What is the best 2D non-coding game engine?

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Jan 31, 2024

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GDevelop vs RPG Maker vs Godot

vs Unreal Engine 4 vs Stencyl vs Construct 2 vs BuildBox vs Clickteam Fusion 2.5 vs GameMaker: Studio vs GameSalad vs Scratch vs Flowlab vs code.org vs RPG Maker MV vs Construct 3

Specs

Desktop targets

Windows 7+, macOS 10.11+, Linux

Mobile targets

Android 5+, iOS 11+

3D

2D

Yes

Languages

C++, JavaScript

Distributed targets

HTML5

License

MIT

Dev platforms

Windows 7+, macOS 10.11+, Linux, Web

Graphics API

WebGL

Supported languages

Visual programming, JavaScript

Notable games

Hyperspace Dogfights, Lil BUB's HELLO EARTH, Vai Juliette!, Swamp, Squaremoji, The Mighty Rune

2D physics

Box2D

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Windows, macOS, Web

Mobile targets

Android, iOS

3D

2D

Yes

Languages

JavaScript

Distributed targets

License

Dev platforms

Graphics API

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Windows, macOS

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

3D

2D

Languages

Distributed targets

License

Dev platforms

Graphics API

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac, Android

Popular Language Bindings

GDScript, C#, C++

Console targets

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, SteamOs, HTML5

Mobile targets

iOS, Android

3D

Yes

2D

Yes

Languages

C++, Blueprints (Visual Scripting)

Distributed targets

License

Dev platforms

Graphics API

DirectX Versions: 10, 11, 12(Experimental), Vulkan SM5, OpenGL

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Windows, Mac OS X, Linux

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

VR targets

SteamVR/HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, OSVR, , Google VR/Daydream, Samsung Gear VR

API Support

DirectX 10, DirectX 11, Vulkan (SM5), OpenGL

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Windows 7+, Macintosh 10.14+, Linux

Mobile targets

Android 4.0+, iOS 9+

3D

2D

Yes

Languages

Java (editor), Haxe (engine)

Distributed targets

HTML5

License

Proprietary (editor), MIT (engine)

Dev platforms

Windows 7+, Macintosh 10.14+, Linux

Graphics API

OpenGL, OpenGL ES, WebGL

Supported languages

Visual programming, Haxe

Notable games

Hollow Knight (prototype), Legends of IdleOn, Super/Tiny Dangerous Dungeons, Talk to Strangers, House, NEXT JUMP, Flapping Online...

2D physics

Box2D

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

none

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Behavior-specific

Logic model

Snap-together script blocks

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

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

Mobile targets

Android 4.0+, iOS 8.0+

3D

Some

2D

Yes

Languages

JavaScript (engine)

Distributed targets

HTML5

License

Proprietary

Dev platforms

Graphics API

WebGL, Canvas 2D

Supported languages

Visual programming, JavaScript

Notable games

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

2D physics

Box2D

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

Xbox One, Wii U

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Event list (per-object)

Logic model

Pre-built behaviors

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

3D

2D

Languages

Distributed targets

License

Dev platforms

Graphics API

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac, Docker, BSD

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Technology

Python

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Windows, Mac

Mobile targets

iOS, Android, UWP

3D

Yes (Firefly)

2D

Yes

Languages

Distributed targets

HTML5, Flash

License

Proprietary

Dev platforms

Windows, Mac

Graphics API

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

OUYA , Xbox

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Event list (global)

Logic model

Pre-built behaviors

Technology

Traditional code

C; C++

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Windows, Linux, macOS, Windows UWP, HTML5

Mobile targets

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

3D

Poor support

2D

Yes

Languages

Distributed targets

License

Dev platforms

Graphics API

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Windows, Linux, macOS, ARM

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

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

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Android TV, Fire TV

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Windows 8; Macintosh

Mobile targets

iOS; Android; Tizen

3D

2D

Yes

Languages

none

Distributed targets

HTML5

License

Dev platforms

Windows; Macintosh

Graphics API

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

none

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Event list (per-object)

Logic model

Pre-built behaviors

Technology

Traditional code

none

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

3D

2D

Languages

Distributed targets

License

Dev platforms

Graphics API

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Windows 7+, Mac

Mobile targets

iOS, Android

3D

2D

Yes

Languages

Distributed targets

License

Dev platforms

Graphics API

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

3D

2D

Languages

Distributed targets

License

Dev platforms

Graphics API

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

3D

2D

Languages

Distributed targets

License

Dev platforms

Graphics API

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Very Positive

Desktop targets

Mobile targets

3D

2D

Languages

Distributed targets

License

Dev platforms

Graphics API

Supported languages

Notable games

2D physics

Platforms

Popular Language Bindings

Console targets

VR targets

API Support

Behavior trigger

Logic model

Technology

Traditional code

TV targets

Steam Rating

Pros + Cons

Pro
Open source and completely free

GDevelop is free and open source, and anyone can enhance the software via the GitHub repository.

Comment

Pro
Easy to use

The whole interface is intuitive and easy to learn: each part of the game can be designed using visual editors. The objects editor is used to create the objects of the game, the scene editor helps you to build the levels of your game and the events editor allows to give life to the whole game without programming.

Comment

Pro
Powerful events system

No need for coding using this system which is clear and powerful: events are composed of conditions and actions. Actions are launched when conditions are fulfilled. This is a very friendly way of making games and is still efficient for advanced usage, contrary to most other "block"/"drag'n'drop" systems.

Comment

Pro
Lots of features to build games

The engine includes pathfinding, physics engine, multitouch support, custom hitboxes, platformer engine, tiled maps, multiple layers and cameras out of the box. All of these features can be used without programming knowledge, using the visual editors.

Comment

Pro
Support both native and HTML5 games (web and mobile development)

GDevelop is able to create HTML5 games that can run on web browsers and be exported to iOS and Android using solutions like Intel XDK or Cocoon.JS. GDevelop is also one of the only friendly game creator that is able to make native games for Windows and Linux, which are blazing fast and allow to make advanced games with lots of objects, effects and very large levels.

Comment

Pro
Add prebuilt behaviors to objects

Prebuilt behaviors can be added to objects. This is a very efficient way to add a physics engine or make a platformer game. Lots of behaviors are included, from the most advanced (Physics, platformer, top-down movement) to really simple ones (like the behavior to destroy objects when outside the screen or the one to drag objects with mouse or touch). And you still have full controls over your game as behaviors can be modified using the events.

Comment

Pro
Quickly add behaviors to objects

Prebuilt behaviors can be added to objects. This is a very efficient way to add a physics engine or make a platformer game. Lots of behaviors are included, from the most advanced (Physics, platformer, top-down movement) to really simple one (like the behavior to destroy objects when outside the screen or the one to drag objects with mouse or touch). And you still have full controls over your game as behaviors can be modified using the events!

Comment

Pro
Online version available, compatible with iOS and Android

Thanks to its open source nature, GDevApp.com was built over the GDevelop engine. GDevApp.com is a complete game creator similar to GDevelop, available directly in your browser and compatible with iPad and most Android tablets and phone! The app is perfect for making games directly from your sofa and you can even start a game on GDevApp and export it to open it inside GDevelop.

Comment

Pro
Interface

So easy to use.

Comment

Pro
Can create 2D games

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Multilanguage support

GDevelop is available in many languages and even community can help in translations.

Comment

Pro
No need to download anything

Almost everything can be done in the Browser.

Comment

Con
It's very slow

Although suggested otherwise, GDevelop doesn't compile the games - it just adds wrappers so each OS can run the HTML5 game it creates. That means it runs much, much slower than other engines that do compile games.

Comment

Pro
Can create 3D games

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Fully free

GDevelop is fully free, you can export to any platform, have as much events as you want, and create as much layers as you can. The only limit is that you can only publish to certain platforms 2-5 times a day. But still however it does not limit you in any way, all you have to do is wait and tomorrow you can publish it again.

Comment

Con
Optional subscription not mentioned on main site

While the engine is free and open source as stated on the main website, it does not mention that some optional features and services are actually activated through a paid subscription (two tiers: 2€ and 7€). Those features are: no nag screen shown when debugging, additional metrics available on games dashboard, access to more than 2 cloud exports per day (unlimited local export can be done without subscription, provided the right packaging tools are installed and configured), easy removal of GDevelop splash screen (can be done manually without subscription).

Comment

Pro
Great helpful and kind userbase

Everyone who uses GD5 is kind and willing to help others with problems.

Comment

Pro
Constant updates

New updates and bug fixes are pretty consistent with new releases being available within 2 weeks to about a month. Its builtin auto-updater installs all the new updates making life easier.

Comment

Pro
Very Basic with expert potential

Enough said :)

Comment

Con
Behaviors of Objects are rather generalized

Since it has a fully GUI editor, the objects you are allowed to add in your game are pretty generalized (PhysicsObject, TiledSprite, PlatformerObject, etc). This limits the freedom of a game developer while making a game, as the object msut follow the preset behaviours imposed on it.

Comment

Pro
New documentation for gd5 is good for starting

A new doc is improving for gd5 that is nice for beginners and after that you can learn more from examples. Also, gd4 wiki is still there.

Comment

Pro
Has 32-bit support

You can download the 32-bit versions from Google Drive from their Discord Server.

Comment

Con
Exported games are slow

Exported games are slow and very laggy if there are high number of objects and many events running at once. For beginners putting inefficient events make matters far worse.

Comment

Con
64-bit only

32 bit version is also available now but maybe a little harder to come across.

Comment

Con
No cross-compiler

The Windows and Linux versions of GDevelop can each compile a native application; but the Windows version cannot compile for Linux, nor vice versa.

Comment

Con
Still needs more tutorials

It has not bad documentation and forum but still needs more tutorials (although there are some good examples to learn from).

Comment

Pro
Powerful events system to create games without programming

Comment

Con
No support for atlas/tilemap and sprite sheet

At this point, you need to separate the tileset maps or character animation sprite sheet before importing it to the engine, but the developers are working on this feature.

Comment

Pro
It's fuck

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Free and open-source

GDevelop's runtime libraries are MIT licensed. It can be used freely for projects of any type and there are no royalties associated with publishing games developed with GDevelop.

Comment

Con
Not many tutorials

Not many tutorials, yet.

Comment

Con
More tutorials

I like the tutorials but they aren't enough to help you.

Comment

Con
pile of gunk

[add description]

Comment

Con
No longer exists

The link no longer exists.

Comment

Pro
RPG Maker MV has a Steam Workshop community

Though only in beta, the prospect of a Steam Workshop for RPG Maker MV offers a new easily accessible and unified location for user generated content, shared among a community within and without Steam.

Comment

Pro
Growing number of asset creation software titles offering direct export to RPG Maker

SONAR Steam Edition exports RPG Maker clips, and Spriter Pro has confirmed they'll work directly with RPG Maker developers to get Spriter Playback integrated into RPG Maker.

Comment

Pro
Large and active community

The engine has seen multiple iterations since 1995, so a large online community exists that is always willing to help each other out.

Comment

Pro
Easy to jump into using an intuitive WYSIWYG editor

It's possible to create a game with absolutely no art or coding skills, so even complete beginners can make something.

Comment

Pro
Additional Map layer from prior versions

MV adds an extra map layer for easier parallax mapping and gives developers the ability to create more detailed maps if they opt tile mapping. Additionally, assets for tiles are easier to find without the old RTP structure.

Comment

Con
None of the versions are free

Versions range from 29.99 (for the 2003 version) to 79.99 for the newer ones. Some use a subscription model. However, the products have sales a few times per year on sites such as Steam.

Comment

Pro
Multi-platform

MV supports HTML5 exports, so it is easier than ever to make your game work on iOS, android, OSX,Linux or Windows.

Comment

Pro
It's an open engine

It's possible to use custom editors from the community, edit libraries,include libraries,etc (MV Only)

Comment

Con
Engine imposes arbitrary limits

Engine imposes arbitrary limits. For example, it only supports resolution up 640x480 in VX ace, and 816x624 in MV. However, these limitations can be overcome using plugins/scripts.

Comment

Con
Poor cross-package integration.

Users looking to upgrade from VX Ace or earlier to MV will find they must manually convert all graphic assets to a new size; MV uses 48px tiles and icons with 64px character sprites. Additionally, MV now uses JavaScript whereas earlier versions used Ruby. So any scriptlets prior to MV will need to be recoded in a different language. Fortunately Yanfly has a full list of MV ready plug-ins while other commonly adored plugins just as Khans Lighting aren't.

Comment

Con
Included assets are few and inconsistent

Though the product touts including enough assets to make a full game, the assets included aren't altogether fluid. Further assets from the publisher must be purchased separately. Otherwise, the user can make their own assets, hire someone to make them, or find free assets online at the forums or elsewhere.

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 syntax, but it is not Python. It's very powerful, easy to learn, and it's free of unnecessary things because it was custom built for optimized integration with the Godot Engine. 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
Free and open source

Godot is licensed under MIT license. Anyone can grab the source from https://github.com/godotengine/godot, and compile the engine themselves.

Comment

Pro
Lightweight

The executable is portable and less than 40 MB in size.

Comment

Pro
Really good community

The community is great and really cares about the engine. It is easy to get help and to be part of Godot's future.

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
Editor and runtime are fully cross-platform

You can run Godot on all 3 major operating systems (Windows/Mac/Linux) and build your game to all available platforms from each without any platform-specific work needed. All platforms including Linux are supported first class.

Comment

Pro
Fully dedicated 2D engine, no hacks

Godot has a mature 2D engine with many features used by modern 2D games.

Comment

Con
Needs examples. Confusing.

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Integrated animation editor

Every property can be animated.

Comment

Con
Poor API

It's Python-ish API is hard to understand and to learn.

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

Pro
Free

Free to download and use as of March 2, 2015. Also, these are their exact words:”When you ship a game or application, you pay a 5% royalty on gross revenue after the first $3,000 per product, per quarter. ” See here.

Comment

Pro
Realistic graphics

[add description]

Comment

Pro
No coding experience needed

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Comment

Pro
A visual scripting system for non-coders enables quick prototyping

Blueprints are authoring tools designed for non programmers so designers and other team members can help tweak and prototype. UE4's Blueprint scripts resemble flowcharts where each box represents a function or value, with connections between them representing program flow. This provides a better at-a-glance indication of game logic than a simple list of events, and makes complex behaviors easier to accomplish and games a lot faster to prototype.

Comment

Pro
Powerful material/shader system

Allows a texture/material artist or VFX artist to create amazing effects from the ground up.

Comment

Pro
AAA Ready

This is ready to make the next AAA game.

Comment

Pro
Cross-platform editor and export

This engine exports for a big range of platforms including Linux. The editor can be run on Windows, MacOS, and Linux (Early Access).

Comment

Pro
Professional feature set for all aspects of game development

Almost everything a game developer wants has a deep and sophisticated tool waiting for them in UE4. No external plugins are needed to make powerful materials, FX, terrain, cinematics, gameplay logic, AI, animation graphs, post process effects, lighting etc.

Comment

Pro
Active community

Forums have many active and friendly members that are quick to respond and help out. Even staff is very active on forums.

Comment

Pro
Spectacular lighting visuals

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Comment

Pro
Lots of resources to learn from

Epic provides multiple official video tutorials, lots of free example projects and content, an extensive wiki and regular streams showing how to use latest features.

Comment

Pro
Developers have full control of the engine and source code

UE4 gives full access to the C++ source code allowing editing and upgrading anything in the system.

Comment

Pro
Dynamic global illumination with voxel cone tracing decreases the computational power needed

Voxel cone tracing is a similar algorithm to ray tracing, but uses thick rays instead of pixel thin rays to be able vastly decrease the amount of computational power needed.

Comment

Pro
Free development license, including source code

The engine, including full access to source code, is licensed to developers for 5% royalty on resulting revenue if it exceeds $3000 per quarter.

Comment

Pro
Fast compilation for quick iteration

Recompiling an entire game to test a small change takes up a lot of time. UE4 quickly compiles in seconds instead of minutes improving iteration time by an order of magnitude.

Comment

Pro
Easy to use animation blueprints

Unreal Engine 4 is one of the best game engines. It is super easy. It doesn't require any use of coding due to Animation Blueprints.

Comment

Pro
Quick release-cycle

New feature releases can be commonly expected about once a month.

Comment

Con
Slow

Compared to other engines, UE4 seems to perform various actions considerably slower. Actions like starting the engine, opening the editor, opening a project, rebuilding shaders, updating references, calculating lightmaps, saving projects, etc take long enough to get irritating and end up wasting precious development time.

Comment

Con
Very high build size

A blank project will build in to a minimum of 200 MB.

Comment

Con
Extremely long build times

Making a full rebuild, including engine can take a good 30minutes. If you plan to use Unreal professionally, you better get some licenses for Incredibuild as well.

Comment

Con
Unreal Engine crashes a lot if you don't have the required system requirements

[add description]

Comment

Con
C++ - oriented development cycle: slow turn-around times

The Unreal Editor is the main place to do stuff (of course), so if someone wants to do a lot of C++ stuff, the compilation and linking turn-around times can be painful. Still they probably are quite fast in comparison to the provided featureset.. Still ,they are far from optimal.

Comment

Con
C# not natively supported

UE4 does not support C# natively, but this can be achieved through MonoUE, although it requires using the MonoUE fork instead of UE itself.

Comment

Con
Royalty based

5% of profits will go to Unreal after $3000 earned in a quarter.

Comment

Con
Steep learning curve

This engine not easy for beginners.

Comment

Con
Poor documentation

Most of the "documentation" for code is actually just automatically generated from the source. If you're interested in knowing how things are supposed to work, you must either go to their answers site or pay for UDN. Often their examples won't even compile, since they were written for now outdated versions.

Comment

Con
Hard engine for beginners

This engine not easy for beginners

Comment

Con
Annual subscription model

Publication to desktop targets requires an active Indie Stencyl subscription, priced at $99/yr. Mobile targets require Studio Stencyl at $199/yr.

Comment

Pro
Free for Flash publication

Starter Stencyl is identical to paid-plan versions except that it only allows publication to Flash, with a mandatory Stencyl splash screen. Commercial development is allowed with Starter Stencyl.

Comment

Pro
Built-in tileset support

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Free version available

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Cross-Platform

Publish iOS, Android, Flash, Windows and Mac games without code.

Comment

Pro
Haxe scripting available for advanced users

Power users can also write code in Haxe (similar to Actionscript 3) to create their own custom classes and extend the engine.

Comment

Pro
Block-based visual scripting resembles real code

Visual scripting in Stencyl is based on the MIT Scratch project, which was designed to teach programming. Script elements fit together like puzzle pieces, ensuring that data and function types cannot be mismatched.

Comment

Pro
Easy transition between visual scripting and Haxe code

The visual scripting system is internally translated to Haxe. The resulting scripts can be viewed and edited, and there is also a "code block" object for including raw Haxe in visual scripts. This is great for learning to code, and also for advanced users who can further optimize the scripts if necessary.

Comment

Pro
No coding required, great drag & drop interface

Comment

Pro
Easy to use

You can make a game in 30 minutes from start (it may not be perfect). There are so many video tutorials and many helpful users.

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
Free for simple projects

Construct 2 Free provides a functional preview of nearly all engine features, and allows non-commercial publication.

Comment

Con
Free version is limited

Construct 2 Free is not licensed for commercial use. It also limits a project to 100 events, along with other technical restrictions.

Comment

Pro
Very easy to learn

It has an easy drag and drop interface were you can drag an image from your computer directly into construct 2 to import it. After you import something you can easily add atributes to it; such as platformer which lets you control the object with your arrow keys.

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
Good pricing

Single payment with free updates forever.

Comment

Con
Editor is somewhat limited

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Supportive community

Construct 2 has a supportive community. Their forums have tens of thousands of topics with ten times more posts. The core maintainers are very helpful and friendly and often reply to questions or issues that may be discussed in the forums.

Comment

Pro
Simplicity - it is made for everybody to use and love

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 previous programming knowledge. You can focus on making your game better instead of just coding. It has some limitations of course, but it's definitely worth it.

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
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
Very fast preview

In Construct 2 you can preview your games instantly at any time. There’s no need to wait for compiling or other time consuming processes.

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
Little programming knowledge needed

Using Construct 2 requires very little programming knowledge because it's all drag'n'drop, intuitive, visual and event-driven instead of code-only.

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
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
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
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
Extremely active dev / support team

They push regular updates with bug fixes, new features, and HTML5 optimizations.

Comment

Pro
Runs great on mobile

Performs well on most devices and browsers.

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

Con
At some point you will have to program in Construct 2

It's very light, but it's there and when you want to do something more complex you start learning how to code and import things like xml files.

Comment

Con
will stop supporting the updates of C2

Even that when I bought it. the creator of C2 said it's update for life but after then he decided to stop supporting the update of C2.

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
Cordova support

You can use Cordova plugins from the community.

Comment

Pro
Built-in pathfinding

Has built-in solutions for pathfinding.

Comment

Pro
Built in behaviors make development workflows very efficient

Behaviors add pre-packaged functionality to object types.

Comment

Con
Tilemap object could be better

C2 requires that there's a tilemap objects for each tilemap layer meaning each tilemap object has to be updated when modifying any layer. This could be simplified by adding layer support for tilemap objects.

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Con
No free windows

The same problem with stencyl.

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Pro
Rapid development

After using a few quick tutorials you can quickly catch on to the event system this program uses and quickly be able to build any type of 2D game you want. You can download a few sprites from google and put together a working level of Mega Man with character movement / animation / enemies / collision detection / scoring / Tile map and AI within about 2 hours. The built in behaviors are incredible. It's amazing how Construct can simplify the most redundant tasks in game development.

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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.

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Clickteam Fusion copy

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Con
Some things can only be done with scripting

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Pro
Easy to learn

Buildbox is a drag and drop engine, making it easy for beginners to pick up. There are many tutorials available to help get you started.

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Con
Expensive price

At $1000/yr, or $99/mo, it is probably the least accessible piece of game development software in regards to price.

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Con
Not very powerful

You will be limited to using templates to build games.

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Con
Really restricting

You have to base your games heavily on their pre-made templates. You can't create custom behaviours, events, object types or effects you can only slightly tweak the existing ones.

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Con
Stability Issues

The software has stability issues on Windows, with the preview window causing program crashes when simple functionality is added.

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Con
Support

Very Bad Support. In fact non existent.

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Con
Subscription model

The two more reasonable price points limit the functionality of a software already far less powerful than many more cost effective alternatives.

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Con
They are spam

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Pro
Built-in support for ads

You can add banner and interstitial ads from multiple ad networks, including AdMob, RevMob, Facebook. They can work with Amazon's, Microsoft's, Google's and Apple's app stores.

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Pro
Has many game templates

Buildbox has 20+ different game templates including templates for platformers, racing games and Flappy Bird clones.

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Pro
Develop once publish everywhere

Exporting iOS/Android/macOS/Windows/Steam/Amazon.

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Pro
Great tutorials and community to help your game making process

Clear tutorials and a friendly community.

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Pro
Simple animation system

Easy to add in animations for objects and characters.

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Pro
Built-in particle effects

You can create simple particle effects with control over gravity, color variance and blend modes.

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Con
They are spam.

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Pro
Drag - and - drop editor

Drag - and - drop editor without writing any line of code.

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Con
You are restricted by it's limitations

For example, you can only make certain kind of games.

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Con
Very expensive

Buildbox has a 15-day trial version, after that a $2675 license to use it must be bought.

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Con
Incredibly Expensive

At $1000/yr, or $99/mo, it is probably the least accessible piece of game development software in regards to price.

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Pro
Developers work so closely with the user base

Dedicated Bug tracking system linked to user forum for ease of access.

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Pro
Intuitive drag & drop interface & visual event editor

CF2.5 uses a straightforward drag & drop editor that allows for easy level, animation and event creation without having to write a single line of code.

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Con
Its Event Editor can be cumbersome if you are working on complex projects

While Fusion's visual programming event system is great to simplify things, it can be much more cumbersome to work with it than reading lines of code when you are working on a complex project. Especially if your events involve many nested conditions and lots of objects on the frame. You are able to group events and objects, but it doesn't help at all if there's lots of conditions on an event and it becomes pretty hard to read.

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Pro
Permissive runtime license agreement

With the Developer edition of the product, there are absolutely no limits or requirements when selling your creations. You are free to make as much money as you want (this applies to the Standard edition too), and you don't have to include any logos or credits in your creations.

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Pro
Free version

A free version is available for download here.

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Pro
Box2D physics engine

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Pro
Can create custom extensions

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Pro
Can also create Windows applications

CF allows creating Windows applications. Additionally, due to hundreds of available extensions, the process is quick.

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Pro
Upgrade discounts

If you buy Fusion 2.5, and later decide you want to upgrade to the Developer version, or in the case of moving from MMF2 to F2.5, the company offers upgrade discounts.

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Pro
Great for non-game apps, such as tools, utilities, multimedia projects, etc

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Pro
Well-optimized

Runs well under high object numbers, particularly on PC and iOS thanks to hardware acceleration.

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Pro
Supportive, passionate community

Any time you have a question or a problem, the community and the software developers are there to help you out either on forums or steam. The devs repond quickly to private messages or instantly on ClickConverse (chat). Additionally, many users have support sites with open source examples and tutorials.

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Pro
Community-driven extensive object repository

Click Fusion has a great selection of extensions submitted by the community. The extensions cover a variety of game-building tasks including parsing of strings using up to two alternating delimiters using the "Tokenizer Object", generating random numbers without reusing them from multiple lists which can be refilled and distinctively replenished with the "Random Multipool Object" among others.

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Pro
Export native runtime for all platforms

Be it Windows EXE, Android APK, iOS, HTML5 and Flash SWF, Fusion 2.5 is able to export your game to fast, truly native runtime for specified platform with a click.

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Pro
Not only is it the best, it is the original

This software has been around since 1994 (then called Klik & Play) and is still going very strong. Also, one of the founders of Clickteam was the developer of STOS BASIC and AMOS BASIC for the Atari ST and Amiga computers.

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Pro
Stable

Have used fusion 2.5 through all of its iterations, even when it was owned by imsi as CNC ( click n create ) it has been very stable and projects have been known to run on almost any Windows based computer. The projects you create even run on future versions of Windows with never many issues.

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Pro
Box2D physics engine included on all platforms

Clickteam Fusion 2.5 brings to you the box2D physics engine.

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Pro
Great online store to get free and paid assets

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Pro
Exports native mobile code, making great performance games

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Pro
It is very powerful for making 2D games, yet requires no traditional programming experience and very little to no higher math

There is no 'easy button' program that will make a good game for you with no hard work, and this software is no exception to that, but it does make the process easier. With the option of coding in either a spreadsheet style editor or a list style editor, the event based programming language reads more like English than traditional programming languages. This has made it ideal for me as I have a very hard time understanding traditional programming. I would say this is the perfect solution for people that want to make 2D games but who don't have a very mathematically oriented mind, and think more visually. Just like anything it can take some getting used to, but after following some tutorials and tinkering with it, you'll be able to create practically any kind of 2D game with it so long as you have the determination.

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Pro
Balanced feature set

An excellent compromise between ease of use, power, flexibility and ability to export to different platforms. Easy to learn for beginners with the ability to make complex things, of course, at the expense of a larger effort. Good rapid application development tool for making 2D games.

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Con
Many extensions not available on non-Windows platforms

A lot of community-made extensions are only written for Windows, making it hard to port your game to other platforms.

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Pro
Great IRL user events

Clickteam holds user conventions for customers to come along, meet the staff and hang out with people who they've met online. This furthers the community spirit which is so prevalent around Clickteam's products and it's a fantastic weekend.

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Con
Some features are really outdated and major updates are few and rare

There are some features that could make the software a lot more powerful but Clickteam does not have the staff resources to handle updating the software to be competitive with similar software.

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Con
Exporters are separate purchases, and they are not cheap

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Con
Lack of native network multiplayer system, built-in database support, social media support

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Pro
Easy to use

Game Maker Studios simple interface allows for rapid prototyping, and easy development.

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Con
Difficult to learn

GameMaker: Studio isn't the most friendly for beginners. It can be difficult figuring out how to get started, and the limited drag'n'drop feature means you'll likely have to use/learn some programming to create the game you want.

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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 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
Not free

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Con
Drag'n'drop coding is limited

GameMaker's drag'n'drop language is limited and some things can be done only using code.

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Pro
Built-in support for pixel-perfect collisions

Enabling pixel-perfect collisions on 2D sprites is so easy many will likely turn it on when maybe they might be better off without it. Regardless, it simplifies small and/or retro console-like game work. This is a feature fairly unique in this class of game engines.

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Pro
Supports 3D

There is also 3D support that doesn't interfere with the primary 2D focus.

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Pro
Extremely stable

GameMaker: Studio has been around since 1999 and has been used and maintained during all this time. This makes it an extremely stable game engine.

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Pro
Cross-platform

GameMaker: Studio projects can be deployed to: HTML5, Linux, Windows, OS X, Windows Phone, Android, iOS and PS3/4/Vita.

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Pro
Gives developers access to a more fine-grained controle over the logic through the Game Maker 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
Free for Windows Desktop publication

GameMaker Studio: Standard is available at no cost and publishes Windows games with no license restrictions, though unlike the Pro version, Standard games are bundled with an interpreter rather than compiled to native code.

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Pro
Easy to find tutorials, examples, and help

GameMaker: Studio has a wealth of options and a long history of community-based tutorials and examples. The GameMaker Community features these for free use. The program also comes with a number of demos and tutorials. There is also a recently-opened Marketplace which offers free and sold assets for jumpstarting your games. And due to recent growth of YoYo Games, the Helpdesk system is greatly improved and will now be able to send you good, helpful replies to any issues you have quickly.

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Pro
Flexible pricing based on build targets

GameMaker: Studio features the ability to purchase either separate modules for exporting to different operating systems, or the comprehensive Master Collection for all platforms at a relative discount.

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Con
Complicated user interface

User interface is quite complicated and takes time to get used to.

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Con
Now for 3D games

Game Maker studio 2 has gone 3D. It's no longer a 2D engine. Version 1.4 is buried deep on their website, it is obvious the makers really don't want folks to use the old version, but they also don't want to leave the old version users hanging.

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Pro
Free standalone viewer app allows instant, live mobile device testing

The GameSalad Viewer is a free app available for iOS, Android and Kindle. Once installed on your mobile devices, you can deploy and test your GameSalad games live on any mobile device running the Viewer that is on the same local network as your dev computer. This even allows Windows users to test their games on iOS devices without a Mac device and without any complicated code signing or provisioning profiles. And, you can even take your games with you -- once loaded onto your mobile device, a history option caches recent games on your device without any connection to the dev computer.

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Pro
Allows you to focus on the logic rather than code

Since the user mainly uses menu options there is very little code needed to be keyed in. This makes the code very easy to read and understand. Hence there are many help videos on youtube

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Pro
Multiple publishing platforms

Can create and publish games for iOS, Macintosh desktop and laptop computers, Android, Kindle, Amazon FireTV and FireTV Stick, Windows 8 and Tizen devices.

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Pro
Has a Windows(.exe) version on par with Mac

The Windows version is now upto date with all the features of its Mac sibling.

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Con
Expensive compare with others

There is no free version any more and it is very expensive compared with other engines.

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Con
Doesn't support Windows platform (*.exe)

Doesn't support Windows platform (*.exe)

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Pro
No-code editor

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Con
Bad editor

There is no scene zoom, search boxes, or snap to grid. There is also no ability to focus view on the actor or use folders for file structure.

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Con
Poor editor performance

Especially when you're working on a big project.

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Con
Product is suffering - Lacking company leadership and no voice from corporate

Some customers are currently in a holding pattern from the lack of support and messaging from GS corporate. GS is currently unstable and developers are waiting for another update that has been going on from 2015. No word or message from GS corporate about timeframes or deliverables. You can read the ongoing discussion here.

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Pro
Powerful expression editor and functions

Allows you to create expressions on par with LUA (it's back end-language).

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Pro
Extensive community of seasoned professionals for support

Extensive community of seasoned professionals in all disciplines (graphics, game design, animation, physics, music, video production, marketing, etc.) producing tutorials, videos, publishing tips, free templates and who are willing to answer forum questions and help newcomers.

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Con
Product is in Limbo - company is lacking developers

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Con
No scripting language or SDK

If a needed behavior is not supplied by GameSalad, there's no way to add it.

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Pro
Drag and drop editor

The drag and drop editor makes GameSalad very easy to use, no programming experience needed.

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Pro
Custom collision shapes with JSON support

Allows you to import JSON data for custom collision shapes to use with Gamesalad's implementation of Box2d physics.

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Pro
Great engine

Very quick to learn and great for making games. Community is very open and helpful.

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Pro
Easy to publish

Software prepares your app so you can just send it to Apple. All my games are reviewed with no problems.

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Pro
Cross-Platform

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Pro
Gamepad support

Gamepad support is available as of 0.13.3.

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Pro
Visual

Code is represented as visual building blocks that makes it easy to understand how a program is put together.

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Pro
Great starting point for kids

Scratch was developed specifically for kids ages 8 and up as an exciting way to introduce them to technology. It's designed to be easy to learn, but still provides good depth in computational thinking.

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Pro
Fast and small

Construct 3 loads really fast.

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Pro
Runs in the browser

Construct 3 will run in the browser.

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Pro
Timeline

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

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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.