In terms of more traditional demo releases, my mind was recently boggled by “16 bytes of x86 real-mode DOS assembly” released at the Outline Demoparty in May 2026. Then there was the port of Snake that was only 56 bytes and fit in a QR code. For some more practical size-skillz strutting, take a look at Dave W. Plummer’s RetroPad , a “full-feature-parity version of Notepad from XP” in just 2,749 bytes.
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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason. ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-25/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Mark Tyson Social Links Navigation News Editor Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
timsSOFTWARE With that kind of memory requirement, the only real option is to custom code in C/C++ (or even assembly, but that would probably take too long). The executable needs to stay no larger than a few hundred KB, to leave room for assets. Reply
ggeeoorrggee If you have full freedom of choice as to platform, this could be a lot easier than it appears. Creativity and quality don’t need tons of space. Lean into 8 or 16 bit charm. If it requires Windows, I’m pretty sure “Hello World” will break the size limit. Reply
timsSOFTWARE ggeeoorrggee said: If you have full freedom of choice as to platform, this could be a lot easier than it appears. Creativity and quality don’t need tons of space. Lean into 8 or 16 bit charm. If it requires Windows, I’m pretty sure “Hello World” will break the size limit. It depends what you link into the executable. You'd have to be very careful about what you include, and use dynamic linking for any system libraries, so you aren't paying to add that code to the executable. Reply
AmazingGoose ggeeoorrggee said: If you have full freedom of choice as to platform, this could be a lot easier than it appears. Creativity and quality don’t need tons of space. Lean into 8 or 16 bit charm. If it requires Windows, I’m pretty sure “Hello World” will break the size limit. .kkrieger is a 3D FPS game that runs in Windows and is 96KB Reply
dva852 Some here may be old enough to remember the demoscene in the '90s (and even earlier). It was, and is, an international community focused on the creation of demos, real-time audiovisual presentations that combine software, graphics and audio (but no video). Emphasis is on small size, many of which are 64KB or even 4KB. It's the first digital-born culture ever recognized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. Many game industry veterans came from the scene. Future Crew became Remedy (Max Payne, Alan Wake), DICE founders were in The Silents, etc. Here's a "best of" sampling, from https://www.pouet.net/prodlist.php . Many of the executables are no longer available for downloads, probably because of incompatibility with current OS'es (read: Windows). Gaia Machina (62KB, 2012) https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=59107wir8sSDfW5Q View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wir8sSDfW5Q fr-041: debris (177KB, 2007) https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=30244jY5Vrc5G0lk View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY5Vrc5G0lk fr-043: rove (2010) https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=54588-vgQyM3xjlM View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vgQyM3xjlM Revision 2025 Compo – PC 64K Intro etsb_C8ufh0 View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etsb_C8ufh0 Reply
dva852 Another walk down memory lane… I remember playing Starflight, a 1986 game published by EA. It came on two 360K floppy disks, and fit into 256K RAM. It's still available on GOG (Starflight 1 & 2) for $3. https://www.gog.com/en/game/starflight_1_2 Reading from chatbot of game's specs: 270 star systems on the map, each with 0 to 8 planets, for a total of 800+ planets. The game uses a fractal generator to go from 50 planned planets to 800. Every system can be entered and all planets landed on, though this destroys the ship if the gravity is greater than 8.0g. It was marketed as six games in one, and it really had five different play modes, including alien planet terrain exploration and resource excavation, ship outfitting and crew training, ship-to-ship space combat, alien communication and intergalactic space travel. At Starport you: . Buy and sell minerals, Endurium (fuel), and artifacts, recruit and train crew members, and upgrade parts of the ship . Hire a crew from five species to man the ship's six posts: navigator, science officer, engineer, communications officer, doctor, and captain Out in the galaxy: . Goals include exploration, collection of lifeforms and minerals, and finding habitable colony worlds — colony worlds are the most profitable . Mine minerals, scan flora/fauna with a stun-gather system, loot alien ruins and artifacts . 8 spacefaring races total. The galaxy is composed of eight space-faring races, five of which can be hired as part of the player's crew — Veloxi, Mechan, Elowan, Thrynn, Spemin, Gazurtoid, Uhlek, plus humans . Each race has its own speech pattern and attitude. You can approach as friendly, neutral, obsequious or hostile. The main plot — why stars are flaring and the Crystal Planet moving through the galaxy — only emerges after you follow clues from Interstel, alien dialogue, and derelict Old Empire ships. You can finish without ever visiting most of the 800 worlds, but most players in the 80s spent months mapping them. Starflight was a famous game for its days. It's very reminiscent of Space Rangers 1 & 2 (2002 and 2004) from Russian developer Elemental Games. In fact, Space Rangers was called Russian Starflight. Both series were excellent. RM8-ev12bbw, list: PLVw6dBwL_5jjslYA5xeU2aGsSZeNUZONX View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM8-ev12bbw&list=PLVw6dBwL_5jjslYA5xeU2aGsSZeNUZONX&index=1 Reply
ElQueue Do I really have to be "that guy" and remind everyone that a FAT formatted floppy only holds 1.39mb? Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
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- https://www.tomshardware.com/software/korean-outfit-hosting-1-44mb-game-development-contest-to-honor-the-floppy-disk-entrants-must-confine-entire-fileset-including-resources-engine-and-library-to-miniscule-storage-format#main
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