Quest

Quest Software

Quest is a video game creator that allows us to make our own text-based adventure games, a genre that includes titles like the Zork saga and Phoenix Wright, with tons of details and possibilities. The application has an intuitive interface that makes creating any game very simple. We start by entering the name of the game, then move to filling in text boxes to build the various rooms, characters, variables, events, etc. At the beginning it may seem a little overwhelming, but once we get into the rhythm of the program, everything starts to flow. In addition to creating games, the application lets us play with our work and download projects created by other users. We can use these features to test the limits of the program, making note of what we like about other projects as well as what we think we could do better with our own. Quest is one of the simplest platforms around to create our own video games. The possibilities are endless, and if you are a fan of text-based aventure games, you will be able to enjoy many good-quality games created by other users.

CraftStudio

Sparklin Labs

CraftStudio is a video game creation tool (with a certain video game component itself) that enables you to create your own games from a really simple, accessible interface. You can use the application to create games or even movies, and that's the first choice you'll have to make. Once you've decided, you can start using the resources that the program puts at your disposal. You can make everything from scratch, or use some of what other users have created and shared. Thanks to the powerful engine behind CraftStudio, it's possible to create anything from a platform game to a driving game, including fighting games and even first-person shooters. The possibilities are endless, and best of all, you don't need vast computer knowledge to do it - just a little patience and dedication. CraftStudio is a very interesting video game creation tool that offers up a lot of features despite being in its development stages. Best of all, everything is accessible from a very useable interface.

Torque 2D

The Torque Community

Torque is a powerful game engine for 2D game development with which you'll be able to create anything from platforms, to card games, to just about any other game your own creativity can come up with. Of course, creating a video game isn’t something you can do in a couple of minutes, but with some effort and the tools that Torque puts at your disposal, it’ll be much easier than you think. With its full tutorials and some time, you'll soon be able to create your own games which you can then freely distribute. In order to be able to sell them, you'll have to buy the pay version which also includes the source code and access to a private forum where you'll receive help from several experts as well as other users.

Ogre 3D

OGRE Team

OGRE 3D (the name is simply an acronym for Object 'Oriented Graphics Rendering Engine') is a 3D rendering engine geared towards scenes and it's designed to make life easier for video game developers, allowing them to make 3D graphics more intuitively. Many commercial games, including Torchlight, Garshasp, Zombie Driver and the great Zero Gear, have used this tool with very positive results, both in terms of product quality and even in terms of sales. This is something which supports OGRE 3D's quality, to some extent. In terms of features, OGRE 3D contains almost everything that an individual user or an independent developing company might need. This ranges from support for animating human skeletons to loading complex textures in different formats, and includes particle composition systems and transparent elements. OGRE 3D is a 3D graphics creation tool which, as I mentioned earlier, is actively used in some games, including both commercial games and open source games. There are many games that use this technology, ranging from adventures like Venetica (2009) to role-playing games like Torchlight II (2012).

Arcade Game Studio

Bruno R. Marcos

Arcade Game Studio is a video game creation program that allows you to develop your own arcade titles from the eighties and early nineties, giving them the great charm, mechanically and visually,that the games of this time had. This program has many striking components. On one side, the download occupies a little more than a couple megabytes, and on the other side, the interface of the application has that retro feel that is so characteristic of these arcade games. Of course, that is not to say that it is short on features or anything else. The first thing that you have to do once you start Arcade Game Studio, will be to choose a genre that you want to make. Once you have done this, you can move on to creating each and every one of the elements of the game, with which you may need help. Luckily, on the author's site, you can find a series of tutorials intended for this purpose. Arcade Game Studio is a video game creation tool that greatly differs from other similar applications. The reason is that the objective is to solely create a game that preserves the aspects of video games that were made more than twenty years ago.

Tululoo Game Maker

YellowAfterlife, SilentWorks

Tululoo Game Maker is the perfect way to create online video games based on HTML5, the Internet standard thanks to its versatility and compatibility, regardless of the platform. The app's interface is similar to that of other simplified video game creators, and everything is very visual and clear. You can import and organize the elements of your project in different sections, such as sprites, sounds or objects with predefined behaviors. Even though the app is fairly straightforward, you will need to have a basic understanding of programming in order to work with the tool, since Tululoo Game Maker has its own editor with simple syntax for high-level commands. This means that you'll be able to work with a wide range of predefined functions as you use code to define what you want the program to do. You won't have to waste time creating complex algorithms to carry out simple tasks, like making a sprite move in one direction when you press a certain key. You can export sounds and images in an endless number of formats. The app also includes several accessories to carry out certain tasks for you, including a collision engine for sprites, supports for graphical tilesets to draw scenes, real-time object creation, and supports for touch controls. Tululoo Game Maker is completely free, so you'll have all of these great functions at your disposal at no cost. You can harness all the potential of HTML5 language without having to start programming from zero.

BYOND

BYOND Software

BYOND is a very useful program for anyone who wants to develop their own game for Windows but doesn't have the tools to do so. This platform provides everything you need to create a solid foundation for your game, whatever its genre. It also includes a long list of community creations that you can try out with a single click. Before you begin developing your game, it's wise to read the BYOND tutorial, which explains everything you need to know in order to get started. This program uses its own programming language, which is very similar to C and C++. With it, you can generate your own worlds, then populate them with whatever you need for your game. Best of all, you have the choice of creating games in 2D or from a bird's eye view. One of the biggest advantages of using BYOND is its countless tutorials and guides to improve your development. Between its active community and these guides, you can figure out just about anything, either by yourself or by asking for help on the forum. BYOND is a great way to develop games for one or more players. No matter your idea, this tool is an excellent way to build your game from the ground up, even if you have limited experience. Enjoy games from others, too, and the wide variety of ideas they contain. You can install them in seconds and see how other people have taken advantage of all BYOND has to offer.

TyperPro

StromXlays GOI

Worldwide Barrier Race Tracks

Jochen Moschko

White Dam

Arman dhull

Adventure Game Studio

Chris Jones

Games like Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion ended up defining gaming for an entire generation of players. Adventure Game Studio is an application for creating your own 2D adventure games, otherwise known as point-and-click adventures, with the same look and gameplay used during the 80s and 90s. AGS has a pretty visual interface as well as its own scripting language, so you can design your game down to the very last detail, including all the rooms, characters, and objects you interact with as you play. Likewise, you can use any image-editing tool to create sprites and backgrounds for the game. Although it may feel a little overwhelming at first, there's a huge community of users to answer questions and give advice, as well as a few tutorials, both official and otherwise. When you start a project, you can select the controls you want: the SCUMM verb system used in Lucasarts games, or something more like AGS or AGI, which was used by Sierra. You can also use nothing more than the primary and secondary mouse buttons, like in Westwood games. The possibilities are endless. That said, you can always modify your game until it's exactly right. Adventure Game Studio is a fantastic application for creating your own video games. Although it's not as intuitive as other applications with drag-and-drop capabilities, it's still easy enough to understand. With this application, you can create fantastic adventure games in a relatively short amount of time, no matter your level of experience. Check it out!

Delta3D

Delta3D Team

Wintermute Engine Development Kit

Dead Code

Creating an animated adventure from scratch can be a real odyssey, but if you follow the examples in Wintermute Engine Development Kit, it'll be easier than you imagined. This is an excellent engine to create full animated adventures with 2D and 3D characters. That said, if you have no programming skills, forget about it. But it's helpful to know that the language it uses has a syntax similar to C. The script editor lets you program the behavior of every element: menus, objects, characters, settings, and so on. Resolutions range from 320x200 to 1024x768 with a color depth of 16 or 32 bits. You can also use different languages. The engine also includes a separate sprite editor and a level editor where you can create character movement by combining several images, one on top of the other, or divide the scene into layers and demarcate areas to make them interactive.

GameSalad

GameSalad

GameSalad is an interesting and free application that will allow you to create your own videogame without programming and in only a few hours. Its use is as simple as dragging and dropping the elements of the game (called actors) and a series of pre-programmed codes (or rules) that will allow you to create a multitude of games of all types. If it's hard for you to start, you just have to visit the official page, filled with tutorials on how to start to dominate the program, and the forum where the community places its projects and looks for contributors, where they will undoubtedly offer you help. It can seem that its limited interface is too closed, but it's sure that when using a little inventiveness, its simple tools can create quite entertaining games and perfect to publish in the Apple Store.

Solar2D

Corona

Solar2D is a free development engine for creating games and apps for all kinds of platforms, including iOS, tvOS, Android, Android TV, macOS, Windows, Linux, and HTML5. The engine is based on Lua, which makes it lightweight, fast, scalable, and powerful, with ample abilities to create iterations. The engine is open source and is a fork of the Corona SDK Game engine, which is no longer actively supported or developed. The engine allows you to add a wide variety of plugins to your developments, including ones to display ads, multimedia content, analytics data, etc. More can be added from its marketplace. In terms of privacy, Solar2D does not track user activity. Aggregated data is not even anonymously collected, as no call is made to a server. Thanks to this, all the games you create with online mode only make network requests that you, as developers, introduce to the games. Solar2D is completely free, with no royalties, fees, or hidden charges. Whether you're an indie developer or a large company, you'll never have to pay to use it. In addition, there are several sample games to help you better understand how the engine works and make the most of the features it offers. So, if you're looking for a powerful, lightweight, and free development engine, downloading Solar2D is one of the best options.

Clarice

Clemediac Games

RenPy

PyTom

Give your imagination free rein and try your hand at authoring an interactive visual novel with RenPy. This application not only allows you to tell a story, but also provides the place for you to show off its characters and setting. The programming language used by RenPy is pretty simple, and has plenty of documentation to help you out. RenPy also includes a text editor that you can use to develop your game's script. Animations, music, transitions, and image maps are just some of the elements that you can add to your novel to make it more attractive.

The Games Factory

Clickteam

The Games Factory is a tool for creating a wide variety of 2D games without the need to program a single line of code. However, anyone wanting to develop a game should be familiar with the logic and operation of this type of application. The types of games that The Games Factory can create are: platformers, racing games, pinball, Arkanoids, etc. The user must create the different sprites (graphics) to go into the game one by one, set the keystrokes or mouse movements relating to them, the object of the game, and so on. If the application seems too complex to work with, there is a HTML tutorial included in The Games Factory that explains how to create a complete game from scratch.

Overcoming obstacles

Abdullah ismaeel

Twine

Chris Klimas

Twine is a unique tool that lets you create non-linear stories. In other words, this program lets you develop your own video games with little to no programming knowledge needed. All you need is your imagination and willingness. Creating an adventure using Twine is quite simple; all you need to do is to create a flow chart that lets you edit all the different parts. Inside each section you can write whatever you want, create links, add variables, and much more. Once you are done developing your very own game, all that´s left to do is save it and publish it in HTML. By doing so, you can publish your work anywhere and anyone can play it. The best part is that you have total freedom over your creations; if you decide to distribute them for free, you can, if you decide to sell them, you can do that too. Twine is an excellent video game programming tool that is easy and accessible to anyone who wants to develop a video game. The quality of the end result will depend on the amount of time you spend on it and your willingness to work on it.

Sandbox Free Game Maker

The Sandbox

Sandbox Free Game Maker is a tool for designing 3D worlds that's easy enough to use as an educational tool in schools (there's actually a version specifically designed for this), but at the same time powerful enough to create entire games. The application's goal, according to its developers, is to provide an interface that lets both kids and adults create their own worlds and video games. The application's interface is so intuitive, fun, and simple that it's been included in the video game itself. Sandbox Free Game Maker's interface gives you the option of creating your game based on different starting points. This will make it easier to make a role-play, racing, or adventure game, among other possibilities. You can also choose from a variety of maps that have been included. Sandbox Free Game Maker is compatible with tons of different audio formats (MP3, WAV, and OGG) which can be read and played in the game itself. Also, you won't have any problems loading in models you have saved in md2, md3, md5, iqm, smd and obj formats. Sandbox Free Game Maker is a video game creation tool that's easy and fun to use. Also, all the tutorials available on the developer's page will help you master this tool in no time.

Torque 3D

The Torque Community

Torque 3D is a video game creation tool that allows you to pass through practically every stage in a games development. You can create your own adventure from scratch, designing each and every one of its features, before publishing it on the Internet. Torque 3D contains various different tools. The world editor for example, gives us the chance to create huge three dimensional scenes from scratch. You have to add all the materials and textures that make up the new world yourself, but the control system is intuitive enough to make the system fairly easy to work with. Torque 3D also has much to offer with regards to 3D character modelling. It not only allows you to create and import projects, but it is also specially designed to recreate and display human arms in the first person, something that will enhance any FPS. On top of all this, Torque 3D includes tools to work with in the game physics using Nvdia Physx technology. By doing so, it is possible to apply real world physics to solid or moving objects, or to create destructible elements that can be affected by the impact of other objects in your virtual world. Another key ingredient for all modern games is lighting. The program offers a huge range of possibilities when applying your different lighting effects and by providing both basic and advanced effects, you are not limited by your prior knowledge, but you can instead realize everything you want in the game. Once your game is fully developed (something that is not generally accomplished in only a few hours), you just have to publish it. Torque 3D also comes with an inbuilt tool to help allowing you to publish your games on platforms such as Kongregate, Facebook and BigFish. Torque 3D is one of the most complete game creation engines on the market. The quality and quantity of its features is overwhelming and the chance to carry out the entire process of creating a game in one tool makes it a unique application.

Algodoo

Algoryx Simulation AB

Algodoo is an educational program that works practically the same as an interactive games workshop, where the users can have a good time learning, inventing, trying new things or, of course, playing. The application is designed with a care that can be seen from the first moment in its interface. It's simple, clean and perfectly adapted to the needs of children. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean that it hides or leaves out any information because any adult user will discover that it has a lot of possibilities in reach. So if all these benefits turn out to be a little overwhelming, Algodoo includes an enormous quantity of tutorials inside the application itself, that will show you exactly how to use the majority of actions you can carry out. Once you start to play with physics and all the options that you have to change it and have fun with it, you can start to create projects. These, once done, can easily be shared through the internet with people from all over the world. In the same way, you can download the projects of other users to play them. Algodoo is a tool for programming, learning and playing, with which you can pass hours and hours creating, inventing, discovering, learning, playing... In short, it's a professor as well as a tool or a play buddy. All in one.

Game Maker

YOYO games

Game Maker is a powerful tool for creating your own video games without needing much programming knowledge, all thanks to a simple interface on which you can do almost everything you need by simply dragging and dropping various elements. You can design games with your own graphics, sounds, and effects, or use the ones that Game Maker includes on its editor. This way, you can tackle practically any genre, from graphic adventures and conversation-based games to traditional platformers and games full of action. On the app itself, you'll find a few games made with Game Maker that you can use as a foundation to develop your own. Of course, if you're brave enough, you can also try creating your own video game from scratch. Game Maker is a comprehensive video game creation platform that, instead of focusing on a single genre, gives your imagination free rein, so you can create anything you want. Best of all, all you need is a simple tutorial in order to do it.

RPG Maker

RPG Maker

RPG Maker is a videogame creation tool specialized in role games that will allow us to create fantasy worlds from scratch, to enjoy them afterwards...or let others enjoy them. Thanks to its aesthetics and mechanics, it will be easy to create JRPG games (games with the same style as Final Fantasy, Legend of Mana or Lufia). The application already has lots of sprites, sounds, music and various illustrations with which we can work, although we will be able to import our own material to create a totally unique adventure. So that it´s easier to start working with RPG Maker, it includes an example module that we can use as tutorial and thanks to which we will be able to learn nearly all its controls. In just a few hours, we will have already started to create our own adventure and we can start the first fights. RPG Maker is one of the best tools for the creation of videogames that we can find at this moment. It has everything that is necessary for the creation of fantasy worlds and unique adventures. In fact, more than one independent successful game like To The Moon has been created using this tool.

Construct 2

Scirra

Construct 2 is a program that lets you create HTML5 computer games without any programming experience using an intuitive, "drag and drop" development environment. Most of the programs tools can be used from the graphical interface without writing a single line of code. Construct 2 is aimed at creating 2D games, and comes with lots of resources that make this easy, including a physics engine that causes items in the game to be governed by the law of gravity, as well as graphic and sound bits like sprites, backgrounds, and sound effects. Furthermore, it is a simple matter to add any media file from outside the application. The philosophy of Construct 2 is one of simplicity, and an intuitive visual environment. When you drag out your sprites and lay out their position on screen, another part of the program will make them interact with other objects according to the object type. For example, "My character -> hits a wall -> stops". How easy to understand is that? The free version lets you export your creations to HTML5, which can be played on any browser regardless of platform, but this won't earn you any money. The pro paid version, though, adds an export tool that allows your games to run on Android or iOS terminals and create executables that can be run on a PC without a browser. Undoubtedly, Construct 2 is an interesting tool for anyone who wants to start making video games but has no programming skills. Its easy tools and extensive documentation make it an interesting choice.

Unreal Engine

Epic Games

Unreal Engine is the most powerful video game creation tool on the market today. The proof is that the most popular commercial games such as Daylight, Dead Island 2, Space Hulk: Deathwing, Fable Legends, and Tekken 7 (plus many more) have used it. The download provided by Uptodown (the same link that is listed on the official page) is the official client of Epic Games, though which you can download the newest version of Unreal Engine. Also, it allows you to install the new Unreal Tournament or access the marketplace of Unreal Engine, where you can buy and download lots of extras for the engine. Of course Unreal Engine allows you to create from scratch, but thanks to the marketplace option, you can buy anything from an already constructed city to different types of firearms. Once you have downloaded them, you just have to insert them into your work area. Unreal Engine is one or the most important video game engines that exists. And it's totally free. Best of all is that, thanks to the client that sponsors it, you are provided with direct access to lots of tutorials that will help you learn how to use it. Regardless, it's not a simple prospect.

GDevelop

Florian Rival

There are many assisted environments for creating video games, but few are actually open and free. GDevelop is an open source tool to create all types of games using the flexible HTML5 and then export your creations to executable file locations for Windows or Mac as packages ready to compile in Android and use on your smartphone. Best of all, this tool is completely free and has no limitations. Game development with GDevelop requires no knowledge of programming languages since it all works via a system of events assigned to objects. For example, if you want a character to move, you have to enter the condition that when pressing the corresponding key, the characters moves to the right. This command, which would normally take several lines of code to work, is summarized in a small submenu with drop-down options anyone can understand. The game's characteristics and genre are entirely up to you, although the tool is designed to create 2D games (or at most, fake 3D in the style of the first shooters in the 90s). You have access to different sections of the game, like a scene editor where you can place game elements and see the results visually at all times, and a section where you can manage all the sprites and background images you're going to include in the project. GDevelop is a fantastic tool for creating video games. While it may not lead to the next great video game, it does put the possibility of game development within reach for anybody who dreams of creating their own game.

Godot Engine

Juan Linietsky / Ariel Manzur

Nowadays you can find many tools to help you create video games based on unified development environments with all sorts of assistants to make them easy to use. While most have to be purchased or have limited features, Godot Engine has now appeared as an alternative that's completely free and open-source, and lets you create 2D as well as 3D games. Its interface aims for intuitiveness for both designers and programmers, using a scheme of hierarchical context windows that, despite being not quite as simple as drag-and-drop alternatives like Game Maker, still offers an accessible learning curve. The developers have provided extensive documentation so you can familiarize yourself with the program, and its high-level scripting language has many similarities to Python, so it's relatively easy to grasp. You can export your projects to multiple platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS, and even commercial consoles like PlayStation 3, 4, and Vita (though each console is still subject to the publishing restrictions of its respective developer). In terms of features, Godot Engine includes a 2D engine (not an adaptation from the 3D one like Unity) that can transform and resize sprites, create physics and collision systems, and animate easily. The 3D engine works with OpenGL ES 2, so it's compatible with all types of rendering effects, lighting (HDR), and anti-aliasing. It also lets you export 3D models from well-known environments like Blender, Maya, and 3D Studio Max.

GameMaker Studio

YOYO games

Game Maker: Studio is a complete videogame creating tool, thanks to which its users will be able to develop complex games perfectly playable in different operating systems like Windows, Mac, iOS, Android or HTML 5. These last three, will be only available for the paid version of the application. The program has a very intuitive interface from which we will be able to manage all phases of the development of our videogame. To be able to use this program, we will of course have to use a tutorial first, but once we know all the options, developing a game will be a question of minutes. GameMaker: Studio includes a series of fundamental differences that separate it from the normal GameMaker. For example, `Studio´ includes its own physics and collisions motor (BOX2D). Although maybe the major difference between these two programs is the facility that this version has for the publication of our game in any of the many distribution platforms and operating systems that are available. GameMaker: Studio is a very complete videogame creating tool that despite the huge range of possibilities and options that it offers, it allows the creation of videogames in a simple and intuitive way.