A Hobby Project for BattleTech Fans
MakaMek is my personal take on bringing BattleTech into the digital world — a free, open-source tactics game you can play solo, against AI, or online with friends. It's a passion project I've attempted three times (1998, 2011, 2024), and it's still growing.
MSK-6S Mackie painted by Remy Makarevich based on the picture by Arclight Miniatures
What's in the Game
This is a hobby project, so features are being added as I learn and experiment. Here's what you can play today:
Battlefields with Depth
Auto-generated hex maps with elevation levels, line-of-sight, woods, rough ground, water and rivers, roads and bridges. There's also a standalone Map Editor.
Full 'Mech Combat
Heat, ammo, critical hits, piloting rolls, falling, torso twists and aimed shots — plus initial physical attacks with punches and kicks.
Play Solo, vs AI, or Online
Hot-seat play, AI opponents, LAN, and internet games with shareable room codes. No port forwarding — even a browser can host.
Runs Everywhere
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and the web. iOS is supported from source due to licensing.
What It Looks Like
Here's the current state of the project. Yes, UI/UX is definitely not my strong side 😂
Want to Try It?
MakaMek is pre-1.0 and growing. Expect bugs, rough edges, and missing features — feedback and bug reports are welcome. Here's how to play:
- 1Just go to https://play-early.makamek.nl
- 2The browser version works on desktop, phones and tablets.
- 3Online multiplayer is available in the browser too — you can even host a game from it.
- 1Find the latest release for your platform on GitHub Releases
- 2Alternatively, you can find the latest available build in GitHub Actions by following the links in the Status section of the readme
- 3Download the corresponding build artifact
- 4Extract (if it's a zip file) and run the installer
- 5Agree with running an untrusted app (there's no malware, but the signing certificates for Windows are costly, it doesn't make sense to pay for them for an FOSS project)
- 1There are no packages available for iOS.
- 2App Store distribution is not an option due to licensing restrictions, and the AdHoc option is only available for a limited number of users.
- 3If you're a developer, you can clone the project and build it from source.
About This Project
Shadow Hawk SHD-2D painted by Remy Makarevich
Why I'm Building This
I encountered the BattleTech universe, maybe, at its peak in the late '90s with MechWarrior 2 and MechCommander, and soon discovered that it was much more than just computer games. It had deep lore, dozens of books, and, of course, the core and origin of it all — the board game.
At that time, I lived in a place where it was almost impossible to get my hands on the actual game, and MegaMek didn't exist yet. That was the very first time I decided to fix that myself and bring tabletop to computers. But it was probably too ambitious for a 16-year-old with no skills and minimal experience. A very similar fate awaited my second attempt 13 years later — though back then, the main problem (or excuse) was lack of time, with work and small kids running around.
Nowadays, my kids are not kids anymore (and are actually contributing with art and play testing), I have some spare time, and I've started this project as a playground to experiment with all the technologies and tools that interest me but that I don't get to use in my daily work.
This is purely a hobby project, fueled by enthusiasm for the universe. No big promises — just me tinkering in my spare time.
The name is a mashup of MegaMek (obviously, a source of inspiration and assets 😂), my surname (Makarevich), and the Mackie — the first BattleMech ever built.
Legal Stuff
This is a fan project, not affiliated with The Topps Company, Catalyst Game Labs, Microsoft and/or any other official BattleTech rights holders. BattleTech and MechWarrior are registered trademarks of The Topps Company, Inc. Microsoft holds the license for MechWarrior computer games, this game follows Microsoft's "Game Content Usage Rules"
I'm using some art assets from MegaMek's data repository (under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0). All game code is my own work, released under GPLv3. If you have concerns about any assets, please reach out.
Open Source & Contributions
The code is on GitHub under GPLv3. Feel free to poke around, report bugs, or contribute if you're interested. I'm always happy to get feedback or help!
Community & Related Projects
For feedback, games and progress updates, join the MakaMek Discord server. The Map Editor is a separate open-source project, and the wiki covers architecture and game rules implementation.
Contact
Find me on Discord or GitHub, or email anton.makarevich@gmail.com if you want to chat about the project.