A NOTE FROM THE FIELD
The fly is fascinating.
So is the fine print.
A map of a nervous system lands on the internet. Someone connects it to Doom. Someone else puts it on their desktop. Flyiverse follows what happens next.
01 / CURIOSITY FIRST
A field guide, not a leaderboard.
Flyiverse is an independent directory of games, simulations, desktop pets, art, and scientific tools built around fruit fly connectomes. The current edition has 37 primary projects and 6 related ports, with source checks through Sep 10, 2026.
We want the unusual projects to be easy to find and the technical boundaries to be easy to understand. A funny experiment does not need to be a breakthrough to be worth a look.
This is not an exhaustive index of GitHub, an endorsement of the software, or a biological validation service. We have not run the featured programs. Flyiverse is not affiliated with FlyWire, FlyEM, Janelia, or any featured project.
02 / READ THE LABEL
Source-checked doesn’t mean science-validated.
README reviewed
The project’s public documentation was read. Descriptions reflect what its authors document, not independently reproduced results.
Source inspected
Relevant implementation was examined in addition to documentation. That still does not establish that the program runs correctly or behaves like a living fly.
Paper linked
The project links to an associated scientific paper. This label does not mean every claim in the repository is peer-reviewed, or that a downstream game inherits the paper’s validation.
Graph scope
Whole graph means a project reports using a full released or retained graph, subject to its preprocessing. Selected circuit means a subset. Visualization means a display, not necessarily simulated activity. Toolkit / data is infrastructure. If the source is unclear, we say scope not specified.
Displayed points, simulated neurons, directed connections, and individual synaptic contacts are different counts. We do not combine them into a single “brain size” ranking.
03 / KNOW YOUR FLY
There isn’t one universal fly brain file.
FlyWire reconstructs an adult female brain. MaleCNS covers the male central nervous system (CNS), including the brain and ventral nerve cord. MANC is a male adult nerve cord dataset. Larval fly maps describe a different developmental stage.
A connectome records anatomical connections. Simulators additionally choose electrical dynamics, synaptic effects, sensory encoding, body mechanics, and action readouts. Combining circuits from different specimens requires an explicit modeled interface.
For an approachable implementation, read the Shiu model repository. Its leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neurons are a model of activity, not electrical measurements supplied by the wiring diagram.
04 / FOLLOW THE RECEIPTS
How a project gets an entry.
- Read the primary repository documentation and record the public source links and check date.
- Describe what the project does, what dataset it says it uses, and what part of the simulation is modeled or engineered.
- Keep runtime and learning claims attributed to their authors. Record negative results when the source documents them.
- Show an “Open demo” or “Watch” link only when it was found in a primary source and the destination was reachable. A successful page request is not a gameplay test.
- Group documented forks and ports under their parent. Shared datasets and code ancestry have different labels in the family tree.
- Use original artwork when a properly licensed, reviewed project image is not available. Never pass an illustration off as a screenshot.
Star counts are deliberately absent. Popularity changes quickly and does not measure biological realism. Reachability and source descriptions can also change after the date on an entry.
05 / CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE
Built on an extraordinary amount of work.
The datasets exist because of the researchers, annotators, engineers, and communities behind FlyWire, MaleCNS, and the related connectomics projects. Each field note links to the project’s authors and their sources.
The fly specimen, arcade covers, and diagrams on Flyiverse are original editorial illustrations. They are not gameplay captures, recorded neural activity, or anatomically calibrated reconstructions. Typeface credits: Space Grotesk by Florian Karsten and IBM Plex Mono by IBM, self-hosted under their open font licenses.
Game names identify the subjects of independent projects. They do not imply endorsement by their publishers. Original code, datasets, games, and media retain their own licenses; a public repository is not automatically permission to reuse everything in it.
06 / A LIVING FIELD GUIDE
Keep the sources close.
Every project has a shareable page, a check date, and direct source links. When a source is incomplete, the entry should stay incomplete rather than invent an answer. The catalog is available as structured JSON for inspection and reuse.
Entries are maintained as editable project records: they can be added, corrected, hidden, or removed. This preview does not yet have a public submissions inbox. Missing projects and disputed claims belong in the next source-review pass, not in an unverified “complete list.”