{"slug": "easel", "name": "Easel", "category": "editors", "category_name": "Editors and IDEs", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 6, "warners": 1, "score": 2.164, "rising": 0.35, "first": "2025-11-10", "latest": "2026-08-14", "why": "I use this for everything from backend system design to iterating on different UIs.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1, "compare": 1, "warn": 1}, "spark": [1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I use this for everything from backend system design to iterating on different UIs.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "easel.games", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://easel.games", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Easel"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 788859776, "item_id": 49303736, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49303736", "by": "samkec", "date": "2026-08-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use this for everything from backend system design to iterating on different UIs.", "excerpt": "This is awesome - it's a way better version of lavish (which is also great). I use this for everything from backend system design to iterating on different UIs. Clearly the future.", "context": "", "use_case": "system design and UI iteration", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Easel \u2013 Interactive review boards for agent feedback loops"}, {"id": 743364344, "item_id": 46460271, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46460271", "by": "sroerick", "date": "2026-01-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I look with envy at the smalltalks of the world, like Marvelous Toolkit, the Forths, or the Clojure based Easel", "excerpt": "It is interesting and fascinating to see the growth of Linux. As many have pointed out, The biggest factor is obviously the enshittification of Microsoft. Valve has crept up in gaming. And I think understated is how incredibly nice the tiling WMs are. They really do offer an experience which is impossible to replicate on Mac or Windows, both aesthetically and functionally. Linux, I think, rewards the power user. Micr", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it"}, {"id": 734201920, "item_id": 45887620, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45887620", "by": "svieira", "date": "2025-11-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Great documentation, by the by!", "excerpt": "I found https://easel.games/docs/learn/language/functions/ids#implicit-ids which suggests they are structure-based, at least, though loops aren't mentioned. Great documentation, by the by!", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (Nov 2025)"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 749095681, "item_id": 46818480, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46818480", "by": "SethTro", "date": "2026-01-29", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "the terrible closed source Easel App", "excerpt": "I've used kiri:moto for several simple CNC projects! This probably won't scroll to the correct place on the page but there's some images of my project at https://hcc.haus/propmania/#2024-palm-torches and https://static.cloudygo.com/static/Prop%20Making/2024%20Palm%20Torch%20-%20Complete%20Blank.jpg I used it instead of the terrible closed source Easel App for a CARVEY hobby CNC. For metal milling I find Fusion 360 is", "context": "", "use_case": "CNC toolpaths", "switched_from": "", "story": "Grid: Forever free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["system design and ui iteration", "cnc toolpaths"], "compared": [{"slug": "kiri-moto", "name": "Kiri:Moto", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [{"id": 802203872, "item_id": 50137742, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50137742", "by": "BSTRhino", "date": "2026-10-18", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been making Easel", "excerpt": "I've been making Easel (https://easel.games) for four years so far! A place for teenagers to make multiplayer web games and share them with each other. Still a long way to go but this is the goal!", "context": "", "use_case": "teen game-making platform", "switched_from": "", "story": "Chrome and Edge are removing XSLT: what breaks and what does not"}, {"id": 795241296, "item_id": 49702581, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49702581", "by": "BSTRhino", "date": "2026-09-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "But the defaults are really good when the rollback netcode is in the language itself", "excerpt": "Yes, I spent quite a few years building and iterating on some quite elaborate mechanisms to handle latency too: https://easel.games/docs/learn/multiplayer/rollback-netcode - it\u2019s taken a lot of continual playtesting to discover and address many issues. The multiplayer architecture is rollback netcode, which I think is great because it performs client-side prediction by running your full game simulation step forward o", "context": "", "use_case": "Multiplayer game creation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)"}, {"id": 792822609, "item_id": 49551413, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49551413", "by": "seanw265", "date": "2026-09-03", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "We have a similar set of checks on https://www.easel.sh.", "excerpt": "Your browser's network fingerprint has likely already been validated as not-suspicious traffic. Your curl instance has a different fingerprint and reads as more suspicious. This is Cloudflare working as intended. We have a similar set of checks on https://www.easel.sh.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "ChatGPT outage \u2013 Resolved"}, {"id": 767852416, "item_id": 47990776, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47990776", "by": "BSTRhino", "date": "2026-05-02", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "You can upload to itch.io yes", "excerpt": "You can upload to itch.io yes: https://easel.games/docs/learn/publishing/export The export basically creates a page with an HTML IFRAME in it that embeds the hosted version of your game on easel.games so that all the multiplayer and leaderboards continue to work. Thanks for your interest!", "context": "", "use_case": "Multiplayer game platform", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Physics Engine with Incremental Rollback for Multiplayer Games"}, {"id": 743344144, "item_id": 46459009, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46459009", "by": "phronmophobic", "date": "2026-01-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Using an IDE where all the tools take data and share data has dramatically changed my workflow.", "excerpt": "The best description of what I mean by data is https://www.infoq.com/presentations/Value-Values/. > why existing IDEs miss the mark? There are definitely lots of IDEs that do cool things, but are missing one or more items from my wish list. With respect to data orientation, most IDEs don't represent information as immutable data. If all internal state uses immutable data, it's much easier and safer to share. If every", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Easel Turns One One year of building my own IDE in Clojure"}, {"id": 740315472, "item_id": 46269717, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46269717", "by": "BSTRhino", "date": "2025-12-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm working on a beginner-friendly online programming language for teenagers", "excerpt": "https://easel.games I'm working on a beginner-friendly online programming language for teenagers who want to learn to code. I think there is not a clear enough winner for what teenagers should do after they learn Scratch so I am trying to make it.", "context": "", "use_case": "teaching teens to code", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (December 2025)"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47981979", "title": "A Physics Engine with Incremental Rollback for Multiplayer Games", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45869146", "title": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (Nov 2025)", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50134617", "title": "Chrome and Edge are removing XSLT: what breaks and what does not", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49686380", "title": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49550614", "title": "ChatGPT outage \u2013 Resolved", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49301685", "title": "Show HN: Easel \u2013 Interactive review boards for agent feedback loops", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"compare": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1, "warn": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 788859776, "item_id": 49303736, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49303736", "by": "samkec", "date": "2026-08-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use this for everything from backend system design to iterating on different UIs.", "excerpt": "This is awesome - it's a way better version of lavish (which is also great). I use this for everything from backend system design to iterating on different UIs. Clearly the future.", "context": "", "use_case": "system design and UI iteration", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Easel \u2013 Interactive review boards for agent feedback loops"}, {"id": 768096848, "item_id": 48006053, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48006053", "by": "FrojoS", "date": "2026-05-04", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Very cool! Thanks for the detailed tech blog explainer. Some, hopefully constructive, feedback: - You mention \"other games\" several times. It would be so much more interesting to read, if you named them. Your readers may know that game but have no knowledge about those under the hood details. Like the user wordpad, I immediately thought about Planetary Annihilation when I saw rollback and multiplayer. - Your landing ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Physics Engine with Incremental Rollback for Multiplayer Games"}, {"id": 749095681, "item_id": 46818480, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46818480", "by": "SethTro", "date": "2026-01-29", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "the terrible closed source Easel App", "excerpt": "I've used kiri:moto for several simple CNC projects! This probably won't scroll to the correct place on the page but there's some images of my project at https://hcc.haus/propmania/#2024-palm-torches and https://static.cloudygo.com/static/Prop%20Making/2024%20Palm%20Torch%20-%20Complete%20Blank.jpg I used it instead of the terrible closed source Easel App for a CARVEY hobby CNC. For metal milling I find Fusion 360 is", "context": "", "use_case": "CNC toolpaths", "switched_from": "", "story": "Grid: Forever free, local-first, browser-based 3D printing/CNC/laser slicer"}, {"id": 743364344, "item_id": 46460271, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46460271", "by": "sroerick", "date": "2026-01-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I look with envy at the smalltalks of the world, like Marvelous Toolkit, the Forths, or the Clojure based Easel", "excerpt": "It is interesting and fascinating to see the growth of Linux. As many have pointed out, The biggest factor is obviously the enshittification of Microsoft. Valve has crept up in gaming. And I think understated is how incredibly nice the tiling WMs are. They really do offer an experience which is impossible to replicate on Mac or Windows, both aesthetically and functionally. Linux, I think, rewards the power user. Micr", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it"}, {"id": 734201920, "item_id": 45887620, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45887620", "by": "svieira", "date": "2025-11-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Great documentation, by the by!", "excerpt": "I found https://easel.games/docs/learn/language/functions/ids#implicit-ids which suggests they are structure-based, at least, though loops aren't mentioned. Great documentation, by the by!", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (Nov 2025)"}, {"id": 734003424, "item_id": 45875214, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45875214", "by": "Benjamin_Dobell", "date": "2025-11-10", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "But much more opinionated than Easel.", "excerpt": "I've actually just recently been through this myself. I'm also building something for kids to build games in. But much more opinionated than Easel. It's interesting to me that Easel looks declarative but is imperative. I've actually gone with a 100% declarative approach. Basically you define effects, which are executed in response to certain interactions. There's a comprehensive targeting system. But the best part is", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (Nov 2025)"}]}