Do you want to be a video game maker but don’t know how to code?
Well today you have options – modern game engines have made it so that you can make
hit games, without knowing how to to write a single line code.
In this video we will review the best engines for creating great video games without having
to do any programming.
We’ll also show you the types of games that these engines have created in the past.
After watching this video you will know how engines allow you to create without coding,
and which is best for your specific development goals
We’ve seen indie developers use these engines to create their own games – with impressive
levels of success.
We’ve also heard from the Ask Gamedev community on their preferred engine choices with our
recent video on the best engines in 2018.
Click here to check that video out.
We are the Ask GameDev crew, aka The Unreal Slim Shadies, aka Git Shorty, and these are
the best engines that don’t require coding in 2018
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Before we get into naming the actual engines, let’s talk about some game development basics.
That way you can better understand why it is indeed possible to make games -and not
just basic games- great games, without knowing how to code.
Let’s start by thinking of games as building blocks.
Games are made up of building blocks or objects.
A game will have hundreds or even thousands of objects.
A game engine will display these objects, but also do up to three more things based
on the needs of the game designer: The engine will give life to these objects
by giving them attributes, and characteristics.
The engine will allow these objects to interact with one another.
And The engine will allow these objects to interact
with the user.
To illustrate this concept, let’s take a super basic example, like a platformer.
Let’s use our favourite mascot, Super Teal Robot, as an example.
If we look at the screen we can see 4 objects.
There is: Super Teal Robot
A bad guy (more specifically, a Purple goon from the Rainbow Robots)
The background And the floor
As we just mentioned, a game engine will (where needed by the game designer) give attributes
to objects, give them a set of rules on how they interact with each other, and how give
them a set of rules on how they interact with the player.
Let’s apply this concept on the four objects, one by one, and go from the most basic to
the most complex.
The background is the most basic.
Its job is just to be the background.
No physics, no interactions.
It's just there.
The floor has a physical attribute.
Objects that touch it need to be able to stand on it.
If it didn’t have this attribute, objects would fall right through.
The Bad Guy, like the floor, has a physical attribute.
When the bad guy touches the floor, he stops.
He also has some rules in place.
For example when we walks, a rule for him, is that he has to play his ‘walk’ animation.
He also has rules regarding his interaction with Super Teal Robot - like attacking him.
This might mean, playing a different animation when he is near Super Teal Robot, and also
modifying Super Teal Robot’s health, should his attack be successful.
Super Teal Robot is the most complicated of the four.
Like the bad guy, he also reacts to physics, one if his rules is also to play a ‘walk’
animation when he walks, and there is also a set of rules built in him related to his
interactions with other objects, like the bad guy.
He probably also has attributes like health, and ammunition, that are linked to their own
rules.
The most unique thing about him though is that the player controls him, so he has a
whole set of rules related to that.
For example, when the player presses the A button on their controller, that might fire
off a rule, like a ‘jump’ action for Super Teal Robot.
So as you can see, it’s all just a combination of objects, attributes, and rules.
If you understand these core concepts, you can understand how and why it’s possible
for an engine to require no code at all.
Because - what if an engine already had the freshly authored game code for telling objects
how to react in the situations above?
What if there were already built in scripts for things like platforming, running, jumping,
and fighting bad guys.
And what if you could control all of these interactions using a simple interface, and
drag & drop commands.
Well that’s exactly what’s possible today, with the engines that we’re going to talk
about in this video.
Essentially it works like this: Take your object, say Super Teal Robot
Find the rule you want, say ‘jump’ Drag that rule from the rule box, and drop
it onto Super Teal Robot Tweak the values to your taste, and now you’ve
given your character the ability to jump without having to write a line of code.
And with that, here are 3 engines that we recommend for making games without coding.
Please note, for this list we tried to focus on engines where you could create a game from
start to finish, without having to write script.
There are other great engines that beginners should check out like Godot, and RPG Maker,
however users of those engines may benefit from having some coding background.
This also isn’t to say you won’t be able to use an engine that requires coding.
It’s common for engines to have add-on scripts, that make it possible to script visually.
For example, for Unity, there’s an extension available in the Unity asset store called
playmaker that makes visual scripting possible.
The indie title, The First Tree, was actually made using Playmaker.
When it comes to add-ons though, there are a lot, and some may be better than others,
so its best to do your homework.
Now onto the list!
The first on the list is Construct 3.
If you want an engine that does exactly what we mentioned above, look no further than Construct
3.
With its drag and drop interface, and its library of built-in rules you can make a game
like the Super Teal Robot example in no time!
There are also great tutorials on YouTube for Construct 3.
In fact, one of our favourite YouTube channels, Gigantic, has a great tutorial where they
show you how to make a platforming game, step by step, using one of their asset packs, and
Construct 3.
If you don’t know where or how to begin, this is exactly where we recommend you start!
You can check out a link to their tutorials, here.
Construct3 has a free trial available, and licenses start at $99 a year for a personal
license.
Some Construct games include 8Bit Fiesta, Glokar, and Klang.
Next is fan-favourite, Gdevelop
GDevelop is an open-source game engine designed to be used by everyone - no programming skills
required.
It has a drag & drop interface, built-in events, and tons of tutorials.
When ready, you can export your games to iOS, Android, Mac, Linux, and even Facebook Messenger.
The best part of the Gdevelop is its price!
Gdevelop is an open-source project and is licensed under the MIT license, meaning you
can use it for absolutely no cost.
In terms of games made using Gdevelop, you can check out and even play Gdevelop-made
games right on their website’s showcase page (https://gdevelop-app.com/games-showcase/)
And last but not least, is the classic, GameMaker
GameMaker has been around for years and has developed a great community.
You can find an endless amount of tutorials on YouTube and you even buy books on GameMaker!
It’s drag & drop interface does exactly what we mentioned in the example, and only
if you choose to, you can do a few more things using their scripting language.
The latest version, GameMaker Studio 2, starts at $39 for a basic license, and goes all the
way up to $1500 for it’s “ultimate” edition.
A free trial is also available.
There are tons of GameMaker games - way too many hits to name, but recent and upcoming
GameMaker-made games include Nidhogg II, Way of the Passive Fist, and Wandersong.
And there you have it, 3 engines, where you can drag and drop your way to a hit game!
Let us know what you think is the best no-code game engine in the poll above.
Thanks for watching we are Ask Gamedev and we make videos on games, the game industry,
and more!
Let your fellow viewers know what engines we missed in the comments!
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