Frameworks & Engines
We live in such a wonderful age to be software developers. A few decades back, game development was a pretty challenging task even for intermediate programmers. Nowadays it is very easy to get directly into game development. Modern hardware is powerful, and in fact, a moderately powerful laptop is enough for development. Also, indie devs nowadays have access to a rich library of tools. Just choose the right one… yes?
Well, the more alternatives, the better, sure thing, but it comes with one drawback, how do I choose the right tool for my dream project when we have so many options?
That’s the reason why I started my first blog. I wanted to write articles about my “hunt for the best tool”. In past years I’ve tried almost every at least little known framework/engine and now I want to tell you about my experiences in the form of an informational table with a short product description.
I’ve tried to be as objective as I could. If you have any suggestions, just put a comment below :)
Frameworks/Engines
Explanation:
- Name: name of the product and link to its official web page.
- Language: primary programming language. Excludes bindings or any other programming languages used as extensions.
- Target platforms: platforms on which exported software can run. Includes only official supported ones. *Will add consoles and other misc platforms later.
- Editor: support for official editor
- Crossed out: no longer supported or archived
| Name | Language | Target platforms | Open source | Editor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amulet | Lua | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Bevy | Rust | win, linux, mac ios, web | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Cocos2D | Lua/JS/C++ | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Defold | Lua | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ✔️* | ✔️ |
| Duality | C# | win, linux, mac | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Ebiten | Go | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ✔️ | ❌ |
| FNA | C# | win, linux, mac ios, | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Flax Engine | C++/C# | win, linux, mac ios, android | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| HaxeFlixel | Haxe | win, linux, mac ios, android, web | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Heaps IO | Haxe | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Löve2D | Lua | win, linux, mac, ios, android | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Monogame | C# | win, linux, mac, ios, android | ✔️ | ❌ |
| O3DE | C++/Lua | win, linux, android | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Orx | C++ | win, linux, mac, ios, android | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Oxygine | C++ | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Phaser | JS/TS | web | ✔️ | ❌ |
| PyGame | Python | win, linux, mac, web | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Raylib | C | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ✔️ | ❌ |
| SDL2 | C/C++ | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ✔️ | ❌ |
| SFML | C++ | win, linux, mac, ios, android | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Stride | C# | win, linux, ios, android | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| libGDX | Java | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ✔️ | ❌ |
*Defold is actually shared source
Mainstream engines
Widely used and well-known engines.
| Name | Language | Target platforms | Open source | Editor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cryengine | C++/Lua/C# | win, linux, mac | ❌ | ✔️ |
| GameMaker | GML | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Godot | GodotScript/C# | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Unity | C# | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Unreal | C++ | win, linux, mac, ios, android, web | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Visual programming
| Name |
|---|
| RPG Maker |
| Construct |
| Buildbox |
| GameSalad |
| GDevelop |
Fantasy consoles
| Name |
|---|
| TIC-80 |
| PICO-8 |
| Liko-12 |
| Voxatron |
| Pixel Vision 8 |
| Pyxel |
last update: 09.06.2023