State of KAPLAY #6

lajbel, 24/08/2025, Direct from the KAPLAY Basement

Hey! Welcome to the act of reading the State of KAPLAY #6, the kinda bi-monthly blog about the current state of KAPLAY, on it’s 6th edition!

I’ve prepared for you a lot (☠️) of product updates, events, and surprises for this month, and a very special announcement about the near future of KAPLAY Library.

Revamped KAPLAY API Docs ✨

Product Update

We published a lot of ✨ U P D A T E S ✨ (updates) in KAPLAY Website and specially, in documentation for making KAPLAY learning stronger and easier. We present to you the versions v1.2, v1.3, and v1.4! (WHOA!)

Version 1.2 was mainly a rewrite in our rendering API docs workflow. Now it’s most accurate in rendering types, and they look better. Also, now you can click on anchors for link to specific members.

In the other side, v1.3 landed some design and structure improvements. Now all links related to docs are prefixed with /docs/, being the two main categories /docs/guides and /docs/api. Also, there’s a new special introduction in API Docs.

Finally, in 1.4+ we’re shipping one of the greatest Quality of Life features, the new Docs Preview window!

The main objective of all these feature was improving general experience for new learners. I hope it helps both for new and old users.

OK but our guides 📕

Our guides also needed some love, so we added Playable Examples, now you can open the examples present in guides directly in the KAPLAYGROUND.

These playable examples are available in guides like Basic Concepts and Game Objects, but we have to do an overall guides improvements, and if you’re wondering to contribute in KAPLAY, there’s a new Guide about creating guides!

We’ve added API Docs linking too, where special words like add() or sprite() are converted in links to the KAPLAY API Docs, great! Check KAPLAY Site changelog to see all the things we shipped.

Prefabs 🤖

Product Update

One of the most requested features in KAPLAY, since beginning (and specially since make was doomed), was component serialization and prefabs, and we added it:

const bean = add([
    sprite("bean"),
    pos(20, 20),
    "gamer",
]);

// Get the serialized data in an object
const beanPrefab = createPrefab(bean);

// Register it as an asset
createPrefab("bean", bean);

Now, beanPrefab is a prefab, it contains serialized data of components and tags for it’s recreation later:

addPrefab(beanPrefab); // Use the serialized object
addPrefab("bean"); // Use the registered asset

This awesome feature is still on experimental phase, so I hope many of you try it. Not all components got serialization methods yet, we’ll add it progressively.

Lajbubu 📸

Remember to remove this ok?

Lajbubu, now lajbel is a labubu! I just hope the internet gets deleted soon.

KAPLAY v4000 🦖

KAPLAY v4000 It’s been in development for over a year, so it’s normal that many of you asked When it’s going to be released?

I am pleased to tell you that the next KAPLAY blog will be totally focused on v4000 stuff, from changelogs, breaking changes, new features and even release dates. So, I’ll have to tell you to wait a little longer, but the wait will be worth it.

Anyway, I encourage you checking KAPLAY Changelog for get a good brief of all what’s coming.

Literally the KAPLAY IDE 🖥️

The feature set available in KAPLAYGROUND v2.4 is sick, you will see the first surprise just opening it, but I’m not going to spoiler it here because it’s so cool guys just open it before continue reading this text…

…

Haven’t you done it yet?

…

Okay, you want the link? Then find it.

…

Well now I hope all of you have already opened it. Yes, the first feature is the new Welcome Screen, looks so pretty, pretty, pretty, and beautiful.

But that’s not all, the main feature I want introduce to you are the new Build Mode, we’ve integrated ESBuild as the under-the-hood KAPLAYGROUND bundler.

This, means that your code in new v2.4 projects will work with import/export syntax resolve. This introduces an experience more similar to how they work locally, and the possibility of supporting TypeScript and NPM Packages soon™.

Projects created before v2.4 will be using the Legacy Build Mode, which uses our code merge process, and it depends on the file order, read more about it in the KAPLAYGROUND wiki.

In addition, the new Project Preferences Menu add you the possibility to modify your exported game favicon, and some other features like the Build Mode, cool if you want to upgrade an old project.

Crew is watching you 👁️

Product Update

We started with Crew v2 in March of this year, and after a lot of iterations, modifications, new ideas and many other work suddenly appearing, we can showcase you the new Crew plugin:

npm i @kaplayjs/crew

import kaplay from "kaplay";
import { crew } from "@kaplayjs/crew";

kaplay({
	plugins: [crew],
});

loadCrew("sprite", "mark");
loadCrew("sound", "burp");

add([
	sprite("mark"),
]);

play("burp");

And that simple you can start using the Crew assets in your KAPLAY games, the crew plugin is available since: NOW.

But, that’s not all! As part of KAPLAY Site v1.5, with you, the new Crew Browser:

A lot of ways to categorize the assets:

• Type: Sprite, UI, Sounds
• Category: KAWorld, Icons, Emojis, etc
• Tags: Animals, Brand, Fonts, Food
• Origin: Official, Community, or Commission

But that’s not all, new information was added to Assets, like its apparitions, birthdays, and a lot of cool information of your favorite characters, so remember say “Happy Birthday” to Bean on 01/01 :D

This is my favorite thing of all this blog, really, just go to the Crew website and take a look around all the stuff, you will find a lot of fun things. This is a gift for all KAPLAY fans.

There was a lot, a lot of more changes that I couldn’t put all of them on this blog so check out the KAPLAY Crew changelog.

Community Showcase 🌱

Community

The 🌱 a w e s o m e 🌱 (awesome) 🌱 community did a lot of cool stuff, let’s take a look to all!

Games

Untitled Car Game 🛻

Untitled Car Game is the new game plantainchip is presenting. It have cars, and so much

The minutes to Live 🚪

“You woke up inside a locked room with three items in your backpack. And to escape, you have to choose what to keep and what to leave.”

Woah! That’s a very interesting premise! Rikir Akiko & KisekiMiracle is presenting us their first game, a visual novel for the freeCodeCamp jam, so give them a good vote! Play it here.

Rage bait game ❓

Candy&Carmel is into a new phase as a game developer and is making a rage bait game. I’ll just say that all the gifs I’ve recorded this one was the most long take to me for recording, but no one was good… Thanks Candy.

Unknown Tank Game by Erik ⚠️

From the Golf Course: Ocean Wave Edition Developer. He’s developing a new brand tank-war game, I really don’t know the name or when it’s getting released but it looks SICK! Tank you!

3D? 🔫

The user nik.best wowed everyone showing it’s fake 3D plugin for KAPLAY, Billboard3D.js

So maybe it’s the perfect time to create your own Doom-style game! KADOOM.

Woah what the fruit is this 🥝

Scriptie is creating this awesome effect for his game, just look at it.

Tile Map editors battle 🗺️

EVERYONE wants to get the best tile map editor for KAPLAY, this is freaking cool:

In one corner, Luluxia, the I wanna shrinking developer, is burning the kitchen making this tilemap editor, dynamic editing, scripting, whaaat, it looks soo gOOooOOd (good)!.

And in the other corner, we have this black & white tilemap editor for a Baba is You styled game, made by neverUsedDC!

Bean Tag 🫘

Sponsored Space

Now our official discord is featuring the BEAN tag, yeah, you can add it to your profile, free, and show to all the world that you’re a true BEANER (or kaplayer). Special thanks to @noita for giving us the 3 boosts we needed for it!

B1T Jam 2 🎮

Events

We collaborated with Macrow for the upcoming B1T Jam, on it’s 2nd edition, where all devs who used KAPLAY participated for 2 x $50 prize for the best 2 KAPLAY games.

Before getting on the winners, let’s celebrate the 21 games that were made on this edition:

I’m very happy seeing the amount and the quality of the games, many of them were really really REALLY fun, and it’s cool see some using the crew assets. Thanks to all the participants who decided to try KAPLAY.

Would be a lot mention all these games in a single blog. If you want to play all this games, go to B1T Jam 2 Submissions page and filter them by KAPLAY Yes (21). Remember leaving a comment so all devs can get feedback and positive words! Spread the word of love.

KABLOOM 💮

Product Update

The theme was KABLOOM, well, not Kabloom but it was Bloom, so we added a new character, Flowy!

Now yes, the winners 🥁

Events

oken 🌊

By circadianarrhythmia and athenaya, oken, It impressed all the judges, both from the KAPLAY Team and the jam itself, great graphics and polish!

Duotone Gardens 🥀

By Erik G, Duotone Gardens is another great Erik game, with a good movement, graphics and interesting mechanic.

Okay, great games, really, great games, but there was a lot of great games made with KAPLAY, so KAPLAY Team decided, after a SO HARD votation, to give 3 extra prizes of $25 each one, so, let’s go with those winners

In the Calyx 👁️

By plantainchip, In the Calyx was for us a game with a good atmosphere and gameplay.

Be Bouncing Bee 🐝

By TheRulerMeasure, Be Bouncing Bee, we just loved it.

TumbleBee 🐝

By ChimeraLC, LuckyLuciano314 and greenzanman, TumbleBee was so cool

All these games were definitely so good, and there were ones that was very very very very close, we love all of them equaly and I am the happiest person to see them making games with KAPLAY:

• The Allergic Florist by Candy&Carmel
• Inflorescence by ogsokor

Thanks to everyone who did KAPLAY games ♥️

Okay, let’s go with the state of KAPLAY and close this.

The State of KAPLAY 🦖

The State of The State of KAPLAY

Let’s see this month state:

Thanks to all our sponsors, Colyseus and Robin, and to all our contributors along all the KAPLAY repositories, this wouldn’t make sense without you, we’re gonna prepare something special for all contributors very soon, so wait for it ;)

I love you. lajbel out