What are the best 2D game engines for iOS?

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Mar 19, 2023

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Unity 2D vs Godot vs Oxygine 2D C++ Game Framework

vs Cocos2D vs libGDX vs Construct 2 vs App Game Kit vs GameMaker: Studio vs SpriteKit vs Solar 2D (formerly Corona SDK) vs Construct 3 vs Ejecta vs Object-Oriented Programming with Objective-C - Apple Guide vs Orx vs Monkey X Pro

Specs

Languages

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

Dev platforms

License

Console targets

Distributed targets

2D

3D

Supported languages

TV targets

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac, Android

Popular Language Bindings

GDScript, C#, C++

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

Dev platforms

License

Console targets

Distributed targets

2D

3D

Supported languages

TV targets

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

C++

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Windows; OSX; Linux

Mobile targets

Android; IOS; Web

Dev platforms

Windows; OSX; Linux

License

MIT

Console targets

none

Distributed targets

HTML5; WebGL

2D

3D

Supported languages

TV targets

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

C++; Lua; JavaScript; TypeScript (Creator only)

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Windows; macOS; Linux; HTML5 (Creator only)

Mobile targets

iOS; Android; (deprecated: Windows Phone, Tizen)

Dev platforms

Windows; macOS

License

MIT

Console targets

none

Distributed targets

2D

3D

Supported languages

TV targets

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

Java

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Windows; OSX; Linux; HTML5

Mobile targets

iOS; Android; BlackBerry; Desktop; HTML5

Dev platforms

Windows; OSX; Linux

License

Apache

Console targets

Distributed targets

Java; WebGL

2D

Yes

3D

Yes

Supported languages

Java

TV targets

Traditional code

Yes

VR targets

Opensource

Yes

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

JavaScript (engine)

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Windows XP+, UWP, Mac OS X 10.6+, Linux

Mobile targets

Android 4.0+, iOS 8.0+

Dev platforms

License

Proprietary

Console targets

Xbox One, Wii U

Distributed targets

HTML5

2D

Yes

3D

Some

Supported languages

Visual programming, JavaScript

TV targets

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

WebGL, Canvas 2D

2D physics

Box2D

Notable games

The Next Penelope, Cosmochoria, Angvik, Dreaming Sarah, Airscape The Fall of Gravity, Artillerists, Lunar Mission, …

Behavior trigger

Event list (per-object)

Logic model

Pre-built behaviors

Price

Languages

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Windows, Mac, Linux, HTML5

Mobile targets

iOS, Android

Dev platforms

Windows, Mac, Linux

License

Console targets

Distributed targets

2D

Yes

3D

Yes

Supported languages

TV targets

Traditional code

BASIC Script, C++ & XCode libs

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

Platforms

Windows, Linux, macOS, ARM

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Windows, Linux, macOS, Windows UWP, HTML5

Mobile targets

Android, iOS, (deprecated: Windows Phone, Tizen)

Dev platforms

License

Console targets

Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, (depricated: PS3, PS Vita)

Distributed targets

2D

Yes

3D

Poor support

Supported languages

TV targets

Android TV, Fire TV

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

Dev platforms

License

Console targets

Distributed targets

2D

3D

Supported languages

TV targets

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

Lua

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Windows; Macintosh

Mobile targets

iOS; Android; Kindle; Windows Phone 8

Dev platforms

Windows; Macintosh

License

Console targets

Distributed targets

2D

Yes

3D

Supported languages

TV targets

tvOS

Traditional code

Lua

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Free

Languages

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

Dev platforms

License

Console targets

Distributed targets

2D

3D

Supported languages

TV targets

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

Dev platforms

License

Console targets

Distributed targets

2D

3D

Supported languages

TV targets

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

Dev platforms

License

Console targets

Distributed targets

2D

3D

Supported languages

TV targets

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

C99

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Windows XP+, Mac OS X 10.6+, Linux

Mobile targets

Android 2.3+, iOS

Dev platforms

Windows XP+, Mac OS X 10.6+, Linux

License

zlib

Console targets

Distributed targets

2D

Yes

3D

Supported languages

C, C++, Objective C, bindings for Nim and OCaml (community maintained)

TV targets

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

OpenGL 2.1+, OpenGL ES 2.0/3.0

2D physics

Box2D, LiquidFun

Notable games

Little Cells, Dstroy 2

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Languages

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

Dev platforms

License

Console targets

Distributed targets

2D

3D

Supported languages

TV targets

Traditional code

VR targets

Opensource

Graphics API

2D physics

Notable games

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Price

Pros + Cons

Pro
Very optimized

Unity runs very smoothly even on systems that are considered "weak" by today's standards.

Comment

Overall, a coherent engine with a rational approach. People who complain a lot about being forced to hack around it usually do not read the docs, like the one that describe orders of execution, or specific functions hooks and such. Some like to say it lacks raw power where people who are used to standard optimizations have no problem. For example It is not uncommon to encounter users who complain about low FPS but forgot to activate occlusion, flag static elements, activate animations culling, and so on. As for complaints about C#, people who are transitioning from C++ were already bad at C++ before being bad at C#. They often come from the PC world where the sheer power of today's machines is very forgiving compared to the platforms we had to develop for in the 80s~90s. One of their errors is for example to never read this doc.

Comment

Pro
Good docs

A lot of information, examples and tutorials can be found in docs.

Comment

Pro
Allows for rapid prototyping

Unity's modular system and usability allows for you to quickly develop a prototype of your idea. It has features like drag & drop editing, shaders, animation and other systems already in place to allow you to dive right into developing your game.

Comment

Pro
Works with 3rd party IDEs

You can use any C# IDE for it, but the ones tested which have Unity integration are: Microsoft Visual Studio MonoDevelop Visual Studio Code (much faster than VS, but a bit harder to set up for Unity development) JetBrains Rider (very fast, has lots of functionality and best Unity integration, but it is not free)

Comment

Pro
Over 20 platforms

Unity offers over 20 platforms for publishing including mobile, console, web, VR, and more.

Comment

Pro
OUYA support

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Flexibility is provided by a strong component programming model

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Comment

Pro
Great community

Great Community support through the Forums and Unity Answers.

Comment

Pro
Powerful standard shaders

The built in standard shader in Unity 5 is incredibly optimized and supports PBS/PBR.

Comment

Pro
Has a great animation system

Unity provides a great state machine animation system called Mechanim allowing to separate animation from the model and assign the same animoations to different models.

Comment

Con
Large game file size

Unity needs to bundle Mono with every build, so Android games made with Unity3D can't be smaller than 8Mb.

Comment

Con
Weak default shaders

The standard shaders in Unity are lacking in the free version, meaning if you want better ones, you will need to code your own or purchase other ones in the asset store.

Comment

Con
Weak memory management

.Net libraries are slowing it down, memory safety is compromised, classes have to be implemented to manage objects in memory, like object pooling.

Comment

Con
Bad UI tools

Way of creating UI is uncomfortable and inconvenient.

Comment

Con
Waisted resources

Slow, buggy, expensive and 1000 other problems.

Comment

Pro
Versatile

Not tailored for specific types of games (like Unreal...), so it won't get in your way if you want to make something unique.

Comment

Pro
Can create custom forms and tools

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Easy learning curve

The way the editor is structured, by setting scripts on objects, and the use of a high-level language, C#, makes it easy to learn.

Comment

Pro
Can be used for free

As long as the development company makes $100k or less, it can use the free version of Unity to release games.

Comment

Pro
Lots of assets can be found in the Asset Store

For those developers who can't afford an artist, or aren't skilled enough to create their own art, Unity features an Asset Store full of a wide variety of free and paid assets that can be easily added to a game. The Asset Store has more than just music and art. It also has code and modules that can be added to games including unique lighting or GUI systems. It also has powerful asset management and attribute inspection.

Comment

Pro
Lots of resources to learn from

Unity3D provides an exhaustive documentation where everything is given a full description supplied by a number of examples as well as video and text tutorials and live training sessions to understand the ins and outs of the engine. In addition there's an ever-growing community that can offer advice to help resolve any situations that may arise. Along with the official Unity resources, there are many high quality (and often free) third party tutorials available.

Comment

Pro
Free for development and publication

The Unity 5 pricing scheme provides all engine features and build targets in the Personal Edition, the only caveat being a required splash screen on launch. Developers are required to purchase a Professional license if their earnings exceed $100,000 for a title.

Comment

Pro
Great editor

The editor GUI is very powerful and intuitive, allowing you to pause gameplay and manipulate your scene at any time, and progress gameplay frame by frame. It also has powerful asset management and attribute inspection. This allows it to be more powerful than other, simpler drag-and-drop engines such as Game Maker Studio, although it can take a bit more experience to learn the workflow.

Comment

Pro
Asset Store

For those developers who can;t afford an artist, or aren't skilled enough to create their own art, Unity features an Asset Store full of a wide variety of free and paid assets that can be easily added to your game. The Asset Store has more than just music and art. It also has code and modules that can be added to your game such as unique lighting or GUI systems.

Comment

Pro
Very popular

Unity is a proven game engine used by a range of developers from small indies to triple-A titles like Bad Piggies(Rovio.)

Comment

Pro
Easily builds APK files

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Comment

Pro
Allows a choice of scripting languages to use

Unity provides a selection of programming languages depending on preferences or knowledge. C# (CSharp) is arguably the most powerful, although the majority of tutorial languages are for Javascript. It is probably best to stay away from Boo (which is a flavor of Python).

Comment

Con
Small community and limited resources for learning

Very small community compared to Unity or Game Maker, tutorials are harder to come by besides GamesFromScratch youtube channel.

Comment

Con
Difficult to optimize

Godot has an OOP architecture. Everything is an object internally and data is spread among many classes, thus it's difficult to optimize (i.e. not cache friendly, difficuly to vectorize or paralellize, etc). Read about "Data Oriented Design" for more info about the problems and solutions.

Comment

Con
2DPhysics is weak compared to Box2d

Box2d has much more features.

Comment

Pro
Free, open source and cross-platform

Godot is under MIT license so you can use it for your project without paying a single buck to its owner. Godot is licensed under MIT license. Anyone can grab the source from github.com/okamstudio/godot, and compile the engine him/herself. It targets Win/Mac/Linux/Android/iOS/BB10/HTML5.

Comment

Con
Self-designed scripting language

Implementing new scripting language instead of using an existing scripting engine (such as Lua or V8 JS) looks expensive, but easy to learn.

Comment

Con
Poor performance on iOS

Godot's developers will not support Metal, and the engine currently uses OpenGLES.

Comment

Con
No console targets

Given that you can target both desktops and consoles with the same code base in other engines, the lack of support for consoles in Godot is pretty hard to get past if targeting desktops for a game. But asking for an open-source engine to target consoles is probably too much to ask. But it would be interesting to see some legacy consoles targeted even if current ones cannot be.

Comment

Con
OSX app is a mess

Instead of one contained folder/file with an icon per normal it is a mess of files which is not at all suitable or distributable without further work after every compilation.

Comment

Pro
Fully dedicated 2D engine, no hacks

Godot 2.1 has a improved 2d engine with many features used by modern 2D games.

Comment

Pro
Internationalization of the editor

You can change the language shown in menus. Godot translations: https://hosted.weblate.org/projects/godot-engine/godot/

Comment

Pro
The list of supported languages is growing

Officially, Godot supported languages for now will be GDScript, C#(Mono), VisualScript and C++.

Comment

Pro
Built-in physics

Physics can be added to 2D and 3D scenes, through rigid and static bodies, characters, raycasts, vehicles and more.

Comment

Pro
Easy to learn scripting language

Godot has their own scripting language called GDscript. The scripting language is easy to learn with python-like format, but it is not python. More like a mix of Javascript, PHP, C++. It's very powerful, easy to learn, and it's free of unnecessary things because it's designed for this purpose. It can be used to add custom behaviors to any object by extending it with scripting, using the built-in editor with syntax highlighting and code completion. A built-in debugger with breakpoints and stepping can be used and graphs for possible bottlenecks can be checked.

Comment

Pro
Integrated animation editor

Every property can be animated!

Comment

Con
Little community support

Oxygine is a young framework, it was first released in 2013 and has yet to gather a large community. For example, as on February 2016, the forum has just 123 members.

Comment

Pro
Will be familiar to users of ActionScript3/Flash API

If you are familiar with ActionScript3/Flash API, then you will find it easy to begin working in Oxygine. Oxygine is much like Flash in C++, as its Event Handling model is very close to that of AS3 and SceneGraph.

Comment

Pro
Easy to use C++ API with optional C++11 features

Oxygine is written in C++. It provides easy to use API, which is designed with "do more with less code" philosophy. It uses a managed scenegraph system that takes care of rendering and updates, and provides ability to extend with custom rendering and updates.

Comment

Pro
Free, open source and cross-platform

Oxygine is a free framework that works on OS X, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, HTML5. It's licensed under MIT with source code available on BitBucket.

Comment

Pro
Functionality can be extended with a bunch of available extenions

All of them available publicly at bitbucket. oxygine-movie for playing Theora movies with alpha channel oxygine-sound player for ogg sound/music with streaming oxygine-freetype library oxygine-billing for in-app-purchases on Android/iOS oxygine-spine for playing Spine animations oxygine-magicparticles for playing particles made with MagicParticles

Comment

Pro
Fast

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Comment

Pro
Robust

It's very rare to experience bugs with Oxygine.

Comment

Pro
Allows for flexible contol over draw processes

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Comment

Pro
Allows playing movies with alpha channel

Using oxygine-movie extension for Oxygine you could play in your game any videos encoded with Theora codec. You movie could have alpha channel and used as simple sprite instead of classic spreadsheet animations.

Comment

Con
Semi-dead as of 2017

It is updated only occasionally. They also tried to rewrite it in swift but unsuccessfully. So currently we have 2 unfinished (unstable) projects.

Comment

Pro
Great script language support

It support Lua and Javascript with full feature support. Especially with Cocos2d-JS you can develop games cross web and native, and the native solution have great performance with JS Bindings, much better than hybrid solution

Comment

Pro
A proven engine for mobile development

According to the Cocos2D-x website, 25% of iPhone games are made using Cocos2D-x (A Cocos2D mobile variant.) This means you will not be alone in development, and will have access to a large community and know you are developing for an engine that works.

Comment

Pro
Highly active community for questions and support

Cocos2d-x forums are active.

Comment

Pro
Future-proof

Cocos2D-x is not only open source but also supported by Chukong Technologies of China and USA. Regularly updated and adding support for the latest technologies. 2014 has already seen the release of Version 3, a new Cocos Studio development toolkit (optional) and support for new technologies like skeleton animation systems Spine and Adobe DragonBone.

Comment

Pro
Good documentation

Documentation includes a programming guide, API reference, video tutorials and massive reference test code project showing all functions and giving working code to the user.

Comment

Pro
OpenGL hardware acceleration

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Comment

Con
Not very popular for Android use

As an engine made for iOS with Android support as a side note, there are many options that are much better choices than Cocos-2D

Comment

Pro
Free and open-source

LibGDX is completely free to use, with no premium or paid version. It is also open-source under the Apache 2.0 license allowing you to change and distribute it freely.

Comment

Pro
Across platform support

You can write once and run anywhere (Android, IOS, Desktop, Browser) also lately came with lib to deal with VR.

Comment

Pro
Doesn't force a specific design

Unlike some engines, which only allow you to make your game in a few specific ways, libGDX allows you to design any type of game you wish as it is extremely customisable.

Comment

Con
Java dependency

libGDX is written in Java. While there are ways to build it into native binaries, its intended and supported use is with the JVM, which has performance ramifications.

Comment

Con
Could be difficult for inexperienced programmers

LibGDX is a low-level engine meaning it requires much more coding than other higher-level engines. Although this allows for greater customization, it can make things more difficult for beginner programmers.

Comment

Pro
Interfacing with platform specific code

Sometimes it is necessary to access platform specific APIs, e.g., adding advertisement services or leaderboard functionality provided by frameworks.

Comment

Pro
Desktop deployment allows for quicker development

Even if your game is made for Android, libGDX makes cross-platform deployment easy, This allows you to test your game on desktop quickly and easily without having to deploy to Android every time.

Comment

Con
Documentation could be better

Other than a brief installation / getting started overview, libGDX's documentation consists of an official wiki with several incomplete pages, and automated Javadocs. The community recognizes these shortcomings, and new users are encouraged to ask for help.

Comment

Con
HTML5-only is extremely limiting

If the software could export natively to mobile devices and PC/Mac/Linux it would be extremely powerful. The developer's choice of sticking to only HTML5 has created a bottleneck for anyone wanting to develop with this software.

Comment

Con
Poor mobile performance

Construct 2 is focused on Javascript. Javascript isn't as fast as native code, which results in poor performance on mobile.

Comment

Con
HTML5 is very dependent on browser performance

Theoretically all browsers should run HTML5 pretty much the same way, but thats not always the case. Something that worked fine on Chrome, for instance, might malfunction on Firefox (or vice versa). And there's nothing the devs of Construct 2 can really do about it, but to hope next Firefox update might fix it. Internet Explorer is not even recommended. Add to that the fact that exporting to mobile or desktops rely on these sort of stripped down versions of web browsers (Node webkit, Crosswalk, Ejecta) that you pack with your game, and you can have a real headache if you're trying to make your game work properly through multiple platforms.

Comment

Con
Editor is Windows only

Although Construct 2 is able to export projects to Windows, OS X and Linux, the program itself currently only runs on Windows.

Comment

Con
Dependency on 3rd parties for all exports

Unless you are creating a game strictly for browser/HTML5 usage, exporting to desktop or mobile is risky, as Scirra have no control over your final export quality. Since desktop uses NodeWebkit and mobile is Crosswalk, Phonegap or CocoonJS there is no guarantee that your final export performance and quality will be up to scratch for pro level 2d games. These 3rd party "browser wrappers" are very prone to breaking and introducing lag and bugs that can't be controlled from Scirra's side.

Comment

Con
Does not export to native mobile code

Construct 2 builds to HTML 5 only, which can cause performance issues on mobile devices.

Comment

Con
Free version is severely limited

Although a free version of the engine is available, it lacks features that are essential to creating a high quality product.

Comment

Pro
Constant updates

Developers provide regular updates (usually bi-weekly) with new features added with each iteration.

Comment

Pro
Built in behaviors make development workflows very efficient

Behaviors add pre-packaged functionality to object types.

Comment

Pro
One off cost

It's a one off cost for Construct 2 and all updates to the Construct 2 editor are free for life.

Comment

Pro
Export control for all major platforms

All platform exporters are part of the subscription. There are no additional fees and new exporters are added quickly and maintained well. Currently, 15 platforms are supported, including HMTL 5, iOS, Android, Windows, Chrome Store, PhoneGap and Scirra.

Comment

Pro
Built-in animation/image editor

Basic sprites and tiles of 2D games can be made with engine's built-in tools.

Comment

Pro
Designed for everybody

Construct 2 is a tool for not just programmers, but artists as well. You can create a game with only visual coding, which is easy to learn and doesn't require any prevoius programming knowledge. You can focus on making your game better instead of just coding. It has some limitations of course, but it's definetly worth it.

Comment

Pro
Active plugin ecosystem

Construct 2 has an active plugin ecosystem providing behaviors and features that smooth the workflow for certain game types.

Comment

Pro
In-depth event system

Construct 2's event system allows for deep, detailed control over all aspects of your game. You aren't limited to just a few options. Rather, Scirra has thought of nearly everything in advance with access to any desired parameter of any object all paired with simple and intuitive ways to interact with them. Your events can be organized with event sheets (that can be included in other sheets), event groups, sub-events, loops, and functions that make the coding portion of your game as efficient as possible. You don't need any programming knowledge, but if you do have some, you'll feel right at home with the freedom C2 offers.

Comment

Pro
Allow server-less multiplayer game creation

Construct 2 uses WebRTC technology to support it's multiplayer functionality. The nature of the technology allows peer-to-peer connection which does not require game developer to create server side architecture to allow communication between games.

Comment

Pro
Built-in tilemap object

The tilemap object allows tile-based games to be designed more easily. The object's tilemap can also be edited in the layout view using the tilemap bar.

Comment

Pro
Runs great on mobile

Performs well on most devices and browsers.

Comment

Pro
Supports camera, microphone, speech recognition and synthesis

Can use cameras in PCs and on mobiles. You can use the synthesis that can recognize your speech or you can write something and it can talk for you.

Comment

Pro
Easy to create particles and animations

With spriter file implementation and internal animation editor Construct 2 provides an easy way of creating particles and animations.

Comment

Pro
Supportive devs

The developers are always available to help.

Comment

Pro
Interface similar to that of MS office

This engine provides an intuitive workflow for people that are used to the Windows environment.

Comment

Pro
Free (feature limited) version available

A free version of Construct 2 is available. It's not time restricted in any way, but is feature limited.

Comment

Pro
Quick to pick up

Construct 2 is fast to pick up, get into, and belt out some pretty impressive games in a relatively small amount of time. Seems to be built for people who don't have a lot of programming skills, but want to make great games.

Comment

Pro
Affordable

Construct 2 is available in 4 variants. There's a free version with limited functionality that prohibits from making money from C2 creations and a full version that requires either a personal, business or educational license. The personal license is aimed at indie developers that make less than $5000 from games made with Construct 2 and non-profit organisations and costs $129.99. The business license is required once $5000 or more is already made and costs $429.99. These licenses are one-time buys that include all future upgrades of the software. An educational license is also available for $29.99/month that allows having Construct 2 on all on-site computers.

Comment

Pro
Built-in pathfinding

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Great Community

The website itself has tons of tutorials to get anyone started on any project and for the things you can't find there is a constantly active forum where other devs are giving their input, ideas and helping anyone who is stuck.

Comment

Pro
Available on Steam

You can also download Construct 2 on Steam.

Comment

Pro
Built-in physics system

Thanks to the great power of Erin Catto's Box2D, Construct 2 is able to make physics games which are similar to Cut the Rope and Angry Birds.

Comment

Pro
Can be used with Basic and C++

Games can be developed through the AGK IDE in AGKBasic, or the libraries can be used with C++ for more advanced options

Comment

Pro
Plenty of learning resources

The App Game Kit community is very helpful, and the developers frequently publish tutorials in addition to regular documentation.

Comment

Pro
Wireless transfer of development builds

Tools are provided allowing AGK Basic apps to be wirelessly broadcast to devices for testing.

Comment

Con
Very buggy

A quick look over both the Steam forums and the TGC forums for this software will give some indication of the range of issues that are present in this software. Some issues that have been flagged as far back as two to three years ago, are still present in the software. A quick look at the release notes for each new version will quickly show that more time seems to be spent fixing issues with the existing command set than introducing new and improved features. The latest version, as of this writing, version 2.0.12 has a serious bug where by Android apps cannot be placed in the background as this results in the app showing just a black screen.

Comment

Pro
3D features and shaders

It contains many commands for OpenGL 3D graphics and Shader deployment.

Comment

Pro
Uses AGK Script

Software produced with the App Game Kit is written in a language called AGK Script. This language has powerful inbuild commands including commands for 2D graphics, physics and networking. The commands make use of the platforms' native functions to improve performance. They are also designed to enhance code readability. The AGK Script commands have extensive online documentation.

Comment

Pro
Affordable

Access to the latest alpha versions available for as little as £35 through a pledge system.

Comment

Pro
Built-in automatic APK creation in AGK2

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Comment

Pro
Fast compile times in native BASIC

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Comment

Pro
Powerful crossplatform IDE (AGK2)

Has autocomplete, customizable syntax highlighting, plugins, etc. Built-in automatic APK creation in AGK2.

Comment

Pro
Very well supported by "The Game Creators"

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Comment

Pro
Very robust features out of the box

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Comment

Con
Sparse documentation

The provided documentation is very minimal, and doesn't cover some bundled tools.

Comment

Con
Programming language is limited

Language does not support actual objects, structs, real data types, functions, overloading, even argument naming. Developers generally have to code around the lack of these features in very tricky ways.

Comment

Con
The level editor is terrible

The worst level/room editor of all the game development packages. No marquee select, no layers, only one undo, glitchy, terrible manipulation of scale/rotation, can't manipulate draw order, no grouping, etc. It really is woeful and is surprising that anyone can use it at a professional level....truly is the weakest link in GSM!

Comment

Con
Destructive DRM

In late 2012/early 2013, YoYo Games released a version of their new Studio IDE for cross-platform development that would import games and destroy all of the image type resources for some legitimate purchasers of the software by superimposing a pirate symbol on top of the image. This was due to a fault in their digital rights management software implementation which they use as a method of combating pirated copies of the software. Though the false positives bug is reported to be fixed, the DRM is still in place and may affect placeholder graphics, etc. YoYoGames publicly stated they would remove the DRM at a later point in time, but that other less-invasive DRM techniques would remain.

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Pro
Easy to learn

GameMaker: Studio is incredibly easy to learn. It requires almost no programming knowledge which means those without the technical experience, such as designers or artists, can get their idea made. The internet is filled with tutorials for all skill levels for GameMaker: Studio. This makes learning it hassle free as there are great text and video guides out there. The official tutorials are located here, and there is also a great tutorial by famous indie developer Derek Yu.

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Pro
Has a marketplace

Yoyogames website has a marketplace which opens up an opportunity for people to sell or giveaway created assets and resources (sprites, scripts, sounds, extensions, full source codes, etc.) for use in GameMaker. This benefits people who needs quality assets for their games, and for creative people to provide these assets for extra income. The Marketplace has a rating system so it can eventually increase the quality and competitiveness of the assets submitted.

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Con
This is very flat for games

They are not beautiful - for example, Undertale.

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Con
Code editor not friendly to indented code

While the editor of course has features for intending code such as auto indent and smart tabs that can be turned on or off, these features work in unusual ways and, overall, the editor is not very adaptable to various typing styles. Also, Home always takes you to position 0 and never to the beginning of the text no matter how many times you hit it. Thus, if you hit Home and then Enter a new line, with auto indent on, it will always mess up the indentation on the line following the new line leaving you to fudge around to fix it manually. If you prefer tabs over spaces, forget it. Finally, if you leave the GameMaker app and try to click back into the code editor, the code editor will not fully get the focus sometimes leaving you with the ability to type but not tab. It usually takes two clicks to fully focus the code editor from outside the GM app.

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Con
Poor accessibility and integration

Documentation and resources largely focus on proprietary scripting language, which is necessary for achieving full potential of the software due to poor drag and drop integration.

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Con
Tends to crash or not compile games properly

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Con
Expensive for what it offers

There are several options with more flexibility, better learning resources, and a lower price point.

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Con
Proprietary language forces expensive "lock in"

Because it uses GML, a very non-standard custom language, new users do not learn a transferrable language and become locked in.

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Con
Development has been and will be cosmetic

The change from 1.x to 2.x was cosmetic, the engine and language stayed the same. The roadmap for future development is also cosmetic and includes updating the sprite editor, adding an audio editor, and adding a "mini map" for the IDE.

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Con
Can't embed videos in game

Doesn't support embedding videos in a game.

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Con
Poor level editor

No marquee select, no layers, can be glitchy, no grouping, etc.

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Con
The scripting language used is quite limited

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Con
Bad history of ignoring critical bugs

In the past, the developer failed to update the software for iOS and Android when game-breaking updates were made to those platforms.

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Con
No GUI editor

The GUI must be hard-coded, leaving a lot of tricky calculations and jumping through hoops to accommodate different devices and displays; it's probably the least developed and hardest thing about GMS2 compared to comparable engines

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Con
No built-in refactoring tools

There are no built-in refactoring tools. For example, you can rename a resource, but GM:S will not automatically change the mentions of it across the code to the new name. Furthermore, because all file formats are text-based, basic refactoring could be achieved by simply doing "find & replace in all files" -- which is a feature offered by pretty much every external code editor nowadays -- but no such feature here. Hitting Ctrl-F will pull up a rather odd Find/Replace box but selecting a word before hitting Ctrl-F will not autofill the Find field for you like it will in most tools. Even that you have to cut and paste yourself.

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Con
The cost to buy for development is outrageous

The cost for this tool is hindering for indie developers who have little money to work with.

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Con
Exporting to some formats costs extra

You need to buy extra modules to be able to export to platforms like Android, iOS, HTML5 and others.

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Con
No way to activate or use existing modules

Support entirely focused on new iteration depriving even basic functionality of this version with any purchase that hasn't already been activated. It is still possible, thought not intuitive, to download this version on the trail screen for GM S 2. But no purchased (wildly expensive) module can be added any longer.

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Pro
Has a free version that still allows for creative game development

Game Maker Studio uses a tiered service beginning with a free options. With this option you have basic features that can still be used to make a decent game. If you decide this engine is for you, the first paid option is only about fifty U.S. dollars. This means you wont have to commit hundreds of dollars only to find out the engine is not what you need.

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Pro
Access to the GML scripting language

Game Maker Language (GML) is the primary scripting language that is interpreted similarly to Java's Just-In-Time compilation used in GameMaker. It is used to further enhance and control the design of a game through more conventional programming, as opposed to the drag and drop system.

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Pro
It has an IDE used for loading all of the assets

It is very easy to manage all these resources you want to put in your game, the UI widgets for each assets (sprites, sounds, backgrounds, rooms, objects and shaders) are intuitive enough for when adding or even editing the properties of each your assets. The included editors are also good and easy to use (sprite/image editors, shader editor and room editor).

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Pro
Extremely easy to learn

GameMaker: Studio is incredibly easy to learn. It requires almost no programming knowledge which means that those without the technical experience, such as designers or artists, can get create their projects without the help of a programmer.

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Pro
Compatible with UIKit

SpriteKit views can be used together with UIKit in Cocoa Touch (i.e. native iOS) apps.

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Pro
Compatible with Swift

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Pro
Built-in Support

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Pro
Awesome performance

One of the most efficient frameworks. If you need to build an iOS game, this is the best solutions.

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Made by Apple

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Built-in in Xcode

Easy to access in Xcode.

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Pro
Built-in support for Metal

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Con
Only for iOS and MacOS

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Pro
Very comprehensive API

It's very quick to get things up and running with Corona SDK. The API is extensive and while it's not 100% feature-complete with the iOS API, it's close enough that you could create tons of games and never run into a roadblock. The API docs can be found here.

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Pro
Great community

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Pro
Very simple to use

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Pro
Lua syntax

Uses the great and easy-to-learn Lua programming language.

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Good documentation and lots of tutorials

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Pro
Cross-platform desktop and mobile

Corona works on OS X, Windows and Android (including Kindle Fire & Nook).

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Pro
Amazing learning curve

Corona does not throw photoshop-like madness full of buttons editor. You can go as fast as you want, learning and building game from ground up. Eventually, you'll learn how much corona is doing for you. But to start you don't have to master complex editor software. It's a great tool to learn to start game development if you want to learn how to program and make games. Your experience will be 100% transferable to any other Pro game engine.

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Pro
Timeline

It has a timeline feature which allows you to make amazing animations.

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Pro
Works on Chromebooks

Construct 3 works on a Chromebook without any issues.

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Pro
No installation required

As it runs in the browser you can load it on any computer and show your friends your work really quickly.

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Pro
Runs in the browser

In case you don't have your PC with you, Construct 3 will run in the browser.

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Pro
Fast and small

Construct 3 loads really fast, other software have a large download size.

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Con
Subscription based

It is subscription based pricing, I don't mind this at all as the prices are reasonable but might not be for everyone.

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Pro
High framerate with Canvas and OpenGL

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Pro
Easy to learn for people who already know Javascript

Ejecta uses Javascript as a programming language, making it easier for developers who already know the language.

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Pro
Friendly community

Good friendly development community ready to help each other with tips and advice for setting up and best practices.

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Pro
High performance

Written in C with high emphasis on memory and CPU efficiency.

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Pro
Powerful config system

Powerful config system that makes orx data-driven and provides an easy to use load/save system.

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Pro
Automatic hot-loading of resources

Automatic hot-loading of resources upon modification on disk, shortens drastically iteration times.

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Pro
Good animation engine

Includes a chaining graph & custom animation events for synchronization.

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Pro
Supports desktop and mobile

Supports Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, iOS and Android.

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Pro
Viewport scheme allowing multiple views

Camera/viewport scheme allowing multiple views displayed with camera translation, zoom and rotation.

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Pro
Custom shader support

GLSL code can be added straight into data configuration files and can be applied to any texture: background or objects whivh allows for some amazing effects. All GLSL versions are supported, again by providing the shader language version in your configuration file. Parameters are supported and values over time for shader animation.

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Pro
Flexible clock system

Clock system that provides time consistency and allows time stretching + high precision timers

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Pro
Data Configuration

Orx is a Data Driven engine that greatly reduces required code. You can configure object definitions, bodies, cameras, sound, animation, event tracks, etc.

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Pro
Free and open source

Uses the zlib license. Lets you use Orx for free for any kind of projects, even for commercial ones.

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Pro
Excellent results on performance benchmark

Rated the fastest engine in the OpenFL’s BunnyMark since October 2015.

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Pro
Input controls and binding

All input devices are fully supported: Joysticks, Mouse, Gamepad, Keyboard and Touchscreen. Multiple physical devices and be mapped the same binding.

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Pro
Good render support

Fragment (pixel) shader support, render to texture, MRT, easy composition and custom rendering support.

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Pro
Great IDE Support

Out of the box Windows support for: Visual Studio Codelite CodeBlocks gmake Out of the box Mac support for: XCode Codelite gmake Out of the box Linux support for: Codelite CodeBlocks gmake

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Pro
Well-supported C++ wrapper

Orx provides a excellent c++ wrapper for object oriented design, called: orx/Scroll. You can, of course, roll your own.

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Pro
Integrated runtime profiler

Integrated runtime profiler (with graphical display) to easily spot which parts of your game need to be optimized.

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Pro
Cross-platform

Write your code once for multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows Phone, HTML5, Flash, Windows, OS X, Linux, and many more. Develop using Windows, OS X, or Linux.

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Pro
Built-in modules for quickly building games

Monkey X has a selection of great built-in modules. Graphics Audio Input Data and Filesystems Networking Math Text and Strings Collections Online Services

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Pro
Out of the box support for Admob

Add Advertisements to your app with just some lines of code.

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Pro
Easy to learn

With it's Object orientation and clean syntax its a brilliant language to learn if you have never done any programming before and yet still has all the power it needs to make full games and apps.

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Pro
Helpful community

Helpful community for beginners is available both in english and russian.

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Pro
Partly open-source

The entirety of the base-language itself is open source. Commercial modules such as Mojo for non-free platforms cost a one-time fee. Though Mojo is not free for all targets, the targets for these platforms are, meaning it is possible to implement other frameworks for these targets. The Desktop (GLFW and C++ based) and HTML5 implementations of Mojo are currently free and open source. The language's development is completely public, and is managed via GitHub.

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Pro
Many community modules available

The community has created essential modules: Spine for animations Box2D and Chipmunk for physics Game frameworks such as Ignition, fantomEngine, and Flixel Diddy for lots of extra functionality FontMachine for custom bitmap fonts MiniB3D for 3D gaming And several others...

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Pro
Lots of great examples

Monkey X includes over 50 examples ranging from complete sample games to demos of single features.

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Pro
Great language

Monkey is an easy to learn language that's object-oriented, modular, statically typed, and garbage collected. Language features include classes, inheritance, generics, interfaces, reflection, exceptions, pre-processor directives, and native code support.

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Pro
Native module support

You are not restricted only to the modules you get from the official release. You can build your own stuff. Even build your own "app" module. It feels limitless. In comparison with other cross platform solutions, you actually get the translated source code and you can play with it if you want.

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Pro
Very rapid prototyping

Monkey compiles to HTML 5 so it is very easy to make a small change and quickly preview it in a web browser.

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Pro
Not running in its own VM

Unlike other multi-platform engines (Unity3D, Corona, etc), Monkey-X games do not run explicitly in their own virtual machines. Your code is translated into the native languages of each target platform, and then compiled as a native executable. For some platforms "native" is still a VM, but there is no overhead compared to other apps on that platform.

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Con
Minimalist documentation

The documentation contains a reasonably detailed language overview, and a somewhat-generated list of the included modules, classes, and methods. Module descriptions are rather lax, but usually present. Method descriptions tend to be short, and a majority of them contain no usage snippets; most parameters have very minimal descriptions. And there are no community collaboration features to help improve it, besides GitHub.

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Con
No real asset store

Untangling how to keep assets in the ".data" requires attention and a filenaming convention.

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Con
You'll have to learn a new programming language

Even though this is not a problem if you're new to programming (since you'll have to learn a language anyway), having to learn a new language develop games is a lot of friction for people that already know how to program in other languages.

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Con
Development may have stalled

Frequent small updates to Monkey X can be seen on the development branch at GitHub, but the master branch hasn't seen a commit since June 2013.

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