Computer game engine

Game engines allow developers to focus on the aspects of the game that will make it feel unique, rather than spending excessive amounts of time working on the basic features that the game will need in order to function properly.

In theory, the more basic features that a game engine covers and the more customization options that it offers, the more advanced of a game you can build with it.

The best game engine overall. Unreal Engine is widely regarded as the best game engine overall mostly due to the graphics it is able to offer and the wide range of customization options available.

You can build visually-stunning, ground-breaking games in Unreal Engine. That being said, despite the large variety of customization options available and the sheer potential for game-building inside Unreal Engine, the latest iteration of the engine, Unreal Engine 4, has made large steps in making the engine more user-friendly and easier for beginners to use.

The most versatile game engine. While Unity and Unreal Engine are often considered the top two game engines, both engines serve different purposes. Whereas Unreal Engine is best-suited for more robust games—especially from a graphics standpoint—Unity is more versatile and can be a better option for developers who are looking to build mobile games, 2D games, or story-driven 3D games.

The easiest game engine to use. Of course, the easy nature of GameMaker Studio makes it limited in the type of games you can make. GameMaker does support 3D game development, but it is really best-suited for building 2D games.

However, as indie game development has become more popular and because there is a big market for 2D RPG style games, GameMaker is an engine worth considering for certain developers. Open-source, free-to-use engine. Another option if you want to build 2D style games or simple 3D games is Godot. However, the engine is open source, completely free, lightweight, has a strong community behind it, offers a ton of developer tools, and is cross-platform friendly.

If you want to check out some games built in Godot, their Showcase page displays some of the more popular games built in the engine. Honorable mention 1. Like Unreal Engine, CryEngine is another game engine that is built for developing visually stunning games.

As a testament to the potential of the CryEngine, here is a list of some of the more popular games built with it: the Far Cry series, the Crysis series, Kingdom Come: Deliverance , and Sniper Ghost Warrior. Honorable mention 2. Unity Unity is a popular real-time 3D development platform for building 2D and 3D applications, like games and simulations, using. Learn about Unity. MonoGame MonoGame is a multi-platform, open-source, pure. Check out all the hit games made with MonoGame. Godot Godot is a fully integrated exciting new game engine offering C scripting using.

Godot is completely free and open-source. No strings attached, no royalties. Stride Stride formerly Xenko is a free and open-source 2D and 3D cross-platform game engine.

Wave Engine Wave Engine is a graphics development engine for business and industry. Mobile Games with Xamarin Xamarin is versatile and powerful to run any kind of app, whether it's line of business, UI-over-data, or fun and exciting games to engage with your users.

Godot also boasts a strong community that devotes its resources towards fixing bugs and developing new features.

Additionally, Godot has its own built-in scripting language, GDScript; it is a high-level, dynamically typed programming language that is syntactically similar to Python.

The libGDX community is quite strong too and there is no dearth of tutorials for getting started and subsequent development with libGDX. Also worth a mention is the source guide which has demos and examples. The software has been designed accordingly so one can actually make an entire game, from start to finish using RPG Maker instead of using a programming language.

The easy-to-use interface allows one to customize every aspect of the game. Users who do not know Javascript will be limited to only what the engine offers, but those who do know this coding language can change the game to suit their preference, be it Battles or Menu UIs User Interfaces. Unity is a multi-platform game engine that allows one to make one's own game using interactive 3D content with considerable ease.

It is known for its excellent functionality, high-quality content, and versatility, i. While the Personal Edition for individual use is free for download, the Plus Edition for businesses, which has several brilliant features, costs a monthly fee.

The features on offer include access to the latest version of the Core platform, customizable splash screens and real-time diagnostics in addition to dark theme User Interface and live-ops analytics, etc. Moreover, game makers can develop and sell user-generated assets including sprites to other game makers using the Unity Asset Store. Developed by Epic Games, Unreal Engine is a widely used game engine. The original version was released in and over the years, it has continued to remain popular.

The USP of the Unreal Engine is its flexibility; it allows for the development of games into unique experiences. The latest version, Unreal Engine 4, is said to be the easiest one to use for game development professionals. By focusing on 2D game development Defold can deliver a streamlined package with tools geared specifically towards the 2D world.

Getting started is easy with the many detailed tutorials provided in the editor right after installation. Defold uses the Lua programming language for scripting behaviors. Check Out Monogame. Fans of the popular Stardew Valley will be pleased to learn it was developed using Monogame. NET environment will feel right at home in Monogame. Unlike other engines on this list, Monogame does not provide enough tools and features to make it usable by non-coders.

Developers using Monogame will have to code their own collisions and physics, or use libraries to help with that. But Monogame is still a popular choice with those who know how to use it. And an active community is there to help beginners get started. Check Out Corona.

Beginner friendly and fun to learn, Corona is completely free with no hidden royalties. That is huge considering so many game engines do require payments for commercial products. They also have a small but helpful subreddit that you might browse through. It combines a marketplace of users with a publishing service and a game engine all rolled into one.

The idea is that developers can focus more on making games and less on the hassle of promoting and selling their work. Check Out Phaser. Phaser is based heavily on Flixel , a free flash game library.

This engine lets you develop HTML5 games for desktop and mobile right from the browser. Developers with a background in web development and Flash now Adobe Animate will appreciate Phaser the most.

Those without the funds to unlock the extra features will be stuck with a rather limited free solution. But the license is free. Games that you develop with Phaser are yours to release and sell. Check Out GameSalad.

This is a game engine that uses creation as a teaching method.