Tiled — Flexible 2D Level Editor for Game Development

Introduction

Tiled is a free, open-source 2D level editor that has been the go-to map creation tool for indie and professional game developers since 2008. It supports orthogonal, isometric, and hexagonal tile maps and exports to dozens of engine-specific formats.

What Tiled Does

• Edits tile-based maps with unlimited layers, objects, and tile animations
• Supports orthogonal, isometric, staggered, and hexagonal map orientations
• Provides a scripting API (JavaScript) for custom tools and export formats
• Integrates Wang tiles and terrain brushes for automatic edge placement
• Exports to JSON, XML, CSV, Lua, and engine-specific formats (Godot, Unity, Defold)

Architecture Overview

Tiled is a Qt-based C++ desktop application. Maps are represented as a tree of layers (tile layers, object groups, image layers, group layers). Each tile references a tileset which can be shared across maps. The plugin system handles format I/O while the JavaScript API exposes the full document model for automation.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Available as native binaries for Windows, macOS, and Linux, plus Snap and Flatpak
• Build from source with Qt 6 and qbs or CMake
• Tilesets can be embedded in maps or stored as external .tsx files for reuse
• Custom export formats are defined via JavaScript plugins in ~/.tiled/extensions
• Automapping rules let you define pattern-based tile placement in .tmx rule files

Key Features

• Infinite map mode grows the canvas dynamically as you paint
• Object templates let you define reusable game entity archetypes
• Custom properties system attaches typed metadata (string, int, float, color, file, object)
• Parallax scrolling factor per layer for visual depth effects
• Undo history and multi-document editing with tabbed interface

Comparison with Similar Tools

• LDtk — newer, opinionated toward modern pixel art workflows; Tiled is more general
• Ogmo Editor — lightweight but less feature-rich and smaller community
• RPG Maker — bundled with an engine; Tiled is engine-agnostic
• Sprite Fusion — web-based, newer; Tiled has 15+ years of maturity and plugins
• Godot TileMap editor — engine-integrated; Tiled offers standalone flexibility

FAQ

Q: Which game engines support Tiled maps natively? A: Godot, Defold, Phaser, melonJS, HaxeFlixel, and many others have direct importers. Unity and Unreal have community plugins.

Q: Can Tiled handle large maps? A: Yes. Chunk-based rendering and infinite maps let you work with maps of millions of tiles without loading everything into memory.

Q: Is there collaboration or version control support? A: Maps are stored as XML or JSON text files, making them diff-friendly in Git. External tilesets prevent merge conflicts on shared assets.

Q: Does Tiled support animated tiles? A: Yes. Any tile can have frame-based animation defined directly in the tileset editor.

Sources

• https://github.com/mapeditor/tiled
• https://doc.mapeditor.org