◀ ARCADE
C:\ARCADE\README.TXT © 2026

About & Licence

THE ARCADE · ONE FLOPPY · NO INSTALL

Every game here is a single HTML file. No build step, no dependencies, no downloaded assets. Every sprite, typeface and sound is generated in your browser as the page runs — the fonts are hand-drawn grids of ones and zeroes, the audio is square waves from an oscillator, and the graphics are drawn with canvas rectangles.

The games

GAMEYEARGENRE IT BELONGS TO
VOLLEY1972Two-paddle tennis
HOLDOUT1978Fixed shooter
BRICKS1980Block breaker
HAIRPIN1985Pseudo-3D road racer
BRICKS DX1996Block breaker, power-ups

The year on each is the era it is built in the style of, not a release date.

Copyright

© 2026 Rahul Ghai. Every game here is original code, written from scratch. Nothing here is copied, decompiled or adapted from any earlier game, and no third-party code, artwork, fonts or audio are included.

Licence

Released under the MIT Licence. In plain terms: you may use, copy, change, publish or sell this code, on two conditions — keep the copyright notice attached, and accept that it comes with no warranty.

The licence covers the original expression here: the code, and the sprites, typefaces and audio it generates. It claims no rights over any game genre or mechanic.

On the names

These are new games in old genres. Game rules and mechanics are not protected by copyright — a paddle bouncing a ball into bricks belongs to nobody. Game titles are a different matter, so none of the original names are used here.

The games here are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or derived from the code of any earlier game or its rights holders. Any resemblance is the resemblance one detective novel bears to another.

The boot screen

The DOS startup sequence on the front page is a prop. BRIKTRONIX, ARCADE-DOS, XMEM.SYS, SNDWAVE.SYS and the hardware it lists are invented for the experience. Nothing is scanned, loaded or installed on your machine, and no real operating system is involved.

Privacy

Nothing is tracked. No cookies, no analytics, no accounts, no third-party scripts, no network requests once the page has loaded. Nothing you do here is sent anywhere.

High scores are kept in your browser's own local storage. They live on your device, are visible only to you, and are erased whenever you clear your browser data. They are never transmitted, and not even the site owner can see them.

Accessibility

Every game plays with a keyboard, a mouse or touch. Text scales with your browser's font settings, and the blinking dedication respects the reduce motion setting on your device.


DEDICATED TO
SANJAY BHATNAGAR
MY COMPUTER SCIENCE TEACHER
who taught me to write my first program —
and a great deal more than that

Nostalgic times revival attempt by Rahul Ghai