5 Essential Tools for Game Design and Development

What software is used to develop games? There are so many tools and pieces of software for robust game design right at your fingertips!

Game development is taking the world by storm. Gone are the days where games were just pixel figures fighting off blobs of monsters with their tiny pixel sword. And gone, too, are days when gaming was something kids did in their free time. So, what tools do you need to make a living with game development?

1) GameMaker Studio

GameMaker is a series of cross-platform game engines created by Mark Overmars in 1999 and developed by YoYo Games since 2007. The latest iteration is GameMaker Studio 2, first released in 2017.

Game Maker is easily one of the most popular game development tools in the industry. This is because its drag-and-drop system allows you to make games many times faster than if you were coding it.

You also have the option of upgrading to the Professional or Master Collection versions for access to more tools.

https://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker

2. Unity

Unity is quickly enjoying popularity as big as the Unreal Engine’s. Depending on the type of game you’re looking to create, Unity has a few advantages over Unreal that can serve as the deciding factor. It’s quicker to develop games on and it’s easier to pick up. It’s also better for games targeted at multiple platforms – with Unity there is less porting and more tweaking when moving your game over to a new ecosystem.

https://unity.com/

3) Construct 2

Construct 2 is another powerful 2D game creation tool, that lets you publish to HTML5. It is another program that is beginning-designer-friendly, requiring no coding experience to make the magic happen. There is a free version where you can publish to the web.

https://www.scirra.com/

4) ClickTeam Fusion 2.5

ClickTeam Fusion 2.5 is designed for advanced game developers but doesn’t mean that it requires complex coding while creating games. It has been never easier to create gaming tools with less coding.

The software tool featuring an excellent event editor system, it allows game developers to create games easily and quickly. Through this, developers will require less coding at the time of creating the game.

https://www.clickteam.com/clickteam-fusion-2-5

5) Buildbox

With Buildbox you can create your own games in a really short time and in a really easy way. You don’t need to code – select images, import them, assign them a role (character, object, decoration, power up, etc) and your game will get started. In addition you can make changes and check them in real time. If you are not a tech expert this platform is for you.

https://www.buildbox.com/