I was inspired to write this post after reading [Making Video Games in 2025 (without an engine)](https://noelberry.ca/posts/making_games_in_2025/) by [Noel Berry](https://noelberry.ca/). While not a game developer myself, Noel's piece resonated deeply with my web development experience. My interest was sparked after watching [Datastar: a real-time SSE hypermedia framework](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbTFlUqELVc), which got me excited about applying its principles to game development tooling.

Noel Berry's core argument champions **direct control, simplicity, and the strategic use of focused tools** over lumbering, proprietary "do-everything" engines. He values understanding his entire stack and sculpting tools precisely to his game's needs.

I agree entirely. The allure of an engine promising to solve every problem comes with a hidden "complexity budget" that drains productivity. However, coming from a web development background, I believe this philosophy can be pushed even further. What if the "no-engine" path was about a paradigm shift enabled by a truly modern systems language for the game *core* and, surprisingly, some of the most robust architectural patterns from the web for *tooling*?

This is where a modern stack comes in: **Zig** for the game, and a deliberate choice between **Zig** or **Go** for the tooling backend, all orchestrated with a hypermedia framework like **Datastar**.

## So, You Want to Ditch Your Engine and Actually *Write* Your Game in 2025?

The year is 2025. You've seen the engine licensing fiascos. You've felt the dread of a proprietary update nuking your project. You've waded through the 90% of features you *don't* need. Many assume going "engineless" means hand-crafting assembly by candlelight.

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