Toolbox
Tools
Honest rundowns of the tools behind interactive worlds: what each one is, where it fits, where it falls short, and how to start.
Engines & rendering
- Three.jsFree (open source) · Read →
A lightweight JavaScript 3D library for the browser, with WebGL and WebGPU renderers and a huge library of examples.
- Babylon.jsFree (open source) · Read →
A full web game and rendering engine in TypeScript, with physics, GUI, WebGPU support and browser-based tools like the Playground.
- PhaserFree (open source); paid editor and AI services available · Read →
A mature open-source HTML5 framework for 2D games in JavaScript or TypeScript, with WebGL and Canvas rendering.
- Godot EngineFree (open source) · Read →
A free, MIT-licensed 2D and 3D game engine with a full editor, its own scripting language and exports to desktop, mobile and web.
AI for code & design
- KreaFreemium (free daily allowance plus paid plans; API pay-as-you-go) · Read →
A browser-based creative AI suite for generating, editing and upscaling images and video, with image-to-3D, LoRA training and an API.
- OllamaFree for local use; optional paid cloud plans · Read →
A free, MIT-licensed tool for downloading and running open language models on your own machine, with a local REST API.
- ClaudeFree tier, paid plans and a paid API · Read →
Anthropic's family of language models, available through the Claude apps, the Claude API and the Claude Code coding agent.
- CodexIncluded in ChatGPT plans; or API key · Read →
OpenAI's coding agent, available as an open-source CLI, an IDE extension, in the ChatGPT desktop app and as a cloud agent.
- LM StudioFree, including for work · Read →
A desktop app for downloading, running and serving open language models locally, with a chat interface and an OpenAI-compatible API.
Simulation & agents
- NetLogoFree (open source) · Read →
The long-standing desktop environment for agent-based models: turtles, patches, links and a built-in experiment runner.
- MesaFree (open source) · Read →
Agent-based modelling in Python, with grids, agent sets, data collection and browser-based visualisation.
- YukaFree (open source) · Read →
A standalone JavaScript game AI library: steering, state machines, goal-driven agents, navigation meshes and fuzzy logic.
- bitECSFree (open source) · Read →
A minimal, data-oriented Entity Component System for TypeScript and JavaScript, built for large numbers of entities.