When comparing HaxePunk vs Nez, the Slant community recommends HaxePunk for most people. In the question“What are the best 2D game engines?” HaxePunk is ranked 22nd while Nez is ranked 89th. The most important reason people chose HaxePunk is:
Useful for mobile games and soon consoles (OpenFL has a console port in the works).
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Joystick and multi-touch support
Useful for mobile games and soon consoles (OpenFL has a console port in the works).
Pro Crossplatform testing/releasing
HaxePunk uses OpenFL which means you can compile to just about every device. A lot of the rendering code has been optimized so if you use HaxePunk’s graphic classes you are pretty much ready to deploy on any target.
Pro Generic entity system
A generic Entity system that only uses what you “attach” to it. If you need collision masks they are available but if an entity doesn’t need to collide with anything then simply don’t add a mask. Same goes for graphics.
Pro Written in Haxe instead of AS3
This comes with blazing fast compile times, proper static typing, multiple output targets, and a powerful macro system.
Pro Multiple collision masks
HaxePunk has added several collision masks beyond what FlashPunk had including a grid with slope values, circles, and polygons. This is in addition to FlashPunk’s tile grid and hitbox.
Pro Tweens
Tweens are available just like they are in FlashPunk. If you need to interpolate values for sounds, movement, etc… it’s probably already available as a tween. There is also a VarTween that lets you interpolate any value you want.
Pro Active community
The community is very active, so if you ask for help you'll get it relatively quickly.
Pro Open source
Completely free, no need to pay for licenses.
Pro Cross-platform development thanks to the use of mono and xamarin
Nez is built on top of monoGame and can be used the make games for many platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac, Android or IOS).
Cons
Con Messy / fragmented documentation
Not a lot of documentation is available.
Con Small comunity
It’s a small but growing community.
Con Just a framework
Meaning there's no visual scene designer so you'll have to write your own.