Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

DragonRuby Game Tookit VS Monkey 2

Compare DragonRuby Game Tookit VS Monkey 2 and see what are their differences

DragonRuby Game Tookit logo DragonRuby Game Tookit

Tiny, fast and cross-platform, 2D game engine in Ruby.

Monkey 2 logo Monkey 2

An easy to use, cross platform, games oriented programming language
  • DragonRuby Game Tookit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-08
  • Monkey 2 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-09

DragonRuby Game Tookit features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Support
    DragonRuby Game Toolkit enables game developers to seamlessly deploy their games on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and consoles like Nintendo Switch, without extensive platform-specific code changes.
  • Lightweight and Fast
    DragonRuby is designed to be lightweight, allowing for fast game development and deployment. Its efficient runtime ensures good performance, especially on resource-constrained devices.
  • Ruby Programming Language
    The toolkit uses Ruby, a beginner-friendly programming language known for its simplicity and ease of learning, making it accessible for newcomers to game development.
  • Productivity
    With its concise and readable code, developers can prototype and iterate swiftly, enhancing productivity and enabling quick updates and changes during game development.
  • Strong Community Support
    Developers using DragonRuby benefit from an active and supportive community, including forums and resources that can help in solving problems and sharing knowledge.

Possible disadvantages of DragonRuby Game Tookit

  • Limited 3D Support
    DragonRuby Game Toolkit is primarily geared towards 2D game development, and its 3D capabilities are relatively limited compared to other engines, which may not be suitable for developers aiming to create complex 3D games.
  • Smaller Ecosystem
    Compared to larger and more established game engines, DragonRuby's ecosystem of tools, extensions, and plugins is smaller, which might limit some of the capabilities or require additional effort for certain features.
  • Learning Curve for Non-Ruby Users
    Developers unfamiliar with Ruby may face a learning curve as they adapt to the language and its paradigms, which might slow down initial development compared to using a game engine with a more familiar language.
  • Commercial License Fees
    DragonRuby requires a commercial license for larger projects, which could be a limiting factor for indie developers or small teams operating on a tight budget.

Monkey 2 features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    Monkey 2 allows developers to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, streamlining the development process and saving time.
  • Modern Language Features
    Monkey 2 supports modern programming language features such as type inference, generics, and lambda expressions, making it easier for developers to write clean and efficient code.
  • Active Community
    The Monkey 2 community is active and engaged, providing support, resources, and shared knowledge, which can be very helpful for both new and experienced developers.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, Monkey 2 allows developers to contribute to its improvement, ensuring that it can evolve according to the needs and desires of the community.

Possible disadvantages of Monkey 2

  • Limited Documentation
    Monkey 2's documentation can be sparse or outdated in some areas, which might pose challenges for new developers trying to learn the language or troubleshoot issues.
  • Smaller Ecosystem
    Compared to more popular programming languages, Monkey 2 has a smaller ecosystem, which might limit the availability of libraries, tools, and third-party support.
  • Less Recognition
    Monkey 2 is not as widely recognized or adopted in the industry as some other programming languages, potentially impacting its perceived credibility and the availability of job opportunities.
  • Development Pace
    While being open source is an advantage, the development pace of Monkey 2 might be slower than that of proprietary or more commercially supported languages, potentially delaying updates and new features.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to DragonRuby Game Tookit and Monkey 2)
Game Engine
46 46%
54% 54
Game Development
48 48%
52% 52
3D Game Engine
64 64%
36% 36
Development
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, DragonRuby Game Tookit seems to be a lot more popular than Monkey 2. While we know about 20 links to DragonRuby Game Tookit, we've tracked only 1 mention of Monkey 2. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

DragonRuby Game Tookit mentions (20)

  • Past Tense: A DragonRuby Sound Installation Built on libpd
    The whole thing is three runtimes glued together. DragonRuby GTK (mRuby) handles the game side: scenes, UI, sprite rendering, the per-tick game loop, the XP and tier-progression system. Pure Data, embedded via libpd, handles every audio sample: spectral analysis across four frequency bands, burst recording, the synthesis and effects chain, the feedback routing. A small custom C extension bridges the two via... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Libghostty Is Coming
    Crystal is object-oriented, but isn't a pure object system. In a pure object system, literally everything is, or can be turned into an object. Smalltalk is the only other example of a language family that offers a pure object system. With a pure object system everything is accessible by the system at runtime. It's ruby's biggest strength, but also the superpowers it grants aren't always used for good, which is why... - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Swift and Cute 2D Game Framework: Setting Up a Project with CMake
    Try https://dragonruby.org/. It's great! Still on SDL2, but will migrate to SDL3 eventually. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Rubymotion โ€“ Write cross-platform apps for iOS, Android and OS X in Ruby
    This project pretty much pivoted into https://dragonruby.org, a framework for making 2d games in Ruby. It's pretty active and in-development, but has nothing to do with building cross-platform apps per se. No idea why this was posted. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Building Game Prototypes with Lร–VE
    DragonRuby did it: https://dragonruby.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
View more

Monkey 2 mentions (1)

  • Wonkey: A cross-platform FOSS programming language by the creator of BlitzBasic
    On one hand, BlitzBasic and BlitzMax was a key moment for me, 15 years ago, of 'getting' programming - I clearly remember as a teenager when some basic concepts clicked together, and here I am many years later a full-time indie game developer. But on the other hand, I've watched from afar enough of the post-Blitz tool development to be skeptical of anything new. Monkey 2 and Monkey X really didn't flourish and a... - Source: Hacker News / about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing DragonRuby Game Tookit and Monkey 2, you can also consider the following products

Defold Engine - Defold lets you quickly build high performing, cross-platform games together with your team.

Blitz3D - Create 2D and 3D Games for Windows.

nCine - Cross-platform 2D game engine in C++

BlitzMax - With the developing version BlitzMax NG other 'targets' are available: ARM architecture, Raspberry, Android, HTML (Emscripten). RAPID DEVELOPMENT. Just open the IDE, write your code, hit F5 and see immediately the results!

LLVM - LLVM is a compiler infrastructure designed for compile-time, link-time, run-time, and...

Phaser - Desktop and Mobile HTML5 game framework. A fast, free and fun open source framework for Canvas and WebGL powered browser games.