Game engines are frameworks to build video games. If you are a beginner in game development, you should use a game engine that offers easy-to-use interface, an uncomplicated way of creating logic and flexibility. A good beginner-friendly game engine facilitates the ease of learning through resources, like tutorials, good documentation and various examples. That said, I am offering an insight into 4 game engines that beginners can choose from to build their first video game, without facing the hassle of too much code and overwhelming options.

4 Simple Game Engines for Beginners to Build Video Games with Ease

1) Unity

Unity, developed by Unity Technologies, is the most popular cross-platform game engine for creating 2D & 3D games with consistent graphics, amazing layout, intuitive design and engaging game play. According to Unity, the platform is now being used world over by more than 6 million registered users to develop video games for PC, consoles, mobile devices and websites.

Unity is a nice game engine for beginners since it gives rise to less efforts, high productivity and rapid development. A low learning curve and abundant documentation also make Unity a good choice for beginners. Unity’s graphical editor lets beginners to easily design, layout unity scenes, insert objects, scripts, light effects, etc.

The game engine supports two common programming languages: C# and Javascript (aka UnityScript). C# is a managed language and easier to learn than C++. The benefit of a managed language is that it automates the memory management for you. With Unity, it becomes possible to build a game first and deal with the more advanced aspects of programming later. Unity also has an  active ecosystem of asset and plugin creators, and its cross-platform integration supports 25 platforms.

Unity features an Asset Store, offering a wide range of free and paid assets that can be easily added to your game. For example, PlayMaker, a visual scripting tool, is a good choice for game app developers who don’t have technical know-how. So, you can easily create your own scripts and apply them to any game object as a component. And, if you are unable to handle scripts, you could seek help from Unity’s scripting reference, which is a library of scripts for various gameplay mechanics (both in C# and UnityScript). As far as publish of your game on various online stores, like Steam or the iOS app store, is concerned, a few buttons click is all that you require.

2) Game Maker

Game Maker, a proprietary game creation system created by Mark Overmars in the Delphi programming language, is a cross-platform game engine. Game Maker was designed keeping in mind novice developers, so that developers without technical know-how can also build video games.

The game engine allows creation of video games by using either drag-and-drop interface or its own language, knows as Game Maker Language. The drag-and-drop system obviates the need of learning complex programming language, like C++ or Java. If you want to use coding, then you can go for the platform’s primary interpreted scripting language. The language is easy to learn, but is slower than  compiled languages such as C++ or Delphi.
Game Maker is a good game engine for beginners since it’s designed as a teaching tool. Besides being easy to grasp, the game engine offers flexibility in syntax rules. Several documentation and tutorials are also available to help game developers create their first video game with ease.

You can also use free and paid assets available from the game engine’s recently-opened Marketplace. The popularity of YoYO games has led to the improvement of Game Maker’s Helpdesk system. So, if you are stuck anywhere or have any issues, you can seek help from the Helpdesk which has now started sending good, helpful replies to queries or issues raised.

3) Unreal Engine 4

Developed by Epic Games, Unreal Engine 4 is also a good pick for developers who are not well acquainted with coding. UE4 is built upon the proven structure of many AAA games, which is why it’s easy to use and learn. Blueprints visual scripting makes Unreal Engine 4 a good choice for beginners. It paves the way for rapid game development services without using C++. Therefore, even non-programmers can access gameplay elements including camera control, player input, items and triggers, and more.

You can think of UE4’s Blueprint scripts as flowcharts where each box represents a function or value, whereas program flow is represented by connections between them. As a result, developers get a better at-a-glance indication of game logic than a simple list of events, and perform complex behaviors with ease.

A lot of video tutorials, free example projects and content are also available for learning purpose. If you want to learn how to use its latest features, you can try extensive wiki and regular streams.

When we talk about Unity vs Unreal Engine 4, the latter has features that reduce iteration time and makes it possible to update C++ code while the engine is running. Live debugging is also one of the popular features of UE4. The game engine offers support for Steam and other similar ecosystems. UE4’s graphic capabilities are decent, and its robust asset store offers many useful add ons and content.

4) Construct 2

Construct 2, an HTML5-based 2D game engine, allows non-programmers to create games through a drag-and-drop system using a visual editor and a behavior-based logic system. The user interface of the game engine is based on Microsoft's UI design patterns, which is why Windows and office users feel comfortable and familiar using it. A functional preview of nearly all engine features is available from Construct 2 Free.

The powerful physics engine Box2D, enables developers to build physics games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope. The engine’s built-in tools allows to create basic sprites and tiles of 2D game. For multiplayer functionality, developers can use WebRTC technology, which enables peer-to-peer connection, without requiring you to create server side architecture.

Similar to source files used in programming languages, “event sheets” is the primary method to program games and applications in Construct. Event system actually allows easier scripting without typing. Construct 2 also provides regular updates on new features, bug fixes and HTML5 optimizations. The game engine is very fast and quicker to pick up when compared to Unity. However, Unity is mainly used for 3D, whereas Construct 2 enables the creation of 2D games only.

These 4 game engines are simple to use, and developers without technical know-how can use any of them to build a video game. Apart from these 4, there are some other game development engines as well that non-programmers can use for creation of a video game. So, don’t feel offended, if your favorite game engine is not in the list.

Have you ever used a game engine before? Do you want to add more to what’s already being discussed? Please get in touch with us at enquiry@logicsimplified.com or share your views in the comment box below.