Which engine should I use?

The short answer for most people starting out is **Godot**. It's free with no conditions, it's the fastest to get moving in, and it's strongest at 2D, which is what most first games are.

But "most people" isn't everyone, so here's the honest version.

Start here

• **Making a 2D game and not sure?** → Godot
• **Making a 3D game that needs to look expensive?** → Unreal
• **Making a mobile game, or want the biggest tutorial library?** → Unity
• **Making a 2D action game and want results tonight?** → GameMaker
• **A writer first, and it's a story with pictures?** → Ren'Py
• **A writer first, and it's a story with choices?** → Twine
• **A story-driven RPG, and you don't want to make art yet?** → RPG Maker
• **Can't install anything, or teaching a class?** → Construct
• **You'd rather write code than use an editor?** → LÖVE
• **You know Rust, or want an excuse to learn it?** → Bevy

At a glance

• Engine · Best at · Cost · Code
• **Godot** · 2D, general · Free, no conditions · GDScript / C#
• **Unity** · 3D, mobile · Free under $200k revenue · C#
• **Unreal** · High-end 3D · Free under $1M lifetime, then 5% · Blueprints / C++
• **GameMaker** · 2D action · Free non-commercial, one-off fee to sell · GML / visual
• **RPG Maker** · Turn-based RPGs · One-time purchase · None needed
• **Ren'Py** · Visual novels · Free · Script / Python
• **Twine** · Text and choices · Free · None needed
• **Construct** · 2D, teaching · Free tier, subscription to sell · Event sheets
• **LÖVE** · 2D, code-first · Free · Lua
• **Bevy** · 2D/3D, code-first · Free · Rust

Things worth knowing before you choose

**Consoles change the answer.** Switch, PlayStation and Xbox need closed SDKs under NDA. Unity and Unreal support them directly. Godot, LÖVE and Bevy don't, and you'd go through a porting studio. GameMaker needs its top tier. If consoles are part of the plan, decide now rather than after a year of work.

**Browser play is a real advantage.** A game people can try without downloading gets far more attention than one they can't. Godot, Construct, GameMaker, Ren'Py, LÖVE and Twine all export to web comfortably. Unity's WebGL builds are large. Unreal effectively doesn't.

**Licence terms can change — except when they can't.** Godot, LÖVE and Bevy are permissively licensed open source, which means nobody can alter your terms after you've shipped. Unity's 2023 Runtime Fee was cancelled, but the episode is why some developers now weigh this heavily. It's a legitimate factor, not paranoia.

**"Transferable skills" matter more than beginners expect.** C# (Unity) and C++ (Unreal) are useful outside games. Rust (Bevy) and Lua (LÖVE) are useful elsewhere too. GML, event sheets and RPG Maker's event system mostly aren't. That's not a reason to avoid them — it's a reason to know what you're buying.

**You can change engines.** People treat this as a permanent decision and it isn't. What you learn about game design, scope and finishing carries across completely. Only the specific button-clicking doesn't.

Then what?

Whatever you pick: **make something small and put it out.** A game jam entry, a five-minute toy, a single mechanic that works. Publish it here even if it's rough — a first listing with three downloads teaches you more about shipping than another month of tutorials.