Best Free Game Making Software

Posted on by admin

  1. #1GameMaker Studio 2

    GameMaker Studio 2 is a software for making 2D development environment. This will help game developers to turn early concepts into a complete product. It offers easy to use interface and useful tools. It offers a free trial.

    Windows, Mac

    $39- Varies by plan

    Tyler Rose
    Written on October 29, 2018
    'I used the free trial and I was impressed. I'm now planning to buy this software to use its other features. '

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you like it!

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you don't like it!

    Thank you for sharing your experience!Your comment will be reviewed and published shortly.

  2. #2Unreal Engine 4

    Unreal Engine is the 'most successful video game engine' according to the Guinness World Record and it was showcased in the Unreal shooter. Xpert high score download. It is written using C++ and has a high degree of portability and can be used in many game platforms.

    Windows, Mac

    Free

    John Chen
    Written on October 29, 2018
    'Highly recommended. Unreal Engine 4 is very intuitive and user-friendly, and provides you with useful documentation and community resources to help you through the process. '

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you like it!

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you don't like it!

    Thank you for sharing your experience!Your comment will be reviewed and published shortly.

  3. #3Unity

    Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies. This platform is primarily used to develop video games and simulations for PC, consoles, mobile devices, and websites. Download the free trial version for Mac or Windows.

    Windows, Mac

    $25- Varies by plan

    Wayne Walters
    Written on October 29, 2018
    'A great software which makes game development easier. Unity allows you to create 2D and 3D games and provides you with useful information to start your project. '

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you like it!

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you don't like it!

    Thank you for sharing your experience!Your comment will be reviewed and published shortly.

Other stuff you might like..

Oct 25, 2018  GameMaker Studio 2 is a rewritten-from-scratch version of Game Maker: Studio, which started way back in 1999. Today, it’s one of the most popular and active free game development engines currently available. New versions with feature updates are released at regular intervals. GameMaker is another free, easy to use tool made for beginners where you can create games for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Like Stencyl, it's mostly drag-and-drop, but also includes hooks for creating multiplayer games, linking external SDKs, digging directly into the code and more.

  1. #4Godot Engine

    Godot is a free game engine by Juan Linietsky and Ariel Manzur. Capable of creating 2D and 3D games, it provides game making tools. The software is under the MIT license, meaning that developers own every game they make with this software.

    Windows, Mac, Linux

    Free

    Benjamin Rios
    Written on October 29, 2018
    'Free, open source and ready to build 2D and 3D games. No doubt Godot is a great tool to make your own video games. '

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you like it!

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you don't like it!

    Thank you for sharing your experience!Your comment will be reviewed and published shortly.

  2. #5Buildbox

    Buildbox is a game engine that anyone can use to create beautiful games for every platform. Its drag and drop user interface makes designing games easier, no scripting, programming or software design experience required.

    Windows

    $15- Varies by plan

    Socorro Martínez
    Written on October 29, 2018
    'What I like the most of Buildbox is the fact that you don't need programming or scripting, so is suitable for everyone interested in making games. '

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you like it!

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you don't like it!

    Thank you for sharing your experience!Your comment will be reviewed and published shortly.

  3. #6Clickteam Fusion 2.5

    Game and software creation has never been easier or quicker than with Clickteam Fusion 2.5! Discover the tool used by so many multimedia professionals, game creators, and creative people from all walks of life.

    Windows

    $99.99- Free trial available

    Zhang Li
    Written on October 29, 2018
    'Helpful tool if you want to learn to program games. Clickteam Fusion will help you through all the process, making it challenging and fun. I totally recommend it. '

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you like it!

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you don't like it!

    Thank you for sharing your experience!Your comment will be reviewed and published shortly.

  4. #7Construct

    Construct is a game development software that utilizes the HTML5 platform. It is specifically made for developing 2D games. It allows anyone to create games without any knowledge in coding needed. Offers free trial.

    Windows

    $99- Varies by plan

    Dolores Rivas
    Written on October 29, 2018
    'The ideal tool for those who want to create their own game but don't know coding. Very intuitive an easy to use. '

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you like it!

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you don't like it!

    Play lemonade tycoon 2 free. Lemonade Tycoon 2 - New York Edition Squeeze lemons to crush the competition! Set up shop with your own lemonade stand and start building an empire. Lemonade Tycoon 2 hits New York with enhanced features, like new staff, stands and stellar graphics. Aug 22, 2018  Download Lemonade Tycoon 2 for free. Lemonade Tycoon 2 is an excellent business simulation game, in which you have to create a lemonade empire in New York.

    Thank you for sharing your experience!Your comment will be reviewed and published shortly.

  5. #8Duality

    Duality is an open source game engine with extensible characteristics. It is written in its own entirety in C# and is designed for creating and developing specifically 2D games. Duality allows you to create modular 2D games.

    Windows

    Free

    Lin Hou
    Written on October 29, 2018
    'An open source solution for building 2D games. Maybe a little basic, but is good if you don't care about the graphics too much. '

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you like it!

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you don't like it!

    Thank you for sharing your experience!Your comment will be reviewed and published shortly.

  6. #9GameSalad

    GameSalad is an authoring tool by GameSalad, Inc. The educational tool used for learning how to develop games. The software is comprised of a visual editor and a logic system and it can help in getting games published in major platforms.

    Mac, Windows

    $17- Varies by plan

    Jessica Larson
    Written on October 29, 2018
    'A simple program to build your own games. Specially suitable for beginners since you don't have to know programming to use it. '

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you like it!

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you don't like it!

    Thank you for sharing your experience!Your comment will be reviewed and published shortly.

  7. #10GDevelop

    GDevelop is an open source, cross-platform game creator designer which can be used by anyone even those who have not much programming experience. Available for download on online, Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

    Web, Windows, Mac, Linux

    Free

    kulai sulaiman
    Written on October 23, 2018
    'GDevelop is an open-source, cross-platform game creator designed to be used by everyone - no programming skills required.Unleash your creativity with GDevelop and create any kind of game: platformers, puzzles, shoot 'em up, strategy, 8-bit games.. Go through the examples or start a new project from scratch. With GDevelop, you can make simple projects for fun or create ambitious indie games like Lil BUB's HELLO EARTH, Hyperspace Dogfights and tons of other games!'

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you like it!

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you don't like it!

    Thank you for sharing your experience!Your comment will be reviewed and published shortly.

  8. #11CraftStudio

    CraftStudio allows creators and developers to create and craft games form scratch and in real time over the Internet. CraftStudio is free for all and has all the tools needed to build internet based games.

    Windows

    Free

    Alexander Patel
    Written on October 29, 2018
    'CraftStudio is for you if you want to build games in a cooperative way. You can make games with your friends without knowing programming. '

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you like it!

    Thanks for voting! Please tell us why you don't like it!

    Thank you for sharing your experience!Your comment will be reviewed and published shortly.

With the recent release of the free version of the Unreal Engine and the announcement of the free Source 2 Engine, you now have even more options for making your own games. But picking out the best engine for you and your skillset is a little tough. Let's take a look at some of the best free software for a variety of skillsets.

Unreal Engine 4 Is Now Free for All Budding Game Developers
Game

If you've ever been interested in game development, animation, or digital visualization, the…

Read more Read

Advertisement

Before you can really dig into most of these tools, you'll need at least a foundation in programming. But whether you're a child or an adult, we've got you covered. As far as making your first game, our friends over at Kotaku have you covered. That said, not all of these tools even require coding skills, so you might be able to jump right in.

How and Why to Teach Your Kids to Code

Whether or not your child grows up to be the next Zuckerberg, programming is a highly useful skill…

Read more Read

For Beginners: Stencyl or GameMaker

Advertisement

If you're just starting out making games and you don't have any experience with programming, you might want to start with some of the easier to use tools. Two of the most popular and well-received are Stencyl and GameMaker. Both are very easy to use for beginners and have churned out some quality titles.

Stencyl is a tool to create games without code. It's an entirely drag-and-drop interface and you can publish your games to Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and Flash. If you've ever used something like Scratch, you'll be immediately familiar with Stencyl's LEGO-like approach to building code by arranging blocks. Stencyl aims to make creating sprite-based games very easy, so it tends to be most used for puzzle and side-scroller games. It's tough to do anything very complex with Stencyl, so if you're looking to do something like an RPG or strategy game, you'll likely want to look elsewhere. Some popular games built with Stencyl include Impossible Pixel and Zuki's Quest. Stencyl also has a built-in tutorial that'll teach you just about everything you need to know.

Advertisement

Best Free Easy Game Making Software

GameMaker is another free, easy to use tool made for beginners where you can create games for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Like Stencyl, it's mostly drag-and-drop, but also includes hooks for creating multiplayer games, linking external SDKs, digging directly into the code and more. The free version of GameMaker exports with a watermark, but it's still a decent place to start and comes packed with a tutorial for learning the basics. GameMaker's much more versatile than Stencyl in the style of games it can handle, and they have a bunch of guides for different types of games to teach you the basics. Popular games made with GameMaker include the original version of Spelunky and Hotline Miami.

Of course, there are a lot of other options for similar tools. Buildbox is a newer tool that gives you a trial period and training program to learn how to use it, and GameSalad's a long-running and popular platform as well, though it's often reported as being buggy and unstable. Construct is also worth a look if you want to make HTML5 games. The problem with all of these options is that you end up being pretty restricted in your design. Since they're made for beginners, you end up breaking the tool when you try to do anything particularly complicated. This means they end up producing buggy, unplayable games if you try working too far outside of their system. Still, they're a great place to start and are good for people who don't have a lot of coding experience.

Advertisement

For Mid-Level Users Looking to Make 2D Games: Cocos2D

Advertisement

Cocos2D is an open source tool for creating 2D games. Your finished game can be published on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, or the web.

The bulk of what you'll be doing in Cocos2D is in C++ (and also supports Lua and JavaScript), so you'll need to wrap your head around that programming language before you can start making anything with Cocos2D. However, once you're settled into those languages, Cocos2D is pretty easy to use, comes packed with a full IDE for building games, and is completely free, no strings attached. As the name suggests, Cocos2D is made specifically for 2D games, so it tends to work best with simple, sprite-based games that don't need any 3D. You can also make 2D games with Unity (more on that in a second), but Cocos2D is a bit easier to get into if you're just starting out (and you already know C++, obviously).

Advertisement

Cocos2D has been used to make all kinds of successful games, including the award winning Badland. If you're not sure where to start with Cocos2D, Ray Wenderlich has a fantastic tutorial, as does Udemy.

For Advanced Users Making 3D Games: Unreal Engine or Unity

If you're interested in making more complex, 3D games, Unreal Engine and Unity are two of the most popular free tools available. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and both have different licensing deals worth looking into to before you decide on which one's best for you.

Advertisement

With Unity, you can make 3D and 2D games for just about everything, including Windows, Mac, Xbox, Playstation, Android, iOS, and more. It also supports assets from the likes of 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage, Cinema 4D, Blender, and more. Unity uses C# alongside its own custom programming language, so you'll want to be pretty well-versed in that before you dive in. That said, between Unity and Unreal, Unity is probably the easier to learn of the two. It has a lot of pre-built behaviours and the built-in asset library makes tracking down assets easy. A few of the developers I talked with while writing this suggest Unity as the best starting tool because it's conceptually easier to understand and learn than Unreal. If you've made a game with something like GameMaker, you'll be able to wrap your head around how Unity works right away. Unity also supports some alternative payment models right in the engine, including a number of free-to-play monetization models.

The free, personal version has plenty there to get you started. If you make a game with the free version, you don't have to pay licensing fees or royalties, though there are some caveats. Namely, you can't receive more than $100,000 worth of funding/revenue for your games if you're using the free edition. To help you get started with Unity, there are a ton of great tutorials out there. Popular games made with Unity include Alto's Adventure, Gone Home, and the upcoming Firewatch.

Advertisement

You can release games you make with Unreal Engine on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Xbox One, and Playstation 4. Unreal has pretty much everything you need to build a game is built into the engine, including 3D modeling tools, landscape systems, and more. Because it's packed with so much stuff, Unreal Engine 4 tends to have a higher learning curve than other tools, so even if you're well versed in C++, expect to run into some walls as you're learning. That said, you'll be able to build incredibly professional looking games with Unreal. You can also reverse engineer Unreal's nodes to learn more about how it works, but even still, it's difficult to jump into Unreal Engine 4 without any prior knowledge. Unreal Engine 4 is still relatively new, but a few games have been released that use the engine, including Daylight and Tekken 7.

To use Unreal Engine 4, you'll have to agree to a royalty fee if your game sells. When you ship a game or application, you pay a 5% royalty to Unreal after your first $3,000/quarter. It sounds like a lot of money, but depending on how much revenue your game brings in it's not as much as it sounds. To get started, check all the tutorials available for Unreal Engine 4.

Advertisement

It's also worth considering Valve's Source 2 Engine, which should be available for free later this year, but we don't know much about it beyond that.

For Writers: Twine/RPG Maker

Advertisement

Not everyone out there is an expert coder, and while tools like Stencyl are great for those types, they're still a little too complicated for many. If you fancy yourself more of a narrative storyteller, you have two excellent options in Twine and RPG Maker.

Twine is a very simple system that allows you to create interactive, nonlinear stories. Basically, you can make your own choose your adventure. It is incredibly easy to use. You connect your stories through various nodes, like you would a mindmap. Each choice the player can make gets a new note. Then, when you're finished, you can easily publish that to a web site. It's pretty straightforward to use, but if you're struggling or want to add some extra elements, Twine's starter guide features everything you need to know. Popular games made with Twine include A Kiss and Cry$tal Warrior Ke$ha.

Advertisement

If Twine's a little too old fashioned for you, RPG Maker might do the trick. The free version's not as powerful as the paid alternatives, but you can do a lot with it regardless. The system's easy to learn too, you can drag and drop graphics, insert dialogue in a click, and more. You'll have to really think outside the box to make more than a simple RPG, but well-received titles like To the Moon and LISA show that it's possible. Plus, you can get started with a pack of free music and art assets so you don't even need to learn how to draw. The built-in tutorials are also useful for making your first game. Popular games made with RPGMaker include Clock of Atonement and One Night.

Additional Free Tools for Assets

Of course, a game's a lot more complex than just an engine. You'll need all kinds of other assets, including artwork, sound, and more. I asked a few indie developers for a rundown of some of their favorites:

  • TexturePacker: A free, sprite creation tool
  • Tiled: A simple map editor that hooks into Cocos2D, Unity, and more
  • OpenGamesArt: a place for free assets and placeholder graphics
  • Free Music Archive: a resource for free, Creative Commons music
  • FreeSound: a collection of free, open source sound effects

With that, you should be well on your way to making games on the cheap. Obviously you'll still need to invest time, blood, sweat, and tears, but at least your pocketbook doesn't have to take a hit as well.

Advertisement

Best Game Making Software Free Download

Photo by OpenClips.