If you’ve played games for any portion of your life, I wager you are kicking around a few ideas that you’d like to gift the world. Fortunately, advanced (in some cases any) programming knowledge is no longer required for many well-established concepts, particularly with 2D games.
For those with a programming background, many of the tools on the list may come with some prejudgement, but the quality of titles developed with them stands as testament to what these ever-evolving engines are capable of. Many programmers still employ them as starting points for rapidly prototyping games or adding their own touch later.
(See: The future of video games, part I)
Without getting your hopes up of making your own fully realized MMORPG (or even a serviceable Angry Birds clone) out of the gate, you are spoiled for choice with tools, each with its own active community. Prices range from free to several thousand USD, but the general trend is toward more affordable tools, especially for those using them in an educational setting. In general, once you have honed your game development skills to the point that you’re thinking of selling your project, you will need to start shelling out cash.
The drag-and-drop editor featured in Stencyl, a multi-platform tool to be discussed in part II
Many of these make use of visual editors, like the one pictured above. While the drag and drop interface is going to be more limited than hand coding, it allows you to grow into your projects, learning coding concepts as you need them, rather than throwing everything at you from the outset.
Let’s start with tools for Windows users. If you’re running a Mac or Linux, stay tuned for the second installment, or look into how people are fairing with these using Wine or something similar.
If you’re playing recent games on your PC, you shouldn’t have any trouble running the following tools either.
Gamemaker: Studio
A tool that has been around for a while and has been used to publish a variety of hits, including the original Spelunky, Hotline Miami, and the visual novel Cinders, there has been a steady evolution of Gamemaker. Yoyo Games’ software boasts the ability to develop games using much less coding, and if you’re a Playstation developer, you can even use it to get your games on the Playstation Network (PSN).
While it’s free to try with Windows desktop support, you can purchase what you need to develop on other platforms piecemeal, or spend $800 for the whole suite. Gamemaker: Studio is for 2D games, but that hasn’t stopped people from making first-person shooters in the past. The latest version is Windows-only, though legacy versions work with OSX. Gamemaker is available at Yoyo games website.
Scirra Construct 2
Another Windows-only tool, Scirra Construct 2 was one of the first pieces of software to be Greenlit on Steam in 2012. Many artists have found the program and its drag-and-drop interface easy to use. While it relies on wrappers to allow its HTML5-based output to run as native applications on desktop and mobile, Construct does support the Wii U console if you’re using the personal or business licenses, priced at $130 and $430 respectively. These are bundled with royalty free assets to help you get started.
Notable games made in Construct include The Iconoclasts, by Swedish developer Joakim Sandberg, better known as konjak, his work being made using Construct 2’s predecessor, Construct Classic. If you just want to tinker around with making your own games, a free version is available. Get started here.
(See: An indie developer’s guide to game development…sort of)
RPG Maker
I have spoken with developers who turn their noses toward the air at the mere mention of RPG Maker. That’s unfortunate, because anything that allows you to get started making your own dungeon crawler is making the world a better place. You can also make adventure games or visual novels with a little tweaking. My favorite story-driven game in recent years, Ken Gao’s adventure To the Moon was made using this very software. Free to try, you’ll need to shell out $60 if you want to publish your games to PC. As this one was first developed in Asia, you’ll find it in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean as well. The latest version is RPG Maker VX Ace.
In part two of the guide, we’ll be looking at a few cross-platform tools, a tool for visual storytellers, and another that will let you develop games on your iPad.
Have we left out any solid Windows-only tools? What kind of game would you like to try your hand at?
Part II:
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(Image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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