and where the approach stops working.
LAST REVIEWED 15 NOV 2026 · 104 BUILDS ON SHELF
1. Sourcing
The shelf has two tracks. 24 adapted builds start as an open-source project on GitHub or a public game-jam release; we read the licence before anything else. MIT, BSD, Apache-2.0, Unlicense and CC0 builds can be redistributed. GPL and unlicensed projects are excluded even when they are technically excellent.
80 original builds were made for this site on a shared HTML5 runtime. Their code is ours, they are not ports of anyone else's game, and their pages say "original build" instead of naming an upstream author.
Adapted builds carry one of these licences: MIT, Unlicense. Each adapted game page links to the upstream repository and names the author, and the licence file stays inside the build folder.
2. What we change
| Level | What it means | Status |
|---|---|---|
| ORIGINAL | Built for this site on a shared runtime: our own loop, tuning, theme art, audio and copy. The game page says "original build". | 80 current builds |
| SHELF | Upstream game with its own loop and rules. We may adjust the page shell, asset paths, UI language and palette; we do not rewrite the game. | 24 current builds |
| SKINNED | Same core loop with a full visual identity: logo, palette, audio and end screen, delivered as a standalone zip. | Paid exports; some shelf builds already use a light skin |
| REBUILT | Our own implementation of an archetype with new mechanics, levels and tuning. | Paid work, in progress |
We do not describe an adapted build as our original game. If a page says "adapted from", the gameplay code is the upstream author's work. If it says "original build", the code was written for this site.
3. The gate a build has to pass
- Licence clear. A named licence that allows redistribution and commercial use, with the notice kept in the folder.
- Loads clean. Opens from our own domain with no console errors and no missing assets.
- Actually playable. Input works, the loop starts, and the game responds during a short test session. We do not claim to have completed every build.
- Controls documented. The page lists the real keys, not a generic "use WASD" guess.
- Viewport sane. The frame is usable at 1440 px and at 390 px, even when the game itself is desktop-only.
- No surprise network calls. Gameplay assets are served from our domain. Some builds load a rendering library from a public CDN; that is noted on the page.
- Attribution present. Author, repository and licence visible without opening a modal.
4. How matching works
The matcher is a scoring function, not a model. Your brief is normalized, stop words are removed, and a hand-written synonym list expands a few dozen terms. Each term is scored against the game's tags, genre, setting, mechanics, style and pitch. A dimension hint adds or subtracts points, and the top six results are returned with the terms that matched.
The same brief always produces the same order. There is no personalization, no session history and no hidden boost for paid builds. If nothing scores, the page says so.
5. Where this approach fails
- Novel briefs. A shelf of 104 games cannot cover every combination. Unusual briefs get a weak or empty match, and we would rather show that than invent a result.
- True generation. We do not generate a new game from your sentence at request time. If that is what you need, this is not the tool.
- Roblox and Unity publishing. We make browser builds. We do not export to Roblox Studio, Unity or a console storefront.
- Licence edge cases. A permissive licence on the repository does not always mean every asset is cleared. When an asset's provenance is unclear, the build stays off the shelf.
6. Corrections
If a licence, author credit or control description is wrong, it should be fixed rather than argued about. Every game page links to its upstream source so the claim can be checked directly.
Report a correction