As a form of entertainment, video games are set to surpass both film and music as the world’s favorite pastime. Nowadays, everyone is a gamer. Whether they’re just playing the quirky casual mobile game or spending hundreds of hours experiencing heavy AAA gameplay.
The video game titles that receive the most attention are created by teams with dozens or even hundreds of specialized members. These can be graphic artists, programmers, writers, designers and more. So it seems that only people with endless budgets and talent pools should bother entering the world of game development.
Things couldn’t be further from the truth. This isn’t just the best time in history for small, indie game creators. It’s also the easiest way to turn your video game vision into reality.
In the early days of video game development, you had to code against metal. Programmers used assembly language, then switched to high-level languages like C. You need to know the hardware deeply, to get every last bit of performance out of it.
Today, you can buy game engines from scratch, and there are tons of game creation tools that non-technical, non-professional developers can use to turn their vision into reality. real.
The six packages highlighted here aim to minimize the difficulty of game development both in terms of cost and technical skill. Some are even used to create critical hits, earning life-changing salaries for their developers. So read on and maybe you’ll find the ultimate tool that will bring the game you’ve always wanted to come true.
Table of Contents
Stencyl
Stencyl is a subscription-based game creation engine that allows you to easily create 2D games for multiple platforms. Once your game is ready, you can publish it as an app for both Android and iOS, but all desktop platforms and browsers are also supported.
If you like mobile games, chances are you’ve actually played something made with Stencyl. More than a few games authored using this tool have entered the top 10 on various app stores. Writhing was one of those particularly interesting titles that received some good press when it was released.
Stencyl prides itself on the fact that the authors don’t have to roll around with any code at all. At least not in its raw form. When it comes to game logic, they have chosen to use an excellent puzzle system where you put together different logic arguments and then populate the variables. So in reality there’s quite a bit of “coding”, but no more difficult than building with LEGO we’re being honest.
RPG Maker (Multiple versions)
JRPGs still represent a thriving genre, and now you can easily create your own game following the vein of classic Final Fantasy games with RPG Maker. There are quite a few versions of RPG Maker released at the same time, supported by the developer in parallel.
You should double check which version of the tool best suits your needs, as they have some features that are specific to specific versions. For example, though you’ll probably want to choose RPG Maker XP, as it’s the cheapest version. However, you can’t do things like have character portraits next to speech bubbles. On the other hand, XP still has a strong following due to some people’s preference for its mapping system.
Regardless of which version of RPG Maker you want to use, they’re the de facto standard in JRPG-style game-making engines, and you can sell your final game with the license provided. If you want to create this particular style of game (or something like that with just a little modification), you absolutely must make RPG Maker the first stop on your journey.
RPG Maker has always been the creator of games on Windows, but it can now release to other platforms, such as Android, although there’s a bit of extra fat to make it all work.
Some of the most successful games made using the RPG maker include To the moon and Sky. Games that could easily have been major hits during the golden age of classic JRPGs.
Twine 2.0
Winding push the limits of what should be considered a game engine, yet comfortably stay on the right side of the line. It was originally used as a tool to build adventure-type experiences of your choice. Twine is an Open Source tool that basically allows you to build a large network of story nodes and then publish it as a working HTML application.
What elevates Twine from an interactive narrative tool to something that can actually make games is the ability to write scripts. This allows you to do things like add character stats and have random events. This has made it possible for people to build simple dungeon crawlers and add gameplay to their stories.
Twine 2.0 is certainly one of the rudimentary tools on this list, but if it’s favorable it can be used for some incredibly powerful results. Interesting, the creators Black Mirror Bandersnatch used Twine as a production tool, to keep track of all the plot themes.
Game Maker Studio 2
Game Maker Studio 2 is the latest in a very long series of game authoring packages that stretch back to 1999 when it was known as Anime. This is a tool aimed at creating 2D games and it comes with everything you need to create a 2D style game. Some 3D content is possible, but will move away from the simple and intuitive environment of the 2D creation system.
Game Maker Studio allows you to animate your 2D objects, paint the original 2D, and achieve exactly the look you want. It has many intuitive tools for designing levels, scenario events and mechanics and more.
There have been many commercially successful games made with the help of Game Maker Studio, but without a doubt, the most famous title Undertale. A game that has reached cult status, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Not bad for an indie title created with an authoring tool like Game Maker Studio!
This product also has some of the best platform support available. You can publish to Windows, macOs, Ubuntu, HTML5, Android, iOS, PS4, Xbox One, and now Switch.
Game Maker Studio is not free, but there is an affordable “Creator Edition” that limits users to publishing on Windows and Macintosh. You can always upgrade to a “Desktop” license to expand where your games can be purchased.
ClickTeam Fusion 2.5
Created by French developer Clickteam, Fusion 2.5 is an interesting choice for people who want to make 2D games, but don’t want to spend years learning how to code. Clicktean claims that the Fusion 2.5 specialized coding language uses its own coding language, so simple that the average user can learn it in less than an hour.
There have been many commercially successful indie games made with Fusion 2.5, but the most famous is probably Five Nights at Freddy’s. The developer used Fusion 2.5 to make the game, along with 3ds Max for pre-rendering the 3D graphics. It just shows what you can do if you get creative!
Building 3
Building 3 is the latest version of the very popular subscription-based game development tool. Like Stencyl, you have to pay a monthly (or yearly) fee to get access to the development environment. Any games you create are your property and you are free to sell them for profit.
Construct 3 is still relatively new, but there have been some notable games made with Construct 2. Next Penelope did pretty well for itself and even had a Switch portalthough this did take some serious effort and translation to C++.
Construct can export to JavaScript, HTML5, and a number of other PC and web compatible standards, so there’s no shortage of audience for your titles. There is both native Android and iOS support! The intuitive scripting system is perhaps Construct’s biggest selling point, and is touted as an exceptionally intuitive product in game logic design. The prices are pretty reasonable too, especially if you consider how rich a popular indie game can be for you!
Create your own blockbuster
The game world is full of stories of small indie developers who have made it big with a game that no one can beat. A game that’s not good because someone pumped millions of dollars into it. Great games all share a certain combination of innovative game design, polish, and compelling central mechanics.
While it’s always a good idea to acquire some core technical and coding skills, these intuitive game-making tools mean you don’t have to be a master of all trades. to create the game you’ve always wanted to make. All it takes is dedication and a good idea. What are you waiting for?
