Game-Maker: Sandbox Edition

New games

Made for this project with Game-Maker, released as shareware.

• Virus Blaster (Claude, 1995) — GLITCH, a virus off a bad BBS download, is eating the family 486. Shrink down, launch the BLASTER nano-fighter and blast your way up the motherboard, through…
• KEEP IT BRIEF! The Tiny Pockets Library (Claude, 1995) — Behind the little red door of The Dog House is a library much bigger than the box, and last night every word fell out of every book. As Mystery Robot Joe, the…
• Depth Perception (Claude, 1996) — Count Polygon is stealing the polygons out of the render of the century. Roll Ray, the chrome sphere from every ray-tracing demo, through six ray-traced…
• Ohm Sweet Ohm (Claude, 1995) — A thunderstorm has scrambled the Bitmores' Smart Home, and Watt, a pocket-sized repair robot, must roll through twenty-three haywire circuit boards to get…
• Maximus: The Hundred Worlds (Claude, 1995) — Courier Max crosses a galaxy of 88 worlds by pod, on foot, by rover and in a diving bell, hunting the ten star-shards that can relight the dead star at its…
• Quest for the Round Tuit (Claude, 1996) — King Dillydally IX will save the kingdom as soon as he gets a round tuit, and Lord Deadline has stolen it. A full role-playing adventure across Procrastia:…
• Sandcastle Knight (Claude, 1995) — Teddy the corgi knight takes back the backyard sandbox after his big sister Gwinn's zoomies flattened every castle. Build towers of sand, toss tennis balls,…
• Final Curtain (Claude, 1995) — Opening night at the Paragon Theatre, 1936: the star dies on stage in Act III, stabbed with a trick dagger that wasn't. Inspector Ada Penn has until dawn to…
• Snowbound: The $89 Shovel (Claude, 1993) — Fort Ashby, West Virginia, December 1992. Shovel the whole neighborhood at $1 a scoop, sled down Jamie Street, and get $89 to LaVale Mall before the price of…
• Teddy's Little Big Adventure (Claude, 1995) — Gwinn ran off with Doc Leo's clown costume, and tonight is the Clown Club's Big Show! Hop, bark, dig, sit, spin and play dead across town as Teddy, a little…
• Teddy's Little Bigger Adventure (Claude, 1996) — The morning after the Big Show, Gwinn's bed is empty. Sniff out her trail across town, over the river and out to the Tri-County Fair as Teddy the corgi, and…
• Teddy's Little Biggest Adventure (Claude, 1997) — It's Teddy's birthday, and nobody says so. Run Doc Leo's errands across every place from the first two adventures as Teddy, and MEANWHILE... play as Gwinn and…
• In The Year 2000! (Claude, 1993) — It's the year 2000! Cars fly, robots mow, dinner comes in a pill, and every phone booth is a 25-cent teleporter. Dex Dynamo's robot dog ate his science…

Bizarre

Songs by The Bard of Bizarre (Lewis Moten as his hobo clown Doc Leo), turned into games.

• A Fly Named Carl (The Bard of Bizarre, 1995) — You are Carl, the fly in the room, and you're winning. Eat his TV snacks, flash a smile from every wall, buzz his ear at 3:47 AM, barrel-roll past the dish…
• Third Goat from the Left (The Bard of Bizarre, 1995) — Bethlehem, the holy night. You are the goat nobody painted: eat your way out of the shepherds' fold, scream your fainting cousins stiff, get lost in the…
• Loaf #13 (Left in the Basket) (The Bard of Bizarre, 1995) — You are Loaf #13, the one nobody picked when the five thousand were fed. Roll out of your basket and across the hillside past hungry hands, big feet and…
• Cleanse Me, O Loofah, But Leave My Soul (The Bard of Bizarre, 1995) — She said, "Don't touch the pink one. It's mine!" You scrubbed with it anyway: the loofah of Lucifer, peach or coral, some evil hue, smelling of grapefruit and…
• Mustard Seed Hustle (The Bard of Bizarre, 1995) — You are a mustard seed, the smallest thing in all the land, with the greatest feet. Hop out of your mound, lace up and hustle across the garden, push roots…
• Thread the Needle, Brother Camel (The Bard of Bizarre, 1995) — The rich man walked away from Jesus with his coins and his frown, and left his camel behind with saddlebags full of gold. Was He talkin' 'bout you? Give the…
• The Great Dairy Reckoning of 3:17 A.M. (The Bard of Bizarre, 1995) — It's 3:17 a.m., you're lactose intolerant, and there's a slice of New York cheesecake in the fridge. Tiptoe past your sleeping wife, the creaky board, the…
• Where's the Remote?! (The Bard of Bizarre, 1995) — Friday night, snacks, the tape in the VCR, and the remote is GONE. Lift the couch cushions, lift the dog, look under the cat, ask the Voice-O-Matic 2000 (it…
• Veni, Vidi, Risi! (Veni, Vidi, Risi!, 1995) — I came, I saw, I laughed. In Rome nobody laughs at Marcus Iocundus's comic songs in Latin, and then, at his banquet for the senators, his dog Rufus breaks…
• I Screamed, She Smirked (The Bard of Bizarre, 1995) — You take your girlfriend's kid, Lily (eight, a unicorn hoodie, a caramel apple as big as her head), to a haunted house. The sign says MILD SCARES FOR ALL…
• Shakespeare in Sweatpants (The Bard of Bizarre, 1995) — Open-mic night at The Hive, the coffee house with a castle for a front in Oakland. Will, the regular in the starched ruff, the velvet doublet and the gray…
• Certified Rat Tickler (The Bard of Bizarre, 1995) — Doc Leo, PhD (Comedic Science), has a brand new certificate in rat tickling and no rats yet. Pin first, then tickle, or a rat will never read it as a laugh:…

Sample games

The free games that came with Game-Maker 3.0 — open them in the editor to see how they work.

• Barracuda: Secret Mission 1 (GameLynk, 1992) — "SECRET MISSION #1" Version 1.3 CLASSIFIED.... The United States sent an F117A to intercept a fleet fleet of Iraq ships. They were beleived to be transporting…
• Crullo: Adventures of a Donut (A-J Games) — Crullo and Crulla were living happily in a comfy little midtown bakery, when an evil witch came in and bought Crulla for a magic spell. Dismayed, Crullo went…
• Glubada Pond (A-J Games) — You are a happy fish, living in Glubada Pond. Still, you wish you could have more room to play around in -- the pond just isn't big enough. You decide to…
• The Patchwork Heart (A-J Games) — The labs at Earth's station on the recently-terraformed Venus have sent down a self-propelled ball of uranium, dubbed "Patchwork Heart", deep into the crust…
• Houses (Recreational Software Designs, 1991) — HOUSES Houses illustrates how to make buildings out of the blocks in the HOUSES block set. It also illustrates how you can have the character change to…
• Nebula (Andy Stone, 1991) — PLANETARY COALITION For many years your solar system has lived in harmony, with each planet minding its own orbit, and not disturbing the others. You thought…
• Woman Warrior and the Outer Limits (Sheldon Chase) — THE OUTER LIMITS The Outer Limits is a game based on the B&W T.V. series from the early 60's. This game uses parts from two episodes: "The Cry of Silence" and…
• Peach the Lobster (A-J Games, 1994) — Get items by shooting a monitor with your claw gun. The item will be released and fly to you. Movement techniques To slide, run and duck. You can scoot under…
• Penguin Pete (Joan Stone, 1991) — A nuclear weapons submarine has been ripped apart after being trapped in artic ice flows. Sections of the submarine are strewn on the artic ocean floor and…
• Pipemare (G. Oliver Stone, 1991) — The Bureau of World Water Works supplys the world with sparkling clear water. At least, it used to. Underground where the water is 'worked', a lot of mopping…
• Cireneg's Rings (Eric-Jon Waugh) — Aderack Enoob is what you are called, and your homeland is - was called Roant, until the Evelsherk Zachan arrived. He conjured up monsters too fearsome to…
• Sample (Joan Stone, 1991) — There is no need to study or sweat through school if you can only pick up the book of knowledge. But finding it is a bit of a problem. There is only one way…
• Terrain (Recreational Software Designs, 1991) — Recreational Software Designs Box 1163, Amherst, NH, 03031 This game was made with GAMEMAKER, a game development environment that requires no programming!…
• Tutor (Recreational Software Designs) — Recreational Software Designs Box 1163, Amherst, NH, 03031 This game was made with GAMEMAKER, a game development environment that requires no programming!…
• Linear Volume (Eric-Jon Waugh, 1993) — CHAPTER I After getting through the daily hell called high school, Marty headed home. After stepping into the nearest bus, he sat down in the prized position…
• Woman Warrior and the Attack from Below (Sheldon Chase) — You where having a peaceful lunch one afternoon when all of a sudden you hear screams! You look up and robots are chasing your friends. You are able to escape…
• Zark (Eric-Jon Waugh) — NUMERICAL KEYPAD Up | |~~~|~~~|~~~| Up-left-| 7 | 8 | 9 |-Up-right |___|___|___| |~~~| |~~~| Left-| 4 | | 6 |-Right |___| |___| |~~~|~~~|~~~| Dwn-lft-| 1 | 2…

Shareware

Games people made with Game-Maker in the 90s, played with their authors’ notices.

• Return of A-J (demo) (Eric-Jon Waugh, 1994) — When the evil Prince Ostro tried to invade the town of Bearton with giant pretzels A-J Bear and his hedgehog, Hedge stopped him. Ostro has escaped and…
• A-J's Quest (Eric-Jon Waugh, 1992) — (USE THE NUMERICAL KEYPAD WITH NUM LOCK OFF) 7: JUMP LEFT 8: JUMP UP 9: JUMP RIGHT 4: WALK LEFT 6: WALK RIGHT <SPACE>: ATTACK P: PICK UP D: DROP You…
• Bounerim (A-J Games) — You were an ordinary guy, well, at least pretty ordinary. While walking down the street one day, you saw a little green crystal on the sidewalk. You picked it…
• Progress or Congress? (Mark Hadley, 1994) — To play PROGRESS OR CONGRESS? you need to use the following keys: To move your character, use the arrow keys on your keypad. Press the center button ("5") to…
• Fluffy Ralph (A-J Games) — Welcome to the world of Noniyan, where a being's life force is held inside a green crystal and anything can happen. Enter Fluffy Ralph, Otherwise known of as…
• Gridline (Eric-Jon Waugh, 1993) — You appear in a strange world made entirely of grids and filled with weird creatures which turn flesh to stone at a touch. You must escape. You have nothing…
• Nejilian Flux (A-J Games) — We should never have gone... We were so naive as to the dangers space held. From the Earth, one can see little of the rest of the galaxy, much less the…
• Octolris (A-J Games, 1994) — Octolris is a kind of gelatanous octopus -- the only one of his species. While he was florping around -- and, believe me, this action is well named -- he got…
• ORB - The Derelict Planet (Josh Turcotte) — Some day in the future The silence was broken vividly by loud static, and then a low voice. "Chara 4........" Someone sat erect and began to listen. "Chara…
• PAC (A-J Games) — The arrow keys move PAC in those directions. If you tap the space bar, PAC will spit out a power orb (if he's swallowed one). Good luck with the Andims, PAC!!…
• Paper Airplane (Matt Bell, 1993) — After several unsuccessful inventions, you finally discover something useful, a miniaturized radio control and remote TV camera system. You had just completed…
• Parsec Man 3D (Mark Hadley, 1994) — PARSEC MAN 3D Somewhere in the system of XON (pronounced "zon"), there is a power crystal which gives the bearer ultimate power. Not many have ever dared to…
• Sign of the Hedgehog (Eric-Jon Waugh) — Hedrick H. Hogg has been invited to the most important tea of his life: Tea with the Queen! Unfortunately, the royal house is out of crumpets. Hedrick has…
• Zoom the Super Bear (A-J Games) — "Hi. I'm A-J Bear. This is the story of how my cousin became super. It was all an accident, really. Grandpa Merlin was busy conjuring a spell in his den.…

More to read and explore

• The Guide: how to use the web editor — How to use Game-Maker: Sandbox Edition: making blocks, monsters and characters, building maps and scenes, sounds and music, testing and exporting your game for the web or DOS.
• TURBO BUTTON, the shareware gamer’s magazine — TURBO BUTTON, the shareware gamer’s monthly: a 1990s-style magazine about Game-Maker and its games, with reviews, interviews, strategy, a BBS list, a game directory and ads, to read page by page or print.
• The Library: everything to read and print — Everything to read and print in one place: each game’s manual, hint book, maps, newsletter, sticker sheet and cards, the Game-Maker box’s paper, TURBO BUTTON magazine and the Guide, by game or by type.
• The cast of the new games — Who keeps turning up in the new games: Teddy the corgi, Gwinn, Doc Leo the friendly hobo clown, THE CHEZ the tomato-red CitiCar, Carl the fly and more, with where to find each one, and how the Sandbox Software games differ from The Bard of Bizarre’s.
• Credits: who and what made it — Who and what made Game-Maker: Sandbox Edition: RSD and the Stone family, the CD games’ authors, the software and third-party pieces, the AI tools and the people, and who made what in The Bard of Bizarre’s games.
• Your achievements — Your achievements: games made, played and finished, walkthroughs watched, tin hearts found and the programs tried on the 1994 desk, with when each was unlocked. Kept in your browser.
• The 1994 desk — Sit down at a mid-90s PC: switch it on, run Game-Maker from C:\GM, pick a game from the disk box or the shareware catalog, and play or design it just like in 1994 — in your browser.
• DOS Game-Maker on its own page — Go straight to the 1994 PC: it boots into Game-Maker from its CD, with a disk menu of games to play or change, the Owner’s Guide, and a BBS to call. No desk around it, and it shares the desk’s saves.
• Playing the games on a Mac — Download any game as a Mac app. Why macOS says Apple could not verify it (the apps are built in your browser, so they are not notarized), how to open it the first time, what the app does and how to remove it.
• Playing the games on Windows — Download any game as a Windows program. Why SmartScreen says “Windows protected your PC” (the programs are built in your browser, so they are not code-signed), how to run it the first time, what the program does and how to remove it.
• Playing the games on Linux — Download any game for Linux: how to extract and play it, the WebKitGTK package it needs on Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch, the web browser fallback, adding it to the applications menu, what the program does and how to remove it.