Nakama Server #

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Nakama is a scalable server for social and real-time games and apps.

With Nakama server you can add user authentication, social networking, storage, and real-time data exchange into your apps and games. It is developed by Heroic Labs to handle the difficult but essential services that go into all social and real-time games and apps.

The server is designed to run at massive scale. Nakama works as a distributed cluster so when your game or app gets featured in the App Store then all you need do is launch a few more instances and you’ll handle the extra load with ease.

During development you can run the server on your macOS, Linux, or Windows machine. When it’s time to move into production either move into the cloud or use the Heroic Labs Heroic Cloud.

Features #

You get to focus on building your project while the server handles all:

User accounts

Every user is registered and has a profile for other users to find and become friends with or join groups and chat.

Friends

Friends are a great way to build a social community.

Groups and Clans

A group brings together a bunch of users into a small community or team.

Real-time chat

Users can chat with each other 1-on-1, as part of a group, and in chat rooms.

In-app notifications

In-app notifications make it easy to broadcast a message to one or more users.

Leaderboards

Leaderboards are a great way to add a social and competitive element to any game.

Matchmaker

The matchmaker makes it easy in real-time and turn-based games to find active opponents to play against.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer engine makes it easy for users to set up and join matches where they can rapidly exchange data with opponents.

Server runtime code #

The server integrates the Lua programming language as a fast embedded code runtime.

This is useful to run custom logic which isn’t running on the device or browser. The code you deploy with the server can be used immediately by clients so you can change behavior on the fly and add new features faster.

Console support #

Nakama supports all major consoles including PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.

Next steps #

Build the next big hit for mobile, console, desktop, and web with Nakama. We have first-class game engine integration including Unity for ease of development.

To get the most out of Nakama you should follow the rest of this guide. And if you need help get in touch with the Heroic Labs team about our developer training.

The first step to building your project with Nakama is to install it.