Don’t you just love it when you are thinking about doing something, then someone else comes along and does exactly that thing for you? Well, exactly just that very thing just happened to me. I had long considered doing a comparison post of some of the most popular HTML5 game engines, facing them all against each other implementing a common game and see which one came out on top.
Well, BuildNewGames.com just did exactly that. In their words:
Today we are going to compare three popular JavaScript game engines: CraftyJS, ImpactJS and LimeJS. You really can’t go wrong with any of these great choices, but they do have their own strengths, weaknesses and style. Taking some time to get to know what’s out there is well worth it before embarking on a game
Most interestingly, he followed in the vein of popular TodoMVC example, of implementing a standard application to give you a quick glance at each framework in action. The author has implemented a Breakout clone using each library. Like so:
This is a very useful exercise, and I hope others pick up the baton and implement the same program in their framework of choice.
In the end, ( spoiler alert ), the author comes to the follow conclusion:
So which engine is the real winner? I will leave that to you to decide. Since Lime and Crafty are free and open source, it’s easy to dive into them and give them a whirl. Impact is at a disadvantage here, as you need to pony up for the license before you can start playing with it. It’d be nice if Impact had some sort of trial period option.
If you are trying to select a JavaScript game engine, this is certainly a great read.
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