Space Cat Games

The free and open source way to host a games website!

Space Cat Games is a small, easy-to-deploy React single-page application (SPA) that builds to static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Drop the built files into the document root of any static host and your games website is ready — no deep coding knowledge required.

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Features

• Minimal, easy-to-deploy static site
• Built with React (SPA)
• Works on any static host
  • GitHub Pages
  • Netlify
  • Vercel
  • Apache
  • nginx
  • Plain file hosting
• Lightweight and easy to customize
• Automated chores handled by an automation user (see Automations)

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Prerequisites

• Node.js (LTS recommended, e.g. 18.x or newer)
• npm (bundled with Node) or Yarn
• git (optional, to clone the repo)
• (Optional) Docker for containerized builds

Check package.json in the repository for exact Node/npm compatibility and available scripts.

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Quick Start (Development)

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/neurontechofficial/spacecatgames.git
cd spacecatgames

Install dependencies

Using npm:

npm install

Or using Yarn:

yarn

Start the development server

npm start

or

yarn start

This usually starts a dev server (commonly at http://localhost:3000/) with hot reloading.

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Build for Production (Static Files)

Create a production build

npm run build

or

yarn build

After building, a folder such as build/ or dist/ will be created. The contents (index.html, JS, and CSS assets) are static files you can upload to any static host.

Preview the production build locally

npx serve -s build

or

npm install -g serve
serve -s build

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Deploying

Static hosts

Upload the contents of the build/ (or dist/) folder to your host root.

GitHub Pages

Use the gh-pages package or GitHub Actions to publish the build folder.

Netlify / Vercel

• Build command: npm run build
• Publish directory: build

Manual webserver (nginx / Apache)

Copy the built files into your web root.

If your app uses client-side routing, configure your host to serve index.html for all routes (see Troubleshooting).

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Docker (Experimental/Unknown)

Example multi-stage Dockerfile that builds the app and serves it with nginx:

# build stage
FROM node:18 AS build
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

# serve stage
FROM nginx:alpine
COPY --from=build /app/build /usr/share/nginx/html
EXPOSE 80
CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]

Build and run

docker build -t spacecatgames .
docker run -p 8080:80 spacecatgames

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Configuration & Environment

• If the app uses environment variables, check for .env.example or references in package.json or source files.
• For Create React App (CRA) apps, environment variables used in client-side code should be prefixed with REACT_APP_.
• Check the source and package.json for any runtime config or API endpoints that need adjustment.

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Automations and Contributors

meowcat767-auto runs chore tasks for this repo.

They/them run automated maintenance tasks; the automation runner script is located at worker.py.

• Inspect worker.py to see what tasks are performed.
• Check whether any tokens or secrets are required.
• If you want to extend or change automation behavior, update worker.py and relevant GitHub Actions/workers and test locally before pushing.

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Troubleshooting

Development server won't start

• Ensure Node and npm versions are compatible.
• Delete dependencies and reinstall:

rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install

Build fails

• Read the build output for missing modules or syntax errors.
• Ensure environment variables required at build time are provided.

SPA refresh / 404 on page reload

Configure your host to rewrite unknown routes to index.html.

Netlify: add a _redirects file with:

/*    /index.html   200

nginx:

location / {
  try_files $uri /index.html;
}

Apache:

• Enable mod_rewrite
• Add a fallback to index.html

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Suggested workflow:

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a branch:

   git checkout -b feat/your-change

3. Make changes and run the app (and tests, if any)
4. Commit and push your changes
5. Open a Pull Request with:
   • A clear description
   • Testing or verification steps