Phaser World Issue 222

Author

Phaser Studio
February 06, 2026

Phaser World is back! 🤩 We know it's been a while, but trust us, there's been a lot happening.

Phaser Editor v5 is nearly ready to launch (and we've got a special comeback gift for you 🎁), the community's been building amazing games, and Phaser 4 development is moving fast with reimagined FX effects. We've packed this issue with games, tutorials, dev updates, and a limited-time offer you won't want to miss.

Ready? Let's go! 💪

This week:

⭐️ Phaser Editor v5 Update: We're Getting Close!

We just shared our latest dev progress on Phaser Editor v5, and we're in the final stretch! We’re polishing features and squashing bugs before launch 💪.

The big news? AI setup is now dead simple. MCP server integration is built right in, so you can configure Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code with one click. No more config headaches.

On the Scene Editor side, we've added some sweet productivity features: unbox prefabs to customize them freely, hide objects in the editor without affecting runtime (just press H), color-code your prefab types for better visual organization, and toggle component visibility when you need to debug.

We've also added new property types, particle emitter controls, and tilemap improvements. Most major features are complete, so now we're focused on final polish and documentation. Can't wait to get this into your hands! 😎🦕

🎁 Limited Time: 25% Off on Phaser Editor!

We missed you! To celebrate our return, grab 25% off Phaser Editor with code PHASERWORLDFEB26. One-time use, so go big with an annual plan for max savings. Get started now, and you'll be ready for v5 when it drops 🎉🦕
Valid through February 28th only.

🎮 Phaser Showcase

» Hexstorm: Steampunk Tower Defense

Hexstorm: Tears of Arcadia flips tower defense on its head. Command the Arcadia, a flying frigate defending against enemies from all directions on a moving battlefield 🚢.

What makes it special? The interconnected energy network system: lose one node and your entire defense can cascade. Add roguelike structure, permanent progression, and dynamic tactics, and you've got strategic depth that demands real thinking. Hand-painted steampunk visuals with classic RTS aesthetic seal the deal.🙂.

» Skull & Crossbow: Creepypasta Horror

Ever heard of the "Attract Mode" creepypasta? Rafitorcha turned it into an actual arcade game, and it's delightfully creepy 💀. Skull & Crossbow nails that retro horror vibe with minimalist design that somehow makes everything more unsettling.

The gameplay is all about precision over panic. Simple controls, round-based structure, and climbing difficulty keep you on edge. Every shot counts, every position matters. The minimalist visuals and sound design deliver genuine creepypasta atmosphere without jump scares 🪦.

» PAC-MAN Halloween 2025

Google's Halloween 2025 Doodle celebrated PAC-MAN's 45th anniversary with a full game built with Phaser 3 in collaboration with Bandai Namco Entertainment 👻.

Eight levels of ghost-chomping action with haunted mazes designed around Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde. All the classic mechanics with fluid performance and tight controls.

Seeing Phaser 3 power a major Google Doodle at this scale? Pretty cool showcase of what the framework can do 🤩.

👨‍🏫 Tutorials

» Build a Sonic Infinite Runner with Phaser 4

Want to see what Phaser 4 can do? JSLegendDev rebuilt his own Sonic-inspired infinite runner using Phaser 4 Release Candidate 5, solving the performance issues his original version had. This complete tutorial covers everything: sprite animation, physics, collision detection, combo scoring, and deployment. Full source code included! ⭕🦔

» Build a 2D Space Shooter with AI in 20 Minutes

Peter Yang shows how to build a retro space shooter using Phaser and Claude Code, no coding experience needed. He built this with his seven-year-old daughter, who can't even type yet. The tutorial covers enemy waves, boss battles, power-ups, and deployment. Perfect for parents building games with their kids! 👧🧒

🧑‍💻 Ben's Dev Update: Classic FX Return in Phaser 4 ✨

Good news from the Phaser 4 dev team: those classic FX effects from Phaser 3 that didn't make it into Phaser 4 initially are coming back, and they're getting some serious upgrades ✨.

Vignette and Wipe are already in as Filters. Vignette now supports any color (not just black) and proper alpha blending, plus convenient blend modes. Want a romantic vignette? Now you can! Wipe lets you transition to/from custom textures (not just the built-in __DEFAULT blank texture anymore) with clearer docs and helper methods like setTopToBottom() or setRevealEffect().

The rest are being reimagined with better structures. Gradient becomes a Game Object extending Shader for texture reuse. Bloom, Circle, and Shine become Actions since they're composite effects.
Bloom is now more flexible: instead of a single shader, it uses Threshold and Blur filters with ParallelFilters, making it much easier to adjust individual components.
Circle evolves into AddMaskShape with way more power: it supports squares, ellipses, rectangles, mask inversion, custom fit regions, and edge blur. Simple as AddMaskShape(target) for basic usage, but incredibly flexible when you need it.

Bonus: FitToRegion handles thoBonus: FitToRegion handles those annoying "fit object to screen" calculations automatically with just FitToRegion(target). It supports different scale modes (like "envelop" to cover regions completely) and even works with Containers using custom coverage parameters. No more manual resolution math, origin checks, or scaling headaches.

Also worth noting: Color static methods (HSLToColor, HexStringToColor, IntegerToColor, etc.) now accept an optional parameter to modify existing Color objects instead of always creating new ones—small change, big performance win for color-heavy games 🎨.

These quality-of-life improvements are what make development actually fun 😎.

Got something cool to share with 20,000+ game devs?

Built a game, wrote a tutorial, crafted a useful code snippet, or made a video? We'd love to feature it in our newsletter! Please, send it our way 🤓

Thanks for reading! Can't wait to see what you build with Phaser. Until next time, happy coding! 💪