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The Mean Hamster archive

40 Years of Games

An ongoing timeline documenting four decades of games, software, experiments, and the people behind Mean Hamster.

From Amiga and Commodore 64 shareware to Pocket PC ports, disco cat salons, and a hobby operating system—the Mean Hamster story, one milestone at a time.

1985—2026

Independent throughout

15 timeline milestones

  1. 198501

    Mean Hamster Software is founded

    John Swiderski starts the studio and begins four decades of independent game and software development.

  2. 1988–199302

    Amiga and Commodore 64 shareware

    Early Mean Hamster titles are distributed through the Amiga and Commodore 64 shareware scene, reaching players before widespread internet game distribution.

  3. 199503

    Retail computer business opens

    John opens a retail computer business in Deer Park, Washington, helping fund future game development while serving the local computer community.

  4. ~200204

    Myst and Riven for Pocket PC

    Mean Hamster brings Myst and Riven to Pocket PC and Windows Mobile, adapting two landmark adventure games for handheld devices.

  5. 200805

    Partnership with PlayFirst

    Mean Hamster's first publishing partnership is with PlayFirst. Pet Shop Hop becomes the studio's first big hit and begins a new era of casual games.

  6. 200806

    Studio expansion

    After graduating from DeVry, Bryan Vestey joins Mean Hamster as Lead Engineer and helps ship Everything Nice, Ye Olde Sandwich Shoppe, and numerous additional titles.

  7. 200907

    Partnership with Big Fish Games

    A year later, Mean Hamster begins working with Big Fish Games. Ye Olde Sandwich Shoppe reaches #1 among time-management games and holds the position for 16 consecutive weeks.

  8. 2009–1208

    Casual game success

    Mean Hamster follows Pet Shop Hop with Cat Wash, Passport to Perfume, Everything Nice, and Mother Nature for the growing casual-games market.

  9. 2010–1109

    Facebook and social games

    Mean Hamster expands into Facebook games with the Vegas Nights series, seasonal titles, and Hospitopia, a hospital-building game developed in support of children's charities.

  10. 201110

    Arcade ports and GSN WorldWinner

    Mean Hamster brings KLAX and other Atari games to new platforms and ports several major titles to GSN WorldWinner, an online tournament service.

  11. 201211

    Crossbow mobile, Bee Craft, and R8IT

    Mean Hamster creates an officially licensed mobile version of the Exidy arcade game Crossbow, brings hive management to new platforms with Bee Craft, and co-develops R8IT with Sleepy Giant.

  12. 201312

    Girl Frames for iOS

    Mean Hamster expands into mobile utilities with Girl Frames, a decorative photo-framing app for iPhone.

  13. 201913

    Break Vaders for Adventure Vision

    Mean Hamster releases a new game for the distinctive tabletop console.

  14. 202514

    TET-TRS for Tandy Model II

    A falling-block puzzle game brings a new challenge to Tandy's classic business computer.

  15. 202615

    A new chapter

    Mean Hamster enters a new phase with a redesigned website, the Hamster Dash browser game, PawPrints 3D, a Crossbow remake, the HamsterOS hobby operating system, and Cat Wash 2 currently in development.

The archive is still growing.

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