FAQ

Can I play and create already?#

Yes, as a preview release. You can play in the browser and download the launcher and the editor for Windows, Linux and macOS. There are no accounts, online matches or game publishing yet. The details: What the platform is.

Is it free?#

Today there is nothing to pay for and no way to pay: you play in the portal with no account and no ads, and you download the launcher and the editor directly. Nothing has been published about future pricing, so this documentation makes no claim.

Do I need an account?#

No. Accounts do not exist yet. The portal, the launcher and the editor work without signing up.

Do I need an internet connection?#

For the portal, yes. For the launcher and the editor, no: the seven games come inside the launcher and your editor projects are folders on your computer.

Can I publish my game online?#

Not yet. The editor exports your game to a .ggx file; you send it to whoever you want and that person opens it with Import .ggx in their launcher. See Game card and export and Import a .ggx.

Is there a macOS version?#

Yes, of both the launcher and the editor, since version 0.2.0: each one comes as one zip per architecture, one for Apple Silicon and another for Intel. Like the other downloads, they are unsigned: the first time, macOS asks you to confirm that you want to open the app. The steps are in Download and install.

Since version 0.3.0 the editor's zips for macOS include the AI layer, like the Windows and Linux packages. Up to 0.2.0 they shipped without it.

Why does Windows warn me when I open the launcher or the editor?#

Because the files of the preview release are not signed, and Windows does not recognize whoever publishes them. The same happens on macOS. The downloads page shows the sha256 of each file so you can check that you downloaded the original. How to do it: Download and install.

Does the Windows installer ask for administrator rights?#

The launcher's does not. Since version 0.3.0 it installs per user: it does not ask for administrator rights or show the User Account Control prompt, and it leaves the program and its shortcuts only for whoever installs it. The editor's does: it installs in Program Files and asks for administrator rights.

If you do not want to or cannot install, both can be used without an installer: the launcher comes as a portable executable and the editor, as a portable zip. See Download and install.

What happens to my games and projects when I update from 0.2.0?#

They are kept, and you do not have to do anything.

• Launcher: on opening, version 0.3.0 adopts the data folder of the earlier version, with your settings, your installed games, your history and your progress. It was tested on Linux and on Windows.
• Editor: on opening, version 0.3.0 adopts the earlier projects folder, and projects made with 0.2.0 open and validate. It was tested only on Linux.
• .gbx files: up to 0.2.0 games were exported with that extension. The launcher keeps importing and opening them, just like a .ggx. See The .ggx format.

On Windows, since 0.3.0, the launcher installer does not remove a launcher 0.2.0 installed earlier: that one is uninstalled separately.

Does my data leave my computer?#

No.

• Portal: no accounts, no ads and no telemetry. Your progress and your records stay in your browser.
• Launcher: it collects and sends no data. With no online catalog set up it makes no network requests.
• Editor: it sends no statistics or usage data. Your projects are folders on your computer. The assistant with a local model works on your computer: your game does not leave it.
• Games: they run isolated and have no access to the network. See Isolation.

The site's contact form stores your name, your email and your message, only to answer you.

Can I play with friends?#

On the same computer, yes: a game that declares it is played by 2 to 4 people, with a split or a shared screen. With gamepads, one per person; without enough gamepads, two people share the keyboard. It works in the portal, in launcher 0.4.0 and in editor 0.4.0. See Play and, to make one, Local multiplayer.

Online, not yet: there are no matches over the internet. The With bots mode of some games fills the match with runners driven by the game itself, on your computer.

Are my records compared with other people's?#

No. The tables are local: ten marks per difficulty, in your browser or on your computer. There are no global leaderboards.

Is the editor's assistant artificial intelligence?#

It can be, if you install a model. Editor 0.4.0 includes an AI layer that uses models running on your computer.

• Where it comes. In the Windows installer, in the Windows portable zip, in the Linux .tar.gz package and in the two macOS zips. The standalone Windows .exe does not include it: it offers the basic assistant, and says so.
• What you provide. Ollama, the program that runs the models, is installed separately; the editor detects it and, if it is missing, shows the steps. The model is downloaded from Settings, and never without asking. The recommended local model is qwen2.5-coder:14b.
• How well it works. With that model, the layer solves 31 of the 41 requests in its evaluation set (76%). With free-form requests, written by hand, results are uneven: in a test with seven requests run twice, between 3 and 5 ended in a valid change, and a valid change is not always what was asked for. Check the preview before applying.
• What it checks. A proposal carries the "verified" label only if it passed the validator, the bot and the check for overlapping pieces; otherwise the label says what was missing.
• In a blocks project. The assistant is turned off: it would change the script that the blocks write.
• Without the layer or without a model. The basic assistant works, which is not AI: it recognizes common requests ("add 5 coins", "change the colors to sunset", "make it harder") and builds them with no internet.
• In the cloud. No cloud service is published.

See Assistant.

What language do you program a game in?#

In TypeScript or JavaScript, using only the Green Games API: eleven services to handle the match, the world, the players, the interface, the sound, the characters, the camera and so on. There is no access to the browser or to the network. Start with Scripts and the API reference.

Why does a game work in the portal and not in my launcher?#

Most likely you have an earlier launcher. The version is at the bottom of the launcher's menu.

• Launcher 0.3.0: it does not ship what version 1.2 of the contract added. A game with models, textures or recorded sounds may fail there.
• Launcher 0.2.0: it ships the eleven services, but not what version 1.1 of the contract added. An open-world game, or one that uses the pointer or the hotbar, may fail there.
• Launcher 0.1.0: it ships an earlier engine, with nine services. Besides the above, a game that uses actors, camera, labels, views, sprites or tile maps may fail.

Launcher 0.4.0 and editor 0.4.0 ship the same engine as the portal: update and the game runs the same in all three. Updating keeps your games and your progress. Details: Changelog and API reference.

What kinds of game can you make?#

Third person, first person, side-on 2D (platformers), seen from above, isometric, hybrids, with zones that switch from one view to another, and open world: a world of cubes that builds itself, where you break and place blocks. In the editor you choose when you create the project: Game types. With code, the view is declared in the scene: Views.

Do I have to know how to program to make a game?#

No. The editor's rules are built from sentences of the form "When… then…", and the editor writes the code for you. See Rules and the tutorial Your first game.

Can I program with blocks?#

Yes, since editor 0.3.0. When you create a game you choose Blocks under How it is programmed: the program is built by snapping pieces together, with the code they write in view. A project is made with Rules or with Blocks, not with both. See Blocks.

Can I use my own images, models or audio?#

Yes, since editor 0.4.0.

• Draw them in the editor: the asset workshop makes pixel sprites and textures, cube models with their animations and tile maps.
• Bring them from other tools: the importer converts 3D models (.glb, .fbx, .obj, .dae and others), images (PNG, JPEG, WebP and others) and sounds (WAV and MP3). Author and license are required: having downloaded a file does not always let you use it anywhere.

There are limits: up to 64 models, 64 textures and 32 recorded sounds, and 12 MB between them all. See Models in the scene. The 0.3.0 apps do not open a game that uses them properly.

Can a game made by someone else harm my computer?#

A game is not a program: it is a package of data and a script that runs isolated, with no access to your files, the network or the launcher. The launcher also validates the package before installing it. What that protects and what risk remains: Isolation.

Are the demos on green.games the games on the portal?#

No. They are demos made for the studio's site. The platform's games live in its portal, https://play.green.games/en.

When is the missing part coming?#

There are no dates, because we do not have them yet. What is in development and what is missing is in the Roadmap.

Where do I report a problem?#

In the site's contact form: green.games/en#contacto. Use it to report a failure, ask a question or share an idea. It helps a lot if you say which program and which version you use (launcher 0.4.0, editor 0.4.0 or the portal; the version is at the bottom of the launcher's menu and of the editor's start screen), your system, and what you did right before the failure.