When comparing Phaser.io vs Wave, the Slant community recommends Phaser.io for most people. In the question“What are the best 2D game engines?” Phaser.io is ranked 8th while Wave is ranked 33rd.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Built-in Arcade Particle system
Pro Great community resources
Pro Very active development
This is one of the most developed frameworks right now.
Pro WebGL and Canvas rendering modes
You can choose WebGL or classic HTML canvas element for game rendering.
Pro Good tutorials, courses and books
There are plenty of great learning resources available for Phaser.io.
Pro Super-simple loading of assets
Pro Excellent tools for sprites
Pro Support for Arcade Physics, Ninja Physics and p2.js
Pro Easy to learn
Most tasks are done just using 2 or 3 lines of code.
Pro Very fast to develop with
If you're browsing Slant, you probably already have a JavaScript enabled browser, which is most of what you need to get started learning JavaScript. The requirement to run a server locally on your computer while developing might make things a little more difficult
Pro No install required
All you need to do is attach Phaser script to a HTML page even without installing any extensions.
Pro Easy to understand if you have used flash
Phaser provides a similar approach as to that of Flash games, where you can load assets and place them on a stage, and even improves upon the shortcomings of actionscript. It is very easy to shift from flash to HTML5 development because of this approach.
Pro You can run it in the cloud
You can use it in popular online editors like replit, codandbox, etc.
Pro Animating is easy
Pro Has separate versions maintained by developer and the community
The creator of phaser(photonstorm) has given the older(Phaser 2.0) source code to the community for their own maintenance, and has made Phaser 3.0 with a different style and approach, trying to make it easier for beginners to learn.
Pro Extensive learning material
In addition to online API documentation, the Wave Engine team provides tutorials via IndieDB, plus sample projects and "QuickStarters" via GitHub.
Pro Supports coding in C#, F# and Visual Basic
Wave Engine explicitly supports all three core .Net Platform languages.
Pro Oculus Rift support
The Wave Engine team provides an official, open-source Oculus Rift extension via GitHub.
Pro Many components are open source
Several core components and official extensions of the Wave Engine are publicly hosted on GitHub.
Cons
Con Using Cordova to Export for Mobile
To export to mobile games you need to use cordova.
Con Official documentation is not so good
Con Poor performance
As long as your map is not larger than 600*400px, everything is fine.
Con Extremely many bugs
Con Developer ignores community needs
Con Mandatory splash screen
Games and applications made with Wave Engine must display a splash screen advertising it. No splash-free license option is available.
Con Not many tutorials available
Con Outdated UI
The UI looks like it is from Windows XP days. A refresh is much needed.