Game Engines

GDevelop21.9k★

GDevelop makes 2D and 3D games without writing code, using a visual event system that reads like plain English. It's game development for people who have ideas but don't want to learn C# or GDScript first. Drag behaviors onto objects, set up conditions and actions, and export to web, mobile, or desktop. The free tier is usable: you can build and export complete games. The editor runs in your browser or as a desktop app. No account required to start building. The event system is surprisingly powerful once you get past the learning curve. The paid tiers add cloud builds (export to mobile without local SDKs), multiplayer/leaderboard services, more cloud storage, and asset packs. Silver is $5/mo, Gold is $10/mo, and there are education and startup plans. The catch: the visual event system hits a ceiling. Complex game logic (pathfinding, state machines, multiplayer sync) gets messy without code. The 3D support is early and limited compared to dedicated 3D engines. And the marketplace/asset ecosystem is smaller than Godot's or Unity's. If you know you'll outgrow no-code, start with Godot instead.

cocos-engine9.5k★

Cocos Creator is a free game engine with a visual editor, scene graph, and cross-platform export to iOS, Android, web, and desktop. Cocos has been around since 2010 (originally Cocos2d-x) and is huge in Asia, particularly China. The engine handles rendering, physics, animation, UI, and audio. The editor is TypeScript-based, which is unusual for game engines but means web developers can jump in without learning C# or C++. It also exports to native platforms via C++. Completely free. The license situation is a bit unusual (custom license, not a standard OSI one), but there are no royalties, no revenue caps, and no paid tiers. Solo indie developers and small studios targeting mobile will find this compelling. The 2D workflow is particularly strong. For 3D, it's improving but still behind Unity and Godot in tooling maturity. The catch: English documentation is spotty. The community is predominantly Chinese-speaking. If you don't read Mandarin, you'll miss a lot of resources and forum help.

mtasa-blue1.7k★

Multi Theft Auto (MTA) is the engine that makes that possible. It's a multiplayer mod framework that turns a 2004 single-player game into a platform for custom online experiences: racing, roleplay, zombie survival, whatever the server community builds. GPL v3, C++ core with Lua scripting for server-side game logic. The project has been active since the mid-2000s and still maintains an active player community. Servers run custom game modes written in Lua, and the modding API is extensive. You can alter nearly every game mechanic. Fully free. The mod client and server are free. You need a legitimate copy of GTA: San Andreas to play. Server hosting: run it on any machine or VPS. A small VPS ($5-10/mo) handles a decent player count. The Lua scripting API is well-documented and has a large library of community resources. The catch: this is a niche community project for a 20+ year old game. If you're not already in the GTA modding scene, this probably isn't for you. The codebase is old and complex. But for its community, MTA remains the most feature-rich multiplayer mod for San Andreas, beating the competing SA-MP (San Andreas Multiplayer) in scripting capabilities.

castle-engine1.1k★

Castle Engine is a cross-platform game engine with a visual editor, physics, scene graph, and support for glTF, X3D, and other 3D formats. It compiles to Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS, and web via WebAssembly. LGPL-with-static-linking-exception (effectively permissive for games), Pascal. The visual editor handles scene composition, and you write game logic in Object Pascal. Built-in support for 2D and 3D, skeletal animation, shadows, shaders, and a component-based architecture similar to Unity's. Fully free. No paid tier, no asset store fees, no royalties. The engine and all tools are open source. Solo Pascal enthusiasts: this is your engine. Everyone else: look at Godot. The catch is obvious: Pascal. The game development world runs on C#, C++, GDScript, and Rust. The Castle Engine community is small, tutorials are limited, and hiring Pascal game developers is nearly impossible. If you already know and love Pascal, this is a genuine option. The engine is well-built and actively maintained. If you don't know Pascal, there's no compelling reason to choose this over Godot, which offers a similar indie-friendly, fully-free experience with a vastly larger community.

ezyfox-server670★

EzyFox Server provides the plumbing. It supports TCP, UDP, and WebSocket protocols, so it works for mobile games, desktop games, and browser-based multiplayer. It's free under Apache 2.0. You get a socket server framework, plugin system, cluster support, and client SDKs for multiple platforms. The architecture is designed for real-time gaming scenarios: low-latency messaging, room-based matchmaking, and user authentication. The catch: this is a niche project with a small community. Documentation is limited and mostly example-driven. If you're evaluating real-time game servers, Colyseus (JavaScript) has a much larger community and better docs. Photon (proprietary) is the industry standard for commercial games. EzyFox fits if you specifically want Java and self-hosted, but you'll be figuring out edge cases on your own. The homepage URL pointing to star-history.com instead of actual project docs is not a confidence builder.