Almost every gamer has wanted to become a game developer at one moment in time. It might sound funny, but it’s true: if you want to check this fact, please ask your gamer friends. They will give you the same answer we did. But really, the fact that certain gameplay and storylines are so gripping is the reason why we want to try and develop our own games. However, and unfortunately for some of us, developing a game requires a lot of knowledge in a lot of different fields: developing, design, music, writing, etc., and not all of us are equipped with such knowledge. But if you are, and if you want to try developing a game, we wanted to show you some very good game engines in 2021 that you can try out and maybe, just maybe, create your own game.
All of the game engines we will mention are great to start with; what you need to know is that you need to have some sort of idea with which you will start. For instance, you will need to decide upfront if you want your game to be in 2D or 3D because some of the engines will not be able to render both. This is just an example, but we advise you to check up on other resources as well before starting the development of your game. Without further ado, here are some great game engines we found to be useful in 2021:
Unity
A platform created in 2005, it has been there for many game developers (and many games we have played were created in it! Take, for instance, Deus Ex and Assassin’s Creed!). What’s good about it is the fact that it has stayed reliable for all those years. It’s free to download and use, you will only need to pay for it if you are actually going to release a game (for legal reasons). Unity supports both 2D and 3D animation, and it’s compatible with all sorts of platforms, from a regular PC, MAC, to both PS and Xbox.
Unreal Engine
Another engine that has been up and running for a long time (it was created in 1998) is Unreal Engine. It has recently been voted for one of the best game engines of all time, and this is the year the UE drops its new engine: Unreal Engine 5. What’s great about it is that it is also free (you need to pay for it only if you develop a game, it’s the same with Unity) and that it allows 2D and 3D animation. But what makes it different from Unity is the fact that you, as a developer, can use real-world imagery to create a visual world. It’s also an open-source engine, which is one of the reasons why this engine is always being upgraded and improved.
CryENGINE
Another engine that is free to use and that is very effective when it comes to game development is CryENGINE. If the name sounds familiar to you, just remember that it is exactly this engine that the Far Cry series used for development. It is great for beginners, but it doesn’t really support all of the platforms Unity and UE support, although you can develop games for VR in no time. Like both of the previous game engines we mentioned, CryENGINE also supports 2D and 3D animation.
Godot
While this game engine has been around since 2014, it’s only recently started climbing the popularity ladder. It’s very easy to use, it’s free, and it supports 2D and 3D animation. Godot is very good for beginners if they are willing to learn Godot’s scripting language – GDScript.