Free Game Dev Assets

A curated public catalog of free and commercially usable assets, libraries, and tools for game development and related interactive work.

This repository indexes and documents sources. It does not rehost third-party binary packs. Every entry points to the original publisher so licenses stay authoritative at the source.

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Contents

• Website
• Browse the catalog
• Quick start
• How entries work
• Safe starting points
• Licenses & provenance
• Godot-oriented stack
• Scope
• Contributing
• Repository layout
• License

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Website

https://tmhsdigital.github.io/Free-Game-Dev-Assets/

The site is generated from catalog frontmatter on every push (GitHub Actions → Pages). Add or edit one file under catalog/<category>/<id>.md and the browse UI, filters, and counts update automatically.

Local preview:

node site/build.mjs
npx --yes serve site/dist

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Browse the catalog

Category	Focus	Index
3D	Models, scans, PBR textures & materials	catalog/3d/
Environment	HDRI, terrain DEMs, geodata	catalog/environment/
2D	Sprites, UI/HUD, icons, palettes	catalog/2d/
Characters	Generators & modular humanoids	catalog/characters/
Audio	SFX, music, foley, impulse responses	catalog/audio/
Animation	MoCap databases & character clips	catalog/animation/
Shaders & VFX	Shaders, particle/FX resources	catalog/shaders-vfx/
Fonts	OFL and commercial-ok typefaces	catalog/fonts/
Tools	Editors, pipeline, TTS, Godot add-ons	catalog/tools/

Master index: catalog/README.md

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Quick start

1. Use the website or open a category folder (or the master index).
2. Prefer entries with status: active and commercial: true.
3. Follow the source URL and re-check the live license before shipping.
4. Keep attribution / notices files for anything that isn’t CC0.

If you’re prototyping under a tight deadline, start with the safe starting points.

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How entries work

Each source is one markdown file with YAML frontmatter plus short notes. Add new ones from catalog/TEMPLATE.md.

Field	Meaning
license	Short license name as stated by the source (CC0, CC-BY-3.0, SIL OFL, custom, varies)
commercial	true / false / unknown / varies. varies means per-file review; the site filter still shows these with a per-file review badge
attribution_required	Whether credits are mandatory
formats	Common download / interchange formats
verified	Date of the last license spot-check (YYYY-MM-DD)
status	See legend below
grid_dimensions / camera_perspective / hardware_tags	Optional — 2D tile size, projection (isometric_3_4, top_down, side_scroller, 2d_flat), input-device coverage
attribution_string	Optional copy-paste credit when attribution_required
publisher	Optional rights-holding publisher when that publisher has more than one entry. Not a generic host.

Status legend

Status	Meaning
active	License spot-checked; suitable to evaluate for production use
needs-review	Useful discovery — verify the live page before shipping
deprecated	Kept for history; prefer alternatives

Aggregators (OpenGameArt, itch collections, Poly Pizza, font indexes) are usually license: varies and commercial: varies. Treat each pack or file as its own review. The site Commercial OK filter still lists them, labeled per-file review.

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Safe starting points

High-signal CC0 / clearly permissive sources that cover most early production needs:

Need	Source	Entry
Modular low-poly 3D / UI	Kenney	catalog/3d/kenney.md
Rigged low-poly characters	Quaternius	catalog/3d/quaternius.md
Atlas-optimized kits	KayKit	catalog/3d/kaykit.md
Seamless PBR materials	ambientCG	catalog/3d/ambientcg.md
HDRIs / calibrated env	Poly Haven	catalog/environment/poly-haven.md
Extra PBR + SBSAR	TextureCan	catalog/3d/texturecan.md
UI icons (brand-free)	Lucide	catalog/2d/lucide-icons.md
Hand-drawn 2D vectors	Glitch archive	catalog/2d/glitch-archive.md
Input prompt icons	Kenney Input Prompts	catalog/2d/kenney-input-prompts.md
Pro SFX dumps	Sonniss #GameAudioGDC	catalog/audio/sonniss-gdc.md
Attribution music	Incompetech	catalog/audio/incompetech.md
Pixel / terminal font	Departure Mono	catalog/fonts/departure-mono.md
Localization fonts	Noto Sans	catalog/fonts/noto-sans.md

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Licenses & provenance

Read docs/licenses.md, docs/provenance.md, docs/high-risk.md, docs/fivem.md, docs/ai-assets.md, docs/trust-score.md, and docs/game-vs-video-licensing.md before mixing packs into a commercial build. Research drafts: docs/research-index.md (R01–R05). Short version:

• CC0 — safest default for closed-source games; attribution not required
• CC-BY — commercial OK; keep credits (BY-3.0 often wants the author named; BY-4.0 is usually satisfied by a credits-screen link)
• CC-BY-SA — commercial OK with caveats; prefer extractable asset bundles over encrypting SA files into the binary
• CC-*-ND — generally unusable in games (interactive sync/remix = derivative)
• SIL OFL — preferred for fonts embedded in games
• ODbL / OSM — game binary usually OK as a Produced Work; credit OSM; watch redistributed geodata
• Marketplace “free” (Unity / Fab / Unreal) — often commercial in-engine, no redistribution, sometimes engine-locked
• Trust the supplier — skip anonymous mega-dumps and known traps (MB-Lab, default Shadertoy, Maps scrapes, GTA/FiveM rips)

Catalog metadata in this repo is CC0. Linked assets remain under their own licenses.

Godot-oriented stack

Research-backed shortlist for Godot 4 projects (Kenney industrial/tech kits, Sonniss/Freesound audio, Phantom Camera, Input Helper, Dialogic, GodotSteam, Mod Loader, etc.):

→ docs/godot-budget-stack.md

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Scope

In scope

• Free asset libraries, packs, and aggregators with a clear free tier
• Tools useful for creating or processing game assets
• Sources usable in commercial games when terms allow

Out of scope

• Rehosting or mirroring third-party ZIP / model / audio dumps
• Paid-only marketplaces with no meaningful free content
• Guessing licenses — use unknown / needs-review instead

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Contributing

PRs welcome for new sources, license corrections, dead links, and clearer notes.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the entry checklist and verification steps.

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Repository layout

.
├── README.md              ← you are here
├── CONTRIBUTING.md        ← how to add / verify entries
├── LICENSE                ← CC0 for catalog metadata & docs
├── docs/
│   ├── licenses.md / provenance.md / high-risk.md / fivem.md / ai-assets.md
│   ├── trust-score.md / research-index.md / godot-budget-stack.md
│   ├── game-vs-video-licensing.md
├── RESEARCH/README.md     ← research archive index (drafts gitignored)
├── site/                  ← GitHub Pages source (build scans catalog/)
│   ├── build.mjs / config.json / public/
└── catalog/
    ├── TEMPLATE.md
    ├── 3d/ environment/ 2d/ characters/
    ├── audio/ animation/ shaders-vfx/ fonts/ tools/
    └── README.md

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License

Catalog metadata and documentation in this repository are dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0.

Third-party assets linked from the catalog remain under their original licenses. Always verify terms on the source site before use.