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FAQ ❓

Is gameplate production-ready?​

Yes. v2 is a complete rewrite with:

  • ≥ 90 % test coverage, type-level tests included.
  • CI matrix across Node 20 / 22 / 24 × Ubuntu / macOS / Windows.
  • CodeQL security analysis on every PR.
  • npm provenance on every release.
  • Bundle size enforced (< 4 KB gzipped ESM).

That said, v2.0.0 is fresh — please open an issue if you find anything off.

Can I use it without TypeScript?​

Yes. The published package is JavaScript with .d.ts types alongside. Plain Node and plain <script type="module"> work. TypeScript is just where the framework shines brightest.

Does it work in Bun / Deno / Web Workers?​

Yes. Anywhere with a working globalThis and either requestAnimationFrame or setTimeout, gameplate runs. The auto-picked defaultScheduler() handles the choice for you.

Where's the renderer?​

There isn't one — by design. See Why gameplate?.

Pick whichever you like:

  • Canvas 2D — built into browsers, simplest.
  • WebGL — direct, fast, fiddly.
  • PIXI.js — high-level 2D, great for sprites.
  • Three.js — 3D.
  • DOM — sometimes the right answer (HTML drag-drop games).

gameplate doesn't care. Your render(state, alpha) callback receives state — what you do with it is up to you.

Why not Redux + React Three Fiber + XState?​

You could absolutely build a game that way. It'll work. It'll also:

  • Ship ~80 KB of dependencies before you write a line of game code.
  • Push your state into a tree designed for UI, not for 60 Hz mutation.
  • Lock you into React's render model (great for UI, awkward for games).

gameplate is the answer for "I want game-shaped state with TypeScript guarantees and nothing else." If you also want a UI framework, drop gameplate next to React — that's how the HUD example works.

How do I add audio?​

There's no audio module (yet). Use the Web Audio API directly, or a small library like Howler.js. Trigger from action hooks, onEnter scene hooks, or in your update based on state diffs:

const prevHp = useRef(0);
game.subscribe((next) => {
  if (next.player.hp < prevHp.current) audio.play('hit');
  prevHp.current = next.player.hp;
});

How do I add networking?​

Same answer: bring your favorite WebSocket / WebRTC library and dispatch actions on incoming messages. See the headless multiplayer example.

A future @gameplate/network package may ship deterministic state-sync helpers — not yet. Watch Issues for the roadmap.

I'm getting a "missing types" error in my project​

Check your tsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "moduleResolution": "bundler", // or "node16" / "nodenext"
    "module": "esnext", // or "node16" / "nodenext"
    "target": "es2022"
  }
}

gameplate ships modern dual ESM/CJS types via the exports map. The legacy "node" resolver doesn't understand exports — bump it.

Can I contribute?​

Please. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md; or open an issue describing what you'd like to add. Bug fixes, examples, docs improvements, and renderer demos all welcome.

How do I sponsor?​

github.com/sponsors/yankouskia. Thank you. ❤️