Generally, game engines facilitate game development, providing a broad range of tools to increase your game development experience. Although some game engines refer to these tools as nodes, others refer to them as APIs, but all interface with each other to enhance your game development experience. With a massive increase in both video gamers and time spent playing video games, there's no doubt that there's a vibrant market for new and exciting video games. If you have experience in developing games, a small budget, and an interesting idea, you can bring your game to life. Want to get started, but don't know where to begin—you've come to the right place.
1. Unity
Unity Technologies says 71% of all mobile games are built with its engine, generating over five billion downloads per month based on apps built with Unity. The learning center of this game engine is perfect for those just starting. It is also equipped with many projects, courses, tutorials and there are also live training workshops so that you can be transformed from a beginner into a pro game developer.
It provides 3D game development that’s done in real-time. Several subscription options are available, but Unity Personal is the only one that's free. This subscription type provides access to Unity's engine features as well as its cloud-based services.
One of the drawbacks of unity is that you won't be able to remove the logo from your game until and unless you upgrade from unity personal to the paid versions.
Additionally, there is another article where you can create a game app using Unity.
2. Unreal engine
Despite being one of the most advanced real-time 3D creation tools, Unreal Engine is easy to use for beginners and features a learning resource section on its website. Aside from being a game engine, Unreal Engine also creates real-time applications for architectural visualization, automotive visualization, and linear films. The free creator license does not require a licensing fee. Unreal Engine provides the publishing license for free but charges you 5% in royalties when your game makes money. Customized licenses offer you the ability to customize the licensing agreement so that it works specifically for you.
This engine has three kinds of licensing agreements that depend on your plan of yours for using the tools. These agreements consist of:
- Creator License
- Publishing license
- Customized License
All these license agreement provides unlimited access to all the features of unreal engines. The unreal engine provides total access to its source codes i.e. C++ which gave the developers unrestrained access so that the consumer could customize and expand the code of this gaming engine.
One of the best features of this engine is its tools. It has the unreal editor tool. It assists and allows collaboration with all the members game development team. This is accomplished with the assistance of multi-user editing. As with all high-end game engines, Unreal Engine provides world-building, animation, rendering, and gameplay features.
3. Godot
Open-source Godot game engine makes it easy to start programming because of its common tools, which makes it perfect for beginners. This engine has a visual editor that allows you to design both 3D and 2D interfaces, as well as live editing, so game developers can make changes in real-time. Hundreds of nodes have been developed by Godot to meet your game development needs. If the ones that are accessible don't fit your requirements, you can create your custom nodes. Godot is compatible with a variety of operating systems which include Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The engine can also be used on different platforms.
Additionally, along with its flat learning curve, In contrast with its competitors, Godot offers more scripting tools than its competitors. These include:
- GDScript (which is much like python)
- C#
- C++
- Visual script
- Rust
- Nim
- D
4. Defold
Defold is not just a free game engine, but it is also an open-source project. As a result, game developers have the option of changing the code of this game engine to their liking—as well as the possibility to use a broad set of features created by other members of the community. The foundation of the game engine pledges to maintain its engine free of charge at all times, relying on community donations. This engine develops 2D and 3D games which give emphasis on performance. It comes with a visual and a code editor, which allows the game developers to design their game with logic in Lua.
In addition to the learning resource section on its main website, it also offers tutorials, manuals, and video tutorials to get you started. Because most of Defold's documentation is available in the form of manuals, it is much easier for beginners to learn.
There are several game designing courses that hold a plethora of opportunities for aspiring game designers.
