20 Game Development Software - To Create Your Very Own Games
Posted on 24 Dec 2024
You might love the fun of playing your favorite games. But have you ever thought about creating your very own game. These days there’s so much technology available to help us create our own games quick and easy, well maybe not too easy but with a little learning anything is possible.
Below I’ve included a great list of some of the most popular game engine’s available. These game engines cater to various needs and expertise levels, from indie developers to larger game dev studios. So whether you're interested in making 2D mobile games or AAA 3D titles, there’s a game engine in this list for you. So go ahead and check out the list and find what work best for you. good luck on your journey.
Website: www.unity.com
Summary: Unity is one of the most widely used game engines, known for its versatility and ease of use. It supports both 2D and 3D game development and is popular for mobile, VR, and AR development. Unity's robust asset store and extensive community support make it a go-to choice for both indie developers and large studios.
Website: www.unrealengine.com
Summary: Unreal Engine offers high-fidelity graphics and is well-regarded for its visual capabilities. It’s used in a wide range of industries, from AAA games to virtual production in film and television. Unreal's Blueprint scripting system makes it accessible to developers with minimal coding experience.
Website: https://godotengine.org
Summary: Godot is an open-source engine that is loved for its flexibility, lightweight design, and ease of use. It supports both 2D and 3D game development, offering a unique scene system and a scripting language called GDScript. It’s an ideal choice for indie developers and hobbyists.
Website: https://www.cryengine.com
Summary: CryEngine is known for its impressive graphical fidelity and is used in high-performance games. Its real-time rendering technology provides ultra-realistic environments. Though it’s more complex than some engines, CryEngine is powerful for PC and console development.
Website: https://aws.amazon.com/lumberyard
Summary: Amazon Lumberyard is a free, cross-platform game engine integrated with AWS and Twitch. It offers high-quality graphics and powerful multiplayer capabilities, making it an attractive option for cloud-connected, multiplayer-focused games.
Website: https://www.cocos.com
Summary: Cocos2d is a popular open-source engine mainly used for 2D mobile game development. Its lightweight nature and performance optimization make it ideal for mobile developers, especially in the Asian market.
Website: https://www.gamesalad.com
Summary: GameSalad is an intuitive game development platform with a visual drag-and-drop interface, designed for beginners. It’s commonly used for mobile and HTML5 games and doesn’t require coding, making it ideal for non-programmers.
Website: https://www.blender.org
Summary: Blender, a powerful 3D modeling and animation tool, includes the Blender Game Engine (though it is now considered deprecated in favor of external engines). It’s often used for prototyping and integrates well with Unity and Unreal for game asset creation.
Website: https://www.appgamekit.com
Summary: AppGameKit is a game development engine known for its simplicity and accessibility, especially for beginners. It uses a basic programming language and is great for developing 2D games across multiple platforms, including mobile, PC, and consoles.
Website: https://www.thegamecreators.com
Summary: 3D GameStudio offers a straightforward game creation experience with an emphasis on 3D games. It features an easy-to-learn scripting language and a rich set of tools, making it a solid option for indie developers.
Website: https://gdevelop.io
Summary: GDevelop is an open-source game development platform that’s particularly friendly to non-programmers. It allows for rapid prototyping and development of 2D games using an event-driven system, making it a popular choice for educational purposes.
Website: https://www.yoyogames.com
Summary: GameMaker Studio is a well-established game development engine that’s popular among 2D developers. It provides a drag-and-drop interface and an integrated scripting language (GML), making it versatile for both beginners and experienced developers.
Website: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/directx
Summary: DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for multimedia tasks such as game development. While not a full-fledged game engine, it’s integral to game development on Windows and Xbox, providing a low-level access to hardware acceleration.
Website: https://www.valvesoftware.com
Summary: Source 2 is Valve’s proprietary game engine, known for powering games like *Half-Life: Alyx*. It offers cutting-edge graphics and physics, and it’s used internally for developing titles on Steam. The engine is available for free to developers through the Steam Workshop.
Website: https://www.stencyl.com
Summary: Stencyl is a game development platform that offers a block-based visual scripting system, making it accessible for beginners. It supports mobile, web, and desktop games and is ideal for 2D projects.
Website: https://www.construct.net
Summary: Construct 3 is a powerful HTML5 game engine with a drag-and-drop interface. It’s used for 2D games and is popular among indie developers due to its accessibility and rapid development features, requiring no coding. 20 Game Development Software
Website: https://www.garagegames.com
Summary: Torque3D is an open-source engine originally developed by GarageGames. It supports both 2D and 3D game development and is especially used in educational settings for learning game development concepts.
Website: https://www.ogre3d.org
Summary: Ogre3D is an open-source graphics engine that focuses on rendering. While it doesn’t provide all the features of a complete game engine, it’s used as the foundation for developers who want full control over their game’s rendering.
Website: https://aws.amazon.com/gamelift
Summary: GameLift is Amazon’s managed service for deploying and scaling multiplayer games. While not a traditional game engine, it’s used to host and manage the back-end infrastructure of multiplayer games, with integration into engines like Unreal and Unity.
Website: https://www.babylonjs.com
Summary: Babylon.js is an open-source 3D engine based on JavaScript, designed for web games. It’s particularly popular for building games and interactive 3D content directly in the browser, using WebGL.
Now go forth and create your masterpiece. And show the world your creative ability.
Below I’ve included a great list of some of the most popular game engine’s available. These game engines cater to various needs and expertise levels, from indie developers to larger game dev studios. So whether you're interested in making 2D mobile games or AAA 3D titles, there’s a game engine in this list for you. So go ahead and check out the list and find what work best for you. good luck on your journey.
1. Unity Technologies
Game Engine Name: UnityWebsite: www.unity.com
Summary: Unity is one of the most widely used game engines, known for its versatility and ease of use. It supports both 2D and 3D game development and is popular for mobile, VR, and AR development. Unity's robust asset store and extensive community support make it a go-to choice for both indie developers and large studios.
2. Epic Games
Game Engine Name: Unreal EngineWebsite: www.unrealengine.com
Summary: Unreal Engine offers high-fidelity graphics and is well-regarded for its visual capabilities. It’s used in a wide range of industries, from AAA games to virtual production in film and television. Unreal's Blueprint scripting system makes it accessible to developers with minimal coding experience.
3. Godot
Game Engine Name: GodotWebsite: https://godotengine.org
Summary: Godot is an open-source engine that is loved for its flexibility, lightweight design, and ease of use. It supports both 2D and 3D game development, offering a unique scene system and a scripting language called GDScript. It’s an ideal choice for indie developers and hobbyists.
4. Crytek
Game Engine Name: CryEngineWebsite: https://www.cryengine.com
Summary: CryEngine is known for its impressive graphical fidelity and is used in high-performance games. Its real-time rendering technology provides ultra-realistic environments. Though it’s more complex than some engines, CryEngine is powerful for PC and console development.
5. Amazon Web Services
Game Engine Name: LumberyardWebsite: https://aws.amazon.com/lumberyard
Summary: Amazon Lumberyard is a free, cross-platform game engine integrated with AWS and Twitch. It offers high-quality graphics and powerful multiplayer capabilities, making it an attractive option for cloud-connected, multiplayer-focused games.
6. Cocos
Game Engine Name: Cocos2dWebsite: https://www.cocos.com
Summary: Cocos2d is a popular open-source engine mainly used for 2D mobile game development. Its lightweight nature and performance optimization make it ideal for mobile developers, especially in the Asian market.
7. GameSalad
Game Engine Name: GameSaladWebsite: https://www.gamesalad.com
Summary: GameSalad is an intuitive game development platform with a visual drag-and-drop interface, designed for beginners. It’s commonly used for mobile and HTML5 games and doesn’t require coding, making it ideal for non-programmers.
8. Blender Foundation
Game Engine Name: Blender Game Engine (BGE)Website: https://www.blender.org
Summary: Blender, a powerful 3D modeling and animation tool, includes the Blender Game Engine (though it is now considered deprecated in favor of external engines). It’s often used for prototyping and integrates well with Unity and Unreal for game asset creation.
9. AppGameKit
Game Engine Name: AppGameKit StudioWebsite: https://www.appgamekit.com
Summary: AppGameKit is a game development engine known for its simplicity and accessibility, especially for beginners. It uses a basic programming language and is great for developing 2D games across multiple platforms, including mobile, PC, and consoles.
10. The Game Creators
Game Engine Name: 3D GameStudioWebsite: https://www.thegamecreators.com
Summary: 3D GameStudio offers a straightforward game creation experience with an emphasis on 3D games. It features an easy-to-learn scripting language and a rich set of tools, making it a solid option for indie developers.
11. GDevelop
Game Engine Name: GDevelopWebsite: https://gdevelop.io
Summary: GDevelop is an open-source game development platform that’s particularly friendly to non-programmers. It allows for rapid prototyping and development of 2D games using an event-driven system, making it a popular choice for educational purposes.
12. GameMaker Studio
Game Engine Name: GameMaker Studio 2Website: https://www.yoyogames.com
Summary: GameMaker Studio is a well-established game development engine that’s popular among 2D developers. It provides a drag-and-drop interface and an integrated scripting language (GML), making it versatile for both beginners and experienced developers.
13. Microsoft
Game Engine Name: DirectXWebsite: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/directx
Summary: DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for multimedia tasks such as game development. While not a full-fledged game engine, it’s integral to game development on Windows and Xbox, providing a low-level access to hardware acceleration.
14. Valve Corporation
Game Engine Name: Source 2Website: https://www.valvesoftware.com
Summary: Source 2 is Valve’s proprietary game engine, known for powering games like *Half-Life: Alyx*. It offers cutting-edge graphics and physics, and it’s used internally for developing titles on Steam. The engine is available for free to developers through the Steam Workshop.
15. Stencyl
Game Engine Name: StencylWebsite: https://www.stencyl.com
Summary: Stencyl is a game development platform that offers a block-based visual scripting system, making it accessible for beginners. It supports mobile, web, and desktop games and is ideal for 2D projects.
16. Construct
Game Engine Name: Construct 3Website: https://www.construct.net
Summary: Construct 3 is a powerful HTML5 game engine with a drag-and-drop interface. It’s used for 2D games and is popular among indie developers due to its accessibility and rapid development features, requiring no coding. 20 Game Development Software
17. Torque3D
Game Engine Name: Torque3DWebsite: https://www.garagegames.com
Summary: Torque3D is an open-source engine originally developed by GarageGames. It supports both 2D and 3D game development and is especially used in educational settings for learning game development concepts.
18. Ogre3D
Game Engine Name: Ogre3DWebsite: https://www.ogre3d.org
Summary: Ogre3D is an open-source graphics engine that focuses on rendering. While it doesn’t provide all the features of a complete game engine, it’s used as the foundation for developers who want full control over their game’s rendering.
19. Amazon
Game Engine Name: Amazon GameLiftWebsite: https://aws.amazon.com/gamelift
Summary: GameLift is Amazon’s managed service for deploying and scaling multiplayer games. While not a traditional game engine, it’s used to host and manage the back-end infrastructure of multiplayer games, with integration into engines like Unreal and Unity.
20. Babylon.js
Game Engine Name: Babylon.jsWebsite: https://www.babylonjs.com
Summary: Babylon.js is an open-source 3D engine based on JavaScript, designed for web games. It’s particularly popular for building games and interactive 3D content directly in the browser, using WebGL.
Now go forth and create your masterpiece. And show the world your creative ability.