A2Engine

Spec sheet

Purpose

A2 is a simple, Unity-inspired, Lua-based 2D game engine with Box2D physics, designed for education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Read 12 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Free plan

YesRead 24 Sep 2026 · a2engine.org

Maker

The A2 Engine site credits Austin Yarger as its designer and implementer, with support from Nikhil Ghosh.Read 12 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

C++ core

The Lua scripting layer runs on a C++ core with built-in Box2D physics and particle systems.Read 11 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Core

The Lua scripting layer runs atop a C++ core with built-in Box2D physics and fast particle systems.Read 12 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Course context

The University of Michigan EECS 404 course page describes a 2D, multi-language engine with Lua scripting atop a C++ core, and names Box2D and SDL among the libraries used in the course.Read 12 Oct 2026 · eecs404.com

Creator and support

The site credits Austin Yarger with designing and implementing A2Engine, with support from Nikhil Ghosh, and invites visitors to contact Yarger with questions.Read 11 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Documentation

The site links to A2 Engine documentation hosted as a Google document.Read 12 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Download

The site provides a download link for the engine.Read 12 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Education

The engine is designed for education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Read 11 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Educational context

The site says University of Michigan game development students build their own engines from scratch using A2 as a reference.Read 12 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Examples

The site links three sample games: The Whispering Crown, Donna the Donut Pilot, and Physics Obstacle Course.Read 12 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Intended audience

The course page describes EECS 404 as an upper-level computer science course for students who want to build game engines from scratch.Read 11 Oct 2026 · eecs404.com

Intended learners

The EECS 404 course page describes its engine architecture course as intended for junior and senior undergraduate computer science students and says it is programming-intensive.Read 12 Oct 2026 · eecs404.com

License and source

The site says the engine may be used for any purpose, including commercial use, while its source code remains hidden for educational reasons.Read 12 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Lua architecture

Components are written in Lua with lifecycle functions such as OnStart, OnUpdate and OnDestroy, then attached to Actors (gameobjects).Read 12 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Lua components

Components are written in Lua, use lifecycle functions such as OnStart and OnUpdate, and attach to Actors (gameobjects).Read 11 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Middleware

The University of Michigan course page describes integrating SDL graphics and Box2D physics with the engine.Read 11 Oct 2026 · eecs404.com

Portability

The course page describes writing multi-platform portable code that may build and run on various operating systems without changes.Read 11 Oct 2026 · eecs404.com

Sample games

The site links to three open-source sample games: The Whispering Crown, Donna the Donut Pilot, and Physics Obstacle Course.Read 11 Oct 2026 · a2engine.org

Scripting languages

LuaRead 24 Sep 2026 · a2engine.org

Source code model

closed_sourceRead 24 Sep 2026 · a2engine.org

Where Specifiction places it

• Game Engine Software#92 of 926.7