GitHub - Aura-Industry/auramaxx: Open-source game engine for vibe code. Play games from your terminal!

3 min read Original article ↗

AuraJS

License: MIT

Write JavaScript 2D and 3D games, compile to native. Create, play, and publish from your terminal.

Alpha status: AuraJS is still in alpha and not ready for production use.

AuraJS

Website: aurajs.gg

Quickstart

npm install -g auramaxx
auramaxx create my-game
cd my-game
npm run dev

One-off bootstrap without a global install:

Inside a scaffolded game, use the shorter auramaxx alias or the generated npm run ... scripts for local engine commands.

Play an Example

npm install -g auramaxx
auramaxx play auracraft

# or run a published game wrapper directly
npx auracraft play

Auracraft demo

Fork a Game

npm install -g auramaxx
auramaxx fork auramon

Working With AI Agent

Inside your codebase:

cd <your-codebase>
npx -y skills add Aura-Industry/auramaxx

Then use https://www.aurajs.gg/docs for engine docs and API references.

Multiplayer TL;DR

auramaxx create my-room-game --template multiplayer
cd my-room-game
npm run dev

# second terminal
npm run join -- AURA2P

Keep that same flow and add internet-backed rooms with either:

  • aura.config.json -> multiplayer.relay = "relay.aurajs.gg"
  • or AURA_MULTIPLAYER_RELAY_HOST=relay.aurajs.gg

Use Multiplayer Quickstart for the short multiplayer doc, or Multiplayer Party Example for the same-project example with diagnostics and room chat.

Feature Set

Metric AuraJS Unity C / C++ Electron
Engine fees free paid tiers none free
Hot reload <1s 5-30s recompile <1s
Min binary size ~2 MB ~80 MB ~1 MB ~150 MB
GPU access native native native WebGL
Developer pool 20M+ 5M 3M 20M+
AI code gen quality excellent decent poor decent
Multiplayer sync JSON Netcode custom sync JSON
Modding native framework Lua/etc native
Patch size KBs MBs-GBs full binary KBs
Platform APIs built in - - -
Vendor lock-in none heavy none Chromium
Build config zero editor cmake webpack
  • JavaScript-first authoring with a native Rust host underneath it
  • Terminal-first create, dev, play, inspect, and publish flow through auramaxx
  • Native host binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows
  • Room-code multiplayer with local-first join, internet promotion, and relay fallback
  • Public docs, handbook pages, and exact contract references on aurajs.gg/docs
  • Publishable npm game wrappers that can be played from the terminal

Docs

Live docs:

Native Host Binary Packages

Platform Package
macOS ARM @aurajs/darwin-arm64
macOS x64 @aurajs/darwin-x64
Linux x64 @aurajs/linux-x64
Windows x64 @aurajs/win32-x64