Malvado

Small scripts. Living worlds.

Malvado is an open-source game engine for making 2D games with C, Lua or experimental Rust. Inspired by DIV Games Studio, it brings process-based game development to a lightweight engine built with C and raylib.

Rust's gameplay SDK is functional and tested, but its public API is experimental in Malvado 2.0. Future 2.x releases may require code changes. The C core and shared scheduler keep their documented contracts. See the Rust support policy.

The idea is simple: give each character, object, or effect its own behavior, then let those little pieces create something bigger together.

Documentation · Examples · Release plan · Future roadmap

Work in progress: Malvado 2 is in active alpha development. The API and tools may change as the engine evolves.

Space Asteroids, running in Malvado.

Hello, Malvado!

Give it a shape. Give it a behavior. Let it run.

In Malvado, a process is an independent piece of your game. It has its own state and can keep running from one frame to the next.

require("malvado").import_globals()

local Player = process(function(self)
  self.graph = circle(16, {color = {80, 190, 255}})

  while not key("escape") do
    if key("left") then self.x = self.x - 3 end
    if key("right") then self.x = self.x + 3 end
    frame()
  end
end)

start(function()
  clear_screen(25, 30, 45)
  Player {x = 160, y = 120}
end)

process() defines a behavior. Player { ... } creates an instance with its own state. self.graph gives it a visible shape, and frame() lets other processes run before continuing.

Move with Left and Right. Press Escape to exit.

Give it a try

You'll need Git, mise, and a C compiler. On Linux, you also need the X11 and OpenGL development packages listed in the CI configuration.

git clone https://github.com/jepemo/malvado.git
cd malvado
mise install
mise run hello

The first build downloads pinned dependencies. The example opens a window; press Escape to close it.

Want to start your own project? Install the development SDK locally:

mise run install
export PATH="$HOME/.local/share/malvado-dev/bin:$PATH"
malvado new my-game
cd my-game
malvado run

See the SDK guide for more details, including C projects and exporting games on the current host.

Explore

Malvado already includes:

• Processes with personality. Give each instance its own state, timing, and lifecycle.
• A native core. The scheduler and engine live in C, with a public C API that does not require Lua.
• Lua for quick ideas. Write game behavior with small scripts and a bundled Lua runtime.
• The essentials for 2D. Graphics, sprites, text, input, and runnable examples.
• Tools to get started. Create, run, and export projects using the malvado command on supported development hosts.

Try the Space Asteroids example, browse the other examples, or read the documentation.

What's next?

The current focus is completing C/Lua/Rust integration and CLI workflows, then validating the existing engine on supported platforms for 2.0. Future API families, graphics modes and editor work are proposals in the future roadmap.

Follow the version plan to see what's implemented and what's still planned.

Come build with us

Malvado is a personal open-source project, and curiosity is welcome. If you try it, find a bug, have an idea, or want to contribute, open an issue.

Licensed under Apache 2.0.