Once your game is ready, it’s time to share it with the world! Tiny makes it easy to export your game for the web or desktop so anyone can play it.

Preview locally

Before exporting, you can preview your game in a browser using the built-in development server:

tiny-cli serve --port 8080

This starts a local web server with hot reload. Open http://localhost:8080 in your browser to play the game. Any changes to your Lua scripts are picked up automatically.

Export for the web

To create a web-ready archive of your game:

tiny-cli export -p web --archive my-game.zip

This produces a ZIP file containing everything needed to run your game in a browser:

  • index.html — The HTML page that loads your game.

  • tiny-engine.js — The Tiny engine compiled to JavaScript.

  • Your game scripts and assets (Lua files, spritesheets, sounds, etc.).

The game runs using WebGL 2.0 and works in all modern browsers.

Export for desktop

To create a desktop build:

tiny-cli export -p desktop

This produces a runnable archive that requires Java to be installed on the target machine.

You can bundle a JDK for a self-contained package:

tiny-cli export -p desktop --include-jdk

To target a specific platform:

tiny-cli export -p desktop --include-jdk --desktop-platform linux
tiny-cli export -p desktop --include-jdk --desktop-platform macos
tiny-cli export -p desktop --include-jdk --desktop-platform windows

Deploy to itch.io

itch.io is one of the easiest ways to share your game online. Here’s how to deploy your web export:

  1. Export your game as a ZIP file:

    tiny-cli export -p web --archive my-game.zip

  2. Create a new project on itch.io:

  3. Upload the ZIP file:

    • In the Uploads section, upload my-game.zip

    • Check "This file will be played in the browser"

  4. Configure the viewport:

    • Set Viewport dimensions to match your game resolution (e.g., 516x516)

    • Enable Fullscreen button for a better experience

  5. Save and publish — your game is now live!

Deploy to any static host

Since the web export is just static files, you can host it anywhere:

  • GitHub Pages: Push the contents of the ZIP to a gh-pages branch.

  • Netlify / Vercel: Drop the folder and deploy.

  • Any web server: Upload the files to your server’s public directory.

No backend is required — the game runs entirely in the browser.

What’s next?

Learn how to add visual assets to your game with the Managing Sprites and Animation tutorial.