The early web
A jigsaw logo, a simple welcome and the beginnings of Smilie on the web. The business was already running before this surviving capture.
Smilie · SmilieGames · Matica
A little corner
of the early internet.
Before the web felt familiar, we were making things to play with.
Founded in 1996, Smilie made Java games for the early web. SmilieGames and Matica carried the games forward into the Flash era. Explore the surviving designs, pages and memories here.
Preserved with affection, and with thanks to co-founders Jonni Ball and Chris Edwards.
Step inside the preserved 2004 Smilie site ↗1996–2004 · the journey
A studio at the start
of the web’s gaming years.
Smilie was founded in November 1996, as the web was opening up new ways to make and share games. Darts and Pool were among Smilie’s earliest Java games, letting people play inside their browsers. Flash games joined the collection later, across SmilieGames and Matica.
Smilie’s blue pages have been kept largely unchanged since 2004. Alongside them, we’re collecting earlier versions so you can see how this little corner of the web evolved.
The earliest homepage currently recovered here is from 1997. A separate 1996 website reconstruction will be labelled when enough material is recovered.
The collection
Through the years
Play, in your browser
Bright colours and Java games: the early Smilie games found a home of their own. Flash games followed.
A growing games collection
Matica’s orange navigation and lavender pages, filled with games to discover. Its surviving archive reaches back to 11 November 1998.
The familiar blue years
The blue design that became Smilie’s lasting home. The preserved server copy also contains later 2004 updates.
These are real archive captures, preserved locally for this collection. Some images, linked pages and games may be missing. Java applets and Flash in the historical exhibits are shown as part of the record; the original programs do not run here.
The story continues
The games are part of the story.
Visit SmilieGames and Matica to explore the games. We’re working through the collection to bring the old titles back to modern browsers.