Hypercard, the point-and-click software development tool designed by Bill Atkinson for classic Macs, helped a generation of non-coders make and share their own apps and games. Decker is a modern implementation for the web, and goes the extra mile in mimicking the user interface and experience of monochrome-era Macintoshes¹.
Anyone can use Decker to create E-Zines, organize their notes, give presentations, build adventure games, or even just doodle some 1-bit pixel art. The holistic "ditherpunk" aesthetic is cozy, a bit nostalgic, and provides fun and distinctive creative constraints. As a prototyping tool, Decker encourages embracing a sketchy, imperfect approach. Finished decks can be saved as standalone .html documents which self-execute in a web browser and can be shared anywhere you can host or embed a web page. Decker also runs natively on MacOS, Windows, BSD, and Linux.
There's a collection of built-in widgets for interface building, a tool to make custom ones, and coders can use a Lua-like scripting language to make more complex programs; the reference manual has it all.
Decker includes no advertising, telemetry, gamification, slop-generator integration, or other intrusions on user privacy and autonomy. If you like Decker, please share it with other people who might enjoy it. Build something that makes you happy.
As creator John Earnest writes, you can get started right now at the website, where there's a guided tour. The source code's on Github, with regular and recent updates.
1. This is called "Ditherpunk" now.
Previously: Hypercard simulator
Apple's HyperCard was inspired by an acid trip
