{"data":{"slug":"kaplay","name":"KAPLAY","tagline":"MIT successor to Kaboom for playground-first 2D games","category":"libraries","categoryName":"Libraries","url":"https://kaplayjs.com","github":"https://github.com/kaplayjs/kaplay","pricing":"open-source","hook":"KAPLAY is Kaboom, still alive, still MIT, still the 2D library when Phaser is too much surface.","whatsGood":"MIT. JS/TS 2D, component add() API, KAPLAYGROUND at play.kaplayjs.com. Site: open source, free and always will be. v3001 is the Kaboom-compatible line; v4000 is the future. Docs include a first-party Colyseus multiplayer guide.","theCatch":"Two lines: stable v3001 vs v4000 still alpha. Official host is kaplayjs.com, not kaboomjs.com. Named homepage titles are testimonials, not a studio showcase.","verdict":"The living Kaboom successor. MIT, playground-first, not Phaser.","addedAt":"2026-09-03","featured":false,"domain":"Graphics & 3D","subSpecialty":"Game Engines","capabilities":["canvas","2d"],"surfaces":["Self-host"],"ecosystem":["Browser"],"licenseModel":"OSS/MIT","githubStars":1786},"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/kaplay","html":"/gems/kaplay","markdown":"/gems/kaplay.md","category":"/api/gems?category=libraries","categoryPage":"/stacks/libraries"}}