ASCII Magic
Open tool

ASCII games that play themselves

These ASCII games play themselves: a snake hunts its food, a falling-block puzzle clears its lines, a dot-eater clears a maze while four ghosts give chase and a chess game replays move by move, all drawn in characters. They are animations to watch rather than games to control, which makes them perfect wherever a page needs a little life.

18 pieces

View use cases
Alien WaveArcade
Block DropArcade
Brick BreakerArcade
Chess ReplayArcade
Circuit Lap RacerArcade
Coin Run PlatformerArcade
Crate Pusher PuzzleArcade
Desert RunnerArcade
Frog Hop CrossingArcade
Gem CascadeArcade
Maze ChaseArcade
Mine SweeperArcade
Number Tile MergeArcade
Paddle TennisArcade
Pipe FlyerArcade
Rock BlasterArcade
SnakeArcade
Tower Defence WaveArcade

Where to start

The set covers the whole arcade: shooters, runners, paddle games, puzzles, a racing circuit, tower defense and a mine field cleared by a solver. Each game loops on its own, starting a fresh round when the last one ends, so it can keep running on a 404 page, a loading screen, a terminal or an office TV.

SnakeThe self-playing snake hunts its food on its own and starts over when it traps itself.Block DropA falling-block puzzle slides each piece into place and clears full lines, a natural loader.Maze ChaseA dot-eater clears the maze while four ghosts hunt it, with power pellets that turn the tables.Coin Run PlatformerA side-scrolling hero runs, jumps pits, stomps critters and collects coins with nobody at the controls.Mine SweeperA solver opens safe squares, flags the mines it can prove and guesses only when it must.Chess ReplayA short classic attacking game replayed on a wooden board, ending in a queen sacrifice and mate.

How self-playing ASCII games work

Each piece is both the game and the player, so every move you see is made by the animation, not by a person. The rules are the familiar ones; only the hands on the controls are missing. Some details worth watching for:

  • Snake hunts the food on its own and starts over when it traps itself, so it never needs a restart button.
  • Mine Sweeper opens squares it can prove are safe, flags squares it can prove are mines and guesses only when logic runs out.
  • Desert Runner speeds up steadily until a mistimed leap over a cactus ends the run.
  • Paddle Tennis keeps score and starts a new match when a player reaches eleven.
  • Circuit Lap Racer brakes into the corners and updates the standings as the four cars trade places.
  • Tower Defence Wave sends creeps down a winding dirt road while cannon, frost and laser towers hold the line.

Every ASCII game in the arcade, by genre

Pick by genre, or by how busy you want the page to feel:

  • Shooters: Alien Wave, where rows of aliens march toward a cannon behind its bunkers, and Rock Blaster, where a small ship splits tumbling space rocks.
  • Paddle and ball: Paddle Tennis, with two computer paddles in a rally, and Brick Breaker, chipping away at a rainbow wall.
  • Runners and hoppers: Coin Run Platformer, Desert Runner, Pipe Flyer and Frog Hop Crossing, which crosses a busy road and a river of logs.
  • Puzzles: Block Drop, Gem Cascade, Number Tile Merge, Crate Pusher Puzzle and Mine Sweeper.
  • Chase and maze: Maze Chase and Snake.
  • Strategy and board: Tower Defence Wave and Chess Replay.
  • Racing: Circuit Lap Racer, four cars on a top-down track.

Where an ASCII game fits: 404 pages, loaders and terminals

Self-playing games are made for moments of waiting or getting lost. Desert Runner is tagged for 404 pages, and a run that ends in a stumble is a fitting joke for a missing page. Block Drop, Brick Breaker, Snake, Paddle Tennis, Gem Cascade, Number Tile Merge and Crate Pusher Puzzle are tagged as loaders. In a terminal, npx --yes https://www.ascii-magic.com/ascii/cli.tgz snake-autoplay plays Snake in color, and adding --seconds=3 turns it into a short welcome when a shell opens. Circuit Lap Racer and Tower Defence Wave are tagged for dashboards, so they suit an office TV or a status screen, as the guide at ASCII charts for status pages and dashboards describes. Game studios and jam pages can drop a GIF into a README or a devlog.

Choosing the size and look for a game

Games are built on grids, so they reward a little care with size. Tile puzzles like Number Tile Merge and Mine Sweeper need room for each cell to read, so give them 12 pixels or more with the size attribute. Fast games like Pipe Flyer and Desert Runner hold up well at small sizes because the motion carries them. The Blocks look gives any game a chunky handheld feel, mono draws it in a single phosphor-style color, and bg matches it to a dark or light page. For a slide or a blog post, pause the player on a dramatic moment and export a PNG, or press Copy as text to paste the board into a code block.

Ways to use ASCII arcade

Step-by-step guides with a live builder and code to copy.

All 18 use cases →
Error page

Animated ASCII art for 404 and error pages

Make a 404 or 500 page people remember with animated ASCII art. Ready-made error pieces plus any scene or creature, embedded with one tag.

Loader

ASCII loading spinners and progress bars for websites

Lightweight animated ASCII loaders, spinners and progress bars for web pages. One tag to embed, no images to download, honours reduced motion.

Terminal

A terminal welcome screen with animated ASCII art

Show an animated ASCII piece every time you open a terminal, or set a still one as your server's message of the day. Works with zsh, bash and fish.

Dashboard

ASCII charts for status pages and dashboards

Animated ASCII bar charts, gauges, sparklines and uptime bars for status pages, internal dashboards and terminal tools.

/FAQS

ASCII arcade: frequently asked questions

Answers about using ASCII arcade on websites, in READMEs, in terminals and in exports.

Q. What are ASCII games?
ASCII games are games drawn entirely with text characters, a tradition that goes back to terminals where text was the only graphics available. The ones in this category are self-playing animations of classic genres, such as snake, falling blocks, brick breaking and maze chases, made to embed on web pages and play in terminals.
Q. Can I play these ASCII games with a keyboard?
No, every game here plays itself and does not respond to keys or clicks. They are animations designed to be watched, like the attract mode on an arcade cabinet, which is what makes them easy to leave running on a 404 page or a loading screen without any instructions.
Q. Where can I find an ASCII snake game?
Snake at Snake is a self-playing snake that hunts the food on its own and starts over when it traps itself. It embeds with one tag, plays in a terminal and exports as a GIF. It is tagged as a loader, so it also works well on a waiting screen.
Q. How does the self-playing snake choose its moves?
It steers toward the food on its own, with no input from you, and keeps growing until it traps itself, then starts a fresh round. That loop means it never needs a restart button or a high score screen. You can change its pace on your page with the speed attribute.
Q. Is there an ASCII art game for a 404 page?
Yes, Desert Runner is tagged for 404 pages: a runner sprints across the desert, jumping cacti faster and faster until a mistimed leap ends the run. Add it to your 404.html with the embed tag and a plain link home. The 404 page guide at Animated ASCII art for 404 and error pages has a full example.
Q. Can I run an ASCII game when my terminal opens?
Yes, add npx --yes https://www.ascii-magic.com/ascii/cli.tgz snake-autoplay --seconds=3 to your shell profile and Snake plays for three seconds each time a terminal starts. Any game works the same way, such as block-drop or maze-chase. The terminal welcome guide at A terminal welcome screen with animated ASCII art covers the setup for zsh, bash and fish.
Q. Which ASCII game works as a loading animation?
Block Drop is the classic choice, since pieces falling into place look like work being done. Brick Breaker, Snake, Paddle Tennis, Gem Cascade, Number Tile Merge and Crate Pusher Puzzle are tagged as loaders too. Show the embed while loading and remove it when your content arrives.
Q. How does the Mine Sweeper solver work?
It opens every square it can prove is safe, flags every square it can prove holds a mine, and guesses only when the numbers leave no certain move. Watching it is a neat way to learn the logic of the puzzle, and it makes a calm, thoughtful loop for puzzle blogs and logic lessons.
Q. What chess game does Chess Replay show?
It replays a short classic attacking game move by move on a wooden board, ending in a queen sacrifice and checkmate. It suits chess clubs, puzzle blogs and strategy game pages. Pause on any position and export a PNG, or press Copy as text to grab that frame as characters.
Q. Can I put an ASCII game GIF in my game's README?
Yes, download the GIF from the piece page, commit it to your repository and paste the snippet from the README tab. GitHub does not run scripts in READMEs, so a GIF is the reliable way to show motion there. Coin Run Platformer and Frog Hop Crossing make lively headers for game projects.
Q. Do the self-playing games ever stop?
No, each game loops on its own: Snake starts over when it traps itself, Pipe Flyer restarts after clipping a pipe and Paddle Tennis begins a new match at eleven. That makes them suited to long-running displays such as a dashboard, a shop window screen or a stream break.
Q. Can I use these ASCII games on a commercial site or stream?
Yes, every piece is MIT licensed for personal and commercial use, and credit is appreciated but not required. Embed a game on a product page, export a video for a stream break or use a still frame in a thumbnail. The same license covers the GIF, video and PNG exports.

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