Standard Game-CI vs Orchestrator Mode
Standard Game-CI
Game CI provides Docker images and GitHub Actions for running Unity workflows on the build server resources provided by your CI platform (GitHub, GitLab, Circle CI).
Best for: Projects that fit within your CI runner's resource limits and don't need advanced caching, hooks, or multi-provider routing.
Orchestrator Mode
Orchestrator is an advanced layer on top of Game CI. It takes whatever machines you give it and manages the full build lifecycle across it: provisioning, git sync, caching, hooks, and cleanup. Whether you're running on a cloud provider, a local machine, or your own servers, Orchestrator gives you the tools and flexibility to manage your workflows.
Projects of any size can benefit from orchestrator features like configurable resources, automatic caching, and extensible hooks. Larger projects additionally benefit from retained workspaces, provider failover, and load balancing.
Self-Hosted Runners + Orchestrator
Self-hosted runners and orchestrator are not mutually exclusive. Orchestrator complements self-hosted runners by adding automatic failover, load balancing, and runner availability checks.
| Self-Hosted Runners Alone | Self-Hosted + Orchestrator | |
|---|---|---|
| Failover | Manual intervention if server fails | Automatic fallback to cloud when runner is unavailable |
| Load balancing | Fixed capacity | Overflow to cloud during peak demand |
| Caching | Local disk only | S3/rclone-backed caching with retained workspaces |
| Hooks | Custom scripting | Built-in middleware pipeline with lifecycle hooks |
| Maintenance | You manage everything | Orchestrator handles provisioning, sync, and cleanup |
Choosing Your Setup
| Scenario | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Small project, standard runners work fine | Standard Game-CI |
| Need configurable resources or caching | Orchestrator with any provider |
| Large project, no existing servers | Orchestrator with AWS Fargate or Kubernetes |
| Existing self-hosted runners, want reliability | Orchestrator with self-hosted primary + cloud fallback |
| Want to test orchestrator locally before cloud | Orchestrator with Local Docker provider |