paladin-t/fantasy

A curated list of available fantasy consoles/computers.

FANTASY CONSOLES/COMPUTERS

This is a list of available fantasy consoles/computers. Including softwares which simulate virtual hardwares, with limited functionality. And always encourage creating and sharing tiny retro games and programs with built-in languages and tools.

Consoles and Computers

FC	Language	Price & License	Platform (Editing; Playing)	Display
3BC by Rodrigo Dornelles	3bc-lang	Free, AGPL 3.0	Windows, macOS, Linux, DOS, BSD, Docker, Arduino NES, Commodore64, Apple2, Atari5200	platform dependent (text only)
atto by James Livesey	BASIC	Free, MIT	Browser	640x480 (4:3)
BASIC8 by Tony Wang	BASIC	$14.99	Windows, macOS, Linux; Browser	160x128 (1.25:1)
Bitmelo by David Byers	JavaScript	Free	Windows, Browser	Configurable
Bitsy by Adam Le Doux	Instructions	Free, MIT	Browser	16x16 (1:1) 1bit sprites (8x8 per sprite)
BrainFuckConsole74 by AndOr	Brainfuck	Free	Browser	16x16 (1:1) 4bit
cel7 by rxi	fe (lisp-like)	NYOP	Windows, Linux	Configurable
Click4 by Josef Patoprsty	ASM	Free, MIT	Windows, macOS, Linux	64x64 (1:1)
Continuum 93 by EnthusiastGuy	ASM	Free for non-commercial use	Windows, MacOS x86_64, Linux aarch64 and x86_64, Raspberry PI 64 bit, Steam Deck	480x270 (16:9) 8bit palettes, 8 layers
CToy by Anaël Seghezzi	C	Free, zlib	Windows, macOS, Linux	128x128 (1:1)
DRAK-0 by Drew Wibbenmeyer	ChaiScript, LuaJIT (coming soon)	NYOP, MIT	Windows	320x240 (4:3)
DreamBox by Hazel Stagner	Rust	NYOP	Windows, Linux	640x480 (4:3)
ESP LGE by Igor(corax89)	C like	Free, GPLv3	Browser, custom handheld	128x128 (1:1)
Fancade by Martin Magni	Visual Scripting	F2P	iOS, Android, Browser	Voxel
FAZIC by Michał Kalbarczyk	BASIC	Free	Browser	320x240 (4:3)
Game Builder Garage by Nintendo	Visual	$29.99	NS	3D
Gamercade by Robbie Davenport	Any WebAssembly language: C/C++, Rust, Go, etc.	Free, Apache-2.0, MIT	Windows, macOS, Linux	Various (16:9)
Game Script by Constantine Tarasenkov	Game Script	Free	Windows, Linux, Android, Xbox One	3D
IBNIZ by viznut	Instructions	Free, zlib	Windows, Linux	256x256 (1:1)
Kate by Niini	Node.js	Free, Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL), Creative Commons Attribution v4.0 International,	Windows, Linux, Browser	Unknown
Leikr by Torbuntu	(Official) Groovy, (unofficial) Java, Kotlin	Free, Apache	Linux, Raspberry Pi, GameShell, Windows	240x160 (3:2)
LIKO-12 by RamiLego4Game	Lua	NYOP, MIT	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android	192x128 (3:2)
LowRes NX (LowRes Coder) by Timo Kloss	BASIC	Free, LGPL3	Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS	160x128 (1:25.1)
LuaG Console by Vulcalien	Lua	Free, GPLv3	Windows, Linux	160x160 (1:1)
luchok by Roman "shinkarom" Shynkarenko	Lua	Free, GNU GPL 3	libretro	64x32 (2:1)
Lumina by Artium	JavaScript	Free, MIT	Web	128x128, 64x64, 32x32 (1:1)
MakeCode Arcade by Microsoft	Blocks, JavaScript, TypeScript	Free, MIT	Browser; Raspberry Pi 0, custom handhelds	160x120 (4:3)
MEG-4 by bzt	C, BASIC, Assembly, Lua	Free, GPLv3	Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi, Browser, Bare matel	320 x 200 (scrollable), 640 x 400 (no scrolling), (1.6:1) 8bit
MegaZeux by Alexis Janson	Robotic	Free, GPLv2	Windows, macOS, Linux, Browser, ports	80x25 characters, Configurable
Micro16 by bitblitter	BASIC	Free	Windows	80x30 character mode, 640x480 (4:3) 1bit, 320x240 (4:3) 8bit
MicroW8 by exoticorn	WebAssembly, CurlyWas	Free, Unlicense	Browser; Windows, macOS, Linux	320x240 (4:3) 8bit
Mini Micro by Joe Strout	MiniScript	NYOP	Windows, macOS, Linux, Browser	960x640 (3:2), 8 layers
Minicube64 by ΛERIF°RM	Assembly	Free, ?	Windows, macOS, Linux	64x64 (1:1), 8bit
nano Jammer by Casual Effects	nano	Free, BSD	Browser	64x64 (1:1)
Nibble by Nibble Team	Lua	Free, GPLv3	Windows, macOS, Linux	400x240 (1.67:1) 24bit/7bit
Octo (CHIP-8) by John Earnest	ASM	Free, MIT	Browser	128x64 (2:1) 2bit
OK64 by LemonSpawn	TRSE, 6502 Assembly	Free, GPLv3	Windows, macOS, Linux	256x256 (1:1) 8bit
PEEKPOKE by ABA Games	JavaScript	Free, MIT	Browser	32x30 (16:15)
Phosphor by Marc Lepage	Lua	Free, MIT	Browser	192x128 (3:2)
PICO-8 by Lexaloffle	Lua	$14.99	Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspbery Pi; Browser	128x128 (1:1) 4bit
Picotron by Lexaloffle	Lua	$19.99	Windows, macOS, Linux; Browser	480x270, 240x135 (16:9) 6bit
Pix64 by ZappedCow	PNG	NYOP	Windows, Linux	64x64 (1:1)
Pixel Vision 8 by Pixel Vision 8	Lua	Free, MS-PL	Windows, macOS, Linux	256x240 (1.07:1)
PQ93 by pennie	MoonScript	Free	Windows	160x144 (1.11:1) 4bit
Prism-384 by Grapefruitopia Industries	JavaScript	$5	Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi	384x216 (16:9)
PuzzleScript, DungeonScript by Stephen Lavelle	Instructions	Free, MIT	Browser	Configurable, (DungeonScript) Voxel
PX8 by hallucino	Lua, Python	NYOP, MIT	Windows, macOS, Linux	Configurable
Pyxel by Takashi Kitao	Python	Free, MIT	Windows, macOS, Linux, Browser	256x256 (1:1)
quadplay by Casual Effects	PyxlScript	Free, LGPL3	Windows, macOS, Linux; Browser	384x224 (1.71:1)
Raccoon by Lutopia & Linheha	JavaScript	Free, Unlicense	Browser	128x128 (1:1)
Riko4 by Bryan	Lua	Free, MIT	Windows, macOS, Linux	280x160 (1.75:1)
SCRIPT-8 by Gabriel Florit	JavaScript	Free, MIT	Browser	128x128 (1:1)
SmileBASIC by SmileBoom	BASIC	$9.99, $24.99	3DS, NS	320x240 (4:3), 400x240 (1.67:1)
TIC-80 by Vadim Grigoruk	Lua, MoonScript, JavaScript, Fennel, Wren, Squirrel, Python, Ruby, Janet, Scheme	Free, $5 (Pro), MIT	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, 3DS, Browser	240x136 (1.76:1)
Varvara by Hundred Rabbits	Uxntal (forth-like)	Free, MIT	Windows, macOS, Linux, NDS, GBA, Playdate, etc.	Configurable 2bit
Vircon32 by Carra	C, Assembly	Free, BSD	Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi 4	640x360 (16:9) 32bit
Voxatron by Lexaloffle	micro-scripting	$19.99	Windows, macOS, Linux	Voxel
WASM-4 by Bruno Garcia	Any WebAssembly language: C/C++, Rust, Go, AssemblyScript	Free, MIT	Windows, macOS, Linux; Browser	160x160 (1:1) 2bit
YETI-16 by yeti0904	Instructions	Free, MIT	Windows, macOS, Linux	Configurable
yuki-js by Nik Coughlin	JavaScript (subset)	Free, MIT	Browser	Configurable
ZZT by Potomac Computer Systems	ZZT-OOP	Free, MIT	DOS, ports	80x25 characters

Jams and Experiments

FC	Language	Price & License	Platform (Editing; Playing)	Display
1Bit-Wonder by Brastin	Instructions	Free	Windows, Linux	225x125 (1.8:1)
4BOD by Puarsliburf games	ASM	Free	Windows, Browser	16x16 (1:1)
CHROMA-60 by Arkia	ASM	Free	Windows, Linux	240x135 (16:9)
DX8 by Robin Southern	ASM	Free, MIT	Windows	320x256 (1.25:1)
ECoS by MLJWare	Lua	NYOP	Windows, macOS, Linux	128x128 (1:1)
Marmmodore-1K by Felipe Alfonso	ASM	Free	Browser	16x16 (1:1)
Ps 8-32m by pstudio	Assembly	Free, Unlicense	Browser	160x96 (1.67:1)
Puarslitron by Puarsliburf	D-Code	Free	Windows	72x64 (3:2)
VectorBoy by David Jalbert	Lua	NYOP	Windows	Vector
VVpet by Gardrek	Lua	Free, ?	Löve	64x64x2, 128x128x4, Configurable

Others

• CHIP-8
• Retired ones

License

Contributing

• Ordered by: alphabet.
• Language: Mean built-in language(s) for end users, not the language in which it was created.
• NYOP: Name Your Own Price.

People find it difficult to search for this kind of software to play with, so the definition is relaxed for choosing available consoles. However, it's fairly simple to tell if one is not a fantasy console/computer:

1. Hardware such as RaspberryPi and Gamebuino are not
2. Emulators of real hardware (eg. NES, C64, DOSBox) are not
3. Generic graphics libraries and game engines are not
4. Programming IDEs and editors are not
5. Minecraft is not

As things keep evolving, feel free to update this list, or correct any mistakes. Pull requests are welcome.

fantasy's Issues

Pixel Vision 8 has its own site

Could you change PV8 to its main site at https://www.pixelvision8.com/

Also, there are a few pricing options:

Free (Limited tools), $9.99 (all tools) or $1/month (all versions plus extras)

Thanks!

Add TIS-100

Maybe we should add TIS-100 to the list? This is a game that consists of solving puzzles in assembly language for fantasy computer.

Looks like this game is quite popular and sometimes is used for implementing custom games like PONG. This is exactly the reason why it may be an interesting candidate for inclusion in the list.

add MicroW8 a web assembly fantasy console

https://exoticorn.github.io/microw8/

Uxn -- portable 8-bit virtual computer

Here's a link to their site: https://100r.co/site/uxn.html

Hacker News discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27185950

add IBNIZ?

not sure if it fits here, I left it @paladin-t to decide :)

http://pelulamu.net/ibniz/

Clarify ASM vs Instructions

What counts as "ASM" for the list versus "Instructions"? Click4 has you manually drawing in instructions and their arguments, yet is considered "ASM", while YETI-16 has an assembler but is called "Instructions". Furthermore, there are some differences, like how 4BoD basically runs the equivalent of .s files (no assembler step required) yet is "ASM".

I created a fantasy console: LuaG console.

It is still under development, but I already created a game using it.
I will add a JavaScript version to run games.
If you consider it valid, I'd like you to add it to the list.

https://github.com/Vulcalien/LuaG-Console

Just released my own fantasy console: DreamBox

Would like to suggest my own fantasy console for this list, which I just released the very first alpha build of: DreamBox.
It's NYOP on itch.io, heavily inspired by the 2nd-gen consoles of the 2000s (completely fixed-function 3D pipeline, no multi-texturing, no hardware T&L, displays at 640x480, PCM sample playback support, MIDI playback support), and runs WASM games! :)

https://dreambox3d.dev/
https://crit-chance-studios.itch.io/dreambox

Tic-80 supports Python

Wanted to make a small change to Tic-80's information but cannot do so without forking the repository. Tic-80 does have language support for Python.

Add an activity badge

There's quite a lot of systems in the list, and a lot of them are abandonned, or even barely started.

It'd be nice to have a badge to have an idea of the activity, if hosted on Github : https://shields.io/category/activity

Either last-modified, last-update, commit-activity, last-commit, etc.

Make Code arcade

Looks like fantasy console with optional hardware, not sure if it fits here
https://makecode.com/blog/arcade/01-18-2019
https://arcade.makecode.com/#editor

Add a functionality table?

A table showing whether each program has a code editor, map editor, sprite editor, and music editor would be helpful

Missing platforms for MEG-4

Hi,

First of all, thank you for adding MEG-4 to your list! There's a slight problem though, some of the platforms are missing.
Could you please add "Browser" and "Bare metal" to the Platform coloumn?

Reasoning: MEG-4 has an emscripten port too (you can see it running on the website), and I've put a lot of effort in creating the other. I call this bare metal, because this port produces a disk image without any Operating System (no Windows, no GNU/Linux) that you can yet boot on a desktop PC or run it in a virtual machine like qemu or VirtualBox.

Thanks,
bzt

http://tako80.net/ hacked

Seems like someone have spoofed the url. Maybe remove it from the list?

Would Petit Computer apply?

Petit Computer is a nintendo-approved (probably the only of its kind) software development application for every nintendo handheld since the DSi. It comes equipped with its own programming language (SmileBASIC), and its own slew of development tools, including a code and graphics editor, a sequencer, and more.
While running on an actual console, this application doesn't tap into its full potential, and comes with its own set of restrictions in order to simplify things so making games on it is fun, more than anything.
This might not specifically aim to be a fantasy console but I think given its featureset and restrictions imposed by the environment, I believe it comes dangerously close.

Add Bitsy to list

Since I noticed that Puzzlescript was listed as a fantasy console, I thought you should also add Bitsy to this list as well.

FC: Bitsy, Adam Ledoux
Language: custom scripting(?)
Price & License: Free, license-less but has a github repo
Platform: Browser
Display: 16x16 sprites which are 8x8 pixels

New Suggestion: Gamercade

https://gamercade.io/

A fantasy console with big emphasis on online multiplayer w/ rollback netcode.
Haven't tried it myself (as I'm still considering various choices around here) but seems good to me.

Missing fantasy consoles

Hello

You already listed Octo wich is more an IDE than a fantasy console. The "actual" underlying fantasy console is CHIP-8, and a lot of resources can be found here: https://chip-8.github.io/ (Octo is pretty cool and should stay on the list).

There is also Zany80, which is based around the Z80 processor : https://pixelhero.dev/zany80/ ; it's rough and hasn't been updated in ages (though not more than other projects on the list), but I think it's interesting that it's based on actual hardware, both retro (used in many 80s computers) and current (still used in a lot of things).

MMIXX

https://www.malgil.com/mmix/graphics/

It's a fantasy computer in everything but name. It's programmed in Knuth's MMIX Assembly and is available for Unix platforms.

Adding ZZT?

Okay, this is going to be a tricky one, but I'm going to put together my case. No hard feelings if it doesn't fit the spirit of the list.

ZZT was made in 1991 by Potomac Computer Systems (later Epic MegaGames, even later Epic Games) as an action/puzzle game, but its built-in game creation system with scripting functionality turned out to allow it to be a surprisingly versatile game creation tool. See: "About ZZT".

Bitsy and PuzzleScript are on the list. Now, ZZT has been shown to have similar or higher versatility than Bitsy (see, for example, one of Dr_Dos's modern recommendation lists) as well as attract a similar audience. While it was originally made as a game, I will admit, its quirky set of limitations (60x25 board size, stat limits, board size limits, unusual scripting language without proper arithmetic, etc.) effectively makes it comparable to a fantasy console in my eyes.

For the formal details:

• Name: ZZT
• Author: Tim Sweeney
• Year: 1991
• URL: https://museumofzzt.com/ (ZZT hasn't had an official website in almost two decades, this is your best bet)
• Language: ZZT-OOP (well... Instructions)
• Price & License: Free, MIT (via a decompilation project but done with the rightsholder's permission, see The Reconstruction of ZZT)
• Platform: This is where it gets a bit tricky.
  • ZZT itself targets DOS,
  • Zeta is a tiny emulator dedicated to ZZT which expands that to Windows, Linux, and browsers,
  • There are work-in-progress ports for more obscure platforms (consoles, phones),
  • It is highly recommended to use an external editor tool like KevEdit for greater functionality (Windows, Linux, Mac),
  • While I'm looking into making a native implementation that fixes all of this stuff and combines it into one thing now that the engine is MIT-licensed, the status quo is admittedly a bit tricky.
• Display: 60x25 character mode (plus 20x25 non-user-changeable sidebar on the back, I suppose).

Again, no hard feelings if it doesn't belong - I am curious, however, as I've always seen ZZT as a thing with very similar appeal to a fantasy console. (And, if yes, is its spiritual community-made successor MegaZeux, or is that too close to a general game engine? Hmm...)

Add fancade

It´s a 3d mobile fantasy console that have a visual scripting system, from the creator of mekorama
http://www.fancade.com/

Please add MEG-4

Hi,

Could you be please kind to add MEG-4 to your list?

FC: MEG-4 by bzt

Language: C, BASIC, Assembly, Lua

Price & License: Free and Open Source, GPLv3+

Platform (Editing; Playing): Windows, Linux, Android, browser, Raspberry Pi, Bare metal

Display: 320 x 200 (scrollable) or 640 x 400 (no scrolling), 256 colors of 32 bit RGBA

A few notes: what makes this fantasy console special is that you can just drag'n'drop files into its window and it Just Works. Supports lots of file formats (png, Amiga MOD, MIDI, Tiled TMX, X11 BDF, FontForge SFD, etc.), and even PICO-8 (both .p8 and .8.png) and TIC-80 (both .tic and .tic.png) cartridges. Both the editor and the player included in a single, dependency-free, portable executable, which is written for web (emscripten), lots of multi-platform libraries (SDL, GLFW, allegro, libretro etc.) as well as for bare metal (disk image creator included). For Raspberry Pi, you can choose between a RaspiOS application and a bare metal version (no OS needed).

Example floppy disks are available on the website, as well as the MEG-4 User's Manual.

Hope you like it! Let me know if you have any questions!
bzt

Fantasy Computer not on the list: LIMNstation

LIMNstation is a wip fantasy computer i like that is meant to resemble 90s *nix machines. https://github.com/limnarch

Edit: It uses a custom assembly language and a forth-like language called dragonfruit, the price is free, the platform is Love2D, and the resolution is cutomizeable but defaults to 1024x768.

Pixel vision 8 is not being updated anymore

A new fantasy console: sixengine

Here's a new one https://www.sixengine.com/

Not really fantasy consoles

• CToy: more of a framework, no limitations of display, ram etc.
• ESP LGE: targets real hardware (so, not really "fantasy")
• Nibble: same

They're still interesting projects that have the same goal (rapid prototyping of small simple projects), so I'm not sure they should be completely removed.

Arcade machines in the game Else Heart.Break()

I'm not sure if it qualifies; you have to progress in the game to be able to program them.
Game: https://www.gog.com/game/else_heartbreak
Link to the language: https://github.com/eriksvedang/Sprak

Marmmodore-1000

https://js1k.com/2415
http://voidptr.io/blog/2016/02/07/Marmmodore-1K-Copy.html

Retro-40 missing

Hi, there is also Retro-40 missing:

https://github.com/raydeejay/retro-40

It uses Forth as its programming language.

Forth is really worth a look, although not the easiest to wrap your head around.

What I dislike is the used font/-resolution aspect of Retro-40. I really wish it was better designed in that aspect.

CToy is not an FC

CToy is an interactive and dynamic coding environment and is akin to Love2d rather than a fantasy console, or computer.

Display GitHub repository stars when relevant

Hi, I wish there was a way to sort by popularity / number of stars on GitHub (at least for the one where their sources are hosted on GitHub) to get a rough idea of projects maturity.

Also, what would you think about making your list an awesome list?

New suggestion: Game Script

https://procedural.itch.io/gamescript

A programming-first C-like fantasy console for Android, PC and Xbox One, available for free for any use, including commercial use.

YouTube playlist with various tutorials for it: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvcobyidYcZ05J_4nf90rphKdJ6Wcvr71

Made by Constantine Tarasenkov (me 😄 )

Abandoned projects

There have been a few "dev jam" focusing on fantasy consoles so there are a lot of "one-shot" toy projects in the list.

Maybe there could be two lists? One "active" and one "inactive" projects, so that a person interested in actually using them can focus on the most useable ones?

• 1-bit wonder: an author's comment suggests it was just a toy
• 4BOD: same
• Chroma60: the author has been inactive for several years
• Click4: last updated in 2018
• Drak0: last updated in 2017
• DX8: last updated in 2018
• ECoS: "status: on hold"
• Fazic: last updated march 2020, multiple unanswered issues despite the author being active on other projects
• G-Eon: "no longer in development" (from the project page)
• Homegirl: [project halted][https://poeticandroid.itch.io/homegirl/devlog/142518/happy-birthday-homegirl-and-goodbye)
• Ibniz: the Github is active but the pelulamu.net links are down
• Lowres Coder: replaced by Lowres NX
• Marmmodore-1K: was just a toy for a code jam entry in 2016
• Nano Jammer: last updated in 2018
• Neko8: "this project is long dead"
• Phosphor: last updated in 2018
• Pix64: last updated in 2018
• PX8: last updated in 2017
• Riko4: probably inactive: last updated july 2020, author inactive
• Vectorboy: last version in 2017, last blog post in 2018 saying they'll get back to it, then nothing
• VVPet: last updated in 2019
• YukiJS: "alpha project" last updated in 2019

Add a new column with last update year?

Instead of having to decide when to retire fantasy consoles that aren't actively developed, we could just add a column with the year of the last update. That way, working consoles could stay listed while also giving readers a bit of a clue which ones are actively developed/supported.

What do you all think? I started working on this but realized I should probably ask before I go to the trouble of looking them all up. I've been going by Github activity (for open source projects) or release notes/history (for closed source projects).

Add online browser (Webassembly/emscripten) as supported platform to list.

I think it's important to show that some of consoles can work online in browser too and they have their own online showroom.

Now I know only two of them who support webassembly: TIC-80 and PICO-8. But maybe there are alot of more who may work in browser too.

Octo not a FC

Octo isn't a fantasy console itself, but rather a suite of development tools (a high-level language, IDE, and debugging utilities) for CHIP-8, which is a fantasy console, supposedly the first to be called so.

My suggestion is to replace the Octo link with CHIP-8, linking to its Wikipedia article or perhaps Awesome CHIP-8.

OK64 computer

OK64 IDE and Turbo Rascal language:
https://lemonspawn.com/ok64/

Release date column

It would be helpful to have a release date column -- helpful to know which is recent, and interesting to know which came first.

Minicube64 seems like a good addition

Can be found here. Open source, 6502 assembly, limited specs.

TIC-80 is now MIT!

https://github.com/nesbox/TIC-80/blob/master/LICENSE

PixelVision8 is now opensource

https://pixelvision8.github.io/PixelVision8Website/

The author declared it opensource since some months now.

wrong link for pixel vision 8

Currently pixel vision 8 links to www.pixelvision8.com while it should link to https://pixelvision8.github.io/Website/