{"data":{"slug":"excalibur","name":"Excalibur.js","tagline":"BSD-2 TypeScript 2D HTML5 game engine; free forever","category":"libraries","categoryName":"Libraries","url":"https://excaliburjs.com","github":"https://github.com/excaliburjs/Excalibur","pricing":"open-source","hook":"Excalibur is the batteries-included TypeScript 2D engine when Phaser is the bigger ecosystem and KAPLAY is the playground cousin.","whatsGood":"BSD-2-Clause. Scenes, actors, physics, tilemaps, loaders, TypeScript-first. Vite/Webpack templates. Commercial-friendly — no engine royalty. Active docs and samples.","theCatch":"Still pre-1.0 API caution. Vs Phaser/melonJS/KAPLAY: smaller plugin marketplace than Phaser; not a 3D/WebGPU-first engine. You bring art pipeline and multiplayer.","verdict":"BSD-2 TS 2D engine. Free forever; pre-1.0, Phaser still wins ecosystem size.","addedAt":"2026-09-04","featured":false,"domain":"Graphics & 3D","subSpecialty":"Game Engines","capabilities":["canvas","2d","typescript"],"surfaces":["Self-host"],"ecosystem":["Browser"],"licenseModel":"OSS/MIT","githubStars":2340},"related":[{"slug":"hono","name":"Hono","tagline":"Tiny TypeScript web framework that runs on every runtime"},{"slug":"phaser","name":"Phaser","tagline":"MIT HTML5 2D game framework with scenes, physics, and tilemaps"},{"slug":"pixijs","name":"PixiJS","tagline":"MIT 2D WebGPU/WebGL renderer, not a game engine"},{"slug":"babylonjs","name":"Babylon.js","tagline":"Apache-2.0 3D engine for the web, now on v9"},{"slug":"playcanvas","name":"PlayCanvas","tagline":"MIT WebGL2/WebGPU engine plus an optional hosted Editor"}],"links":{"self":"/api/gems/excalibur","html":"/gems/excalibur","markdown":"/gems/excalibur.md","category":"/api/gems?category=libraries","categoryPage":"/stacks/libraries"}}