Are you searching for the best JavaScript 2D & 3D Game libraries and engines? Don’t worry we’ve got you covered. The usage of web browsers has increased a lot in the last two decades. The users have shown more interest in online gaming played on web browsers.
As per the reports, the Online Gaming Market is projected to register a CAGR of 19.6% from 2023–2030, to reach $431.87 billion by 2030. As a result, investors are very keen to put their money into this online gaming industry to gain higher returns.
Now, we have collected this list of the best JavaScript gaming engines that will help you easily create stunning graphic games. Before, we’d like to shed some light on the JavaScript game library and the significance of using it.
Table of contents
What is JavaScript Game Library?
Do you know what is the good thing about JavaScript? It’s the functionality and features it brings to your project from their JavaScript Frameworks and libraries.
Now, a JavaScript game library has a collection of all the pre-built functions, tools, and resources that are designed to facilitate the development of games using JavaScript. It provides various features and functionalities to simplify and accelerate the overall process.
Moreover, it typically offers a variety of ready-to-use components, such as sprite management, collision detection, input handling, animation, sound, and more.
Therefore, a developer can take advantage of a JavaScript game library’s features to build games more efficiently.
Yes, JavaScript is one of the most popular languages used among developers. The flexibility of its 3D-based libraries allows developers to build 3D games quickly.
Significance of using JavaScript Gaming Engines and Libraries
The usage of JavaScript engines and libraries for the production of games can bring lots of advantages to your bag. From getting Flexibility and customization to performing these libraries are good to go in the development.
Let’s check some important points on why one should consider using a JavaScript gaming library.
- Efficiency and Productivity: It helps to simplify complex tasks such as rendering graphics, handling input, managing game states, and implementing physics. Besides, it reduces development time assisting the developers to focus on creating game-specific features and mechanics.
- Cross-Platform Compatibility: Multiple platforms and devices support JavaScript gaming engines and libraries, including desktops, web browsers, and mobile devices.
- Community and Support: These libraries have wide communities and active developer support. This means developers can find extensive documentation, tutorials, forums, and online resources to help them troubleshoot their issues and get better assistance.
- Performance Optimization: JavaScript gaming engines and libraries are often optimized for performance, enabling smooth and efficient game execution.
- Flexibility and Customization: While libraries provide pre-built components, they also offer flexibility for customization and extension.
JavaScript Game Library
Now, as we have understood the importance of JavaScript Game libraries and engines let’s head on to the list without wasting any time. Apart from this, I would recommend checking the JavaScript Machine learning library to facilitate your development process.
Matter.js
Matter.js is a 2D Physics engine that provides you with a robust set of features for creating physics-based simulations and games. It can handle collisions, forces, constraints, and other physics-related interactions.
Furthermore, with Matter.js, you can create objects with various shapes and properties, define their physical behavior, and simulate their interactions within a 2D environment. It supports collision detection and resolution, rigid body dynamics, and constraints like springs.
The JavaScript 2D Game Library also supports many advanced features such as Canvas renderer so that you can handle your vectors and textures easily. Besides, it has many examples and demos available to get you started with this library quickly.
Features
- Rigid bodies
- Compound bodies
- Composite bodies
- Concave and convex hulls
- Physical properties
- Mobile-compatible (touch, responsive)
- Time scaling (slow-mo, speed-up), and many more…
While developing games, developers often require a dashboard to efficiently manage their data and users. In such cases, I highly recommend considering the use of the most advanced Admin Dashboard Template
Sneat Bootstrap 5 HTML Admin Template
Sneat Bootstrap 5 HTML Admin Template – is the latest Bootstrap 5 HTML Admin Template. It is the most developer-friendly & highly customizable Bootstrap Admin Template. Besides, the highest industry standards are considered to bring you the best bootstrap admin template that is not just fast and easy to use, but highly scalable.
In addition, it is incredibly versatile and very suitable for your project. Besides, this Bootstrap admin Template also allows you to build any type of web app with ease. For instance, you can create: SaaS platforms, Project management apps, E-commerce backends, CRM systems, Analytics apps, Banking apps, etc.
Furthermore, you can also use this innovative admin panel template to create eye-catching, high-quality, and high-performing Web Applications. Besides, your apps will be completely responsive, ensuring they look stunning and function flawlessly on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices.
Features:
- Based on Bootstrap 5.3.2
- Vertical and Horizontal layouts
- Default, Bordered, and Semi-dark themes
- Light & Dark modes support
- Internationalization/i18n & RTL Ready
- Language-Driven LTR and RTL Adaptation
- Input group page, speech-to-text functionality
- Layout Generator
- Theme Config: Customize our template without a sweat
- 3 Dashboard
- 2 Chart libraries
- SASS Powered and many more.
You can check the React version as well.
Three.js
Three.js is one of the most popular JavaScript 3D libraries used to create captivating and interactive 3D graphics within web browsers. It provides you with a set of tools that simplify the process of building games, virtual reality experiences, architectural visualizations, and other engaging applications.
Furthermore, Three.js has an intuitive and easy-to-use API that provides a rich set of classes and methods for creating and manipulating 3D objects, defining materials, handling camera perspectives, implementing lighting and shadows, and managing animations.
Moreover, the JavaScript Game library also provides support for various input devices and interaction methods such as handling mouse and keyboard, integrating touch, gyroscopic controls for mobile devices, and many more.
Features
- WebGL-based Rendering
- Built-in Geometries
- Shaders and Effects
- Camera Control
- Cross-platform and Cross-browser Compatibility
- Extensive Documentation and Community Support, and many more…
Gdevelop.io
If you’re looking for an open-source game engine that is cross-platform then Gdevelop is for you. It is a full-featured, no-code game development software that is free and open source. You can build games for mobile, desktop, and the web.
GDevelop is fast and easy to use: the game logic is built up using an intuitive and powerful event-based system. Besides, these events are powerful ways to express the logic of your game and make it as efficient as coding without any complexities.
Moreover, it is a paid game engine but it also has an open-source version which you can check from GitHub. Apart from that, you can also check the games that are built with Gdevelop
Features
- 2D and 3D objects
- No-code event system
- Add behaviors to the game system
- Lightweight & powerful
- Easy to deploy
- Built-in asset store
- Custom functions and behavior, and many more…
Plank.js
Plank.js is a JavaScript game engine for cross-platform game development. It is a physics simulation library that gives procedural animation to your system. Now, to use this library you need to be familiar with basic physics concepts, such as mass, force, torque, and impulses. If not, you can ask ChatGPT is there.
Furthermore, with its advanced features and functionality, you can add collisions, and multiple shapes, create shapes, joints, and many more to your project using the logic of physics.
Now, to explore this library you can check the examples available on Piqnt. In addition, You can edit them or create new ones as per your need. Apart from that, To use Planck.js with other game engines, or integrate it with other frameworks and libraries see the Integration page.
Features
- Rigid Body Dynamics
- Collision Detection
- Joints and Constraints
- Contacts and Contact Listener
- Performance Optimization
- Integration with Rendering Libraries, and many more…
Melon.js
The all-new MelonJS is a game engine that was first released in 2011. Besides, it is built on using ES6 class, inheritance, and semantics, and bundled using Rollup to provide modern features such as transpiring and tree-shaking.
Furthermore, the fully featured game engine library supports 2D sprite-based graphics, Blazing Fast WebGL renderer for desktop and mobile devices with a fallback to Canvas rendering.
In addition, The framework offers many different parts and works well with other tools. This combination gives you a lot of power to use it all together or just use some parts.
Features
- Standalone library
- Fast WebGL 1 & 2 renderer
- Web Audio support
- High DPI resolution & advanced auto-scaling options
- Tween and transition effects
- Mouse, Touch, Pointer, and Gamepad device support
- System and Bitmap fonts, and many more…
Pixijs.com
Pixi.JS is an open-source JavaScript game engine that helps you create beautiful digital content with the fastest, most flexible 2D WebGL renderer. Furthermore, the rich graphics from this library work across all devices and browsers.
In addition, it has multi-touch support and tracking so that you can create interactions such as pinch-to-scale that give audiences native feeling experiences. It also supports a range of sprite sheet formats and includes advanced support for features like trimming and rotational packing.
Features
- WebGL renderer
- Canvas renderer
- Full scene graph
- Super easy-to-use API
- Support for texture atlases
- Auto-detect which renderer should be used
- Render Texture
- Primitive Drawing, and many more…
Stage.js
If you’re looking for a 2D HTML5 JavaScript library for cross-platform game development then you must check Stage.js. Moreover, it provides a DOM-like tree data model that allows you to compose your application using a hierarchical structure. This makes it easier to manage and manipulate elements in your application.
Furthermore, the library internally manages rendering cycles, ensuring that the application is rendered and updated efficiently. It automatically adjusts nodes to recent updates and transforms them according to their pinning.
The JavaScript game library also provides built-in support for animation and tweening where you can create smooth transitions.
Features
- DOM-like tree data model
- Rendering cycles management
- Preloading support
- Flexible pinning system
- Event handling
- Texture management, and many more…
Kaboom.js
Kaboom.js is an open-source JavaScript game library that allows you to create 2D games in the browser very easily. Moreover, it provides you with a simple and intuitive API for handling game logic, input handling, sprite animations, and more.
Kaboom.js aims to make game development accessible and fun, particularly for beginners or developers who prefer a more lightweight and simple approach. Moreover, It provides a good balance between simplicity and flexibility, making it suitable for a wide range of game development projects.
Features
- Easy to setup
- Sprite animations
- Input handling
- Physics simulation
- Modular and extensible, and many more…
Playcanvas
Playcanvas is a web-based game engine to builds stunning HTML 5 games and visualization. It is an open-source game engine that also uses WebGL to run games and other interactive 3D content in any mobile or desktop browser.
Furthermore, PlayCanvas Engine gives incredible performance, even on devices such as the iPhone 6 and Chromebooks. Besides, it also gives supports many team features such as chatting with your teammates directly from the Editor and built-in version control.
In addition, this open-source 2D JavaScript game engine library is used by leading companies in video games, advertising, and visualization such as Animech, Arm, BMW, Disney, Facebook, Famobi, Funday Factory, IGT, King, and many more.
Features
- Advanced 2D + 3D graphics
- Built on WebGL 1 & 2.
- 3D positional sounds built on the Web Audio API
- Write game behaviors in Typescript or JavaScript
- Mouse, keyboard, touch, gamepad, and VR controller APIs
- Powerful state-based animations, and many more…
Cannon.js
Cannon.Js is an open-source lightweight 3D physics engine written in JavaScript. Furthermore, it has a rigid body physics engine that includes simple collision detection, various body shapes, contacts, friction, and constraints.
These can help you create realistic physics-based simulations and games in the browser. Furthermore, Cannon.js offers a wide range of features and functionalities that enable developers to accurately handle gravity, collisions, friction, and other physical activities within their games.
In addition, Cannon.js has a wide range of demos that show it supports a variety of shapes, including spheres, boxes, cylinders, and capsules. You can play with their demos from here.
Note: The GitHub repository is not maintained yet, so I would recommend checking their documentation and implementing it in your projects accordingly.
Features
- Rigid body dynamics
- Discrete collision detection
- Contacts, friction, and restitution
- Multiple Constraints
- Interactive Examples
- Gauss-Seidel constraint solver and an island split algorithm
- Body sleeping, and many more…
Conclusion
There you go! these are some of the best JavaScript 2D &3D game libraries and engines we have covered in this post. Furthermore, we have tried to cover all those libraries that are capable of building simple to complex graphics-based games.
Among these libraries, we hope that you were able to select a suitable JavaScript game library for your project. If not, then we’d recommend selecting those libraries that suit your needs and requirements.
For instance, if you’re looking for more of a rendering engine that is more popular among developers than Three.js and Gdevelop.io is worth using. On the other hand, if you’re looking to build complex games with high graphics then you must use game engines like PlayCanvas.
We hope you like this collection. Please do share it with your friends and colleagues and do let us know which game you are looking to build from our Contact Us section.
Best of Luck! 😉
