melonJS
MIT 2D engine: WebGPU to WebGL2 to Canvas AUTO, zero deps
Graphics & 3D / Game Engines · OSS/MIT · 6.4k
Reviewed 2026-09-04 · last push 2026-10-21 · repo checked 2026-10-21
What's Good
MIT forever $0. Renderer cascade WebGPU then WebGL2 then Canvas AUTO. Canvas2D-shaped API. Zero dependencies.
The Catch
WebGPU to WebGL2 to Canvas AUTO and Canvas2D-shaped API — not Phaser scene/plugin ecosystem. W4 cut re-opened. Distinct from Phaser, KAPLAY, and PixiJS.
Verdict
MIT zero-dep 2D engine. Not Phaser.
Embed
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Markdown
[](https://stackgems.com/gems/melonjs)
HTML
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Related
Libraries →- PhaserMIT HTML5 2D game framework with scenes, physics, and tilemaps
- PlayCanvasMIT WebGL2/WebGPU engine plus an optional hosted Editor
- KAPLAYMIT successor to Kaboom for playground-first 2D games
- DefoldSource-available Lua game engine; forever free, not OSI Open Source
- Cute Frameworkzlib/Unlicense C/C++ native-first framework + Emscripten