Tiny is a free, open-source game engine that runs through its command-line client. Once installed, you can start creating and developing retro-style games in no time!

Prerequisites

Before installing Tiny, make sure you have:

Java 21 or later installed on your system. You can download it from Adoptium or use your system’s package manager.

To verify your Java installation, run:

java -version

You should see output indicating Java 21 or higher.

Download Tiny CLI

Download the latest release of the Tiny CLI from the GitHub releases page.

Choose the archive for your platform and extract it to a location of your choice.

Add to your PATH

To use the tiny-cli command from anywhere, add the bin directory to your system PATH.

macOS / Linux:

export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/tiny-cli/bin

To make this permanent, add the line to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.profile).

Windows:

Add the bin directory to your PATH through System Properties > Environment Variables, or run in PowerShell:

$env:PATH += ";C:\path\to\tiny-cli\bin"

Verify the installation

Run the following command to confirm Tiny CLI is installed correctly:

tiny-cli --help

You should see the list of available commands.

Create your first project

Generate a new game project with:

tiny-cli create my-first-game

This creates a my-first-game directory with the following structure:

my-first-game/
  _tiny.json    <-- Game configuration (screen size, colors, resources)
  game.lua      <-- Your game code

_tiny.json: Defines your game’s settings such as screen resolution, color palette, spritesheets, levels, sounds, and fonts.
game.lua: The main script where you write your game logic using Lua.

Run your game

Navigate into the project directory and start the game:

cd my-first-game
tiny-cli run

A window opens displaying your game. You can edit game.lua while the game is running — Tiny’s hot reload feature picks up your changes instantly.

Game structure basics

Every Tiny game uses three callback functions in Lua:

function _init()
    -- Called once when the game starts.
    -- Initialize your variables here.
end

function _update()
    -- Called every frame before drawing.
    -- Update game logic here.
end

function _draw()
    -- Called every frame after update.
    -- Draw your game here.
    gfx.cls()
    print("hello tiny!", 80, 120, 7)
end

What’s next?

Now that you have Tiny installed, follow the Build Your First Game: Pong tutorial to learn the engine fundamentals by creating a complete game.

You can also explore:

API Reference — Complete documentation for every Lua function.
CLI Reference — All available command-line tools.

Getting Started with Tiny