diff --git a/src/components/App.tsx b/src/components/App.tsx
index 951569b..8ce3a9d 100644
--- a/src/components/App.tsx
+++ b/src/components/App.tsx
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-import { useState, useRef } from "react";
+import { useState, useRef, useCallback } from "react";
 import { Difficulty } from "../types";
 import { GameStateManager } from "../game/state";
 import { Menu } from "./Menu";
 import { DifficultySelect } from "./DifficultySelect";
+import { GameContainer } from "./GameContainer";
 
 type Screen = "menu" | "difficulty" | "game" | "gameover";
 
@@ -17,6 +18,10 @@ function App() {
     setScreen("game");
   };
 
+  const handleGameOver = useCallback(() => {
+    setScreen("gameover");
+  }, []);
+
   return (
     <div style={{ textAlign: "center" }}>
       {screen === "menu" && (
@@ -29,7 +34,11 @@ function App() {
         />
       )}
       {screen === "game" && (
-        <div>Game placeholder — {difficulty}</div>
+        <GameContainer
+          difficulty={difficulty}
+          stateManager={stateManager}
+          onGameOver={handleGameOver}
+        />
       )}
       {screen === "gameover" && (
         <div>Game Over placeholder</div>
diff --git a/src/components/GameContainer.tsx b/src/components/GameContainer.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e74d1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/GameContainer.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+import { useEffect, useRef } from "react";
+import Phaser from "phaser";
+import { createPhaserConfig } from "../phaser/config";
+import { Difficulty } from "../types";
+import { GameStateManager } from "../game/state";
+
+interface GameContainerProps {
+  difficulty: Difficulty;
+  stateManager: GameStateManager;
+  onGameOver: () => void;
+}
+
+export function GameContainer({ difficulty, stateManager, onGameOver }: GameContainerProps) {
+  const containerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  const gameRef = useRef<Phaser.Game | null>(null);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!containerRef.current) return;
+
+    const config = createPhaserConfig(containerRef.current, 800, 600);
+    const game = new Phaser.Game(config);
+    gameRef.current = game;
+
+    // Pass data to Phaser scenes via the registry
+    game.registry.set("difficulty", difficulty);
+    game.registry.set("stateManager", stateManager);
+
+    // Listen for game over
+    const handleStateChange = () => {
+      const state = stateManager.getState();
+      if (state.status === "won" || state.status === "lost") {
+        onGameOver();
+      }
+    };
+    stateManager.on("stateChange", handleStateChange);
+
+    return () => {
+      stateManager.off("stateChange", handleStateChange);
+      game.destroy(true);
+      gameRef.current = null;
+    };
+  }, [difficulty, stateManager, onGameOver]);
+
+  return (
+    <div
+      ref={containerRef}
+      style={{
+        width: "800px",
+        height: "600px",
+        margin: "0 auto",
+      }}
+    />
+  );
+}