I made a 2D Lua game engine using Rust with code and asset live reload
I love making small 2D pixel art games, especially using tools that have some constraints. Things like Pico-8 and the Playdate SDK are simple, fun, and allow for focusing on the game idea rather than the technical minutia. Years ago I prototyped an idea for this little game engine, Usagi, but used Rhai instead of Lua. The idea for this little game engine never went away, so I decided to finally dig in and build it. Today I released v1.0.0 of Usagi Engine after making a bunch of small games, getting feedback from developers, and stabilizing the API. It's simple, has a great developer…
In plain words
Usagi Engine is a 2D game engine built in Rust that uses Lua for scripting and supports live reload of code and assets. Designed for pixel art game developers, it emphasizes simplicity and developer experience through a CLI-based workflow, project templates, and single-command cross-platform export to web, Linux, macOS, and Windows. The engine is public domain and available on GitHub, making it accessible for hobbyists and indie developers who want to focus on game ideas rather than technical complexity.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
I love making small 2D pixel art games, especially using tools that have some constraints. Things like Pico-8 and the Playdate SDK are simple, fun, and allow for focusing on the game idea rather than the technical minutia. Years ago I prototyped an idea for this little game engine, Usagi, but used Rhai instead of Lua. The idea for this little game engine never went away, so I decided to finally dig in and build it. Today I released v1.0.0 of Usagi Engine after making a bunch of small games, getting feedback from developers, and stabilizing the API. It's simple, has a great developer experience (CLI-based, init template, Lua plugin integration, and cross-platform export for web, Linux, macOS, and Windows with a single command). The engine is public domain, and its source is on GitHub (linked from the website). Rust was a great fit for this project due to its stability and tooling. The crate ecosystem is a real highlight for me. Plus clippy. I made a couple of games in Rust in the past (using Macroquad) which prepared me for this project. But for Usagi I decided to go with Raylib for it's maturity. Usagi is using sola-raylib, the Rust bindings for C Raylib with some Rust-y wrappings. I maintain these bindings, which also was a big help to be familiar with what's possible with Raylib. The well known tools that are similar are Pico-8, Picotron, Love2D, and DragonRuby Game Toolkit. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. I think Usagi fits in a little spot amongst them where it's free, open source, and has a much more modern developer experience. Now that the engine is v1.0.0, I'm going to focus my energy on making games with it, writing a book of tutorials, and creating video screencasts. I love sharing what I learn and helping people make their games. I'd love it if you checked the engine out, and I'm looking forward to seeing what people make.
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