name: graphics-and-shapes

description: "Use this skill when drawing shapes and graphics in Phaser 4. Covers the Graphics game object, lines, rectangles, circles, arcs, polygons, gradients, fill, stroke, and generated textures. Triggers on: Graphics, draw shape, fillRect, lineStyle, polygon, arc."

Phaser 4 — Graphics and Shapes

Drawing primitives with the Graphics game object, and using Shape game objects (Arc, Curve, Ellipse, Grid, IsoBox, IsoTriangle, Line, Polygon, Rectangle, Star, Triangle).

Related skills: sprites-and-images.md, game-object-components.md

Quick Start

// Draw a filled rectangle and stroked circle with Graphics
const gfx = this.add.graphics();

gfx.fillStyle(0x00aa00, 1);
gfx.fillRect(50, 50, 200, 100);

gfx.lineStyle(3, 0xff0000, 1);
gfx.strokeCircle(400, 150, 60);

// Same shapes as standalone Shape game objects
const rect = this.add.rectangle(150, 100, 200, 100, 0x00aa00);
const circle = this.add.circle(400, 150, 60);
circle.setStrokeStyle(3, 0xff0000);

Core Concepts — Graphics vs Shape Objects

Phaser offers two approaches for rendering primitives without textures.

Graphics Game Object

Created with this.add.graphics(). An imperative drawing surface — you call methods like fillRect, strokeCircle, beginPath/lineTo/strokePath to build up a command buffer that replays each frame.

• Factory: this.add.graphics(config?) where config is { x?, y?, lineStyle?, fillStyle? }.
• Supports paths, arcs, gradients, rounded rectangles, canvas transforms (translateCanvas, scaleCanvas, rotateCanvas), and save/restore.
• Can generate a Texture from the drawing via generateTexture(key, width, height).
• Expensive to render, especially with complex shapes. Uses its own WebGL shader. Group Graphics objects together to minimize batch flushes.
• Components: AlphaSingle, BlendMode, Depth, Lighting, Mask, RenderNodes, Transform, Visible, ScrollFactor.
• Does NOT include Origin or GetBounds (position is set via options or setPosition).

Shape Game Objects

Individual game objects (Arc, Rectangle, Star, etc.) extending the base Shape class. Each renders one predefined geometric shape with precomputed path data.

• Created via dedicated factory methods: this.add.rectangle(...), this.add.circle(...), etc.
• Fully featured game objects: can be tweened, scaled, added to groups/containers, enabled for input/physics.
• Style via setFillStyle(color, alpha) and setStrokeStyle(lineWidth, color, alpha).
• Share the same WebGL batch as Graphics for efficient rendering.
• Do NOT support gradients, path detail threshold, or canvas transforms.
• Components: AlphaSingle, BlendMode, Depth, GetBounds, Lighting, Mask, Origin, RenderNodes, ScrollFactor, Transform, Visible.
• Include Origin and GetBounds (unlike Graphics).

When to use which:

• Use Graphics for dynamic drawing, complex paths, multiple shapes on one object, gradients, or generating textures.
• Use Shape objects for individual UI elements, simple indicators, physics-enabled shapes, or anything that benefits from game object features (origin, bounds, input).

Common Patterns

Fill and Stroke Styles (Graphics)

const gfx = this.add.graphics();

// Solid fill — call before any fill* method
gfx.fillStyle(0xff0000, 1);          // (color, alpha)

// Line style — call before any stroke* method
gfx.lineStyle(4, 0x00ff00, 1);       // (width, color, alpha)

// Gradient fill (WebGL only) — 4 corner colors
gfx.fillGradientStyle(
    0xff0000, 0x00ff00, 0x0000ff, 0xffff00,  // tl, tr, bl, br colors
    1, 1, 1, 1                                 // tl, tr, bl, br alphas
);
gfx.fillRect(0, 0, 300, 200);

// Gradient line style (WebGL only)
gfx.lineGradientStyle(2, 0xff0000, 0x00ff00, 0x0000ff, 0xffff00, 1);

Drawing Primitives (Graphics)

const gfx = this.add.graphics();

// Rectangles
gfx.fillStyle(0x0000ff);
gfx.fillRect(x, y, width, height);
gfx.lineStyle(2, 0xffffff);
gfx.strokeRect(x, y, width, height);

// Circles
gfx.fillCircle(x, y, radius);
gfx.strokeCircle(x, y, radius);

// Ellipses
gfx.fillEllipse(x, y, width, height, smoothness);
gfx.strokeEllipse(x, y, width, height, smoothness);   // smoothness defaults to 32

// Triangles
gfx.fillTriangle(x0, y0, x1, y1, x2, y2);
gfx.strokeTriangle(x0, y0, x1, y1, x2, y2);

// Points (draws a small square)
gfx.fillPoint(x, y, size);                             // size defaults to 1

// Lines
gfx.lineBetween(x1, y1, x2, y2);

Rounded Rectangles

const gfx = this.add.graphics();

// Uniform radius (default 20)
gfx.fillStyle(0x333333);
gfx.fillRoundedRect(50, 50, 300, 200, 16);
gfx.lineStyle(2, 0xffffff);
gfx.strokeRoundedRect(50, 50, 300, 200, 16);

// Per-corner radius
gfx.fillRoundedRect(50, 50, 300, 200, {
    tl: 20, tr: 20, bl: 0, br: 0
});

// Concave corners (negative values)
gfx.fillRoundedRect(50, 50, 300, 200, { tl: -10, tr: -10, bl: -10, br: -10 });

Path D