Phaser is a fast, free and fun open source game framework for making desktop and mobile browser HTML5 games. It uses [Pixi.js](https://github.com/GoodBoyDigital/pixi.js/) internally for fast 2D Canvas and WebGL rendering.
We've had the vast majority of this version ready for a few days now, but held off releasing due to Ludum Dare 48. Ludum Dare contests are always peak times for Phaser, we see an influx of new devs downloading for the first time. So it's not the best day to release a new version :) Now that LD48 has finished we present Phaser 2.0.4. This is the latest version in our bi-weekly sprint release schedule, and the change log is (which you can see in full below) is significant to say the least.
We've made some deep internal changes to how game pause and resume is handled, which means Phaser.Timers now behave themselves properly. Again with this version we've updated to the latet Pixi and P2 releases, bringing new features and enhancements with them. In terms of new features we've overhauled the Color, Point and BitmapData classes, with significant new features for each of them. From HSL palette shifting and color extraction, to Point dot products to proper endianess handling in Color, the new features are powerful additions to the library. We've also marked a bunch of methods as deprecated and will remove them in Phaser 2.1. Most have fully working replacements and you'll see them flagged as such in the API docs.
Thanks to traffic from Ludume Dare and some [great new sites](http://gamemechanicexplorer.com), we've seen Phaser sky rocket on github; now clearing 4325 github stars and 1175 forks. In most cases issues are being resolved fast and we're closing over 97% of all those reported, which we're extremely proud about.
For the 2.0.5 release we're going to be looking carefully at CocoonJS support, there are some known issues with it currently and we want to ensure it works as flawlessly as possible. After this we'll start planning for 2.1.
We're also very close to releasing the brand new Phaser web site. The current single-page site has done us well for now, but it was only ever meant to be temporary while the full site was built. This is nearly done and we've got some exciting content to share and plenty of room for growth! Be sure to [subscribe to our monthly newsletter](https://confirmsubscription.com/h/r/369DE48E3E86AF1E) to be notified as soon as it's out.
We have a [Getting Started Guide](http://phaser.io/getting-started-js.php) which covers all you need to begin developing games with Phaser. From setting up a web server to picking an IDE. If you're new to HTML5 game development, or are coming from another language like AS3, then we recommend starting there.
We wrote a comprehensive [How to Learn Phaser](http://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/articles/how-to-learn-the-phaser-html5-game-engine--gamedev-13643) guide for GameDevTuts+ which covers finding tutorials, examples and support.
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.
Finally the list of [community authored Phaser Tutorials](http://www.lessmilk.com/phaser-tutorial/) is growing fast!
* Input.getPointerFromIdentifier docs update to reflect where the identifier comes from. Pointer properties now set to give it fixed defaults (thanks @JirkaDellOro, #793)
* The P2 DistanceConstraint method signature has changed. Updated Phaser so maxForce is now passed as object (fix #788)
* Moved the this._reversed flag outside of the property loop in Tween (as per tween.js issue 115)
* Emitter.makeParticles updated to use Array.isArray() check on the key/frame values, so non-string objects can be passed in (thanks @AnderbergE, fix #786)
There is an extensive [Migration Guide](https://github.com/photonstorm/phaser/blob/master/resources/Migration%20Guide.md) available for those converting from Phaser 1.x to 2.x. In the guide we detail the API breaking changes and approach to our new physics system.
Note: Some of you may not be aware, but the `phaser.min.js` file in the build folder contains all 3 physics systems bundled in. If you only need Arcade Physics then you can use `build\custom\phaser-arcade-physics.min.js` instead. This will save you 180KB from the minified file size.
You can [][koding] and then start editing and previewing code right away using their web based VM development system.
Games created with Phaser require a modern web browser that supports the canvas tag. This includes Internet Explorer 9+, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera. It also works on mobile web browsers including stock Android 2.x browser and above and iOS5 Mobile Safari and above. But as always be aware of browser limitations. Not all features of Phaser work on all browsers.
If you need to support IE9 or Android 2.x and want to use P2 physics then you must use the polyfill found in the `resources/IE9 Polyfill` folder. If you don't require P2 Physics (or don't care about IE9!) then you don't need this polyfill.
### JavaScript and TypeScript
Phaser is developed in JavaScript. We've made no assumptions about how you like to code your games, and were careful not to impose any form of class / inheritance / structure upon you. So you won't find it split into require modules or pull in 3rd party npm packages for example. That doesn't mean you can't, it just means we don't force you to do so. If you're a requireJS user you'll find a new template in the `resources\Project Templates` folder just for you.
If you code with [TypeScript](https://typescript.codeplex.com/) you'll find a comprehensive definitions file inside the `build` folder and tutorials on getting started.
Note: The `phaser.min.js` file in the build folder contains all 3 physics systems bundled in. If you only need Arcade Physics then you can use `build\custom\phaser-arcade-physics.min.js` instead. This will save you 180 KB from the minified file size.
They used to be bundled in the main Phaser repo, but because they got so large and in order to help with versioning we've moved them to their own repo.
Here you'll find an ever growing suite of Examples. Personally I feel that developers tend to learn better by looking at small refined code examples, so we created hundreds of them, and create new ones to test new features and updates. Inside the `examples` repo you'll find the current set. If you write a particularly good example then please send it to us.
The examples need to be run through a local web server (in order to avoid file access permission errors from your browser). You can use your own web server, or start the included web server using grunt.
Using a locally installed web server browse to the examples folder:
Alternatively in order to start the included web server, after you've cloned the repo, run `npm install` to install all dependencies, then `grunt connect` to start a local server. After running this command you should be able to access your local webserver at `http://127.0.0.1:8000`. Then browse to the examples folder: `http://127.0.0.1:8000/examples/index.html`
There is a 'Side View' example viewer as well. This loads all the examples into a left-hand frame for faster navigation. And if you've got php installed into your web server you may want to try `debug.php`, which provides a minimal examples list and debug interface.
Phaser uses both a Canvas and WebGL renderer internally and can automatically swap between them based on browser support. This allows for lightning fast rendering across Desktop and Mobile. When running under WebGL Phaser now supports shaders, allowing for some incredible in-game effects. Phaser uses and contributes towards the excellent Pixi.js library for rendering.
We've made the loading of assets as simple as one line of code. Images, Sounds, Sprite Sheets, Tilemaps, JSON data, XML and JavaScript files - all parsed and handled automatically, ready for use in game and stored in a global Cache for Sprites to share.
Phaser ships with our Arcade Physics system, Ninja Physics and P2.JS - a full body physics system. Arcade Physics is for high-speed AABB collision only. Ninja Physics allows for complex tiles and slopes, perfect for level scenery, and P2.JS is a full-body physics system, with constraints, springs, polygon support and more.
Sprites are the life-blood of your game. Position them, tween them, rotate them, scale them, animate them, collide them, paint them onto custom textures and so much more!
Sprites also have full Input support: click them, touch them, drag them around, snap them - even pixel perfect click detection if needed.
Group bundles of Sprites together for easy pooling and recycling, avoiding constant object creation. Groups can also be collided: for example a "Bullets" group checking for collision against the "Aliens" group, with a custom collision callback to handle the outcome.
Phaser supports classic Sprite Sheets with a fixed frame size, Texture Packer and Flash CS6/CC JSON files (both Hash and Array formats) and Starling XML files. All of these can be used to easily create animation for Sprites.
An Arcade Particle system is built-in, which allows you to create fun particle effects easily. Create explosions or constant streams for effects like rain or fire. Or attach the Emitter to a Sprite for a jet trail.
Phaser has a built-in Game World. Objects can be placed anywhere within the world and you've got access to a powerful Camera to look into that world. Pan around and follow Sprites with ease.
Talk to a Phaser.Pointer and it doesn't matter if the input came from a touch-screen or mouse, it can even change mid-game without dropping a beat. Multi-touch, Mouse, Keyboard and lots of useful functions allow you to code custom gesture recognition.
Phaser supports both Web Audio and legacy HTML Audio. It automatically handles mobile device locking, easy Audio Sprite creation, looping, streaming and volume. We know how much of a pain dealing with audio on mobile is, so we did our best to resolve that!
Phaser can load, render and collide with a tilemap with just a couple of lines of code. We support CSV and Tiled map data formats with multiple tile layers. There are lots of powerful tile manipulation functions: swap tiles, replace them, delete them, add them and update the map in realtime.
Phaser has a built-in Scale Manager which allows you to scale your game to fit any size screen. Control aspect ratios, minimum and maximum scales and full-screen support.
We are trying hard to keep the core of Phaser limited to only essential classes, so we built a smart Plugin system to handle everything else. Create your own plugins easily and share them with the community.
Phaser was built specifically for Mobile web browsers. Of course it works blazingly fast on Desktop too, but unlike lots of frameworks mobile was our main focus. If it doesn't perform well on mobile then we don't add it into the Core.
We use Phaser every day on our many client projects. As a result it's constantly evolving and improving and we jump on bugs and pull requests quickly. This is a living, breathing framework maintained by a commercial company with custom feature development and support packages available. We live and breathe HTML5 games.
Phaser has been used to create hundreds of games, which receive millions of plays per month. We're not saying it is 100% bug free, but we use it for our client work every day, so issues get resolved <em>fast</em> and we stay on-top of the changing browser landscape.
[Nadion](https://github.com/jcd-as/nadion) is a set of powerful enhancements for Phaser that makes level building even easier. It includes features such as Trigger, Area, Alarms and Emitters, debug panels, state machines, parallax layer scrolling, 'developer mode' short-cuts and more.
- If you have a feature request, or have written a game or demo that shows Phaser in use, then please get in touch. We'd love to hear from you! Either post to our [forum][forum] or email: rich@photonstorm.com
- Before submitting a Pull Request please run your code through [JSHint](http://www.jshint.com/) to check for stylistic or formatting errors. To use JSHint, run `grunt jshint`. This isn't a strict requirement and we are happy to receive Pull Requests that haven't been JSHinted, so don't let it put you off contributing, but do know that we'll reformat your source before going live with it.
