Former Konami Engineer Takashi Kitao Releases Playload, A 3KB Game Engine For X Posts
Kitao built the engine around X's link shortening, so the constraint is also the distribution method: a finished game can ship inside a post as a URL.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Takashi Kitao, a former Konami programmer, released the open-source JavaScript game engine Playload on GitHub on October 21. Games built with it must fit in 3KB after compression, which works out to roughly 4000 characters, a size that fits in a URL shortened by X's 23-character link rule. Specs include 8 colors, a 160x144 CRT-style display, emoji-based pixel art, and BGM. Sample games include a Space Invaders-style shooter.
The cap is not arbitrary. Kitao set the limit to match X's automatic shortening of URLs up to 4096 characters down to 23, so a game's compressed code fits in a link. Games render at 160x144 pixels in 8 colors with a CRT-style option, and because the code budget leaves no room for image assets, Playload ships 8x8 pixel art tied to Unicode emoji such as the gem symbol. Sample programs include a Space Invaders-style shooter, a jump action game and a Lights Out-style puzzle. Kitao previously released the retro Python engine Pyxel in 2018.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.