p5play was designed by Computer Science teachers to be intuitive for beginners, making it popular at schools and universities around the world. Learn p5play to level up your CS skills!
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Ask questions and meet other people making interactive art and games with p5play on our community Discord server.
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p5play is open source and free to use under the terms of the AGPLv3.
Support p5play at the appropriate tier to obtain the p5play Professional License for commercial use.
No installation required π€©
Works great on Google Chromebooks! Start creating your own p5play project with one of these online code editor templates. We recommend using Aijs.
Reviews
βI was looking at the new p5play (v3) yesterday and realized it had been so long since I tried it! I didn't realize it had physics built into it. I would LOVE to make some videos with it. This is such wonderful work, thank you for supporting the community in this way!β
βI have found the p5play library to be an invaluable resource for introducing students to game design and development. Our team chose to use this library for our Game Design Summer Program due to its many customizable features, well documented resources, and easy-to-use API which make it accessible for students of all ages and skill levels.
Due to the many methods and properties included in this library, students are able to quickly bring their game visions to life with code. These games range from basic catcher games to games with multiple levels and challenging features.
In addition to the library's well-documented resources, p5play offers a wealth of support and inspiration for the students and teachers in their community. This includes their interactive learn pages that allow students to tinker with different properties and methods in the library, their tri-annual Game Jam event, and their Discord channel filled with many great resources and opportunities to find support.
Our Girls Who Code team highly recommends this library to anyone interested in game development. We can't wait to see all of the games our students create this summer with this incredible library!β
βI recently got a chance to work with Quinton and do a deep dive into the p5play library. Video game design is such a great entrypoint for engaging students in programming projects, while introducing them to the structure of object oriented programming in p5. I can't wait to see what my students create with this!β
βI absolutely love what you've done with the Learn pages, what a cool reference for important sprite properties, looking forward to seeing more of that. Digging through the source a bit I'd say [p5play v3] retains a ton of the appeal of earlier versions and I was able to orient pretty quick.β
βI added a unit centered on p5play to my Artistic Coding and Game Design curriculum as a way to tease object oriented programming. Students quickly adapted to sprites and groups and were beyond excited about all the interactivity built into p5play. Through games, students were able to solidify their understanding of properties and methods without even realizing they were learning some of the core concepts of object oriented programming.
My students spent time making games using the p5play library and were immensely proud of their accomplishments. Since we have used p5play, my students are now better able to understand classes and have even written some of their own!β
βI've been using variations of p5play for several years in my middle school CS class. While it was serviceable before, it was nothing like what you've done with version 3. I LOVE it! Even my younger students can be successful and learn basic coding concepts because they don't really need to know all the math and physics behind the code now. Plus everything is consistent and streamlined so new ideas make sense. Then there's your amazing new website with so many easy to understand examples. I can send my advanced students directly to the p5play website and they can just explore and build anything they want. Thank you so much for all your work!β
βp5play has been a great addition to our curriculum. It has allowed us to explore a more creative outlet for learning object orientated programming and has been invaluable in their students projects for their exams.
Since introducing p5 and p5play we have seen an uptake of over 100% for students and are now seeing huge benefits to students learning. I would highly recommend introducing p5 & p5play into your curriculum. We have now developed a bespoke series of video tutorials to allow more schools and colleges in the UK to introduce p5play to their curriculum.β
βThank you so much for all the work Quinton. With this proper physics integration, I may start using p5play again in my classes!β
βOverall, I can't recommend p5play enough. It has provided an incredibly easy way to take my game development skills to the next level without having to learn some complicated game development software. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, I think you'll find that p5play is a valuable tool to have in your arsenal.β
βUsing the library p5play in JavaScript in order to make graphical programs is a lot better then learning Python, because you get to see your program code influence something on screen.β - Student at Wyke
βLearning p5play has really helped me get more interested in coding, as it makes creating games very easy. It makes the process less time consuming and more fun!β - Student at Wyke
βI've used Tkinter in Python, which was useful to make basic applications. However, now using p5play we can make far more advanced games that are interesting and practical.β - Student at Wyke
Let us know what you think! π
Send your review of p5play to [email protected]
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Created by Quinton Ashley
Quinton Ashley is a Computer Science educator with a passion for game design and 7 years of teaching experience!
Are you a teacher? π©βπ« π§βπ« π¨βπ«
Using p5play in your middle or high school curriculum is a great way to get your students interested in object oriented programming.
Quinton offers Professional Development sessions for teachers. Even if you're not a "gamer" and have no experience with game design, you can become an expert at teaching p5play! Your students will love making their own games and interactive art. During my PD course you'll receive advice on curriculum design, analysis of student work, curated resources for your students to use, and more!
Inquire about Professional Development via email: [email protected]
Are you a student? πββοΈ π πββοΈ
If your school has a Computer Science teacher, tell them about p5play!
If not, Quinton teaches the following courses online: AP Computer Science Principles, AP CS A, IGCSE Computer Science, and more. Learn standards aligned CS in a fun way!
Quinton also teaches Game Design Fundamentals. Level up your programming skills by learning how to use p5play. I'll help you design your own game and share it with the world!
Ask your parents to send an email to [email protected] and inquire about private tutoring.
More Info
Why do Computer Science educators love p5play?! π
The p5.js graphics library is already popular among CS educators, so p5play is a natural addition to many curriculums.
p5play is great for teaching Object Oriented Programming concepts. Instead of manipulating abstract data in a console, students can create game objects called sprites that they can see and physically interact with. Students can also learn about arrays and class-like inheritance by using groups.
p5play is also entirely code based, so students don't need a specialized editor app to use it (unlike with Unity). With p5play, students gain practical, transferrable JavaScript programming skills and experience with online code editors or industry standard IDEs like Visual Studio Code.
p5play is also well designed and documented. Check out the Learn pages, a free resource packed with interactive examples and exercises.
Why should students learn p5play? π€
Every EdTech company claims their "easy and fun to use" software empowers students to "realize their creative potential", but often it's just marketing fluff.
If these platforms are so fun and creatively empowering, why are students only using them to complete assignments?
p5play is different! It has all the features that students could want from a game engine: physics based contact handling, input detection, animations, a camera, joints, and more.
Since p5play is web based, students can share their projects online. That's not so easy to do with a Python, C#, or Java project. Being able to share projects with family and friends can motivate students to make something worth sharing!
What about Scratch? π―
Scratch is great for students ages 8-11, but older students have higher expectations that Scratch can't meet.
One of the biggest problems: Scratch has no built-in physics engine. That means even something super easy to make in p5play, like a ball rolling down a slope, requires a lot of math and is incredibly tedious to implement in Scratch's block based environment.
The featured games on the Scratch website are inspiring to students, but they were made by adults with extreme patience. If a student is really determined to make an impressive game in Scratch, they'll probably have to spend 20 hours copying from YouTube tutorials. With p5play, students can get results way faster and with less frustration.
Why was p5play created? π¨
Corporations shouldn't have a monopoly on the art of game development! p5play was created to make this medium more accessible to students, educators, and indie developers.
In the early days of the internet, Adobe Flash made it easier for hobbyists to develop, share games, and garner an audience, than ever before. But since Flash was phased out, gaming became more commercialized. Corporations like Meta (FaceBook) and Apple heavily promoted games poisoned by micro-transactions and loot boxes, mechanics designed to maximize profit. Hobbyists were left in the dust. Now gamers are sick of being exploited, they want originality, but in a polished package.
That's why Roblox, Minecraft for Education, and Fortnite all enable young developers to create and share game modes and experiences. They promise massive potential audiences but insidiously, these platforms are walled gardens that restrict artistic freedom and exploit developers. These corporations regularly remove or shadow ban content they dislike, and they can do so without explanation or recourse. These corporations explicitly forbid political art and only want un-controversial content they can monetize to extend the life of their decades old games.
But virtual worlds and game systems are powerful tools for artistic expression. Young game designers will always be able to use p5play freely, without corporate restrictions.
"Only the best is good enough" - Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, founder of LEGO
p5play was made to definitively bridge the gap between Scratch and professional game engines like Unity, which are too complex for beginners and too specialized to be used for general CS education.
Can I use p5play for free? π
p5play is open source and multi-licensed. It can only be used for free under the terms of the AGPLv3.
Acceptable free use of p5play includes:
- teaching a free class that's open to the general public
- as part of a curriculum that is freely available to the public
- posting a tutorial video on YouTube, even if it's monetized (protected by fair use)
- developing a game that is not monetized
- publishing a monetized game if you publicly share the source code
Almost any other use case is legally considered closed-source commercial use and requires a proprietary license.
By using p5play you agree to the EULA.
Can I see some demos? π
Take a look at the student projects featured on the Play page!
Also check out @quinton-ashley on OpenProcessing and the #share channel on p5play's community Discord to see what people are making with p5play.
Can I use it commercially? π€
Here are some examples of commercial use:
- teaching a class that's not free or not open to the general public
- publishing a paid or monetized game
- writing curriculum that's not publicly accessible
- developing a game for a paying client
- monetizing an API service or website
Yes! You can use p5play commercially in closed source projects under the terms of the p5play Professional License, which is available to Patreon members.
If you can't afford to pay, you can apply for the free p5play Novice License. See LICENSING.md for more info.
Who is Quinton Ashley? π¨βπ»
Hi I'm Quinton, the creator of p5play (version 3) and p5play.org.
Check out my developer log for personal blog style writing about my work on p5play.
Credits βοΈ
Huge thanks to everyone that's contributed to creating p5play (version 3)! π
Paolo Pedercini, creator p5.play (version 1), who trusted me to take over the project! molleindustria.org
Erin Catto, creator of the Box2D physics simulator. box2d.org
Ali Shakiba, creator of planck.js, a JavaScript port of Box2D used behind the scenes by p5play. piqnt.com/planck.js
Current contributors: @Tezumie, Oliver Zell, Caleb Foss, and Bobby S.
Testers and bug reporters: Raj Raizada, Nathan Anil, Chayarat Wangweera, Zhiyuan Guo, Aarnav Gupta, and Carter Noa.
Special Thanks π
I want to start by thanking my parents for their support and for enrolling me in coding classes when I was a kid! I also want to thank my wife, Victoria, and daughter, Luna, for their support and encouragement. π
In addition, I appreciate the Colombian government π¨π΄ of Gustavo Petro for giving extended visas to digital nomads. If I still lived in US, p5play probably wouldn't exist. I couldn't afford to spend countless hours on a passion project like this one.