Nakama

Platform

Open-source game server for multiplayer, matchmaking, leaderboards and chat

Price: Free, open source; Heroic Cloud paid
Access: Server key, then session token

About

Open-source game backend from Heroic Labs with user accounts, realtime and authoritative multiplayer, matchmaking, leaderboards, chat and storage. Server logic runs in Go, TypeScript or Lua. Self-host it with Docker and Postgres, or use the paid Heroic Cloud.

What you can do with it

Run realtime or turn-based multiplayer matches with a matchmaker
Add player accounts, friends, groups and leaderboards to a game
Write authoritative server logic in Go, TypeScript or Lua

Get started

Download the Docker Compose file and run docker compose up
Authenticate a device with the default server key
Connect a client SDK for Unity, Unreal, Godot or JavaScript

Example

# Run Nakama and Postgres locally
curl -sLo docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/heroiclabs/nakama/master/docker-compose-postgres.yml
docker compose up -d
# Create a user and get a session token with the default server key
curl "http://127.0.0.1:7350/v2/account/authenticate/device?create=true&username=mycustomusername" \
  --user 'defaultkey:' \
  --data '{"id":"uniqueidentifier"}'

Details

Hosting: Hosted service, Self-hosted
Available in: Worldwide
Official SDKs: JavaScript/TypeScript, C#, Java, Swift, Dart
MCP server: None
Works with: Unity, Unreal, Godot