phaserjs/phaser

Phaser is an open-source HTML5 game framework that lets developers build 2D games that run directly in web browsers on both desktop and mobile. The problem it solves is that creating interactive games from scratch requires handling graphics rendering, physics, animations, input events, audio, asset loading, and dozens of other systems simultaneously. Phaser packages all of these into a coherent, well-documented API so you can focus on designing your game instead of building an engine. Phaser works by providing a scene-based architecture where your game is divided into independent scenes, a loading screen, a main menu, a game level, each with their own setup and update logic. Within a scene you create game objects like sprites (moving images), tilemaps (grid-based worlds), particles, cameras, and physics bodies. Phaser version 4 uses a completely rebuilt WebGL renderer with a node-based rendering pipeline, which means modern GPU hardware is used efficiently to push tens of thousands of sprites at high frame rates. For games that need even more, a special SpriteGPULayer object can render over a million sprites in a single GPU draw call. Built-in physics engines handle collisions and movement, and a built-in animation system manages sprite frame sequences. You would use Phaser when building any 2D browser game, from simple casual games and puzzle games to action platformers and top-down RPGs. Finished games can also be wrapped using third-party tools for distribution on iOS, Android, Steam, YouTube Playables, and Discord Activities, so the same codebase reaches native platforms too. Phaser is written in JavaScript and fully supports TypeScript. It integrates with frontend frameworks including React, Vue, Svelte, and Angular, and can be added to a project via npm or a CDN script tag. The minified build is around 345 kilobytes compressed, making it practical for web delivery.