Phaser is a fast, free and fun open source HTML5 game framework. It uses [Pixi.js](https://github.com/GoodBoyDigital/pixi.js/) for WebGL and Canvas rendering across desktop and mobile web browsers. Games can be compiled to iOS and Android apps via 3rd party tools.
Along with the fantastic open source community Phaser is actively developed and maintained by [Photon Storm Limited](http://www.photonstorm.com). As a result of rapid support and a developer friendly API Phaser is currently one of the [most starred](https://github.com/showcases/javascript-game-engines) game frameworks on Github.
Thousands of developers worldwide use it. From indies and multi-national digital agencies to schools and Universities. Each creating their own incredible games. Grab the source and join in the fun!
Phaser 2.4 is another huge update. We had to bump the version number from 2.3 directly to 2.4 because of some API adjustments, all of which are fully detailed in the [Change Log](#change-log). While it's true we could have released it over a few smaller point releases, that just isn't how the cookie crumbled this time. _Be sure to pay attention to the previous deprecated API calls that have been removed in 2.4._
So although you had to wait for it a couple months more than usual, Phaser 2.4 is quite simply an **epic release** - there is no two ways about it! Brand new video component? Check. Support for fully boned Creature animations? Check. Brand new Cache and Loader updates? Check. Dynamic sprite and gradient generator? Check. Literally hundreds of updates, enhancements and fixes across the entire codebase? Yup, those too! The Change Log seems to scroll on forever, yet the overall package size continues to come down as we optimise and streamline our code too (this release actually builds smaller than 2.3 did, just 80KB min + gz)
A few people on the forum have asked how Phaser is funded: Phaser is a fully open-source project and as such we have no _direct_ income from it at all. All development is funded by the client work that [my company](http://www.photonstorm.com) takes on. And of course the contributions from the incredible community (who also volunteer their skills for free).
Sometimes this work directly impacts on Phaser. For example we recently built [5 games](http://www.insideouthq.com) for the new Pixar film Inside Out. Being Pixar they of course had high video requirements, so we literally coded from scratch the way videos were handled and added in video stream support in the process. Very often though our work simply uses Phaser but doesn't enhance it. Which is why if you buy any of the books or plugins we have on sale it really does make a difference! It buys us time to work on Phaser un-interrupted, which in turn benefits everyone. Some have asked if we could add a 'donate' button to the site, but instead I'd rather you get value from your money - so if we release a new plugin, book or magazine you like the look of, please do consider it a donation towards the continued work we all put in.
Money stuff aside please enjoy this brand new release. We'll carry on supporting Phaser 2 for the rest of 2015 _at least_, while development of the Phaser 3 renderer proceeds at a rapid pace too.
Make sure you check out the Phaser web site. We are going to be adding in stacks of new examples and features in the coming weeks.
But that's all for now. I hope you enjoy Phaser 2.4. Happy coding everyone! See you on the forums.
If you'd like to try coding in Phaser right now, with nothing more than your web browser then you can head over to the [Phaser Sandbox](http://phaser.io/sandbox). You'll find Quick Start templates and a user-friendly editor filled with handy code-completion features.
### Koding
Want to try Phaser without downloading anything? [Clone Phaser in Koding](https://koding.com/Teamwork?import=https://github.com/photonstorm/phaser/archive/master.zip&c=git1) and start working right away in their web based development system.
### License
Phaser is released under the [MIT License](http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT).
We have a [Getting Started Guide](http://phaser.io/tutorials/getting-started) which covers all you need to begin developing games with Phaser. From setting up a web server, to picking an IDE and coding your first game.
Prefer **videos** to reading? Lynda.com have published a free course: [HTML5 Game Development with Phaser](http://www.lynda.com/Phaser-tutorials/HTML5-Game-Development-Phaser/163641-2.html)
The single biggest Phaser resource is the new [Phaser web site](http://phaser.io/news). It has hundreds of tutorials listed and fresh ones are added every week, so keep coming back to see what's new!
Using Phaser with **TypeScript**? Check out this great series of [Game From Scratch](http://www.gamefromscratch.com/page/Adventures-in-Phaser-with-TypeScript-tutorial-series.aspx) tutorials.
We've been busy writing books about Phaser. Available now:
* [A Guide to the Phaser Tween Manager](https://leanpub.com/phasertweenmanager) Book + Code Bundle
* [A Guide to the Phaser Scale Manager](https://leanpub.com/phaserscalemanager)
With more on the way. [Vote on the next title](http://www.html5gamedevs.com/topic/10962-which-phaser-book-would-you-like-to-see-next/) to be written.
### Game Mechanic Explorer
The [Game Mechanic Explorer](http://gamemechanicexplorer.com) is a great interactive way to learn how to develop specific game mechanics in Phaser. Well worth exploring once you've got your dev environment set-up.
### Mighty Editor - Visual Game Editor
[MightyEditor](http://mightyfingers.com/) is a browser-based visual Phaser game editor. Create your maps with ease, position objects and share them in seconds. It also exports to native Phaser code. Excellent for quickly setting-up levels and scenes.
Phaser is provided ready compiled in the `build` folder of the repository. There are both plain and minified versions. The plain version is for use during development and the minified version for production.
Starting from Phaser 2.3.0 we now include a brand new build system which allows you to strip out lots of additional features you may not require, saving hundreds of KB in the process. Don't use any Sound in your game? Then you can now exclude the entire sound system. Don't need Keyboard support? That can be stripped out too.
See the [Creating a Custom Phaser Build](http://phaser.io/tutorials/creating-custom-phaser-builds) tutorial for details.
### Building from source
Should you wish to build Phaser from source you can take advantage of the provided [Grunt](http://gruntjs.com/) scripts. Ensure you have the required packages by running `npm install` first.
Run `grunt` to perform a default build to the `dist` folder.
Thousands of games have been made in Phaser. From game jam entries to titles by some of the largest entertainment brands in the world. This is just a tiny sample:
Phaser requires a web browser that supports the [canvas tag](http://caniuse.com/#feat=canvas). This includes Internet Explorer 9+, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera on desktop. iOS Safari, Android Browser and Chrome for Android are supported on mobile.
While Phaser does its best to ensure a consistent cross-platform experience always be aware of browser and device limitations. This is especially important with regard to memory and GPU limitations on mobile, and legacy browser HTML5 compatibility.
### IE9
If you need to support IE9 / Android 2.x **and** use P2 physics then you must use the polyfill in the `resources/IE9 Polyfill` folder. If you don't use P2 (or don't care about IE9!) you can skip this.
### JavaScript and TypeScript
Phaser is developed in JavaScript. We've made no assumptions about how you like to code and were careful not to impose a strict structure upon you. You won't find Phaser split into modules, requiring a build step, or making you use a class / inheritance OOP approach. That doesn't mean you can't do so, it just means we don't *force* you to. It's your choice.
If you code with [TypeScript](http://www.typescriptlang.org/) there are comprehensive definition files in the `typescript` folder. They are for TypeScript 1.4+.
All Phaser development is now taking place on the Phaser 3 project. The Phaser 2 branch will still be supported and issues fixed, but roadmap features have been migrated over to Phaser 3.
We're now a good way in to development of Phaser 3. We've been working hard on creating a brand new and extremely powerful renderer. Progress reports are posted to the [web site](http://phaser.io/labs) and [Phaser 3 repo](https://github.com/photonstorm/phaser3).
There is still plenty of time to add your suggestions and feedback in [this forum thread](http://www.html5gamedevs.com/topic/7949-the-phaser-3-wishlist-thread/).
If you are an exceptional JavaScript developer and would like to join the Phaser 3 development team then let us know. We have a limited budget available to pay towards your time.
- Before submitting a Pull Request run your code through [JSHint](http://www.jshint.com/) using our [config](https://github.com/photonstorm/phaser/blob/master/.jshintrc).
