Which Game Engine is Best for Beginners?

It's 2024. There are many game making apps out there. Today, we'll help you decide which game engine is best for beginners in 2024.

So you want to make a game. Cool! You're about to join the biggest entertainment industry in the world: video games make more money than film and music combined. Now you're looking for the best place to start, and need some help. Well, worry not. We're here to discuss which game engine is best for beginners. So, let's start!

The Big, Obvious Choices

The game engine industry is largely dominated by the likes of Unity, GameMaker and Unreal Engine, with up-and-coming players like Godot joining the fray. And there's good reason for this: these tools have been used to create games for decades.

Not only that: the export possibilities are nearly endless. If you have a console developer license (which isn't easy to get, but not impossible), you can even export your Unity or Unreal game to Playstation, XBox or Nintendo platforms.

They also handle 3D and 2D games. So, it seems like they would be an obvious choice, right? Well, not quite.

All of those engines have quite a big learning curve. You're going to spend a lot of time learning how to use the software, before you even start learning how to make games, or more importantly, how to make a game good. Then there's all of the other stuff you need to do, like generating the assets, promoting the game, attending events... it's a lot! That's why the question of which game engine is best for beginners is important.

A No-code, Free and Easy to Use Choice: GDevelop

Enter GDevelop: a free, easy to use, no-code game making app. GDevelop is focused on being easy to use. This means that you can spend more time on learning how to make a good game, rather than how to use a piece of software.

GDevelop has a unique event system which makes it easy create any 2D game in record time. The software itself is light, too: there are no 5GB downloads here. You can even run GDevelop on your browser!

It's not like you're super limited on export options, either: GDevelop allows you to publish on iOS, Android, Steam, itch.io, Messenger Gaming... basically anywhere except consoles. And sure, you can only make 2D games, but the possibilities with 2D games are endless! And 2D games like Shovel Knight and Stardew Valley show that 2D can be commercially successful, too.

You can say that GDevelop is the Bubble.io for game development: an accessible, affordable no-code development tool that scales with your needs. Bubble.io serves that role for app development, and GDevelop serves the role for creating games.

Want to see games made with GDevelop? We recently ran a game jam, and the winners of the competition will blow you away:

So Which Game Engine is Best for Beginners?

Obviously, a lot comes down to personal preference. There is certainly a level of appeal that comes with names like Unity and Unreal. After all, the pros use them, right?

However, big software can get in the way of learning how to make a game good, because you spend the whole time trying to figure out how the engine works.

Gdevelop is easy to use, and has a tremendous potential for expandability and export options. And all of it free.

Try GDevelop online, or download GDevelop for Windows, Linux or MacOS.