Box2D
Ranked 2 of 7 physics engines by recommenders
Free, open-source 2D physics engine that people recommend for games, praised for its clean, readable code and useful results.
Free, open-source 2D physics engine that people recommend for games, praised for its clean, readable code and useful results.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 92%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 12 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Useful free open source library
“it's well and truly one of the top bits of F/OSS out there”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Announcing Box3D :: Box2D” “Thanks to Erin for such a useful piece of software!”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Announcing Box3D :: Box2D” “Thank you Erin for the great libraries!”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Announcing Box3D :: Box2D” Good 2D physics for games
“Box2D was a foundation for a lot of interesting physics oriented indie games in my day.”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Announcing Box3D :: Box2D” “Box2D is still pretty darn good! Definitely recommended for 2D physics game projects.”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Announcing Box3D :: Box2D” “It worked well, even sniper rifles worked well.”
Comment from 3 Jul 2026 in “Announcing Box3D :: Box2D” - Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Announcing Box3D :: Box2D”
Clean, instructive source code
“Box2D has some of the best code I've ever read.”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Announcing Box3D :: Box2D” “I learnt a lot tinkering with it.”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Announcing Box3D :: Box2D”
Other physics engines people recommend
The four most recommended other physics engines, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Box3D | 14 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Box2DThis page | 12 | 1 | 92% | 1 | — | — |
| MuJoCo | 10 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Jolt Physics | 9 | 2 | 82% | 5 | — | — |
| Rapier physics engine | 6 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
13 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It worked well, even sniper rifles worked well.”
“Box2D just feels a tad behind the times.”
“Thanks to Erin for such a useful piece of software!”
“Thank you Erin for the great libraries!”
“Box2D has some of the best code I've ever read.”
“it's well and truly one of the top bits of F/OSS out there”
“being able to modify the physics engine for arcade or other non-realistic style games was a big let down over time”
“Box2D is still pretty darn good! Definitely recommended for 2D physics game projects.”
“I learnt a lot tinkering with it.”
“more attention to Domino and less to Box2D”
“working with Box2D was pleasant”
“mostly because where the solutions built internally went”
“Box2D was a foundation for a lot of interesting physics oriented indie games in my day.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.