Homegames: An Open-Source Browser-Based Game Platform

Homegames is a free and open-source platform designed for the creation, publication, and playing of browser-based games. Developed as a solo side project since 2018, the platform enables users to create games using an integrated code editor and share them with the world or keep them private.

Browser-Based Game Development

Homegames provides a comprehensive suite of tools for game developers to build games directly in the browser. The platform includes a simple code editor and a live game preview feature, which allows developers to test changes in real-time during multiplayer sessions.

Asset management is integrated into the Homegames Studio, where users can upload their own files or create assets by drawing or recording directly within the studio environment.

Open Source and Self-Hosting Capabilities

The entire Homegames ecosystem—including the platform code, the games created on it, and the website—is licensed under GPLv3. This open-source approach ensures that the games and the platform itself can be preserved regardless of the platform's central website.

Key architectural features include:

• Self-hosting: The platform and its API are designed to be self-hostable on a user's own hardware.
• Preservation: By making the code open source, the project ensures that user-created games can persist even if the primary service provider ceases operations.

Community Feedback and User Experience

Users on Hacker News discussed the a few technical hurdles and questions regarding the platform's architecture. Several users reported experiencing "too many requests" errors or connectivity issues when attempting to join game sessions.

Technical queries from the community focused on the lead developer's architectural choices, specifically the requirement for "sessions" to run games. Users questioned whether the games run entirely client-side or if they require a constant connection to the API to function, and some users expressed a desire for fully static exports of games created on the platform.