codyswanngt/phaser-project-structure

Phaser 4 Project Structure

Overview

This stack targets Phaser 4 (v4.2+, npm package phaser@^4.2.0), built with Vite + TypeScript — the layout the official phaserjs/template-vite-ts template and npm create @phaserjs/game@latest scaffold. Phaser 4 ships its own type definitions (types/phaser.d.ts); do not add @types/phaser.

Canonical layout

| Path | Role | | --- | --- | | index.html | Single page that loads src/main.ts; owns the game container div | | src/main.ts | Game config + new Phaser.Game(config) — the only bootstrap file | | src/scenes/ | One scene class per file (Boot.ts, Preloader.ts, MainMenu.ts, Game.ts, …) | | src/logic/ | Pure TypeScript game logic — no phaser imports (testable) | | src/assets.ts | Typed asset-key constants (texture, audio, anim, scene keys) | | public/assets/ | Static assets served by Vite (atlases, audio, packs) — never imported | | tests/ | Vitest unit tests for src/logic/** and pure helpers | | dist/ | Vite build output — generated, never edited or committed |

The game config

One config object in src/main.ts. The opinionated baseline:

const config: Phaser.Types.Core.GameConfig = {
  type: Phaser.AUTO,            // WebGL; Canvas renderer is deprecated in v4
  width: 1280,
  height: 720,
  parent: "game-container",
  backgroundColor: "#028af8",
  scale: {
    mode: Phaser.Scale.FIT,
    autoCenter: Phaser.Scale.CENTER_BOTH,
  },
  physics: {
    default: "arcade",
    arcade: { gravity: { x: 0, y: 0 }, debug: false }, // fixedStep defaults to true in v4 — keep it
  },
  scene: [Boot, Preloader, MainMenu, Game],
};

v4-specific config facts:

• roundPixels now defaults to false (v3 defaulted true). Leave it — the new default prevents flicker on rotated/scaled objects.
• Pixel-art games: pixelArt: true (nearest-neighbor + roundPixels), or the new render.smoothPixelArt: true (WebGL-only) for pixel art that rotates or scales smoothly. Pick one per project and record the choice.
• Custom render nodes register under render.renderNodes — see the official filters-and-postfx skill.
• Phaser.HEADLESS exists for logic-only boots (tests) — see [[phaser-testing]].

Scene flow

Four-stage boot, in order (see the official scenes skill for lifecycle detail):

1. Boot — loads only the handful of assets the Preloader's loading screen needs (logo, progress-bar art). No game assets here.
2. Preloader — renders the loading UI and loads everything else, preferably via a single asset-pack manifest (see the official loading-assets skill), then starts MainMenu.
3. MainMenu — entry UI; starts Game.
4. Game (+ overlay scenes like HUD, Pause run in parallel) — gameplay.

Project conventions

• All game code is TypeScript under src/; bun run dev (vite), bun run build (vite build), bun run preview serve and package it.
• Scenes orchestrate; they do not contain algorithmic game logic. Rules evaluation, procedural generation, scoring, pathfinding, and state machines live in src/logic/ as pure functions/classes so Vitest can run them without a browser.
• Asset keys come from src/assets.ts constants — a typo in an inline string key fails at runtime only; a typo in a constant fails at compile time.
• Determinism: seed Phaser.Math.RND (or a local RandomDataGenerator) from a single place; never Math.random() in game code.

Verification

A structural change is verified when bun run typecheck, bun run test, and bun run build pass AND the game boots: bun run dev, open the page, confirm the canvas renders past the Preloader with no console errors.