MicroEngine

SDK Alpha 0.2.0-alpha · what Alpha means

A game engine that orchestrates, not reinvents.

MicroEngine is a 2D game engine for C# that orchestrates subsystems and integrates existing technologies into one coherent way of making games. You write scenes, rules and pixel art in plain code; SDL 3, raylib, .NET and WebAssembly do what they already do well.

Play the demosRead the docs

Open source, MIT · Source on GitHub · Six platforms, and how each was checked

var palette = Art.Palette("o=#000000", "y=#ffec27", "w=#fff1e8");
var star = PixelImage.FromMap(palette,
    "....o....",
    "...oyo...",
    "ooooyoooo",
    "oyyywyyyo",
    ".oyyyyyo.",
    "..oyyyo..",
    ".oyyoyyo.",
    "oyyo.oyyo",
    "ooo...ooo");
= this sprite
Code-first: a sprite is a palette and a string map. This code is the Hello Engine sample, and the sprite is drawn here by reading that same file. Walk through the sample

Game → core → IPlatform → the libraries you already trust

The same game assembly runs on every platform because nothing above the contract knows what is below it. Each layer links to its manual page.

  1. Your game

    Rules, scenes and content, in plain C#. Never names a platform.

  2. Engine core

    Runs the game the same way everywhere.

  3. IPlatform

    One contract: renderer, graphics device, audio, input, clock, lifecycle.

  4. Integrated technology

    Mature libraries MicroEngine selects and coordinates instead of rewriting.

    • SDL 3
    • raylib 6
    • .NET 10
    • WebAssembly
    • NVorbis
    • Direct3D · Metal · Vulkan · OpenGL
MicroEngine
code in this repository, MIT
Integrated
third-party libraries and APIs, used as they are
Extension point
a platform profile of your own

Read the architecture · Backends and profiles · Public contracts

Platforms are profiles, chosen by the host

Every official platform is a named profile in a catalog. The player or a test picks one with --platform; a host can replace the audio device, add input sources, or register a profile of its own. Game code never changes.

This is the desktop launcher’s real catalog, in order of preference: the first one that can run on the machine is the default.

Choosing, replacing and writing platforms

public static PlatformCatalog CreateCatalog() => new PlatformCatalog()
    .Add(SdlPlatform.Profile)
    .Add(RaylibPlatform.Profile)
    .Add(SdlPlatform.CreateProfile("software"))
    .Add(HeadlessPlatform.Profile);

Actions, not keys

Scenes ask for named actions such as confirm or left. Keyboards, gamepads, on-screen touch controls and test scripts all drive the same actions, so an automated playthrough exercises exactly the code a player does.

How input works

public override void Update(float dt)
{
    var move = new Vector2(Input.Axis("left", "right"), Input.Axis("up", "down"));
    _position += move * 90 * dt;
    if (Input.Pressed("confirm"))
    {
        Audio.Play("ding", pitchJitter: 0.05f);
        _particles.Emit(_position, new ParticleSpec { StartColor = Color.Hex("ffec27"), EndColor = Color.Hex("ff004d00"), Gravity = 80 }, 24);
    }

Four games, one engine, unchanged on every platform

Each demo is a complete game with a title screen, an ending, saves and achievements. Play them in the browser, or download them. Screenshots are real captures from scripted playthroughs.

Where it runs, and how we know

All six are official targets. They are not equally proven: a capture on a CI runner is not a person playing on a phone, and a simulator is not an iPhone. The badge says which.

TargetStatusPlatformGet the demos
Windows x64Runs on hardwareSDL 3 (default) · raylib · SDL softwareDownload: 64-bit (x64)
Linux x64Checked, not yet playedSDL 3 (default) · raylib · SDL softwareDownload: 64-bit (x86_64), glibc
macOS (Apple silicon)Checked, not yet playedSDL 3 with Metal (default); raylib needs an OpenGL GPUDownload: Apple silicon (arm64)
AndroidEmulator onlySDL 3 (the Android host)Download: APK for arm64-v8a and x86_64
iOSSimulator onlySDL 3 with Metal (the iOS host)Installing on an iPhone needs Apple signing; a simulator build cannot run on a device
Browsers (WebAssembly)Played in Chrome and Firefoxraylib compiled to WebAssemblyPlays on the demo pages; nothing to install

The full compatibility matrix · Downloads and installation

SDK Alpha · 0.2.0-alpha

MicroEngine works and is checked on six platforms, but its contracts, subsystems and tools are still evolving. Public APIs may change incompatibly between Alpha versions; there is no 1.0 and no promise of backward compatibility yet.

SDK status and SDK-1Roadmap
  • No NuGet packages or templates yet. They are prepared for SDK-1; today the engine is built from its repository.
  • No visual editor. MicroEngine is code-first; content is code, or files in a content folder.
  • No physical phone has run it. Android is checked on an emulator, iOS in the simulator only.
  • Linux and macOS are not hand-played yet. Both are checked automatically on hosted runners and in containers.

Start in three commands

Open source under the MIT License: free for personal and commercial games, no royalties. There are no NuGet packages yet; build it from the public repository with the .NET 10 SDK.

Get startedLicensing
  1. Clonegit clone https://github.com/NastMz/MicroEngine.git
  2. Build and testdotnet test MicroEngine.slnx -c Release
  3. Run the sampledotnet run --project samples/HelloEngine -c Release