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Life & fun · February 1, 2020

A 2D game engine in under 1000 lines of C

A top-down 2d game engine, written from scratch in under 1000 lines of C. Development of the game based on this engine is streamed on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ryanpcmcquen - ryanpcmcquen/basque

A 2D game engine in under 1000 lines of C launched on February 1, 2020 with 98 votes, #295 of 3,162 launches that month and more than 95% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 6 years on.

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In plain words

A minimal 2D game engine implemented in under 1000 lines of C code, launched in 2020. It provides core functionality for developers building simple 2D games who prefer lightweight, readable code over feature-heavy frameworks. The project emphasizes simplicity and accessibility, making it suitable for educational purposes or as a starting point for indie game development. Available as open source on GitHub.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

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