Kaiju Engine

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What Kaiju Engine is

Kaiju Engine is a free, open-source game engine and editor written in Go and backed by Vulkan. It supports 2D and 3D game development, with native 3D rendering, scenes, lighting, materials, physics simulation, particle systems, skeletal animation, sprite sheets, flip books, and material animation. Developers can work in a visual editor with integrated Go editing or use the engine directly from a Go project. GLSL shaders can update live during editing. The retained-mode interface system supports optional HTML/CSS-like markup, previews, dynamic data binding, CSS, and automatic reloads for saved changes. Audio includes sounds, music, and 3D positioning through SoLoud. Go editor plugins can add tools, interface elements, or behavior changes. The portable editor runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android without installation, or can be built from source. Source builds require the Vulkan SDK; code-only projects also require Go 1.22 or later and a C compiler. The project is under heavy development and not production ready.

Who it suits

Kaiju Engine suits developers who want a free Go-based engine for 2D or 3D projects. It offers both visual-editor and code-first workflows, with exports for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android.

What it does well

Free and open source
Supports 2D and 3D projects
Visual editor or Go workflow
Portable editor needs no installation
Live GLSL shader updates

What to know first

Not production ready
Under heavy development
Source builds require Vulkan SDK
Code-only workflow needs Go 1.22+ and C compiler

Verdict

Kaiju Engine provides a broad set of rendering, physics, animation, interface, and audio tools at no charge. Its development status and build requirements matter for teams seeking production-ready software.

Facts from Kaiju Engine's own pages

Audio: Kaiju supports sounds and music, including 3D-positioned audio powered by SoLoud. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Build requirements: The source build guide requires the Vulkan SDK, and the code-only workflow also requires Go 1.22 or later and a C compiler. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Distribution: The editor is portable and does not require installation; users can download a prebuilt version or build it from source. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Editor plugins: Editor plugins are Go packages compiled together with the editor and can add UI or tools or modify editor behavior. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Effects and animation: Features include reusable particle systems, skeletal skinning, 2D sprite sheets, flip books, and material animations. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Game types: The engine supports both 2D and 3D game development. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Graphics and effects: Features include native 3D rendering, particle systems, skeletal animation, physics simulation, and live GLSL shader updates. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Integrations: The documented technology and library dependencies include Go, Vulkan, and SoLoud. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Intended users: The documentation describes workflows for both visual-editor users and developers who want to build games directly from Go code. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Physics: Its physics systems simulate 3D worlds and integrate with Kaiju entities and transforms. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Platforms: The site says developers can create on Windows, Linux, and macOS, and deploy to Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Product: Kaiju Engine is an open source game engine and editor written in Go and backed by Vulkan. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Project status: The repository describes the project as under heavy development and says the editor is not production ready. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Rendering: The engine provides native 3D rendering, scenes, lighting, and materials, and supports switching the editor to 2D mode for sprite-based projects. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Requirements: Building from source requires the Vulkan SDK; the Windows build requires a 64-bit Go toolchain. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Shaders and audio: Developers can edit GLSL shaders with live updates; audio powered by SoLoud includes sounds and music positioned in 3D space. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Support: The documentation points users to the Kaiju Discord server for help getting started. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
UI: Kaiju has a custom retained-mode UI system with optional HTML/CSS-like markup for game interfaces and engine tools. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
UI preview: The editor's UI Workspace previews HTML-based interfaces, supports dynamic data binding and CSS, and reloads saved HTML and CSS changes automatically. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Workflow: Users can work in the visual editor with integrated Go code editing or use the engine directly from a Go project. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026
Workflows: Developers can use the visual editor with integrated Go code editing or use the engine directly from a Go project. · kaijuengine.com, 12 Oct 2026

Where Kaiju Engine stands on Freedom251

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