List of favourite game engines and frameworks
This is the list of game engines and frameworks that I use or have been using in the past and did like it. Consider them my favourite among many others I tried. They are in order, the one on the top is the most recent and the one at the bottom is the oldest I've been using.
A free and open-source framework to develop games for desktop, mobile and web using the Lua programming language. What I like about it the most is the simplicity and being light weight, fast and portable. No dependencies, only need to download a small executable that we can use to run our Lua code. The framework including libraries to draw graphics, text, handle input, data, file system everything we need to develop games. The community also provide lots of libraries written in pure Lua to implement additional functionality in LÖVE such as camera, physics, lights, pathfinding, GUI, networking, tweens, 3D and more which makes LÖVE (and Lua) a really good fit for both complete beginners who looking for a simple way to get started with game programming and experienced coders who looking for a capable framework.
- Game Development Tool
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- BSD
- iPad
- FreeBSD
A very simple programming language combining the simplicity of the BASIC programming language with advanced OOP features that you can find in most modern programming languages such as C#, Swift, TypeScript. Then our Cerberus code get trans-compiled in to other programming languages such as C++, JavaScript and Java to get maximum performance and compatibility on each platform using a single code base. It is also including a lightning fast library called mojo that provide us with the building blocks to make games and draw graphics, handle input and audio and even provide access to low level graphics API (OpenGL) calls.
- Game Development Tool
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
A JavaScript framework with the main focus to offer a simple way to get started with programming. P5.js offer easy to use functions and a very simple and straight forward workflow to do many things in the web browser like: DOM manipulation, event handling including keyboard, mouse, touch and sensor inputs, draw 2D and 3D shapes, images, play audio, handle databases and a lot more. The community also provide lots of plugins to add more features on top like a GUI library, physics engine, particle engine, AI, speech recognition..etc Especially to beginners, I also recommend to check out this website to get started with programming in P5.js: https://thecodingtrain.com/
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
A very interesting and intuitive free and open-source component based 2D game engine written entirely in C#. The most interesting thing about it is that, unlike any other engines, games made in Duality comes with modding support out of the box. When we publish our game, we can choose to include the Duality editor with the game that people can use to edit the levels, objects and add their own content and use the components we made. We can also choose to include the full source with the editor to let people edit, change any aspect of our game but it is optional which makes Duality really unique in my eyes.
- Game Development Tool
- Free • Open Source
- Windows
One of the most simple cross-platform game programming tool out there. It is including a cross-platform IDE and provide us a very simple BASIC like programming language and commands to make 2D and 3D games for any platforms. Great choice for anyone new to programming or would like to target multiple platforms with a single code base and would like to get results fast. It is written in C++ and the source code is also available to those who prefer to use C++ and would like to add their own features or integrate 3rd party libraries. In case you prefer a visual level editor, AppGameKit Studio also include a 2D level editor and ability to expose values to the IDE while maintaining all the benefits the Classic version has to offer.
- Game Development Tool
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- iPad
- Raspbian
- Raspberry Pi
- HTML
A Javascript framework based on Pixi.js with lots of features that make it the perfect choice for HTML5 desktop and mobile game development. I'm sceptic when it comes to mobile game development, I prefer native solutions, but in case you prefer HTML5, Phaser is pretty much the best option out there. For one, it comes with a light weight physics engine which can be very useful to run Phaser games on low powered devices also support touch and been optimized to render on mobile screens.
- Game Development Tool
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
The most complete isometric RPG game engine out there. Good choice if you have a good story to share with others. Including lots of assets and features out of the box and do not require coding. Can be extended with plugins made by the community. Plugins can be made using Javascript in the MV version and Ruby in the previous versions You can make any kind of game in this if you take the time to master it.
- Game Development Tool
- Paid • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Steam
The most simple way to get in to 2D game development. Require no coding, fast, reliable, stable the best choice for people new to game development or don't know how to code. It is powered with Pixi.js and can export directly to web browsers, desktop and mobile using an integrated online build service.
- Game Development Tool
- Freemium • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
One of the most simple to use 3D game engine with a level editor and terrain editor, physics and networking. Using Lua for scripting with Flowgraph visual editor and offer some nice shaders to use out of the box to make our game look great from the start.
- Game Development Tool
- Paid • Proprietary
- Windows
- Linux
- HTC Vive
- Oculus Rift
Before GameGuru and Unreal, it was the most simple way to make FPS games and still. Including lots of assets and no coding required. It is using its own scripting language called FPI that we can use to take control of the gameplay and enemy AI. After the release of GameGuru, it is become free and open-source. The core is no longer developed, but we can install a free MOD that is still in development and offer many improvements: http://www.blackicemod.org/
- Free • Open Source
- Windows
At the time it was the most simple way to make 3D car racing games, later they have extended the engine with additional features that allowed people to make any kind of game without coding but people could use AngelScript for scripting. It was also one of the very first engines that I know to support web browsers through a browser plugin way before HTML5 and Unity (Player).
- Game Development Tool
- Free • Proprietary
- Windows
One of the first 2D game engines that allowed people to develop games without coding and one of few that also offered native Linux support. People could also use a C like language for scripting.
- Game Development Tool
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Well, it is not a game engine or framework but it was my very first steps in programming and toward game development. Free Pascal is a free and cross platform compiler for the Pascal programming language and you be surprised to know it is still in active development today and able to compile to modern platforms like Windows 10, Android, iOS and even Nintendo DS and Wii. In Pascal I attempted to write my own Adventure game but later I have discovered the world of game engines with visual level editors and ones don't even require programming and never returned to Pascal really. Regardless I had lots of fun with the Pascal programming language.
- Programming Language
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Windows Mobile
- BSD
- AROS
- Haiku
- AmigaOS
- MorphOS
