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Pathfinding / Start here

Game Pathfinding: Start Here

Choose the representation, engine API, or gameplay problem you have now. This page routes you to the guide that owns the implementation.

Recommended paths

Follow the path that matches the game.

Each sequence is intentionally short. Stop when the current guide answers the problem.

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Complete index / 47 guides

All pathfinding guides

01 / Foundations

Choose and understand the pathfinding layer

Start here when the representation, engine API, or algorithm boundary is still undecided.

  1. Start2D Pathfinding in Godot 4: Grid, Graph, or Navmesh?Choose among regular cells, authored waypoint graphs, and continuous polygon navigation, then run all three in one browser scene.
  2. ImplementationA* Pathfinding in Godot and Unity: Free Starter ProjectsThree free MIT-licensed A* projects: Godot GDScript, Godot C#, and Unity C#.
  3. StartGrid or navmesh in Godot? Choosing pathfinding that survives productionChoose between explicit cells and continuous walkable geometry.
  4. ReferenceGodot pathfinding and navigation glossaryGodot navigation vocabulary in one maintained reference.
  5. ReferenceAStarGrid2D in Godot 4: complete referenceThe complete built-in grid API, including weights, diagonals, jumping, and updates.
  6. ReferenceAStar2D in Godot 4: complete referenceArbitrary graph points, directed edges, custom costs, and disabled nodes.

02 / Grids

Grid data, terrain, and dynamic worlds

Turn authored cells into navigation facts, price traversal, and update the graph without losing state.

When water depth also decides whether an actor can cross a tile or a boat can clear the bed, the Godot 2D water addon with authored depth maps is in development for shared rendering and gameplay depth data.

  1. TutorialPac-Man-Style Ghost AI in Godot: Build the Full Maze ChaseBuild a complete playable maze chase with buffered movement, shared pursuer fields, modes, tunnels, and reservations.
  2. ImplementationTileMap to Navigation Grid in GodotTranslate TileMap facts into stable AStarGrid2D coordinates and blockers.
  3. ImplementationTileMapLayer Custom Data for Walkability in GodotUse TileSet custom data as the authored walkability source.
  4. ImplementationTileMapLayer Custom Data for Movement Costs in GodotValidate typed terrain metadata, reject untouched defaults, and apply one accepted cost batch to AStarGrid2D.
  5. ProofSmooth Grid Paths in Godot: Post-Smoothing vs Theta*Remove redundant grid bends first, then use verified Basic Theta* when visibility must change the selected route.
  6. SystemWeighted Terrain Pathfinding in GodotRoads, mud, danger, safe heuristics, and unit-specific terrain profiles.
  7. SystemRuntime AStarGrid2D Updates Without Full RebuildsPoint edits, structural updates, replay, and route invalidation.
  8. SystemGodot Reachability Rules: Validate a World Change Before It Traps the PlayerDeclare phase- and profile-aware reachability rules, then reject only new or worsened failures.
  9. ProofStop Players from Blocking the Path in a Godot Tower DefenseReject placements that block every legal route.

03 / Tactical

Tactical movement and turn systems

Reachable cells are only the first layer. These guides cover costs, ownership, confirmation, and scheduling.

  1. ImplementationTactical RPG movement range in GodotCompute reachable cells and reconstruct paths inside a movement budget.
  2. SystemAction points and terrain costs in GodotKeep preview, confirm, AP spending, and undo consistent.
  3. SystemHow to Prevent Two Units From Moving to the Same Tile in GodotUse reservations to prevent two units claiming the same destination.
  4. SystemTurn order and movement planning in GodotSeparate initiative, intents, resolution, and animation playback.
  5. StartFire Emblem, Into the Breach and XCOM Movement in GodotChoose a movement contract from the game rules, not the visual genre.

04 / Clearance

Large and multi-cell units

Plan for a body rather than a point, then apply the same footprint convention during execution.

  1. StartMulti-size agents in Godot: clearance maps without the headachesThe clearance-map foundation for multiple square agent sizes.
  2. ImplementationAnnotated A* for Multi-Size Agents in GodotQuery one annotated grid with a required clearance value.
  3. ImplementationRectangular and Circular Agent Clearance in GodotPrefix-sum rectangle checks and explicit shape policies.
  4. SystemHow to Move Multi-Tile Units on a Grid in GodotValidate anchors, touched cells, offsets, and movement transitions.

06 / Crowds

Crowds and shared spatial fields

Decide whether agents need independent routes, stable formation coordination, scheduled requests, or one shared answer.

  1. ImplementationRTS Crowd Movement in Godot: From Right-Click to ArrivalAllocate reachable destinations, share claims across groups, and report actual arrival.
  2. DiagnosisWhy NavigationAgent2D Lags With Hundreds of UnitsBound request bursts, target resets, cleanup, and latency.
  3. SystemFormation Movement in Godot: Stable Slots, Release, and ReformationMove a selected squad through an authored gate with stable slots, release, and reformation.
  4. ImplementationFlow fields in Godot: pathfinding for crowds that share a destinationStore one direction field when many units share a destination.
  5. ImplementationDijkstra maps for roguelike AI in GodotGoal-centered fields for pursuit, escape, greed, and auto-explore.
  6. SystemInfluence maps in Godot: giving a grid a sense of dangerRepresent danger, control, and attraction separately from shortest paths.
  7. ProofMoving 10,000 agents in Godot without the frame spikeMeasured scheduled shared-field navigation with public benchmark data.

07 / Diagnosis

Debugging, performance, and production limits

Start from the visible symptom and identify which layer owns the failure.

  1. DiagnosisWhy is my path failing in Godot? Nine boring causes to check firstNine ordinary causes of empty routes, in practical checking order.
  2. SystemGodot No-Path Reports: Turn an Empty Path Into a DiagnosisReplace an unexplained empty array with named failure reasons.
  3. DiagnosisPathfinding failure modes in Godot: why no path is not enoughA broader taxonomy for stale data, wrong queries, blockers, and clearance.
  4. ImplementationBuilding a navigation debug panel in GodotExpose the navigation facts needed to debug the current frame.
  5. DiagnosisWhy your Godot pathfinding causes frame spikes and how to fix itMeasure query shape, repeated work, and same-frame bursts.
  6. ProofLarge Map Pathfinding in GodotFilter and bound long routes, then inspect a measured HPA* entrance graph with revision-safe refinement.
  7. ProofHow to Pathfind in an Infinite World in GodotQuery unloaded procedural terrain with bounded implicit A*, saved-change state, and a measured GDScript fixture.
  8. ReferenceAStarGrid2D limitations and alternatives in GodotKnow where the built-in grid ends and a larger system begins.
  9. ReferenceGodot pathfinding addons compared: what actually exists in 2026A source-checked map of the current Godot pathfinding ecosystem.

Unity pathfinding

Explicit grids and continuous geometry

Use the downloadable Unity C# starter for a small explicit cell graph. For continuous movement across scene geometry, use Unity's first-party AI Navigation documentation.

Unity C# A* starterUnity AI Navigation

Beyond the built-ins

PathForge for Godot

PathForge is being built for profile-aware movement, multi-size clearance, dynamic blockers, tactical ranges, shared fields, and editor-visible navigation state.

View PathForge