What are the best 100% free and easy game engines for beginners?

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Jan 8, 2019

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Best 100% free and easy game engines for beginners	Price	Desktop targets	Dev platforms
90 Godot	-	Windows; OSX; Linux; HTML5	Windows; OSX; Linux
-- LÖVE	-	Windows, OSX, Linux, HTML5 ( unofficially )	Windows Vista+ , macOS 10.7+, Linux
-- GDevelop	-	-	-
-- Cocos2D	-	Windows; macOS	Windows; macOS
-- Pygame	-	-	-

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67 Other Games Considered

LÖVE

Top Pro

Active and very friendly community

The LÖVE forums are extremely helpful. With people checking the forums every day, it won't take long to receive answer to your questions on the Support board, receive feedback on games you post in the Projects board, as well as have a chat about the LÖVE engine while learning tricks to use in the very active General board. If you need an immediate answer though, or just want to chat, there is a very active and helpful IRC channel. See More

Top Con

The community seems juvenile

For example, some of the library include names such as HUMP, LUBE, AnAL. See More

Top Pro

Very good documentation

The LÖVE wiki provides full documentation of its easy to use Modules, which are conveniently located on the side bar of the wiki. It took seconds to find the module for love.keyboard, which provided a list of all functions along with arguments and examples where the function could be used. See More

Top Con

Binary compilation

No way to compile into a binary under Linux. Source code has to be given away. See More

Top Pro

Open source

The LÖVE engine is licensed under The zlib/libpng License (which is very short and human readable) which allows you to use the source code and even modify it as long as you do not claim that the original source code is yours. You can obtain the code at this bitbucket repository and even help fix bugs and participate in the development of LÖVE. See More

Top Con

Mobile support is still experimental

While it is possible to export LÖVE games to Android and iOS, it is still experimental so there might be hidden bugs and flaws that need to be addressed. See More

Top Pro

Uses the fantastic Lua for scripting

Lua is an embeddable scripting language designed to be lightweight, fast yet powerful. It is used in major titles such as Civilization as well as a lot of indie games. Lua is very popular because it provides "meta language" features. You can implement object-oriented structures, or pure procedural functions, etc. It has a very simple C interface, and gives the engine developer a lot of flexibility in the language itself. Artists tend to love Lua too because it's very approachable, with plain and forgiving syntax. Lua is free open-source software, distributed under a very liberal license (the well-known MIT license). See More

Top Pro

Can develop within Android

It is possible to develop games directly on a tablet or cellphone with the Android system by using the experimental Android branch. See More

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GDevelop

Top 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. See More

Top Con

A dead simple, no frills Go cross compile tool

Top Pro

Open source and completely free

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

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Multiplatform

Available for Windows, Ubuntu, various linux distributions and MacOS port is on its way. See More

Top 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 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! See More

Top Pro

Strong community

If you encounter any problem on the software, you can post your questions/problems/bugs to the forum, you are assured to have an answer in no time. See More

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Android/iOS publishing via Intel XDK

You can export your game to iOS and Android by exporting your game as HTML5 project and then using Intel XDK. Support for CocoonJS is underway. See More

Top Pro

Export to native code or HTML5

GDevelop is indeed 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.. See More

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Cocos2D

Top Pro

Cross platform

Your games can be published for Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, and iOS platforms. See More

Pygame

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Corona SDK

Top Pro

Easy To Learn

Learn a little Lua. Learn a few basic concept. Get rolling fast. See More

Top Con

Closed source

Since you don't have access to the code, you can't make changes to the SDK. You even have to implement workarounds on issues that have long been reported, but never fixed. See More

Elias Fares's Experience

Building my first 2D mobile game using this game engine and learning Lua as I go. See More

Top Pro

Easily Target Multiple Platforms

With one source, you can target: iOS, Android, Windows, OS X, Apple TV, Android TV, and more ... See More

Top Con

Poor code editor

It uses Sublime with an add-on for Lua. Autocompletion ignores the context and pops up kinda template you have to edit. Debugging tools are also poor. It's like writing your application in Notepad++ instead of using a proper SDK like Visual Studio, Android Studio, etc. Moreover Corona is not free. See More

Top Pro

Live builds (Develop while testing directly on devices)

Instead of working in a simulator, then building and testing on devices, Corona lets you test directly on the device, whatever the platform. Or, indeed, test on all of them simultaneously. Just build once onto each device, and then in the future any changes to your project are reflected immediately on the device or indeed devices. Tweak your game and immediately see how it works on all your phones / tablets / Apple TV at once! See More

Top Pro

Great support community

Have questions? Visit the forums and ask questions. Just note the more information you provide in your question the better the answer. See More

Top Pro

Tons Of Examples

Corona SDK comes with well over 100 examples (bundled with the simulator). As well, there are hundreds more examples to be found on gitHub and other internet repositories. See More

Top Pro

Well supported

Top Pro

Live builds - update builds running on a device automatically

With the live build feature, once you have created a build and installed on a device, you get lightning fast turnaround times because any change on the code or data is updated to the devices running the game (within the local WiFi) immediately. So changes can be tested on the real hardware within a very few seconds. What's even more impressive, this even works flawless with multiple devices running the game. You have to use it to learn how good of a feature this is while development and even more, while doing QA. Imagine fixing bugs and everyone of your QA team/friends/whoever helps to get your game done, has all changes on his device without doing anything but waiting 5 seconds - outstanding. See More

Top Pro

Corona Simulator

Corona SDK ships with Corona Simulator, which runs your game/app directly on your PC/Mac and updates every time you make changes. It provides immediate feedback to your actions, you can see your changes right on the screen, without necessity to make build to device. Getting instant feedback really boosts tenfold prototyping and development speed. See More

Top Pro

Lua syntax

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

Top Pro

Very simple to use

Top Pro

Free

Corona SDK is completely free as of March 2, 2015. That includes pro-tier plugins. See More

Top Pro

Produces APKs with a relatively small size

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Unreal Engine 4

Top Pro

Easy to use

Compared to Unity, Unreal Engine 4 is much more user friendly and has a blueprint system which will not require you code. See More

Top Con

Large update size

The update size ranges from 2 - 8 GBs each update (4.17 to 4.18). See More

SquarerFive “SquarerFive”'s Experience

I had a great experience developing my prototype FPS game in Unreal Engine 4. The blueprints system is simple but offers a lot of features. You can use blueprints to activate and trigger events such as firing your weapon and you can even script A.I using a behaviour tree inside of blueprints. See More

Top 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. See More

Top Con

Hard to download

Core Lord's Experience

Powerful And Easy See More

Top Pro

Super realistic graphics

Unreal Engine 4 has photo-realistic rendering and has a visual scripting system called Blueprints. See More

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libGDX

Top Pro

Similar to the Microsoft XNA framework

Old XNA users may like libGDX since it's API is actually very similar to XNA's. See More

Top Con

The project slowed down in development

The number of active developers has decreased, many open issues and pull requests. See More

Top Pro

Focusing on object pool patterns, to control memory without pointers

Unlike Unity or other engine, it allows to optimize a language that uses garbage collector when using patterns of objects you can control the use of memory without needing a language like C / C ++, getting the same speed in a more productive language. See More

Top Con

A bit difficult to use

This engine is not well put together. Is made from various free modules each with their own peculiarities. At times it feels you need to learn a couple of libraries rather than just one. Is not an engine for beginners as it requires coding. Lots of coding. You need to be intermediate to advanced in Java to develop in LibGDX. See More

Top Pro

Excellent font rendering support

Very good tools for rendering fonts. See More

Top Con

Does not create compiled code

LibGDX runs entirely on Java and does not create executable binaries. See More

Top Pro

Constantly improved

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Across platform support

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

Top Con

Not starter friendly

Even default applications fail to load in Android. It doesn't have any documentation on errors either. See More

Top Pro

Lots of tutorials to get you going

Even though the official documentation might be lacking, there are many tutorials on YouTube for libGDX. See More

Top Con

Build system is clunky

LibGDX uses Gradle, which is very demanding of memory and makes IDEs freeze on anything if your computer is not powerful enough. See More

Top Pro

Uses Box2D

A Java port of the Box2D physics engine is included in libGDX. See More

Top Pro

Support for 3rd party tools

libGDX has built in support for many 3rd party tools, including (but not limited to) Bullet Physics, Box2DLights and the well-praised Tiled Map Editor. See More

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Very easy to customize

Top Pro

Free, open source & permissive license

libGDX uses the Apache License 2.0. Not only is libGDX free and open source but also it's license gives you a lot of power over the engine. As long as you provide a copy of the license, give credit, do not hold devs liable and do not use libGDX logo in any engine forks you can do pretty much anything you want. See More

Top Pro

Can use any JVM language

Since it's built with Java and runs on the JVM, any language that compiles to Java bytecode can be used to develop games with libGDX. See More

Top Pro

Fantastic UI toolkit (scene2d)

scene2d is a 2D scene graph, scene2d.ui is a UI toolkit on top of that. It enables very complex mobile and desktop UIs. See More

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Active and helpful community

The libGDX community, in the official libGDX forum is extremely helpful and approachable for any kind of question regardless of the its quality or difficulty. The forums themselves are a very helpful resource for any issue or guide simply by searching past posts in there. In addition to the forums, there's also the official #libgdx IRC channel on Freenode. See More

Top Pro

Lots of resources to learn from

Lots of references, tutorials and open source code to learn from. See More

Top Pro

Great performance across devices

While it may not always have the best performance for a particular device or system, it's one of the few engines which consistently performs very well across different platforms. See More

Top Pro

Allows you to migrate from 2D to 3D within same framework

LibGDX supports both 2D and 3D game development. Allowing developers to migrate from 2D to 3D with ease without having to switch the engine they are using or having to learn a new API. See More

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Panda3D

Top Pro

Python scripting environment

Although it's possible to use only C++ to program in Panda3D, all its power is available to the Python scripting language, while not trading in performance since the performance-critical parts are implemented in C++. It has a powerful binding layer that exposes the vast majority of the API via Pythonic interfaces. See More

Top Con

No unified editing program

Unlike Unity and Unreal, Panda3D doesn't currently offer a single, unified editing program in which objects can simply be dragged in and assigned properties (although third-party solutions are available). Developers are expected to design their scenes in a modelling program like Maya or Blender instead, and bring it into Panda3D using Python code. See More

Top Pro

Flexible scene and object hierarchy system

Creating weird world constructs is generally a breeze. The node system the engine runs with allows to build self-looping worlds and, on large scale, non-Euclidean scenes without having to introduce a huge amount of custom code. See More

Top Con

Loading Panda3D will change your builtins to contain non explicit references to non-standard helper functions

A lot of the pollution comes from storing global state. Instead, you can store and update the global state of a namespace instead. As for the built-in pollution, you can make a wrapper that backs up builtins, imports pandas and then restores builtins, though this may not work as pandas almost certainly uses it's extra builtins to work. The best thing to do would be to explicitly import the same objects that are in the builtins over the top of the modified builtin namespace, although it doesn't remove the code smell, it helps to make things look less (if not at all) magic. See More

Top Pro

Powerful profiling and debugging tools

Panda3D has a suite of powerful tools to help track down performance bottlenecks, memory leaks and examine internal state. See More

Top Con

Direct3D support is behind

Direct3D support not up to par with OpenGL support, only version 9 is supported See More

Top Pro

Web plug-in for browser deployment

Panda3D offers web plug-ins that allow deployment of an application to all major browsers. A WebGL port is in the works as well. See More

Top Pro

Supports most popular physics engines

Panda3D has in-depth integration with industry standard physics engines such as Bullet, NVIDIA PhysX and ODE, but also offers a simpler built-in physics engines that will cover more basic needs. See More

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Blender Game Engine

Top Pro

Free and open source

The BGE is feature of Blender, which is licensed under the GPL See More

Top Con

Difficult exporting

Exporting games can be difficult for beginners in Blender. Exporting as runnable only runs on dev platform, and unmentioned files must be copied into the runnable folder in order for a computer without blender installed to run the game. See More

Ankush4135's Experience

Very hard to understand See More

Top Pro

It has sculpting and 3D painting features

Although blenders 3d painting and sculpting tools (mostly painting) are not at par with specialized software like Substance painter, z brush, or mari; it is more than capable of getting most jobs done if the user takes the time to learn and understand it. See More

Top Con

Depriciated

Blender game engine is no longer under development. See More

SincerePyrrhichos's Experience

Mobile export is complicated. See More

Top Pro

Includes node based scripting

Simple work like keyboard mapping, bullet physics, and animation players, can be set up without touching code, wich is great for people who want to slap up a rapid prototype, or simply can't code. See More

Top Con

Poor particle system

The Blender particle system can at times be a little limiting and finicky (and buggy) to get working. Even if it can get most straight forward jobs done, it is far from the most advanced system, and could benefit largely from advancements. See More

Top Con

GPL complicates commercial distribution

Any game published using the BGE runtime system is considered a derivative work under the GPL, which disqualifies it from some distribution channels including the Apple Store. The Blender Foundation considers this an unfortunate technicality, does not prosecute license violations, and provides several suggestions for circumventing the issue. See More

Top Con

Unintuitive interface for creating texture models

The GUI required to make materials and texture models, is very hard to learn, and can be confusing; even frustrating at times. See More

Top Con

Unoptimised

A few particles and some basic meshes can make the frame rate drop drastically. See More

See All

Adventure Game Studio

Top Pro

Friendly community

An old, big and active community which would support newcomers not only in learning basics of the engine, but can help with every aspect of game making (including art, voice acting, moral support, etc). See More

Top Pro

Used for a number of high-profile commercial releases

Adventure Game Studio has been used to develop games such as "Resonance", "Blackwell" series, "Gemini Rue", "Primordia". See More

Top Pro

Relatively well documented

Besides the manual there are multiple text and video tutorials and code samples written by community. See More

Top Pro

Completely free and open source

AGS is licensed under Artistic License 2.0 and is completely free for use for creating both freeware and commercial games. See More

Top Pro

Easy to learn tool

Good for newbie game creators. Can be used for prototyping: on several occasions was used to make a demo/experimental version before creating a final commercial product on different engine. See More

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Roblox

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GDevApp

Top Pro

Can export your game as HTML5 and for Android

Games can be packaged for Android without relying on any third party tool. You can also export your game and download it to host it on your server or let it be hosted on GDevApp.com. See More

Top Con

Depends on a hosting service

If the website goes down or closes down, you'll no longer be able to develop your games using this system (but you can download a backup of your game from time to time and open it with GDevelop). See More

Top Pro

Can download an archive of the game source

Even though the tool depends on having a server up and running, you can download a copy of your game to run locally, or host somewhere else. See More

Top Pro

Powerful events system to create games without programming

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. See More

Top 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! See More

Top Pro

Based on GDevelop

The entire webapp is based on GDevelop, an open source native game development software available for Windows & Linux, so it benefits from its advanced development. See More

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GameMaker: Studio

Top Con

Free version is limited

The free version of this engine only allows for basic features, while it can be serviceable for simple projects, the limitations may interfere with the vision of the user. See More

Top Pro

Drag and Drop Programming

Easy to understand drag and drop programming that transitions into their own simple programming language. See More

Top Con

It's expensive

If you decide to purchase the full version of the software, it will cost you anything from $99 up to $1500. See More

Top Pro

All in one workflow

You can make the art, code and build the scene all in the same environment, reducing the file juggling that impedes some other platforms. See More

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

One of the fastest HTML5 engines available

Top Con

Expensive for what it offers

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

Top Pro

From beginners to experts it's very productive to use

The few limitations don't get in the way when it comes to productivity where Game Maker excels as it has just everything ready to just dive into it in seconds. See More

Top 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. See More

Top Con

Outdated

Now GameMaker Studio 2 is out. GameMaker: Studio is quickly becoming outdated. See More

See All

ct.js

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Monkey X Free

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pyglet

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Urho3D

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