Building apps since the App Store was new.

The road so far

From gun for hire to forty million

Sixteen years, one developer, one company. Follow the hectometre posts.

1. 2008

   The App Store opens

   Apple invents the modern app. A Dutch developer takes notice: software you can hold in your hand, shipped straight to the whole world.

2. 2010

   Gun for hire, Amsterdam

   Building iPhone apps for clients across the city, in the scene Mike Lee would dub Appsterdam. Magazines, clubs, shops, shipping firms, television: if it needed an app, it got a good one.

3. 2011

   Snake '97 ships

   A pixel-faithful remake of the phone classic, released 22 May 2011. It crosses borders faster than any client project ever could, and it has not stopped since.

4. 2012

   dsd 164 B.V. is founded

   A real company for a growing catalogue, named after its own front door: Dalsteindreef 164, Amsterdam. In December, Block 89 ships.

5. 2010s

   Tens of millions

   The games spread worldwide, translated into dozens of languages, on iOS, Android and even Windows Phone. Apple and Google notice too: personal invitations, multiple times, at their offices.

6. 2018

   The tools become products

   Lemmid, the content management platform built to run our own sites and services, reaches the App Store as an online toolbox.

7. 2024

   Gran Fondo: Ride & Run

   A tracker for riders and runners: distance, elevation and the joy of going far, with the same no-nonsense stance as the games.

8. 2025

   Into the open

   Auscultare, a libre Android player for podcasts and audiobooks, ships with its source code public. Premium Android development, Unix philosophy.

9. 2026

   Still shipping

   Outburn 87 takes the catalogue racing. Same garage, same love, sixteen years after the first line of app code.

The name

Three letters, one number, zero meaning

"dsd 164" is simply the company's front door in Amsterdam, written in the official ANWB typeface you see on Dutch road signs. It was chosen because it is internationally meaningless: the same name, the same sound, on every continent. Always lowercase, always pointing home.

The full story of the name →

The work

Sixteen years of shipping

Not a portfolio: an archive. From the Appsterdam client years (magazines, clubs, television, shipping, medicine) to the games the whole world plays. Built for iOS and Android, once even for Windows Phone, lately in the open.

2011Snake '97The retro phone classic. 40 million+ downloads and counting.Visit →2012Block 89The handheld brick puzzle, rebuilt properly in 2026.Visit →2026Outburn 87A retro pseudo-3D arcade racer with an endless sunset.Visit →2024Gran Fondo: Ride & RunRide and run tracker for people who like going far.Visit →2025AuscultareLibre Android podcast and audiobook player. Source code public.Visit →

2020Lemmid StoreFood ordering, launched in the covid days. Croissant Club was an original customer.

AppsterdamThe community app for Mike Lee's Amsterdam app-maker movement.

Smaak van RomeDutch-Italian magazine, brought to the tablet.

We love 2 shop (RTL)Companion app for the Dutch television programme.

NMT ShippingThe shipping company, in app form.

Escape Club AmsterdamApps for the Rembrandtplein nightlife institution.

Jantjes VerjaardagThe Amsterdam party, in your pocket.

ShopcatA 20-million-record retail index, searchable on a 2010 phone with lackluster connectivity: the optimised index shipped inside the app. Groundbreaking then. With Locatus B.V.

Heart HealthMedical risk calculators for cardiovascular care.

Blood Stream GuardiansConcept game: players fight bad cholesterol to live the day, raising cardiovascular risk awareness.

Leyweg, Den HaagManagement and statistics apps for the shopping street.

Live today

Three games, three sites

The catalogue is not history: it is running. Each game has its own site, built by the same hands.

Guides

Take an exit

Five short reads about the name, the years and the principles.

FAQ

Asked and answered