Top 7: Best open source javascript game engines

Building games is one of the best way to improve your programming skills. There are many ways to build games but the best and simplest way is to use one game engine, which might be a ready made framework with documentation on how to use it.

My focus on this article is game engines for web developers who are good with JavaScript. These game engines are list based on there cost, usage and functions.

NOTE: This might not be the most accurate list. But you can make more suggestions about the list below...

7. Qiciengine

Qiciengine is a free JavaScript game engine library with a web-based comprehensive suite of toolset for making HTML5 games. QICI Engine is based on the free and open source HTML5 game framework Phaser, which uses Pixi.js for WebGL and Canvas rendering across desktop and mobile web browsers.

With QICI Engine, creating HTML5 Games is as easy as to develop a website, use your favorite code editor, use your favorite web browser, leverage JavaScript language and all the best web development tools. QICI Engine takes care of the complexity of the underlying technologies, so you just focus on what's important, making your game!

QICI Engine is made up of three parts: QICI Core, QICI Widget and QICI Editor:

QICI Core: A JavaScript Game Engine library that is based on Phaser. QICI Widget: A JavaScript UI library for creating rich application. QICI Editor: A web-based editor with a Node.js server for accelerating HTML5 game development.

6. Kiwi Game Engine

Kiwi.js is a fun and friendly Open Source HTML5 Game Engine, some people call it the WordPress of HTML5 game engines.

Kiwi.js is the world's easiest to use Open Source HTML5 game framework for making both mobile and desktop HTML5 browser games. Their focus is blazingly fast WebGL rendering and complementary tools to make professional quality serious games. They use CocoonJS for publishing games and App creation.

Your games can target both canvas and WebGL. Use canvas for older browsers and most mobile browsers. Use WebGL for the latest browsers, and in conjunction with Cocoon.js to build fast native mobile apps. You can easily and efficiently make games for iOS, Android and Chrome Apps by using platforms such as CocoonJS and the Chrome WebStore.

5. MelonJS Game Engine

melonJS is a lightweight but yet powerful HTML5 framework designed from the ground up to provide a true plugin-free 'write-once, run-everywhere' gaming oriented library. melonJS is an open-source project and supported by a community of enthusiasts. Melon JS supports the currently features:

A fresh & lightweight 2D sprite-based engine Standalone library (does not rely on anything else, except a HTML5 capable browser) Compatible with most major browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, IE) and mobile devices Device motion & accelerometer support High DPI & auto scaling Multi-channel HTML5 audio support and Web Audio on supported devices Lightweight physics implementation to ensure low cpu requirements Polygon (SAT) based collision algorithm for accurate detection and response Fast Broad-phase collision detection using spatial partitioning 3rd party tools support for physic body definition (PhysicEditor, Physic Body Editor) Advanced math API for Vector and Matrix Tween Effects Transition effects A basic set of Object Entities (to be extended) Object Pooling Basic Particle System Basic animation management Standard spritesheet and Packed Textures (Texture Packer, ShoeBox) support A state manager (to easily manage loading, menu, options, in-game state) Tiled map format version +0.9.x integration for easy level design Uncompressed Plain, Base64, CSV and JSON encoded XML tilemap loading Orthogonal, Isometric and Perspective tilemap support Multiple layers (multiple background/foreground, collision and Image layers) Multiple Tileset support Tileset Transparency settings Layers Alpha settings Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon and Polyline objects support Tiled Objects Flipped & rotated Tiles Dynamic Layer and Object/Group ordering Dynamic Entity loading Shape based Tile collision support System & bitmap fonts Mouse and Touch device support (with mouse emulation) Built-in support for CocoonJS and Ejecta Asynchronous messaging support (minPubSub) Basic GUI elements included Customizable loader

4. Pixi.js game engine

Pixi.js is a super fast HTML 5 2D rendering engine that uses webGL with canvas fallback. The aim of this project is to provide a fast lightweight 2D library that works across all devices. The Pixi renderer allows everyone to enjoy the power of hardware acceleration without prior knowledge of WebGL. Also, it's fast. Really fast.

Pixi.js has full WebGL support and seamlessly falls back to HTML5's canvas if needed. As a framework, Pixi.js is a fantastic tool for authoring interactive content, especially with the move away from Adobe Flash in recent years. Use it for your graphics rich, interactive websites, applications, and HTML5 games. Out of the box cross-platform compatibility and graceful degradation mean you have less work to do and have more fun doing it! If you want to create polished and refined experiences relatively quickly, without delving into dense, low level code, all while avoiding the headaches of browser inconsistencies, then sprinkle your next project with some Pixi.js magic.

3. PlayCanvas WebGL Game Engine

PlayCanvas is an open-source game engine. It uses HTML5 and WebGL to run games and other interactive 3D content in all modern browsers without the need for a plugin.

Graphics WebGL-based 3D renderer Physically based rendering (PBR) Directional, point and spot lights (all of which can cast shadows) Runtime Lightmap baking Static and skinned meshes GPU Particle engine with editor PostFX library: bloom, edge detect, FXAA, vignette, etc Seamless default material support from Maya, 3DS Max, Blender, etc. Full model export pipeline from Maya, 3DS Max, Blender, etc via Assets User Manual Collision & Physics Full integration with 3D rigid-body physics engine ammo.js Audio 3D Positional audio via Web Audio API Resource Loading Simple and powerful resource loading Streaming of individual assets Asset Variants - loads compressed textures (DXT, PVR, ETC1) based on platform support Entity / Component System Built-in components: model, sound, animation, camera, collision, light, rigidbody, script, particlesystem Scripting system Write game behaviours by attaching JavaScript to game entities Live code hot-swap enables rapid iteration Input Mouse, Keyboard, Touch, Gamepad support, VR

2. Babylon.js

Babylon.js is an open source JavaScript framework through which you can build and render 3D games within a browser, with the help of WebGL, HTML5 and Web Audio. While drawing a simple 3D object in raw WebGL requires you to deal with a huge amount of JavaScript code, Babylon.js lets you do the same thing with a minimal amount of code and very low level of complexity.

Babylon.js can be stated as "yet another Three.js" due to its powerful features, which give you the power to create almost everything, ranging from fully interactive 3D games to animated logos, in your browser. Though this JavaScript framework is currently on its early stage, but even it offers developers a solid foundation for crafting feature-rich WebGL creations that can be used almost everywhere.

1. Phaser.js

But wait a minute, Phaser.js is better than Babylon.js, is this a joke? You know what the people say, one man's meat is another man's poison. You may probably won't like to start developing Web Games using advanced technologies like WebGL because you will be soon frustrated, as the creation of games isn't easy as you think. And that's where Phaser.js will probably be your first option to start with the Games Development as it's very easy to use, they provide a lot of examples and doesn't require a lot of codebase to create your first game.

Phaser is a fun, free and fast 2D game framework for making HTML5 games for desktop and mobile web browsers, supporting Canvas and WebGL rendering. Phaser uses both a Canvas and WebGL renderer internally and can automatically swap between them based on browser support. This allows for lightning fast rendering across Desktop and Mobile. Phaser uses and contributes towards the excellent Pixi.js library for rendering.

Phaser has been used to create hundreds of games, receiving millions of plays a month. And Version 2 is the most stable and bug-free one yet. The issues get resolved fast and we stay on-top of the changing browser landscape.

If you think that we've forgotten another awesome Game Engine written in Javascript, please let us know and share it with the community in the comment box.