Kaiju Engine

An extremely fast, open source game engine and editor, written in Go and backed by Vulkan.

Kaiju is a game development platform where game scripting and logic is written in Go, combining the performance of a compiled language with the simplicity of modern syntax. You can work with the Kaiju Editor, a visual interface with integrated Go code editing, or use the Kaiju Engine directly from Go.

The engine supports both 2D and 3D game development, including physics simulation, particle systems, skeletal animation, a custom UI framework with HTML/CSS support, spatial audio, and live shader updates. Kaiju is designed around fast build times and rapid iteration so you can spend more time creating and less time waiting.

Getting started

There are two ways to start making games in Kaiju. Both paths use the same runtime, so choose the workflow that suits your project.

Start with the editor for a visual workflow with scene, content, shading, VFX, and UI tools.
Start without the editor to use Kaiju directly from a Go project.
Build Kaiju from source if you want to work on the engine or create your own editor build.
Download the latest release to get a prebuilt version.

A typical first project follows four steps:

Download Kaiju or build it from source.
Create a project and organize its assets and scenes.
Build your first scene with objects, materials, cameras, UI, physics, and effects.
Write gameplay, systems, behavior, and tools in Go.

News

Read the Kaiju Engine blog for project updates and engineering deep dives.

Editor

The editor is a testament to the engine's flexibility, because the editor itself is a game running in the engine. Use it to build scenes, inspect content, preview shaders and effects, and play test your project.

2D

Making 2D games is as simple as switching the editor to 2D mode. Build with sprites, UI, animation, effects, and Go gameplay code.

3D

A completely custom-built math library backs Kaiju's native 3D rendering, scenes, lighting, and materials.

Particle systems

Compose multiple particle emitters into reusable systems for visual effects and gameplay feedback.

Animation

Use full skeletal skinning, 2D sprite sheets, flip books, and material animations.

UI

Kaiju includes a fast, custom-built, retained-mode UI with the option of using HTML/CSS-like markup. You can create game interfaces and engine tools with the same system.

Physics

Simulate 3D worlds with physics systems that integrate with Kaiju entities and transforms.

Live shader updates

Edit GLSL shader code and visualize changes in real time while you iterate.

Audio

Play sounds and music, including audio positioned in 3D space, powered by SoLoud.

Cross platform

Create on Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Deploy to Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android, with more platforms planned.

Development velocity

Kaiju is designed for a short edit-build-launch loop. Change gameplay, build quickly, launch, test, and keep creating.

cd src
go build -tags="debug,editor,filedrop" -o ../ ./

../kaijuengine.com.exe

If you like what you see and want to support the project's continued development, please consider becoming a sponsor.