OpenGameBuilder is a community open-source preservation, reimplementation, and extension of the classic Flash game creation site MyGameBuilder.com.
MyGameBuilder launched in 2007, was active until around 2012, and fully shut down in 2017. For many of us, it was one of the first places where making games felt approachable, social, weird, creative, and possible. This project exists to preserve that spirit and rebuild it for the modern web.
Think OpenRCT2, but for MyGameBuilder: faithful where it matters, modern where it helps, and open so the community can keep it alive.
OpenGameBuilder is tied closely to the original MyGameBuilder site and community. The goal is not merely to build “a game builder,” but to preserve and continue the specific creative culture that formed around MyGameBuilder.
That includes:
- preserving the memory and history of the original site;
- reimplementing the core game-building experience with modern technology;
- restoring access to games created on the original site;
- extending the original ideas in ways that feel natural and community-driven;
- creating a free, open platform for making, sharing, and playing games.
The main repository is:
The OpenGameBuilder community has backed up the games that were still available from the original MyGameBuilder site.
A major long-term goal of the project is to make those archived games playable again through OpenGameBuilder, preserving not just the idea of the original site, but the actual creative work made by its community.
This archival work is part of the heart of the project. MyGameBuilder was not just a tool; it was a place where people made things, shared things, and learned by experimenting. Those games matter.
OpenGameBuilder is not an official continuation of MyGameBuilder.com.
It is a community-led open-source project created out of appreciation for the original site. The project does not aim to reuse original proprietary code, branding, or assets. Where old behavior is studied, it is used as a reference for compatibility, preservation, and historical understanding.
OpenGameBuilder is in early development.
The project is currently focused on laying the foundation for the modern application, including the web app, backend, deployment process, documentation, archival planning, and long-term architecture. Things may change quickly while the project is still taking shape.
The long-term goals of OpenGameBuilder are:
- build a modern, web-based game builder inspired by MyGameBuilder;
- support playing and sharing user-created games;
- make archived MyGameBuilder games playable again where possible;
- preserve historical knowledge about the original site and community;
- keep the project free and open-source;
- make the codebase approachable for contributors;
- provide a stable foundation for future extensions beyond the original site.
Contributions are welcome, especially from people who remember the original MyGameBuilder community or care about preserving creative web history.
You do not need to have used the original site to contribute. Developers, designers, writers, archivists, testers, and curious people are all welcome.
The main project repository contains more detailed documentation for building, running, and contributing to the project.
OpenGameBuilder is as much a community project as a software project.
The original MyGameBuilder mattered because of the people around it: the games, forums, experiments, inside jokes, half-finished masterpieces, and strange little creative sparks that only made sense on that site at that time.
This project is an attempt to carry that forward without pretending time stopped in 2012.
See the individual repositories for license information.