mini9

A 2D game framework for writing games with Ruby. More batteries than a fantasy console, less than an engine.

See DOCS.md for the full API reference.

Quick Start

Make a directory with a main.rb:

g.target = resolution/2

def update
  quit if pressed?(:escape)
  g.target = g.target.move_toward(mouse, 50*dt)
end

def draw
  rect(v2(16)).draw(offset: g.target - v2(8), filled: true, color: P.blue)
  circ(5).draw(offset: mouse, filled: true, color: P.yellow)
end

Usage

Download latest release, put it in PATH. I have no idea if any of this works on Windows and I provide no consideration whatsoever for that case, so sorry.

Run your game

mini9 path/to/mygame

Package a 'cart'

mini9 package --source path/to/mygame --output .
mini9 mygame.m9

Package for web

# builds ./mygame dir containing index.html, cart, etc
mini9 package --web --source path/to/mygame --output .

# zip for itch.io or similar
zip -r mygame.zip mygame

Dev

Prerequisites

odin 2026-05
ruby 3.4+
git, cmake, make, cc, bison, python3
on Linux: libgl1-mesa-dev libx11-dev libxrandr-dev libxinerama-dev libxi-dev libxcursor-dev libxkbcommon-dev, libwayland-dev wayland-protocols

Setup dependencies

bin/build setup

Build (`debug` or `release`)

bin/build debug

Try it in browser

bin/build debug --web path/to/mygame