Game Engines reviews from Reddit

Summary

We analyzed 190 Reddit reviews across 20 subreddits and 38 posts to rank the best Game Engines brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/gamedev, r/AskReddit, r/gbstudio, r/NoStupidQuestions, r/GameDevelopment. Top-rated brands include Godot (4.4/5), Unity (3.9/5), Unreal Engine (4.2/5).

Stats

Reviews190

Subreddits20

Posts38

Brands79

Products38

Top communities

r/gamedev84 r/AskReddit14 r/gbstudio11 r/NoStupidQuestions9 r/GameDevelopment8

190 reviews from

and

By Brand

By Product

Godot

4.4

(27)

"- Godot"

"Probably the most beginner friendly, but still quite capable game engine is *Godot*. Free, easy to learn, plenty good tutorials."

"Have you looked at Godot? There's a feature called tile maps that allows you to design a load of square images."

"If you're looking for someone quick, easy and free Godot may be worth looking into."

"Godot is basically exactly what you're looking for"

"Godot."

"A great port for homebrew on hacked switches."

"Godot is considerably more powerful than Game Maker or RPG Maker."

"Godot with rust is about the only full solution right now."

"Godot is actually REALLY well designed for this, since the Godot engine editor itself is just a Godot game."

Unity

3.9

(20)

"Use Unity. C# is nearly identical to Java but much more modern and comfortable."

"As a Unity specialist, I've had publishing deals and contracts with major companies."

"Unity is a powerful engine to consider after mastering coding."

"Unity is perfect for making more complex games."

"You might as well just learn Unity."

"Unity or Godot"

"Enjoyed Futile/Unity a bunch."

"Unity is better for 3D games."

"Unity is more user friendly than Unreal Engine 5."

"Unity is a powerful game engine, but it has significant load time drawbacks for web applications."

Unreal Engine

4.2

(10)

"I just finished creating a 'Custom Large Numbers' blueprint in Unreal Engine for my next incremental game."

"Unreal Engine offers great capabilities for professional game development."

"For making purely awesome visual graphics eye candy."

"Does everything you want and described."

"Unreal Engine created Twinmotion so its way less complicated."

"I've made the switch after a long time developing in Unity."

"Just wondering but why not Unreal Engine? It can do mobile and handles 3d as well as 2d?"

"Unreal Engine offers stunning graphics and is great for immersive experiences."

"Some industries and companies use Unreal for their viz work."

"Unreal Engine can be a bit harder."

RPG Maker

4.0

(7)

"RPGMaker is very good if you like making RPGs. You can make a full game without writing any code."

"RPG Maker has been advertised as being simple enough for a child to use, and it does indeed have a low floor."

"I would add the major single-purpose engines like Ren'Py and RPG Maker."

"RPG Maker is ideal for building turn-based RPGs and has many community plugins."

"RPG Maker 2K3 is very similar to GB Studio."

"RPG Maker is easy enough, but obviously is locked to JRPGs."

"I understood and self-taught myself RPG make when I was in middle school."

GDevelop

4.3

(6)

"If you want easy I recommend GDevelop. It's open source, free and has a visual scripting language that is extremely intuitive."

"GDevelop offers a wide range of features for game development."

"How about Gdevelop? Its available on the playstore and free."

"Is being quite easy to understand its really beginner friendly"

"GDevelop runs from a browser and it's possible to import art using web links."

"GDevelop also closely resembles GB Studio."

Bevy

4.0

(6)

"Bevy's probably the most popular right now."

"Bevy is also an interesting engine if you are looking at Rust / ECS."

"3D performance is good, especially with optimization plugins."

"Bevy is the most popular engine with top-tier ECS, but lacks an editor and has limited 3D skeletal animation."

"Bevy is the most popular game engine with top-tier ECS, though it lacks an editor and 3D skeletal animation is just starting to become viable."

"While Bevy has potential, it may not be the best choice for a team ready to build immediately due to its new concepts and ongoing development."

LibGDX

4.2

(5)

"I really loved LibGDX in the old Android days"

"Libgdx is well documented and you can make a web based, desktop (for steam), iOS, and android game with the same codebase."

"Can recommend libgdx."

"Libgdx is a GameDevelopment framework and can be used in every Java IDE."

"OOP is terrible for games, had to add an ECS library on top to actually develop something."

Defold

4.3

(4)

"Defold is really great for pixel art games."

"Keeping an eye on Defold now that there are typescript bindings."

"Engines for simpler games like Game Maker and Defold."

"Defold used to be sold but King bought the company and then made it free for everyone."

STG Builder

4.3

(4)

"The ultimate tool to turn your bullet dodging skills into a game!"

"If you know Japanese."

#10

Raylib

4.0

(4)

"Raylib has been super lovely to use."

"Raylib is good if you just download the c compiler through choco; it's actually really good, simple, and pretty easy to learn."

"Haven't used it much but seems really nice and easy to use so far."

"Raylib is awesome and simple to setup & use, but not as mature as the others."

#11

Unreal

5.0

(3)

"Unreal also offers great potential for game development."

"It's a totally viable option."

"Then you want Unreal."

#12

GameMaker Studio

3.5

(4)

"I d suggest gamemaker studio. It is free on all exports for personal use and only 100 euro flat charge if you decide to go commercial."

"GameMaker Studio probably is a good one if you dont like to code."

"If you're a programmer GMS isn't an option IMO."

#13

Scratch

4.7

(3)

"It’s an online free 2D game maker with an extremely simple programming system. It’s used to teach children programming. Trust me, it’s very simple."

"Have you evaluated Scratch? It is targeted for beginners."

#14

Pygame

4.3

(3)

"I really liked playing around with pygame. It taught me a lot of fundamental game development concepts."

"- PyGame"

"Pygame is nice, it's very easy to learn, a great framework for absolute beginners."

#15

Construct 3

4.0

(3)

"Construct 3 and Godot Engine come to mind, if you're looking for something lightweight."

"Construct 3. It's entirely browser based."

"It's a great engine with a lot of features."

#16

Ren'Py

4.0

(3)

"Ren'Py is a powerful tool for creating visual novels."

"I would add the major single-purpose engines like Ren'Py and RPG Maker."

"Have you considered Ren'Py? While primarily for VNs, you could probably script around and add more game features."

#17

MonoGame

3.7

(3)

"MonoGame and FNA are both offshoots of Microsoft's XNA and are quite capable frameworks that are popular in the indie space."

"And frameworks like Monogame to this list."

"I can add MonoGame - if you prefer code based approach."

#18

GameMaker

3.3

(3)

"I use Gamemaker a lot and vouch for it because you can really build your whole career in Gamemaker."

"Engines for simpler games like Game Maker and Defold."

"Not impressed with GameMaker at all."

#19

Naughty Dog

5.0

(2)

"Definitiv! Aber nicht nur die beste game engine aber auch der beste Charakter mit Ellie"

#20

Ebiten

5.0

(2)

"Ebiten is an absolute pleasure to work with. There's no real 'engine' to learn beyond drawing your first image."

"Ebiten.org has plenty of examples to give you a feel."

#21

three.js

4.5

(2)

"ThreeJS and PixiJS are awesome, love them."

"It's lower level than say, unity, and it's much easier to integrate random libs made simply for web."

#22

Pixi.js

4.5

(2)

"ThreeJS and PixiJS are awesome, love them."

"Pixi.js is nice."

#23

Phaser

4.0

(2)

"- Phaser"

"I am a Phaser.js developer and that's the only game 'framework' I know."

#24

JMonkey Engine

4.0

(2)

"JMonkey engine if you wnt an engine"

"For Java you can use Jmonkey Engine for 3D games and Libgdx for 2D games."

#25

YoYo Games

4.0

(2)

"Maybe easiest to get into with very limited code experience."

"Game Maker Studio 2.0 is a powerful tool for game development."

#26

Panda3D

4.0

(2)

"Panda3D is great as I like Python."

"Panda3D is great for making 3D games."

#27

Goodman Games

4.0

(2)

"DCC and MCC from Goodman Games have similar systems, are OGL with free compatibility licenses and are good in handling technology and magic."

#28

jMonkeyEngine

3.5

(2)

"[jMonkeyEngine] has been around since early 2000's and is still being maintained."

"I remember using https://jmonkeyengine.org some while ago"

#29

CryEngine

2.5

(2)

"Cryengine and Unreal are probable options."

"Cryengine is like a glove - either it fits and you are fine, otherwise it gets in your way."

#30

Babylon.js

5.0

(1)

"I've been really impressed by BabylonJS for browser-based 3D stuff."

#31

faiface

5.0

(1)

"This library is great for 2D game development!"

#32

Epic Games

5.0

(1)

"Unreal is the industry standard for real-time visualizations, making it easier to get started with architectural templates and built-in Datasmith."

#33

Hibzz

5.0

(1)

"A tool to control resource consumption in the Unity Engine."

#34

Dragon Ruby

5.0

(1)

"Ruby is a very easy programming language and Dragon Ruby is a great engine to make games with once you’re somewhat proficient with it."

#35

Love2D

5.0

(1)

"Really cool framework for 2D games."

#36

BabylonJS

5.0

(1)

"I've been really impressed by BabylonJS for browser-based 3D stuff."

#37

SDL2

5.0

(1)

"For 2D, still can't beat good old SDL2 and C."

#38

RPGMaker

5.0

(1)

"RPGMaker is very good if you like making RPGs. You can make a full game without writing any code."

#39

Mugen

5.0

(1)

"Mugen is a fantastic product that delivers exceptional performance."

#40

Ursina

5.0

(1)

"Ursina is a really cool framework built on top of Panda3D."

#41

Shmup Creator

4.0

(1)

#42

RPG Maker MZ

4.0

(1)

#43

Unity, Unreal, Godot

4.0

(1)

"The best options for solo dev right now are Unity, Unreal, and Godot."

#44

Game Maker Studio 2

4.0

(1)

#45

Gamemaker, Godot, RPGMaker

4.0

(1)

"If it's an RPG then RPGMaker might be better suited."

#46

Unreal, Unity

4.0

(1)

"Have built in mobile support."

#47

Pyglet

4.0

(1)

"Pyglet is tightly woven with OpenGL, making it versatile for 3D games."

#48

Unity Technologies

4.0

(1)

"Swiss Army knife, can do anything but comes with complexity of the learning curve."

#49

GBStudio

4.0

(1)

"GBStudio is a great one to start with because it’s just so… simple and yet powerful."

#50

Arcade

4.0

(1)

"Arcade is much easier to use than pygame."

#51

Mozilla

4.0

(1)

"Web browsers can serve as engines for cross-platform app development."

#52

Game Jolt

4.0

(1)

"FNAF Maker is a great tool for creating games!"

#53

Panic

4.0

(1)

"Panic’s Code Editor is a viable option for iOS development."

#54

Google

4.0

(1)

"Chromium-based browsers provide a solid foundation for web applications."

#55

OpenD6

4.0

(1)

"OpenD6 is free to use, time-tested, and easy to modify."

#56

Urho3D

4.0

(1)

"Urho3D has a pretty decent 2D system as well, and can be built for a wide variety of platforms."

#57

cloudnovel

4.0

(1)

"I'd suggest checking out cloudnovel, as it is a no-code/free option, so pretty ideal for beginners."

#58

Cocos2d-x

4.0

(1)

"Cocos 2DX deserves a position there."

#59

Clickteam Fusion

4.0

(1)

"Some big indie games were made in it."

#60

SDL

4.0

(1)

"I would recommend starting with a framework rather than an engine."

#61

Stride

4.0

(1)

"There's also Stride (formerly Xenko) built on .NET 6 with C#10 and licensed under MIT."

#62

A-Frame

4.0

(1)

"A-Frame seems to be best suited as of now."

#63

Cocos

4.0

(1)

"Probably Cocos and Construct as well."

#64

Construct

4.0

(1)

"Probably Cocos and Construct as well."

#65

PenguinMod

4.0

(1)

"Easy learning but extra functionality once you get the basics."

#66

Haxe

4.0

(1)

"Haxe is nice."

#67

Nesmaker

4.0

(1)

"Nesmaker is a great tool for creating simple platformers without much coding."

#68

Game Maker

4.0

(1)

"Game Maker is probably the better choice for building the UI and tinkering with systems."

#69

Godot Engine

3.0

(1)

"More robust but steeper learning curve."

#70

Unreal Engine 5

3.0

(1)

"Unreal had more features than Unity but that comes with more complications."

#71

Rend3

3.0

(1)

"I'm using Rend3->WGPU->Vulkan,, but that's just a rendering library, not a whole game engine."

#72

Amulet

3.0

(1)

"Notably missing Amulet, FNA, Duality, SDL2."

#73

GamePlay3D

3.0

(1)

"GamePlay3D is a strong 2D/3D engine, but it may be too low level for some people."

#74

Heaps

3.0

(1)

"I didn't see a mention for Heaps which has been used for Dead Cells."

#75

Fyrox

3.0

(1)

"Checkout https://fyrox.rs"

#76

Torque

3.0

(1)

"Torque isn't dead? I liked the engine back in the day."

#77

Oak

3.0

(1)

"Outside of those already mentioned, I'd suggest you also take a look at Oak"

#78

Indigo Engine

2.0

(1)

"Indigo's performance article was not confidence inspiring."

#79

Go

2.0

(1)

"There is still no mature (2/3-d) game engine available in Go."

Discover your audience

GummySearch is an audience research toolkit for 130,000 unique communities on Reddit.

If you are looking for startup problems to solve, want to validate your idea or find your customers online, GummySearch is for you.

Tell me more

Get started