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Based on what you said. Nothing here is binding — change an answer and it changes its mind.
Start with
Ren'Py
Visual novels, and almost all of them. A script format a writer can read.
Sign up to start building your game — it's free
An account gets you a page of your own, somewhere to publish what you make, devlogs, and the private production tools. Nothing costs anything to start, and you only ever pay a fee if you sell something.
One person reads every sign-up, so there is usually a short wait before you are let in.
Also worth a look
This is a signpost, not a verdict. Every engine on this site has shipped games people love, and the engine matters far less than finishing — a mediocre game you finished teaches you more than a brilliant one you abandoned at 40%. The long version is here, and every guide is here.
Every engine, with a guide
- GodotFree with no conditions, fastest to start, strongest at 2D. The default recommendation.
- UnityThe biggest tutorial library in existence, and still the best choice for mobile.
- UnrealFree until $1M, then 5%. Unmatched 3D visuals, and the heaviest thing on this list.
- GameMaker2D only, and very good at it. Undertale, Hyper Light Drifter, Katana ZERO.
- RPG MakerEverything included. The fastest route to a finished first game, especially for writers.
- Ren'PyVisual novels, and almost all of them. A script format a writer can read.
- TwineText and choices, in a browser, in thirty seconds. The lowest barrier in game development.
- ConstructEvent sheets instead of code. Runs on a locked-down machine, teaches real logic.
- LÖVENot an engine — a framework. You write Lua, it draws. Balatro was made with it.
- BevyRust and ECS, no editor, pre-1.0. For programmers who want to know how it works.