Step 2: Get Monogatari Running

With your environment ready, let’s get a real Monogatari game running on your machine.

1. Get the template

Get the latest Monogatari project template — a complete, ready-to-run project with the engine included and a small sample game already in place:

  • The quickest way is to download it from the official website, monogatari.io.
  • Prefer git? Clone the GitHub repository and start from its dist/ folder, which is the same template.

Unzip it somewhere convenient and open the folder in your code editor.

2. Start the dev server

Open a terminal in the project folder and run:

bun run serve

You’ll see:

Dev server running at http://localhost:5100

Open http://localhost:5100 in your browser, and the sample game starts. That’s it — Monogatari is running.

TIP

The dev server has live reload built in. Leave it running: every time you save a file, the browser refreshes automatically, so you see your changes instantly. You’ll rarely reload by hand again.

To stop the server, press Ctrl + C in the terminal.

NOTE

Don't want to use Bun? You can also just open index.html directly in your browser. The game runs, but you lose live reload, and browser security around the file:// protocol disables service workers (asset preloading and offline support). The dev server is the smoother path.

What you got

After unzipping, your project looks like this:

my-game/
├── assets/              # Your images, audio, fonts and icons
│   ├── characters/
│   ├── scenes/
│   ├── music/
│   └── …
├── engine/              # The Monogatari engine — you don't edit this
├── js/
│   ├── script.js        # Your story: dialog, characters, scenes
│   ├── options.js       # Game & engine settings
│   ├── storage.js       # Your custom save variables
│   └── main.js          # Any extra JavaScript you want to add
├── style/
│   └── main.css         # Your custom styling
├── index.html           # The page that hosts your game
├── service-worker.js    # Powers offline play & asset caching
├── serve.ts             # The dev server you just ran
└── package.json         # Project info & build scripts

The next step tours these so you know exactly where to write your game.

Next steps