Pixel Prospector published a neat little list, that shows information about the best game engines available for game developers. The
The main sheet includes a number of popular engines, including Unity, Unreal Engine, Torque 2D/3D. Construct 2, GameMaker: Studio, Stencyl, PlayCanvas and any other. The cool thing that the page also includes information about the required programming skills and the kind of games you can make with these tools. It’s nice to see that a lot of modern engines today do not require any programming skills.
| Engine | Programming required? | 2D or 3D? | Available for | Exports to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construct 2 | No | 2D (All Genres) | Windows | Desktop, Consoles, Mobile, Web |
| GameMaker: Studio | No | 2D (All Genres) | Windows | Desktop, Consoles, Mobile, Web |
| Unity | Yes | 2D + 3D (All Genres) | Windows, Mac, Linux | Desktop, Consoles, Mobile, Web |
| Unreal Engine | Yes | 3D (All Genres) | Windows, Mac, Linux | Desktop, Consoles, Mobile |
| Clickteam Fusion | No | 2D (All Genres) | Windows | Desktop, Mobile, Web |
| Stencyl | No | 2D (All Genres) | Windows, Mac, Linux | Desktop, Mobile, Web |
| PlayCanvas | Yes | 2D + 3D (All Genres) | Browser (Windows, Mac, Linux, Mobile) | Desktop, Mobile, Web |
| Torque 2D/3D | Yes | 2D + 3D (All Genres) | Windows | Desktop, Consoles, Mobile |
| CraftStudio | No | 2D + 3D (All Genres) | Windows, Mac, Linux | Desktop |
There’s also a huge list of game specific engines, that will help you to build some less complicated games in 2D. Plus the compilers of the list also mentioned a number of game frameworks, including MonoGame, Phaser, Flixel, Flashpunk and Polycode.
| Engine | Programming required? | 2D or 3D? | Available for | Exports to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcade Game Studio | No | 2D (Arcade Games) | Windows | Desktop |
| M.U.G.E.N. | No | 2D (Beat ’em Ups) | Windows | Desktop |
| RPG Maker | No | 2D (RPGs) | Windows | Desktop |
| Adventure Game Studio | No | 2D (Point n Click Adventure Games) | Windows | Desktop |
| Visionaire Studio | No | 2D (Point n Click Adventure Games) | Windows | Desktop |
| Wintermute Engine | No | 2D (Point n Click Adventure Games) | Windows | Desktop |
| Ren’Py | No | 2D (Visual Novels) | Windows, Mac, Linux | Desktop |
| Twine | No | 2D (Interactive Text Adventures) | Windows, Mac | Desktop |
| Inform | No | 2D (Interactive Text Adventures) | Windows, Mac, Linux | Desktop |
| Adrift | No | 2D (Interactive Text Adventures) | Windows | Desktop |
There’s even Scratch – a great tool for making games in browser. It’s fairly limited but it can help you work on interactive stories, games, animations and other entertaining things.
Be sure to check out this list. it has a lot of awesome information there!
Source: pixelprospector.com