name: groups-and-containers

description: "Use this skill when using Groups or Containers in Phaser 4. Covers organizing game objects, object pooling, batch operations, and nested transforms with Containers. Triggers on: Group, Container, object pool, getFirstDead, children."

Groups and Containers

Logical grouping (Group), visual grouping with transform inheritance (Container), render-layer grouping (Layer), object pooling, and when to use each in Phaser 4.

Key source paths: src/gameobjects/group/, src/gameobjects/container/, src/gameobjects/layer/

Related skills: ../sprites-and-images/SKILL.md, ../physics-arcade/SKILL.md

Quick Start

// In a Scene's create() method:

// --- Group: logical collection, no transform, great for pooling ---
const enemies = this.add.group();
enemies.create(100, 200, 'enemy');       // creates Sprite at (100,200)
enemies.create(300, 200, 'enemy');

// --- Container: visual parent with inherited transform ---
const hud = this.add.container(10, 10);
const icon = this.add.image(0, 0, 'heart');
const label = this.add.text(20, 0, 'x3');
hud.add([icon, label]);                  // children move/scale/rotate with hud

// --- Layer: render-ordering bucket, no position/scale ---
const bgLayer = this.add.layer();
const fgLayer = this.add.layer();
bgLayer.add(this.add.image(400, 300, 'sky'));
fgLayer.add(this.add.sprite(400, 300, 'player'));

Core Concepts

Group vs Container vs Layer

When to Use Each

Group: Managing collections of similar objects (enemies, bullets, coins), object pooling with active/inactive lifecycle, physics group collisions. No shared visual transform. Members can belong to multiple Groups simultaneously.

Container: Children inherit position, rotation, scale, alpha. Composite UI elements (health bars, inventory slots), moving/rotating clusters as one unit, nested transforms. By default exclusive -- a child can only belong to one Container (use setExclusive(false) to override).

Layer: Controlling render order of object batches, applying shared alpha/blend/mask. No position/scale/rotation. Lightweight render bucketing.

Container vs Group at a Glance

• Container has position, rotation, scale, alpha -- Group does not. If you need children to move/rotate as a unit, use Container.
• Container is exclusive by default -- adding a child removes it from its previous Container. Group is non-exclusive; a game object can be in many Groups.
• Container is on the display list -- it renders its children. Group is not on the display list; its children render individually on the Scene.
• Group supports object pooling -- getFirstDead, kill, killAndHide. Container does not.
• Container has performance cost -- each child requires matrix math per frame. Deeper nesting = more cost. Prefer Group or Layer when transforms are not needed.

Common Patterns

Creating and Populating Groups

// Empty group, add existing objects
const gems = this.add.group();
gems.add(existingSprite);
gems.addMultiple([sprite1, sprite2, sprite3]);

// Group with config -- creates children automatically
const coins = this.add.group({
    classType: Phaser.GameObjects.Sprite,
    key: 'coin',
    quantity: 10,           // overrides frameQuantity
    setXY: { x: 50, y: 300, stepX: 60 },
    setScale: { x: 0.5, y: 0.5 }
});

// Custom class type with pool limit
const bullets = this.add.group({
    classType: Bullet,       // must accept (scene, x, y, key, frame)
    maxSize: 30,
    defaultKey: 'bullet',
    runChildUpdate: true     // calls child.update() each frame
});

Object Pooling with getFirstDead

The core pooling pattern: deactivate objects instead of destroying them, then reuse inactive ones.

// Setup pool
const bullets = this.add.group({
    classType: Phaser.GameObjects.Sprite,
    defaultKey: 'bullet',
    maxSize: 30
});

// Fire a bullet -- get() finds first inactive member or creates one
function fireBullet(x, y) {
    const bullet = bullets.get(x, y);