With the insanity that Unity's recent decisions have caused, I, as an aspiring game dev/designer, am looking to see what else is available. We all know about RPG Maker, GameMaker Studio, Godot, and Unreal. But if you're like me and have little to no understanding of code and limited finances, here are alternative indie engines I've scrounged up:
Idle Game Maker, the one I'm currently working with, built by Orteil of Cookie Clicker fame
Bitsy, and an associated pixel art tool called Pixsy
Pocket Platformer, similar to Bitsy, and code-free
Rogue Engine- requires download, but apparently, there's a tutorial
GDevelop- both 2D and 3D engines, has tutorials, and even has an option to playtest games in development and provide feedback (I am definitely trying out this one in the near future)
Heaps.io-requires download, and this honestly looks a little over my head right now, but might be worth checking into when I get a better understanding of code
Stride- 3D games, requires download, has docs and instructions so you can learn quickly
Bevy- 2D games for browser and mobile
LibGDX- now we're getting into engines that can make REAL games, some of the games in their showcase are on Steam
Defold- according to their showcase, this was used to make that mobile game Family Island that you've seen in so many ads
Love- don't be fooled by the childish font on their home page, the games in their showcase look amazing
HaxeFlixel- apparently used to make Friday Night Funkin'???
Armory3D, which apparently uses Blender
Solar2D, and here's their showcase- looks decent enough
Solarus- I didn't recognize the name, but I know I've heard of this, I've seen Zelda fans use this one. You have to download their launcher to play the games on PC.
DOME, which uses its own programming language
FNA, which calls itself a "reimplementation of Microsoft XNA"- if you remember, XNA no longer exists, but Eric Barone used it for Stardew Valley. FNA has been used to make games like Rogue Legacy (it's a real game, I got it on Steam).
Monogame- a direct descendant of XNA, being used for Stardew Valley's updates, and used to make a whole host of other popular indie games including 2 of my favorites: Axiom Verge and Celeste (so yeah, I'm definitely checking into Monogame if it's still around by the time I learn C#)
RPG in a Box, which looks really blocky and rough, but appears to be a cheaper solution than RPG Maker, especially for those new to the field. I already paid for RPG Maker, so I don't know if I'll use this one, but I'm putting it here for anyone else who may want to try it.
Adventure Game Studio- not sure how difficult it will be to use, but I'm seeing some decent-looking games in their showcase
RPG Paper Maker, which, I guess, makes 3D games out of pixel art? Says it's free to use, but if you want to sell your game, you'll need to buy a license. Fair enough, I suppose.
Narrat, another one I am DEFINITELY going to try, at least while I'm still learning. Has its own, very simple, easy to read script that is a step above Idle Game Maker's script, but not quite as complicated as "real" programming languages. Make RPG's and put them on Itch.io.
Ren'Py, for visual novels (apparently Doki Doki was made with this!?!)
Decker, can be used for various kinds of applications, not much for game-making, but maybe with a little imagination....
Engine.lol- I'm, uh, not sure what this is, but could be good for generating ideas.
EbitEngine- describes itself as "dead simple," used to make Bear's Restaurant.
Raylib- no tutorials, no built-in assets, you MUST know how to code- but it looks like a no-frills engine if you do know how to code. I don't, so I won't be using it, but if you do, go right ahead.
PyGame, which apparently uses Python coding language.
And this article listed all these and a few more that I didn't list here because they looked too expensive or too complicated.
There's also a Pixel Game Maker on Steam. It's 90 bucks right now (ouch!) but if you can get it, it looks like it'll be worth it.
