🦆 Parin

A delightfully simple 2D game engine for the D programming language. Parin is designed to make game development fast and fun — it's easy to set up, hackable, and comes with the essentials built in.

Worms Within
A bite-sized escape room game.

A list of projects made with Parin is available in the projects page.

Major Features

• Focused 2D engine — not an everything engine
• Pixel-perfect physics engine
• Flexible dialogue system
• Atlas-based animation library
• Efficient tile map structures
• Intuitive immediate-mode UI
• Mixed memory model — choose manual control, GC, or both
• Built-in memory allocators: tracking, frame, and arena
• Modular design — just import parin.engine
• Includes extras like microui
• Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS, Web)

Hello World Example

import parin;

// Called once when the game starts.
void ready() {
    lockResolution(320, 180);
}

// Called every frame while the game is running.
// If true is returned, then the game will stop running.
bool update(float dt) {
    drawText("Hello world!", Vec2(8));
    return false;
}

// Called once when the game ends.
void finish() {}

// Creates a main function that calls the given functions.
mixin runGame!(ready, update, finish);

Quick Start

This guide shows how to install Parin using DUB. Create a new folder and run inside the following commands:

dub init -n
dub run parin:setup
dub run

If everything is set up correctly, a window will appear showing the message "Hello world!". For instructions on building without DUB, check the "How can I build without DUB?" section.

Required Libraries on Linux

Some libraries for sound, graphics, and input handling are required before using Parin on Linux. Below are installation commands for some Linux distributions.

Ubuntu

sudo apt install libasound2-dev libx11-dev libxrandr-dev libxi-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa-dev libxcursor-dev libxinerama-dev libwayland-dev libxkbcommon-dev

Fedora

sudo dnf install alsa-lib-devel mesa-libGL-devel libX11-devel libXrandr-devel libXi-devel libXcursor-devel libXinerama-devel libatomic

Arch

sudo pacman -S alsa-lib mesa libx11 libxrandr libxi libxcursor libxinerama

Documentation

Start with the examples folder or the cheatsheet for a quick overview. For more details, see the tour page. The parin.types and parin.engine modules are easy to read and show what's available.

Ideas

If you notice anything missing or want to contribute, feel free to open an issue! You can also share things in the GitHub discussions. Most ideas are welcome, except ECS.

Devlogs

• Latest: September 2025
• More: dev.to/kapendev

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I build without DUB?

Create a new folder and run inside the following commands:

Prepare folder

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Kapendev/parin parin_package
./parin_package/scripts/prepare
# Or: .\parin_package\scripts\prepare.bat

Compile & run

./parin_package/scripts/run
# Or: .\parin_package\scripts\run.bat
# Or: ./parin_package/scripts/run ldc2 macos
# Or: ./parin_package/scripts/run opend

How do I make a web build?

Parin includes a build script for the web in the packages folder. Building for the web also requires Emscripten. By default, Parin's web builds use the BetterC flag, meaning only projects compatible with BetterC can be compiled.

Running the script with DUB

dub run parin:web

Without DUB

./parin_package/scripts/web
# Or: .\parin_package\scripts\web.bat

Projects requiring the full D runtime can be built using the GC flag. This flag also requires OpenD and the latest version of Emscripten. Note that exceptions are not supported and that some DUB related limitations apply like having to include all dependencies inside the source folder. Before using the GC flag, make sure opend install xpack-emscripten has been run at least once.

Using the flag with DUB

dub run parin:web -- gc

Without DUB

./parin_package/scripts/web gc
# Or: .\parin_package\scripts\web.bat gc

Below are installation commands for Emscripten for some Linux distributions.

Ubuntu

sudo apt install emscripten

Fedora

sudo dnf install emscripten

Arch

yay -S emscripten
# Or: sudo pacman -S emscripten

How do I use Vec2?

Vec2 is a type provided by the Joka library, which Parin depends on. An example using this type can be found in Joka.

How can I load an asset outside of the assets folder?

Call setIsUsingAssetsPath(false) to disable the default behavior. Or setAssetsPath(assetsPath.pathDirName) to load from the executable's folder.

How can I hot reload assets?

Asset hot reloading is not supported out of the box. The arsd libraries may help.

Does Parin have other UI libraries?

• microui-d
• Fluid

Are the Parin assets free to use?

Yes. Be sure to check the associated README for any licensing notes.

Is Parin a raylib wrapper?

No. Raylib is the current backend. A custom backend may be added in the future, but it's not a priority.

What are Parin's priorities?

The goal is a smooth experience, similar to Godot or Unity.