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HeroMachine

A superhero character creator with a costume parts library deep enough to have outlasted three separate web technologies.

Opens in a new tab. We do not control this site and it may have changed since we catalogued it.

How to get the most from it

HeroMachine sits in Dress-Up & Avatars under Play, filed as coffee break.

  • Set aside five to fifteen minutes and give it your proper attention.
  • Use a laptop or desktop computer — we file it as desktop only.
  • It works with the sound off, so it is fine on a train or in a quiet office.
  • No account needed — you can start without signing up.
  • Go in expecting something nostalgic and clever.

About this category: Avatar makers and dress-up games, which are really just character creators liberated from the games they were trapped in. A whole subculture.

Good for

  • Filling a coffee break properly
  • A trip back to the older internet
  • Being impressed by a clever idea
  • A quiet break at your desk
  • Trying it with zero commitment

HeroMachine: quick answers

Is HeroMachine free?

Yes. HeroMachine is free to use and needs no account.

Do I need an account to use HeroMachine?

No. You can use HeroMachine without signing up for anything.

Does HeroMachine work on a phone?

Not well. We file HeroMachine as desktop only, so open it on a laptop or desktop computer.

Is HeroMachine safe for work?

Yes, we file it as safe for work. It also works muted.

How long does HeroMachine take?

We file it as "Coffee break": Five to fifteen minutes of proper attention.

More in Dress-Up & Avatars

All 15 in Dress-Up & Avatars
  • A platform where creators publish their own dress-up games, which is largely how the genre survived the death of Flash.

  • A hand-drawn library of mix-and-match people, free for anything, and quietly the source of half the internet's illustrations.

  • A hand-drawn character builder in the Open Peeps style, producing an avatar that does not look machine-generated.

  • A Japanese platform hosting tens of thousands of illustrator-made avatar makers, each one in a completely different style.

Same mood: nostalgic

All nostalgic sites

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