Introducing TileForge Studio — A Free Browser-Based Map Editor
We’re launching TileForge Studio, a free browser-based map editor for 2D games. No download, no install — open a tab and start building maps.
How This Started
TileForge began as the admin map editor inside EchoQuest. We needed a way to create and edit tile maps without leaving the browser, and the existing options weren’t cutting it. Tiled is a desktop app that hasn’t changed much in years. LDtk is great but development has stalled. There’s no good browser-native map editor that just works. So we built one, and it turned out to be useful enough to stand on its own.
What It Does
TileForge is a full-featured tile map editor that runs entirely in your browser:
- Zero install. Works in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari. Nothing to download.
- Tiled-compatible. Import and export TMJ and TMX files. Your existing Tiled maps work out of the box.
- 6 procedural generators. Generate forests, caves, dungeons, ruins, interiors, and towns with one click. Tweak the parameters and regenerate until it looks right.
- 8 drawing tools. Brush, fill, rectangle, eraser, stamp, terrain, shape, and picker. Standard tile editor tools that work the way you’d expect.
- Engine presets. Export maps formatted for Godot, Unity, Phaser, RPG Maker, or GameMaker. Pick your engine and the output is ready to drop into your project.
- Tile animations & collision shapes. Define animated tiles and draw collision polygons directly in the editor. No separate tool needed.
- Cloud storage. Sign in with your EchoForge account and your maps save to the cloud. Access them from any device.
- GitHub sync. Connect a GitHub repo and push maps directly from the editor. No manual file juggling.
- Wiki user guide. Full documentation at tileforge.echoforge.games/help/.
Why Browser-Based Matters
Desktop map editors work fine until you need to hand a map to a level designer who doesn’t have the tool installed, or you want to make a quick edit from a laptop that isn’t your dev machine, or you’re on a Chromebook. A browser-based editor removes that friction entirely. Send someone a link and they’re editing maps in seconds.
How It Compares
Tiled is the standard, but it’s a Qt desktop app with a UI that hasn’t been modernized in a long time. LDtk brought fresh ideas but it’s desktop-only and development has gone quiet. Neither runs in the browser. TileForge does everything you’d expect from a tile map editor — layers, tilesets, object placement, terrain autotiling — but it runs wherever you have a web browser. The procedural generators and engine presets are things neither Tiled nor LDtk offer.
Free to Use
TileForge is free. You don’t need an account to use it — your maps save to your browser’s local storage by default. If you want cloud saves and GitHub sync, create a free EchoForge account. That’s it. No premium tier, no feature gates.
Try It
Open tileforge.echoforge.games and start building. If you get stuck, the user guide covers everything.
— Bruno