What Is WASM Arcade?

WASM Arcade is a free gaming site where every game runs entirely inside your browser tab — no downloads, no installers, no accounts. The name comes from WebAssembly (WASM), the technology that makes it possible, and "arcade", the tradition we celebrate: instant, pick-up-and-play games.

How WebAssembly changed browser gaming

For most of the web's history, browsers could only run JavaScript — fine for websites, too slow for serious games. WebAssembly, standardized in 2017, changed that: it is a binary instruction format that browsers execute at near-native speed. Entire game engines, physics simulations and full machine emulators can now be compiled to WASM and run inside a tab.

That is why a site like this can exist. Emulators compiled to WebAssembly boot classic coin-op arcade boards in seconds. Physics engines drive modern multiplayer .io games. Everything streams in on demand — a few kilobytes to a few megabytes — and plays at full speed on any device with a modern browser.

What you can play here

Our library spans four eras of gaming, all playable instantly:

• Classic coin-op arcade — golden-age arcade games delivered through the Internet Archive's public Internet Arcade collection, playable via the archive's official embedded emulator.
• Open-source originals — modern indie games released under open licenses (MIT, GPL and friends), which we host or embed with the author's blessing.
• Official web versions — living games whose creators offer a browser edition, embedded straight from the official site.
• Self-hosted classics — legendary games whose original authors open-sourced them, rebuilt and served from our own servers.

Our curation rules

We keep the library honest with three rules: every game is either open-source, officially provided, or historically preserved by a public archive; every page carries original how-to-play writing (not scraped filler); and every game links back to its original creators. If a game's licensing is unclear, it doesn't go up — simple as that.

Is it really free?

Yes. No accounts, no payments, no locked levels. The site is supported by advertising, and your game saves stay in your own browser's storage — see our privacy policy for details.

Start playing

The fastest way in is the full game library — or jump straight to the arcade classics and puzzle games.