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AI · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Yare.io – game where you control units with JavaScript

This is a game I wish I had as a kid learning programming. The concept of it is fairly similar to other coding games like Screeps, but instead of a complex world with intricate mechanics, Yare is a lot more minimal and approachable with quick 1v1 <3 min matches. It's purely a passion project with no monetization aspirations. And it's open source: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;riesvile&#x2F;yare The first version 'launched' several years ago and I got some good feedback here: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=27365961 that I iterated on. The latest overhaul is a result…

Yare.io is a game where players control units using JavaScript code instead of traditional controls. Launched in 2021, it combines programming with real-time strategy gameplay, requiring players to write scripts that… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Yare.io – game where you control units with JavaScript launched in 2021; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

  1. 1IT
  2. 2
    JSRobot▲477

    Learn to code in JavaScript by playing a game 🤖

    2017 · lab.reaal.me · its alternatives →

  3. 3IM

    Hi HN! I made many small web games in the past with Unity or Phaser. But this time I wanted to make something completely on my own. So I coded a basic game framework in plain JavaScript, and used it to make Almost Pong. This was a really fun project that taught me a lot about JavaScript, and I plan to make more minimalist games with this framework. Interesting fact: Almost Pong doesn't load any assets, all sprites and sounds are generated with code. Happy to answer questions, and please let me know if you have any feedback on the game. Thanks!

    2022 · lessmilk.com · its alternatives →

  4. 4IM

    I've posted this game here before, hopefully a repost is fine as the game has changed quite a bit (improved AI, improved mapeditor, much quicker gameplay, etc). Game is based on JavaScript&#x2F;Canvas and WebSockets. On the browser side the map is pre-rendered (as a background image), just the mobile units&#x2F;buildings and animations are dynamically rendered. The lobby server is made in node.js, but the game server is C++ for performance reasons (mainly the pathfinding). I found the C++ WebSocket libraries out there to be too difficult to use so I made my own based on the rfc. Overall I…

    2022 · battle-of-flags.com · its alternatives →

  5. 5IM

    Hi, I've been developing an HTML5 MMORPG game where people can submit code to play a game, like collect items, destroy defense towers or kill monsters, etc.. I've been working on this for over 1.5 yrs (all my spare time) and now it's ready for preview, does anyone want to try it out? It's mostly opensource (and the rest will be opensource sooner or later) Please access it with PC, it's an HTML5 game: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bytelegend.com&#x2F; I really want it to expand to more languages, but right now I've only finished Java part. I wonder if anyone can help me with other languages. Besides, I'm…

    2022 · bytelegend.com · its alternatives →

  6. 6

    Contribute to reaalkhalil/JSRobot development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

  7. 7

    A 60-second game about LLM permission fatigue. Claude Code needs your approval — but are you really reading the commands?

    May 2026 · llmgame.scalex.dev · its alternatives →

  8. 8IG
  9. 9

    I've always been curious about real-time multiplayer user interfaces. When I found out about CRDTs and Yjs[1] I thought they could serve as a solid base for a project like that. So I built this pretty simple desktop-like UI (heavily inspired by lifeat.io) and used Yjs to replicate the whole UI state among multiple peers, creating the experience of a unique interface. Try online: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;yboard.lol [1]: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;yjs&#x2F;yjs

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  10. 10

    I'm making a platform for simple open source games you can play anywhere. Games are all just JavaScript classes and you can read the source of every game on the platform. I started working on initial "games" (mostly rendering tests) in 2018 and eventually built all of the platform stuff around it to make it easy to share games. There's also an in-browser editor available for you to make and publish games all from the browser. Would love some feedback on the games and studio features as well as the platform overall. All of the code is available at https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;homegamesio

    Jul 2026 · homegames.io · its alternatives →

  11. 11

    I have been working on this for a while. Main goal was to build a usable programming language. I even end up building few tools for this such as IntelliJ plugin, etc. I also plan on building some games with it in future. Main use case would be: small games (raylib), tools (static linux binaries with musl-libc) and recreational programming (wasm4). Works in Windows also. If you have emscripten in path you can even build these games&#x2F;tools (raylib) to WASM. Please have a look. Thank you. ------------------------------------- Main Repo:…

    2023 · yakshalang.github.io · its alternatives →

  12. 12TI
  13. 13SA

    After many months of development, we are releasing Squally as early-access on Steam! This game teaches low-level computer science; topics such as data types, data structures, bin&#x2F;dec&#x2F;hex, and x86 assembly are gradually introduced through puzzles and gameplay. https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.steampowered.com&#x2F;app&#x2F;770200&#x2F;Squally&#x2F; It's still very early in development, we currently have only released a card mini-game that teaches binary operations: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.gyazo.com&#x2F;0a33bbac5bbb5421f7eb120edd3ff6bb.gif

    2018 · its alternatives →

  14. 14

    Malleable coding agent app. Use Claude Code and Codex to code and reshape the app itself live. - y-times-y/y

    Jun 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  15. 15

    I built this game as a playful way to train code reading skills. You're dropped into a random location in a real GitHub repo where some lines code are hidden. The goal is to pick up clues from the surrounding code and fill in the missing lines as quickly as possible. It currently has curated game content for Python, TypeScript, JavaScript (by most metrics the top 3 languages on GitHub). I had the idea when it dawned on me that reviewing and understanding code spat out by an LLM is a key skill for the AI era. (I sincerely hope you're critically reviewing what your favorite LLM is serving…

    Feb 2026 · gitguessr.com · its alternatives →

  16. 16

    Real Time Strategy. Contribute to emnh/rts development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2015 · github.com · its alternatives →

  17. 17

    Dear Hacker News, I'm kindly asking for your participation in the open beta for my AI-managed mini-games website. Thank you in advance! For a limited time window, I'm setting the all-free feature flag to true. I hope you have a lot of fun exploring the AI's sense for games! Here and there, I tweaked it to help with visual consistency. I would be deeply grateful if you opted into analytics. $2,300 in API tokens... Cheers!

    Jun 2026 · minigames.world · its alternatives →

  18. 18IA
  19. 19WB

    Hi HN, I love building small games (as Pong, Wordle, Tetris, etc.), but they're never quite unique enough to justify their own site. So I built boring.game - a daily "boring" game where the social mechanics (predicting your score, challenging other users) is more interesting than the game itself. I started a HN team if you want to compare your results: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;boring.game&#x2F;invite&#x2F;SRhyUStjin You can also play all daily games without signing up, if that is what you prefer. Built with SvelteKit (first time using Svelte - loved it!). Would love feedback on both the concept and…

    2025 · boring.game · its alternatives →

  20. 20BI
  21. 21

    Interactive creation in your pocket. Scroll. Create. Share

    May 2026 · gamesbyzeon.com · its alternatives →

  22. 22BA

    rts-blog : A blog about creating an RTS in WebGL

    2017 · emnh.github.io · its alternatives →

  23. 23IM

    Hi everyone, Wanted to share a game I built. It's called Unscramble! and I believe it's the simplest word building game. Rules: You get a few letters on screen. You need to make one word with all the letters. Tap a letter to select. Tap again to deselect. Faster you go, better you score. If you enter anagrams of the word it's looking for, it gives you extra points. If you are stuck, you can either "Ask Friend" or get Hint. You get extra points for getting the word fast but you don't get penalized for taking too long. I believe the simplicity of the game along with big touch buttons makes it…

    Sep 2026 · its alternatives →

  24. 24AT

    I have some experience building these kinds of games, so last year I put together a beginner's guide on them. It's been getting more attention recently with people wanting to make&#x2F;experiment with these games during quarantine, so I figured I'd share to get feedback: - Part 1, Client: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;victorzhou.com&#x2F;blog&#x2F;build-an-io-game-part-1&#x2F; - Part 2, Server: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;victorzhou.com&#x2F;blog&#x2F;build-an-io-game-part-2&#x2F; - [demo] An example .io game: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;example-io-game.victorzhou.com&#x2F;

    2020 · its alternatives →

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