Introduction

gamecn is a set of editable game components, scenes, systems, and templates distributed as source code. It works the same way as shadcn/ui, but for game development — Phaser 3, Phaser 4, and Three.js — with a CLI that copies real files into your repo instead of installing a black-box dependency.

This is not a component library. It's a way to build your component library.

You know how most game engines and frameworks ship reusable bits as packages: install from npm, import the symbol, hope the API stays compatible. That works until you need to tweak how a player controller feels, or swap a renderer pipeline, or strip a system you don't need.

gamecn solves that by treating components as code you own. The CLI fetches the source, drops it into your project, runs the package manager, and gets out of the way. There's no runtime, no inheritance, no magic — just files in your repo.

Principles

Open Code

gamecn add copies the actual source. You see exactly what each component does, edit it freely, refactor it, delete what you don't need. There's no abstraction layer between you and the game logic.

Composition

Every item declares the same interface in item.json: files it provides, dependencies it needs, engines it supports, where to wire it up. Items compose without coupling.

Distribution

A flat-file schema (registry.json + registry-item.json) and a CLI make it trivial to publish your own catalog. Host on a static site, behind auth, or from a local file — gamecn doesn't care where the registry lives.

Engine-aware

First-class support for Phaser 3, Phaser 4, and Three.js. Authors declare which engine versions an item targets, and the CLI checks before installing. You won't accidentally drop Phaser 4 code into a Phaser 3 project.

Safe wiring

Where an item needs to hook into your existing files (preload lists, scene registries, asset manifests) it uses comment markers like // gamecn:preload:start — no AST rewrites, no surprise edits. Files without markers are never modified.

How it works

1. Pick a template or component from the catalog or templates.
2. Run npx create-gamecn to scaffold a new project, or npx gamecn add <name> to drop into one you already have.
3. Edit. The installed files are yours. Future updates use lockfile sha256s to detect what you've changed and never overwrite without --force.

npx create-gamecn my-game --template phaser-endless-runner
npx gamecn add platformer-player
npx gamecn-registry build --src registry --out registry-dist

Where to next

Status

gamecn is pre-1.0. Schemas may shift before stable. The default @main registry isn't yet hosted at a permanent URL — the CLI uses https://gamecn.dev/r/{name}.json as a placeholder. Until that's live, point at your own registry via gamecn.json#registries.