Games written directly against the Canvas API with no engine at all. Tiny bundles, fast loads, total control.
Across 54 games, the biggest category is Action with 19, then Puzzle with 9. Counted from the listings on this page, not estimated.
Vanilla Canvas rarely turns up alone. The tools it appears alongside most often here are Claude Code and Cursor, which is roughly what you would expect from a rendering layer that still needs the rest of a project around it.
Every one of them is free to play. All of them run in a browser tab with nothing to install.
What people ask before they pick a tool, or before they trust a listing that credits one.
For a small game with one mechanic, nothing beats it. Tiny bundles, instant loads, complete control, and you will write your own collision detection at two in the morning.
Makers pick their tools from a list when they submit, and that is what this page filters on. It is self-reported and nobody audits it, so treat it as a credit rather than a certificate. Where a game links its source, you can go and look.
No. Vanilla Canvas is what the maker built with; the game ships as a page you open in a browser. Nothing on this list needs a plugin, a launcher or a download.
Open the source link on any game here that has one, then read the official documentation at developer.mozilla.org. Reading one finished small game teaches more than a tutorial series, and a good number of makers on this site publish their repositories.
Across the 54 games on this page, the most common categories are action, puzzle and strategy. That is what makers actually shipped, counted from the listings themselves rather than estimated.
Every tool with a page here, with a live count of what has shipped on it. Most games credit two or three, so these lists overlap by design.
Overdrive!
Free browser MMA fighting game — pick or create a fighter, step into the…
Slice the Truth, Skip the Satire, and Never Let the Headlines Drop.
Void Claim is a space mining MMO where you start safe, upgrade your ship, and…
Survive the endless road in a scavenger’s Lada — tow wrecks for scrap, trade…
Firework Frenzy is a one-button arcade fireworks game about timing, not aiming.
Ranked by recommendations on their Vanilla Canvas games only.
