taisei-project/taisei

A free and open-source Touhou Project fangame

C

1,649

4,673 commits

updated Oct 9, 2026

See the code

README

==============
Taisei Project 
==============
(`中文版 <README_CN.rst>`__)

.. image:: misc/icons/taisei.ico
   :width: 150
   :alt: Taisei Project icon

.. contents::

Introduction
------------

About Taisei Project
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Taisei Project is an open source fan-game set in the world of `Tōhō Project
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touhou_Project>`__. It is a top-down vertical-scrolling curtain fire shooting game
(STG), also known as a “bullet hell” or “danmaku.” STGs are fast-paced games focused around pattern recognition and
mastery through practice.

Taisei Project is highly portable, and is written in C11, using SDL3 with an OpenGL renderer. It is officially supported
on Windows, Linux, macOS, and through WebGL-enabled browsers such as Firefox and Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge,
etc). It can also be compiled for a number of other operating systems.

For gameplay screenshots, see `our website <https://taisei-project.org/media>`__.

For gameplay instructions, read `this <doc/GAME.rst>`__.

For the story, read `this <doc/STORY.txt>`__. (Spoiler warning!)

About Tōhō Project
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Tōhō Project is an indie game series (also known as “doujin” in Japanese) known for its ensemble cast of characters and
memorable soundtracks. It is produced by and large by a single artist known as ZUN, and has a `permissive license
<https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Touhou_Wiki:Copyrights#Copyright_status.2FTerms_of_Use_of_the_Touhou_Project>`__ which
allows for indie derivative works such as Taisei Project to legally exist.

Taisei is *not* a “clone” of Tōhō, and tells an original story with its own music, art, gameplay mechanics, and
codebase. While some familiarity with Tōhō is helpful, the gameplay can be enjoyed on its own without prior knowledge of
the series.

For more information on dōjin culture, `click here <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%8Djin>`__.

Installation
------------

You can find precompiled binaries of the complete game on the `Releases
<https://github.com/taisei-project/taisei/releases>`__ page on GitHub, available for Windows (x64), Linux, and
macOS.

An experimental build for Nintendo Switch (homebrew) also exists (use at your own risk).

You can also play our experimental WebGL build through your web browser `here <https://play.taisei-project.org/>`__.
(Chromium-based browsers and Firefox supported.)

Source Code & Development
-------------------------

Obtaining Source Code
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Source
______

We recommend fetching the source code using ``git``:

.. code:: sh

   git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/taisei-project/taisei

You should also run ``git submodule update`` whenever you pull in new code, checkout another branch, or perform any
``git`` actions. The ``./pull`` and ``./checkout`` helper scripts can do that for you automatically.

Archive
_______

⚠️ **NOTE**: Due to the way GitHub packages source code, the ``Download ZIP`` link on the main repo *does not work*.

This is due to the fact that GitHub does not package submodules alongside source code when it automatically generates
``.zip`` files. We’ve instead created those archives manually, and you **MUST** download the archive from the `Releases
<https://github.com/taisei-project/taisei/releases>`__ page.

Compiling Source Code
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Currently, we recommend building Taisei on a POSIX-like system (Linux, macOS, etc).

While Taisei is highly configurable, the easiest way to compile the code for your host machine is:

.. code:: sh

   meson setup build/
   meson compile -C build/
   meson install -C build/

See the `Building <./doc/BUILD.rst>`__ doc for more information on how to build Taisei, and its list of dependencies.

Replays, Screenshots, and Settings Locations
--------------------------------------------

Taisei stores all data in a platform-specific directory:

- On **Windows**, this will probably be ``%APPDATA%\taisei``
- On **macOS**, it’s ``$HOME/Library/Application Support/taisei``
- On **Linux**, **\*BSD**, and most other **Unix**-like systems, it’s ``$XDG_DATA_HOME/taisei`` or
  ``$HOME/.local/share/taisei``

This is referred to as the **Storage Directory**. You can set the environment variable ``TAISEI_STORAGE_PATH`` to
override this behaviour.

Troubleshooting
---------------

Documentation for many topics, including development and game controller support, can be found in our `docs section
<./doc/README.rst>`__.

Feel free to `open up an issue <https://github.com/taisei-project/taisei/issues>`__ if you run into any issues with
compiling or running Taisei.

Contact
-------

- https://taisei-project.org/
- `Our server on Discord <https://discord.gg/JEHCMzW>`__

Not written in Markdown, so it's shown here as plain text — view it formatted on GitHub.

c
danmaku
game
glsl
opengl
sdl
shmup
touhou

taisei-project/taisei

A free and open-source Touhou Project fangame

C

1,649

4,673 commits

updated Oct 9, 2026

See the code

README

==============
Taisei Project 
==============
(`中文版 <README_CN.rst>`__)

.. image:: misc/icons/taisei.ico
   :width: 150
   :alt: Taisei Project icon

.. contents::

Introduction
------------

About Taisei Project
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Taisei Project is an open source fan-game set in the world of `Tōhō Project
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touhou_Project>`__. It is a top-down vertical-scrolling curtain fire shooting game
(STG), also known as a “bullet hell” or “danmaku.” STGs are fast-paced games focused around pattern recognition and
mastery through practice.

Taisei Project is highly portable, and is written in C11, using SDL3 with an OpenGL renderer. It is officially supported
on Windows, Linux, macOS, and through WebGL-enabled browsers such as Firefox and Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge,
etc). It can also be compiled for a number of other operating systems.

For gameplay screenshots, see `our website <https://taisei-project.org/media>`__.

For gameplay instructions, read `this <doc/GAME.rst>`__.

For the story, read `this <doc/STORY.txt>`__. (Spoiler warning!)

About Tōhō Project
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Tōhō Project is an indie game series (also known as “doujin” in Japanese) known for its ensemble cast of characters and
memorable soundtracks. It is produced by and large by a single artist known as ZUN, and has a `permissive license
<https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Touhou_Wiki:Copyrights#Copyright_status.2FTerms_of_Use_of_the_Touhou_Project>`__ which
allows for indie derivative works such as Taisei Project to legally exist.

Taisei is *not* a “clone” of Tōhō, and tells an original story with its own music, art, gameplay mechanics, and
codebase. While some familiarity with Tōhō is helpful, the gameplay can be enjoyed on its own without prior knowledge of
the series.

For more information on dōjin culture, `click here <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%8Djin>`__.

Installation
------------

You can find precompiled binaries of the complete game on the `Releases
<https://github.com/taisei-project/taisei/releases>`__ page on GitHub, available for Windows (x64), Linux, and
macOS.

An experimental build for Nintendo Switch (homebrew) also exists (use at your own risk).

You can also play our experimental WebGL build through your web browser `here <https://play.taisei-project.org/>`__.
(Chromium-based browsers and Firefox supported.)

Source Code & Development
-------------------------

Obtaining Source Code
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Source
______

We recommend fetching the source code using ``git``:

.. code:: sh

   git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/taisei-project/taisei

You should also run ``git submodule update`` whenever you pull in new code, checkout another branch, or perform any
``git`` actions. The ``./pull`` and ``./checkout`` helper scripts can do that for you automatically.

Archive
_______

⚠️ **NOTE**: Due to the way GitHub packages source code, the ``Download ZIP`` link on the main repo *does not work*.

This is due to the fact that GitHub does not package submodules alongside source code when it automatically generates
``.zip`` files. We’ve instead created those archives manually, and you **MUST** download the archive from the `Releases
<https://github.com/taisei-project/taisei/releases>`__ page.

Compiling Source Code
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Currently, we recommend building Taisei on a POSIX-like system (Linux, macOS, etc).

While Taisei is highly configurable, the easiest way to compile the code for your host machine is:

.. code:: sh

   meson setup build/
   meson compile -C build/
   meson install -C build/

See the `Building <./doc/BUILD.rst>`__ doc for more information on how to build Taisei, and its list of dependencies.

Replays, Screenshots, and Settings Locations
--------------------------------------------

Taisei stores all data in a platform-specific directory:

- On **Windows**, this will probably be ``%APPDATA%\taisei``
- On **macOS**, it’s ``$HOME/Library/Application Support/taisei``
- On **Linux**, **\*BSD**, and most other **Unix**-like systems, it’s ``$XDG_DATA_HOME/taisei`` or
  ``$HOME/.local/share/taisei``

This is referred to as the **Storage Directory**. You can set the environment variable ``TAISEI_STORAGE_PATH`` to
override this behaviour.

Troubleshooting
---------------

Documentation for many topics, including development and game controller support, can be found in our `docs section
<./doc/README.rst>`__.

Feel free to `open up an issue <https://github.com/taisei-project/taisei/issues>`__ if you run into any issues with
compiling or running Taisei.

Contact
-------

- https://taisei-project.org/
- `Our server on Discord <https://discord.gg/JEHCMzW>`__

Not written in Markdown, so it's shown here as plain text — view it formatted on GitHub.

c
danmaku
game
glsl
opengl
sdl
shmup
touhou

Project health

Overall

4.6/10

Maintained

10/10

Code review

0/10
OpenSSF Scorecard

Significant stargazers

Jan Tojnar

206 followers · starred Feb 2019

Herman Semenoff

116 followers · starred Jun 2026

Cameron Cawley

32 followers · starred Sep 2024

Boyuan Yang

277 followers · starred Aug 2022