Use the data

The catalog is published as machine-readable files on every deploy. The metadata is CC0: copy it, bundle it or build on it without asking. The assets it links to keep their own licences.

The licence facts are the catalog's reading of each source on the entry's verified date, not legal advice and not a guarantee that the terms are still the same. Re-check the source before you ship on one.

Files

File	What it is
`data.json`	The whole catalog: every entry with its licence fields, plus categories, guides and counts
`catalog.csv`	One row per entry, for spreadsheets. Lists are joined with `;`
`feed.xml`	Atom feed of newly added sources
`reverified.xml`	Atom feed of entries whose licence was most recently re-read
`llms.txt`	A plain-text summary for language-model tools

These URLs always serve the latest build. To pin a version, download the same files from a tagged release. Releases are tagged vYYYY.MM.DD, and the attached data.json carries the same string as version.

Fields

Each entry in data.json has these fields. catalog.csv has the ones marked CSV.

Field	CSV	Meaning
`id`	yes	Short kebab-case id, unique across the catalog
`name`	yes	Display name
`url`	yes	The source's own page
`category`	yes	One of the ten category folders, such as `3d`, `audio` or `tools`
`subcategories`	yes	Finer grouping within the category
`license`	yes	The licence as the catalog reads it. A value from the vocabulary, explained in licenses.md
`license_spdx`	yes	SPDX identifier, where one fits
`commercial`	yes	`true`, `false`, `varies` (per file) or `unknown`
`attribution_required`	yes	`true`, `false` or `unknown`
`attribution_string`	yes	The credit line as the source words it, where it gives one
`publisher`	yes	Who publishes the source, where recorded
`formats`, `tags`	yes	File formats and search tags
`added`	yes	Date the entry joined the catalog
`verified`	yes	Date the licence was last read at the source. A read date, not a validity date
`status`	yes	`active`, `needs-review` (an open question, read the Notes) or `deprecated`
`page`	yes	The entry's page on the site
`summary`		The first paragraph of the entry
`path`		The entry's file in this repository
`thumb`		`{ path, width, height, credit? }` of the preview image, or `null`
`licenseFamily`		Coarse grouping used by the site's filter: `public-domain`, `cc-by`, `permissive`, `copyleft`, `custom` and so on. Labels are in `filters.licenseFamilies`
`attributionClass`, `licenseRank`		Derived sort keys used by the site
`engine_lock`, `grid_dimensions`, `camera_perspective` and other optional fields		Present only where they apply; see the site README

Top-level keys are generatedAt, version, site, categories, guides, featured, stats (counts of total, active, needs-review, deprecated and commercial entries), filters and entries.

Field names are stable. New optional fields may appear, so ignore keys you do not know rather than failing on them.

Examples

All CC0 audio that needs no credit, with jq:

curl -s https://tmhsdigital.github.io/Free-Game-Dev-Assets/data.json \
  | jq -r '.entries[] | select(.category=="audio" and .license=="CC0" and .attribution_required==false and .status=="active") | "\(.name)\t\(.url)"'

Everything usable commercially, as a table, with pandas:

import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_csv("https://tmhsdigital.github.io/Free-Game-Dev-Assets/catalog.csv")
ok = df[(df.status == "active") & (df.commercial.astype(str).str.lower() == "true")]
print(ok[["name", "license", "attribution_required", "attribution_string", "url"]])

Follow new sources in any feed reader by subscribing to https://tmhsdigital.github.io/Free-Game-Dev-Assets/feed.xml.

How to cite

The repository has a CITATION.cff, and GitHub's "Cite this repository" button renders it. In text:

TMHSDigital. Free Game Dev Assets: a dated, sourced catalog of free game assets and tools with licence metadata (version vYYYY.MM.DD) [Data set]. https://github.com/TMHSDigital/Free-Game-Dev-Assets

@misc{free_game_dev_assets,
  author       = {TMHSDigital},
  title        = {Free Game Dev Assets: a dated, sourced catalog of free game assets and tools with licence metadata},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/TMHSDigital/Free-Game-Dev-Assets}},
  note         = {Dataset, version vYYYY.MM.DD},
  license      = {CC0-1.0}
}

Replace vYYYY.MM.DD with the release you used.

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