In this blog, we will provide an in-depth guide to the best 20 mobile game engines and development platforms. If you are looking for the best game development tools, you can choose one from the list and build feature-rich 2D/3D mobile games.
According to Globe News Wire, the mobile gaming market was valued at $119 billion in the year 2021. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.3% during the forecast period(2022-2030) and is expected to be valued at $338 billion by the year 2030. (source)
It is estimated that around 62% of people download a game within the first week of buying a smartphone. The mobile gaming market has expanded beyond computer and console gaming. This has led to an increased surge in the demand for high-end and interactive mobile games. This is where Mobile game development platforms come in. If you are thinking about how to develop games for mobile devices, the gaming engines listed below top 20 tools will help you create cutting-edge and graphic-intensive games.
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There are a wide range of mobile game engines and development platforms available in the market. Let’s take a look at the best engines for mobile games.
Unity is one of the most popular mobile game engines out there. If we take a look at the statistics, Unity is used by almost 47% of mobile game developers as their go-to game development tool. Launched by Unity Technologies, Unity cross-platform mobile game development engine provides plenty of features under one roof.
The game engine also features a rich Unity Asset store where developers can find various presets and animations so they don’t have to create assets from scratch. Being a cross-platform mobile game development platform, Unity saves valuable time that would have been spent on developing individual games on different platforms.
Another popular mobile game development engine that offers user-friendly features and an easy-to-use user interface. Similar to Unity, Unreal Engine game development also allows developers to build high-end games without any coding or programming. Moreover, developers also have the ability to modify the game elements without changing the code. One of the most prominent benefits of Unreal Engine is that it allows game testing right in the game engine itself.
Formerly known as Corona SDK, Solar 2D is a 2D game engine for mobile apps that uses the Lua scripting language. It is an open-source mobile game development platform and even supports cross-platform game development. Solar 2D has a dedicated Corona marketplace that offers various plug-ins and an active community. One of the most prominent features of Solar 2D is the Solar2D Playground, a website that allows creating and running projects instantly.
Owned by Facebook, Cocos2D is an open-source mobile game development platform that supports cross-platform development. It is suitable for experienced developers and runs C++, JavaScript and Lua scripting languages. Cocos2D has a large active community and comes with detailed documentation. It features an extensible editor that simplifies various aspects of game development including game debugging, resource management, and cross-platform publishing.
Godot is an open-source cross-platform mobile game development engine used for 2D and 3D game development. It can easily run on multiple operating systems including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
It utilises a pixel-measurement system which makes it the perfect choice for developing 2D games. Moreover, it is suitable for beginners with its node-based interface. It facilitates the mobile game development process by allowing developers to build any game from scratch.
Developed by Yoyo Games, GameMaker Studio 2 is a 2D mobile game development engine that features a very useful drag-and-drop programming language called GameMaker Language that can’t be found even in the best mobile game engines. One of the most prominent features of GameMaker Studio 2 is that it was originally built for amateur developers. However, mobile game developers can leverage the power of supported scripting languages to build advanced Mobile games. It is a cost-effective game development platform that is integral in streamlining the game development process.
Construct 3 is an HTML5 mobile game engine that is suitable for beginners. It is also used to teach the basics of the mobile game development process in classrooms. The popular 2D game engine is often used for developing highly responsive and interactive RPGs, racing, and puzzle games. Developed by Scirra Ltd. the popular game engine uses Java Script as an optional scripting language which is suitable for amateur developers.
BuildBox is one of the best Android game engines out there. It is a suitable game engine for beginners and allows game development without any coding or programming. One of the best benefits of BuildBox is that it facilitates a rapid mobile game development process and allows the development of 2D and 3D mobile games in a short time period. It features a strong active community and also features a drag-and-drop function to create graphic-driven mobile games.
As the name suggests, Amazon Lumberyard is Amazon’s open-source game development platform. The game engine for mobile features cross-platform mobile game development and can be used to develop games quickly. Moreover, it offers support to various Amazon services including Twitch and AWS. The game engine is suitable for beginners and facilitates the quick creation of prototypes.
SpriteKit is one of the few iOS game engines developed by Apple to develop 2D games. It supports the Swift language as well as Objective-C and with the SpriteKit framework, developers can easily draw texts, images, shapes, and videos in 2D. SpriteKit is considered to be a suitable mobile game engine for beginner developers. It features impeccable support from Apple and ensures that any game you develop will work with any existing or upcoming products from Apple.
CRYEngine is a game development engine that will soon release mobile support( mobile platform support is still in its Beta phase). However, it is widely renowned as one of the best mobile game engines. If you want to develop games with high graphics and stunning visuals, CRYEngine is the best choice for you. It is a perfect choice for amateurs with features like tutorials, documentation, complete source code, and an active large community.
CRY Engine also offers features like realistic characters, sandbox, high-level visuals, audio controls, and high performance.
Developed by Appelecerator, Titanium is a top mobile game engine that enables you to develop mobile games in Java Script. With the Titanium game development engines, developers can easily create stunning and immersive mobile game experiences. It is an open-source development framework that can also be used to develop cross-platform games. The game engine comes with an API builder that provides a framework for building APIs with a scalable cloud service for running them.
MonoGame is a cross-platform game engine that is primarily used to develop 2D games. It uses C# and .NET languages. If you are proficient in these languages, Mono Game will be very easy for you. This game engine is very similar to Microsoft’s XNA4 framework, which is also easy to learn.
Moreover, the website also offers various tutorials that can assist you in the development process. The game development engine also uses shaders written in different languages. Mono Game has also developed its own language for creating shaders- MGFX.
One of the best benefits of using MonoGame is the active support community and open-source technology. It also supports various popular platforms.
Haxe is a cross-platform game development engine that is open-source. It has various game frameworks and libraries that help achieve native speed and supports all platforms. It primarily uses C++, PHP, and AS3 programming languages for game development. Since there are various game libraries and frameworks present, you can choose the one most suitable to you and start developing your mobile game.
Gilderos is an open-source and free mobile game development engine. It can be used for 2D and 3D game development. The game engine is preferred by mobile game developers as it facilitates rapid game development. One of the best benefits of using Gideros is that you can develop and launch your game on multiple platforms without any additional charges. It uses the Lua scripting language and also offers a complete set of game development tools.
Clickteam Fusion 2.5 is a mobile game development engine that utilizes an event editor system to create games. If you want to develop an event-based application, this is the perfect choice for you. It is packed with all the necessary features that are required to facilitate the game development process. Fusion 2.5 was developed by Clickteam, a company that focuses on improving the performance of its games.
Fusion 2.5 doesn’t require any programming knowledge, which makes the development process that much easier. The interface doesn’t require any coding or programming skills. It is considered one of the best mobile game engines for static game development.
App Game Kit is another game development engine that doesn’t require any specific programming skills and is suitable for all developers. It features a user-friendly interface and uses a programming language similar to C++. App Game Kit is also one of the best game development platforms for multigaming platform game development solutions.
One of the best features of this mobile gaming engine is the App Game Kit Studio which offers all the tools necessary to transform your unique idea into a concept and a fully functioning game app.
Defold is a free-to-use mobile game engine that is used for the development of games for various platforms. It is primarily used for 2D game development, but also offers exciting possibilities for 3D games. The game engine is preferred by developers as it comes with detailed technical documents and is very easy to use.
It uses the Lua scripting language which is versatile and fast. However, developers can also use native code for more functions. It is a cross-platform game engine and is a one-stop shop that provides all the game development tools in one place.
Phase is one of the most popular HTML5 game development frameworks that enables developers to create powerful cross-platform browser-based games. Phaser utilizes Canvas and WebGL rendered and enables fast rendering for browser and mobile platforms. It is an open-source HTML5 game engine that uses the JavaScript language. Phaser supports a wide range of plugins and a large community of developers which makes the development process that much easier.
Lastly, Stencyl is a game development engine that is used to develop 2D mobile games for mobile devices and the web. It is a freemium tool that doesn’t require any coding to develop games. Stencyl also offers a toolset that provides developers with plenty of options to create cutting-edge 2D games. It features the drag and drop function and also enables developers to code if necessary.
As a leading Mobile game development company, BR Softech strives to deliver highly-interactive and robust gaming apps across multiple platforms such as Android, iOS, and Windows. Our mobile game developers are well-versed in the latest technologies and have years of experience working with top 20 mobile game engines including Unity and Unreal engine. Our developers aim for client satisfaction and strive to transform your mobile game ideas into fully-functioning game apps. Take advantage of the following benefits with BR Softech-
If you want to leverage cross-platform game development and develop your own multi-platform game, contact BR Softech
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Ans. Game engines work by laying the framework that allows the user to easily develop a game rather than building it from scratch.
Ans. The price of every mobile game engine and development platform differs. You can refer to the prices of different game engines in this blog.
Ans. There are a wide variety of different game engines available on the market. Every game engine offers different features and different specializations. Some popular game engines include Unity, Unreal, Godot, Solar2D etc.
