Introduction

Estella is a lightweight 2D game engine with a TypeScript SDK powered by a C++/WebAssembly backend. It comes with a visual editor for scene editing and project management, and outputs games that run in web browsers and WeChat MiniGames.

Why Estella?

Visual Editor + TypeScript Scripting

Use the editor to create projects, place entities in scenes, and attach components visually. Write game logic in TypeScript — define custom components and systems that operate on scene entities:

import { defineComponent, defineSystem, addSystem, Query, Mut, Res, Time, Transform } from 'esengine';

const Speed = defineComponent('Speed', { value: 200 });

addSystem(defineSystem(
    [Res(Time), Query(Mut(Transform), Speed)],
    (time, query) => {
        for (const [entity, transform, speed] of query) {
            transform.position.x += speed.value * time.delta;
        }
    }
));

High Performance

Rendering and core systems are implemented in C++ and compiled to WebAssembly, delivering native-level performance with small binary sizes and fast load times.

Cross-Platform

Single codebase targeting web browsers and WeChat MiniGames with platform-specific adapters.

When to Use Estella

Estella is ideal for:

2D games targeting web browsers
WeChat MiniGames
Projects requiring small download sizes
TypeScript developers wanting ECS architecture

Estella may not be the best choice for:

3D games (2D only)
Desktop-only games (use a native engine)