Free 2d Video Game Design Software

With free game making software available online, anyone can take the conquest to design the tool for ultimate entertainment.

We all love games, but have we ever thought what goes behind the scenes in designing our most favourite titles? It is well known that coding for games is one of the hardest things to learn in a lifetime.

Thankfully, technology has made it possible even for a layman to design their own video games in shortest time possible.

If you are interested to get into the know-how of the world of games, there are some sophisticated game development software using which you can make simple yet fun gaming platforms.

A plus point with game making software for beginners is that they don't require a prior knowledge of coding. With free game making software available online, anyone can take the conquest to design the tool for ultimate entertainment.

If you are a gaming enthusiast who wants to turn into a game developer too, here is a list of free game making software for beginners to design games without coding.

Best Free Game Development Software for Beginners (Free Trial)

Unity Game Maker – #1 Free Game Making Software
GameSalad – Game Development Software
GameMaker – Game Development Software
RPG Maker – Video Game Making Software
GDevelop – Open Source Software for Game Design
Unreal Engine – Open Source Game Making Software
Adventure Game Studio – For Beginners
CRYENGINE – Open Source Game Making Software for Beginners
Buildbox – Software for Game Design by Professionals
Stencyl – Software for 2D Game Makers
Audacity – For Audio Quality
Visual Studio – Software for 3D Animation
Krita – For Drawing and Painting
Trello – For Managing Team Data

Unity Game Maker – (Free and Paid)

One of the Best Free Game Making Software

Unity is one of the best game making software as it supports creation of games in 2D as well as 3D. Unity free game making software works on the component-entity model.

This means that in a game there are certain objects and you can add certain components to these objects. These components then define the behaviour of objects present in the game.

How Unity Game Maker Helps Design Your Own Video Game

Online tutorials
Due to its popularity as a game making software for beginners, different video tutorials are available for you to get accustomed to Unity Game Maker's working.
Biggest export support
Unity has the biggest export support among top games developers. It provides compatibility with windows, MacOS, Linux and even gaming consoles such as Xbox one and PlayStation 4.
High definition settings
Game developers can access high definition models and settings while working with Unity Game Maker.
Availability of asset store
Unity Game Maker has an asset store where developers can access resources such as enhanced network entity and much more.
Modern Experiences
Unity provides a unique experience of creating augmented reality-based and virtual reality-based games.

Unity Game Maker Pricing:

Unity game making software is suitable for students and beginners. Unity Game Maker free version with limited features and paid subscription plans, whose details are as follows:

Types of plan	Price
Plus	₹ 3022.62/ month
Pro	₹ 11334.83/ month
Enterprise	₹ 15113.10/ month

Level: Beginners, Intermediate & Advanced

Unity requires a functional knowledge of C#, but the availability of tutorial videos makes it suitable for beginners

Platforms Supported

Game making software for Windows
MacOS game making software
Software for iOS game development
Gaming Android development software
Linux game making software

Types of Games You Can Create: Unity is quite popular for creating 3D games, fantasy games and VR or AR-based games.

GameSalad – (Free Trial)

Most Popular Game Development Software

GameSalad software for game design is used for iOS as well Android platforms. GameSalad has largely been used to create interactive games that teach fundamentals of programming language.

Several games have been developed using GameSalad game making software for beginners such as Echoes of Aeons, Booger Boing, Beyond Solar Trailer, etc. have ranked among the top 100 games in the PlayStore.

How GameSalad Helps Design Your Own Video Games

Presence of Table and Arrays
GameSalad game making software stacks a large amount of data such as character action and items into tables and arrays which the user can read or write onto.
Earn money by designing games
Developers can utilize features such as in-app purchases and ads to generate money from their designed games.
Different subscription levels to publish games
GameSalad game making software offers 2 subscription levels which allow you to publish your games on a suitable platform like GameSalad Arcade, HTML 5, Android and iOS.
Education in addition to entertainment
Games designed using GameSalad can be used for educational purposes especially for computer programming. You can learn Event Driven Programming, which is often used in apps like graphic user interface applications and gaming apps.
Rights reside with the developer
Once you have developed a game using GameSalad game making software for beginners, you have the full rights and ownership of the product.

Pricing:

Type of Plan	Pricing
Basic Plan	₹ 1435.74/ month
Home education plan	₹ 981.60/ month
Pro plan	₹ 2191.40/ month

Level: GameSalad is suitable for beginners. The level keeps on increasing as the user keeps on learning new concepts.

Platforms Supported

GameSalad Arcade
Software for iOS game development
Amazon Kindle Fire
Mac OS game development

Types of Games you can create: Poker games, 3D games, 2D games, educational games, etc.

Suggested Read: 20 Free Gaming Websites to Download Games for PC, Android & iOS

GameMaker Studio 2 – (Free and Paid)

One of the Best Game Development Software for Beginners

GameMaker Studio 2 software for game making allows developers with no coding knowledge to create games using its drag and drop feature.

GameMaker free game making software runs on a language like the C programming language – GameMaker's in-built language. GML language of this game making software helps non-coders execute their ideas into reality in minutes.

How GameMaker Studio 2 Helps Design Your Own Video Game

Multiple platform support
After developers have created their game using GameMaker Android game making software, they can publish it across different platforms without the need for any modification.
Regular Updates
GameMaker free game making software keeps releasing upgraded versions of its software with add on utilities to make entertaining games.
Robust inbuilt features
GameMaker provides features such as addition of in-app purchases, connectivity with third party apps and more.
Analytics
Using GameMaker, users can keep a real-time track of how many players are currently using their game.
Inbuilt editing tools
GameMaker has some of the best editing tools as compared to other top games developers. These editing tools let you add funky images and animations to your games.

Pricing:

GameMaker free game making software's free trial can be used for 30 days. Its Standard version is available for free. Other GameMaker versions are:

Type of Plans	Pricing
Creator	₹ 2191.40
Developer	₹ 5591.85
Console	₹ 44961.47

Level: Beginners can design simple games with GameMaker Studio 2. For complex games, functional knowledge of C would be required.

Platforms Supported

Windows game making software
MacOS game development software
Software for iOS game making
Android game development
Linux game creation

Types of Games You Can Create: Poker game development, 3D games, 2D games, sports games, rummy games, etc.

RPG Maker – (Free Trial)

Video Game Making Software

A potent game making software for beginners, RPG stands for role-playing games. As the name suggests this video game making software is most useful for designing fantasy and action games.

RPG game making software comes with preloaded characters, items, tile sets, etc. Users can even define their own graphics and add to the existing repository of characters and items.

How RPG Maker Helps Design Your Own Video Game

Users can sell games designed using RPG software
Users can sell their designed games either freely or commercially. They can even use their additional music or graphics.
Ability to use photoshop
RPG Maker game making software for PC lets you use additional tools such as Photoshop to modify the created games.
Enhanced graphic functionality
In RPG Maker, developers do not need to set graphics. They are set automatically by the program itself.
Better customization
RPG Maker lets developers add music and images to create the game of their choice.
Community of developers
There exist communities of RPG Maker game developers, which allows the sharing of resources between gamers.

Pricing:

RPG game making software offers a trial version for gamers to get started with their dream of poker development and more.

Details of paid subscription are as follows:

Type of Plan	Pricing
RPG Maker MV	₹ 6044.48
RPG Maker VX Ace	₹ 5288.83
RPG Maker VX	₹ 4533.17
RPG Maker XP	₹ 1888.38
RPG Maker 2003	₹ 1510.55

Level: Beginners can design simple games. For professional developers, the knowledge of Ruby language is required.

Platforms Supported:

Game making software for Windows
Mac OS game creation
Android game development
iOS
HTML 5

Types of games: Fantasy games, action games, role-playing games, 3D games, 2D games, etc.

GDevelop – Free and Open Source Software for Game Design

GDevelop is one of the best open source game making software and provides several utilities for new as well as professional game designers. GDevelop is suitable for those developers that can't dedicate too much time to design a game but don't want to compromise on the creativity aspect.

How GDevelop Helps Design Your Own Video Game

Easy to use
GDevelop open source and free game making software for iOS and android game development can be used to add objects to different scenes of a game with a simple click.
Drawing shapes
GDevelop game development software can be used to add custom shapes to a game scene.
Advance utilities
GDevelop has the option of profiling and game debugging.
Effective tools for game design
GDevelop has effective tools such as Piskel and Jfxe for better designing and sound quality.
Better functioning
This game development software has RPG inspired maps for improving functionality.

Pricing: It's free and open source game design software that is easy to download.

Level: This game design software is suitable for beginners and requires no specific coding knowledge.

Platforms Supported:

Windows game making software
Mac OS game development
Android game development software
iOS game creation
Game making software for Linux

Types of games: 3D games, 2D games, sports games, poker games, adventure games, etc.

Unreal Engine 4 – Free and Open Source Game Making Software

Unreal Engine 4 game development software is one of the most professional game making software for PC available in the market. Unreal Engine lets you develop high-intensity games in quick fashion even for users who have limited or no understanding of coding.

Unreal Engine 4 offers a faster rendering process and potent editing tools to provide a real-life look to characters used in the games. Unreal Engine game development software enables users to make AI-enabled games and give the characters a certain level of consciousness.

How Unreal Engine Helps Design Your Own Video Game

Best in class features
Unreal engine game development software comes loaded with features such as game previews, debugging and reloading.
Hand in hand artificial intelligence
Unreal Engine makes use of artificial intelligence to provide features such as post processing effects, etc.
Makes use of blueprint system
Unreal Engine software for game design works on the blueprint system, which makes it easy even for beginners to develop games. Professionals can create complex games and even design their own blueprints.
Extensive learning material
Unreal Engine provides extensive tutorials for beginners to understand game development.
Publishing of games on multiple platforms
With free game development software such as Unreal Engine, gamers can publish their games on several platforms such as Android and iOS app store, PlayStation 4 and Xbox one.

Pricing: Unreal Engine 4 is a free & open source game making software that is easy to download.

Level: This game development software is suitable for beginners as well as professional developers.

Platforms Supported:

Windows game creation
Mac OS game development
Android game making
Software for iOS game development
Linux game making software

Types of games: Adventure games, sport games, rummy games, 3D games, 2D games, etc.

Adventure Game Studio – Free and Open Source

One of the Most Downloaded Game Development Software for Beginners

Adventure Game Studio is an open source and one of the top game developers for action games such as point and click games. Adventure Game Studio free game making software makes use of C programming language to design games with a classic look and even high-resolution adventure games.

How Adventure Game Studio Helps Design Your Own Video Game

All in one platform
Adventure Game Studio free game making software is an all in one platform for writing game scripts, testing your game, etc.
Dedicated resources
Adventure Game Studio game development software has dedicated backgrounds, plugins, items, etc. for game designing.
Ability to use different fonts
Don't like the current font of your game design? You can choose from several other fonts offered by Adventure Game Studio.
Develop the engine itself
Adventure Game Studio offers game making enthusiasts the option of developing future versions of this free game making software.
Multiplatform support
Adventure Game Studio offers multiplatform support so that developers can publish their games on different platforms.

Pricing:

Adventure Game Studio can be downloaded free of cost as it is an open source software.

Level: Adventure game studio can be the appropriate starting point for a beginner to learn game designing.

Platforms Supported:

Game making software for Windows
Mac OS
Android
iOS
Game making software for Linux

Types of games: Sports games, Fantasy games, poker game development, rummy games, 3D games, 2D games etc.

CRYENGINE – Free and Royalty Based

Royalty Based Game Making Software for Beginners

CRYENGINE provides world class gaming experience for all developers irrespective of their budget constraints. CRYENGINE has ample of tutorials and game development documentation for beginners to refer to.

The game creation software has a dedicated community which provides support and utilities to game developers.

How Does CRYENGINE Help Design Your Own Video Games

Visuals
CRYENGINE software for game design offers breath-taking visuals for development of 2D and 3D games.
Realistic Animations
Choose from a repository of animated characters to make your games more engaging.
Multiplatform
This website game maker allows the export of developed games across different platforms.
Modern designing of games
CRYENGINE utilizes the laws of Physics while designing movements of characters to give them a realistic touch.
Preview your game's performance
Before the game is finally released, you can preview the gameplay to spot any gaps or errors.

Pricing

CRYENGINE free game making software works on the royalty basis and charges 5 percent royalty on more than $5000 annual revenue.

Difficulty Level for Users: Apart from being suitable for beginners, CRYENGINE is used by Crytek for developing games such as Far Cry, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 etc.

Platforms supported

Windows free game development software
Linux free game development software

Types of games you can create: Action games, arcade games, first person shooting games etc.

Suggested Read: App Development Software |Application Performance Management Software | Animation Software

Buildbox – Free and Paid

One of the Best Software for Game Design by Professionals

Buildbox software makes the development of games acutely simpler for beginners due to a huge library of characters and other assets. With this free game development software, you can preview your game in almost real time. Buildbox works equally well on windows and macOS devices.

How Does Buildbox Help Design Your Own Video Games

Monetizing your games
You can start earning revenues from your apps by using plug and play ad monetization option.
Drag and drop game components
Easily construct games by using drag and drop feature which works on an inbuilt logic.
Game wizard
Buildbox provides a helpful guide at the start of each project for you to make better 2D and 3D games.
Multiplatform publishing
Once your game is ready, you can publish it on steam, windows, iOS and android app stores.
Speed up game development
Buildbox offers pre animated assets to speed up game development processes.

Pricing: Buildbox has a free version available. The price of its Plus plan starts from ₹1467.50 per month. The plus plan provides features such as mobile export and adding the option of in-app purchases.

Difficulty Level for Users: Due to its interactive interface, Buildbox is suitable for novice game developers and requires no prior knowledge of any programming or scripting language.

Platforms supported

Windows game creation software
Website game maker for macOS

Types of games: 2D and 3D games such as The Line Zen and Color Switch

Stencyl – Paid

One of the Best Software for 2D Game Makers

Stencyl website game maker is extensively used by beginners to design 2D games for mobile, tablets, desktop and web. With stencyl game creation software, you can design intuitive workflows which speed up the game development process.

Although stencyl requires no prior knowledge of coding, experienced developers can write their own custom classes.

How Does Stencyl Help Design Your Own Video Games

Drag and drop interface
You can make use of Stencyl drag and drop interface to place pre-programmed blocks.
Powerful editing and designing tools
Make use of selection, zoom in and grid snapping tools etc. to make an interactive background for your games.
Embedding Ads
Developers can embed ads in their games for earning revenue. They can make use of iAds and AdMob for mobile version and Newgrounds for the web version.
Publish anywhere
You can publish your games on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux and HTML app platforms.
Quick development of characters
You can create new characters or use the one present in Stencyl's library. You can alter their physical appearance and behaviour.

Pricing: Stencyl software for game design is a free game development software.

The paid plan starts from ₹7288.69 per year. It offers features such as publishing on steam and access to customer forums

Difficulty Level for Users: Stencyl website game maker has been designed for beginners. It can also be used by professional game developers

Platforms supported

Windows game making software for beginners
macOS software for game design
Android game creation software
iOS website game maker
Linux free game development software

Type of games: Stencyl is suitable for designing 2D games such as super dangerous dungeons, duke dashington etc.

Popular Free Tools for Game Making

Enlisted here are the best free tools to help you create games with impressive video and sound quality. Also, you can manage different projects for game development in a hassle-free manner.

Audacity for Sound Design (Free and Open Source Audio Software)

Multi-Track Editor to Improve your Game's Audio Quality

Audacity is a multi-track audio editor used for not just recording audios but also performing post-processing audio tasks like fading in/out, trimming and normalization.

The software for sound design helps manage unattended recordings and schedule the timing of such recordings. Adjustment of audio pitch, vocal solutions and noise reduction are the other sound designing capabilities of Audacity.

How does Audacity help with sound designing:

Digitize recordings: Digitizing recordings from other media is as easy as recording live audios through a mixer/microphone.
Dithering & resampling: Dithering and resampling modules available for converting sound quality formats
Audio unit plugins: Inbuilt sound design plugins for modifying sound effects
Sequential audio: Sequential redo/undo options available for editing the sound.
Spectogram view: The feature helps visualize and select the right sound frequencies

Audacity for Sound Design Pricing

Audacity is a free and open-source software for sound design.

Level:Audacity for sound design is a beginner friendly software with an intuitive user interface. The software is best for creating professional quality sound effects by students, young professionals and established veterans like soloists or orchestra leads.

Platforms Supported: Windows 10, Linux and mac OS 10.7- mac OS 11.2

Visual Studio (Free and Open Source)

Best for Real-Time 3D Character Animation

Animation or animated transitions, all is easy with Visual Studio for 3D animation. The software is best for visualizing the spatial structure of animations.

It also offers a keyboard activated UI for editor along with various auto hide tools. Visual Studio offers regular updates along with options for pursuing seamless collaboration.

How does Visual studio help with 3D animation:

Managing libraries: You can manage extensions and external libraries and handle them easily without having to leave Visual Studio in the middle of work.
Sync settings: Sync the setting with a Microsoft account or GitHub across PCs or devices
User-controlled movements: The feature is critical for manipulating an object and its positioning
Sequence: Option for slideshow sequence and flipping through multiple pictures
Simulate for dimensionality: Simulate for dimensionality and physicality, and illustrate the objects in Visual Studio

Visual Studio for 3D Animation Pricing

The software offers a free trial version. Paid plans are:

Professional ₹ 97765
Enterprise ₹ 489151
Test Professional ₹ 176857
Professional 2019 ₹ 40688

Level: Visual Studio with its integrated development environment is easy to use. However, there are certain plugins that some may find a bit complicated to use. Beginners and professionals can go through the available tutorials for additional support.

Platforms Supported: Windows and macOS

Krita (Free and Open Source)

Best for Drawing and Painting Programs

Krita for 2D animation is best for doing frame by frame animations with multiple layers and different playback speeds. The software offers instant previewing, frame dropping along simplified merging options.

Filtering layers using colours, grouping multiple layers or doing colour coding, all is perfectly simple with Krita for 2D animation.

How does Krita help with 2D animation:

Onion skinning: Give smooth finish to animations by checking the overlay of both next and previous frames with this feature
Importing image sequences:Import automatically images as animated layers through naming schemes
Export image sequences:Exporting an entire animation as an image sequence is easy with Krita
New dockers:Animation and timeline docker for animation workspaces
Sprinter small exporter: Create images and export them into the software for developing games
Frame dropping:Use the feature to check animation speed in real time

Krita for 2D Animation Pricing: Krita is a free and open source animation software.

Level:Krita offers a smooth learning curve, something that makes the application beginner friendly. Also, available are a good number of video tutorials by Krita in case you want instruction material or some guidance.

Platforms Supported: Windows 8.0 or higher, Linux, OSX 10.12, Windows, macOS, Android and Chrome OS

Trello (Free and Paid)

Best for Organizing Game Development Projects

Organise your game development projects into multiple boards with Trello. The list making platform helps prepare task boards using multiple columns so that you can classify the status of your projects into to do, ongoing/in-progress and done.

Trello for Organizing Game Development Projects

The work management and collaboration tool offers a visual framework for organizing effectively gaming projects and work. With Trello, you get access to cards, lists and boards for getting project overviews.

How does Trello help with organizing game development projects:

Keyboard shortcuts: Several keyboard shortcuts comes with Trello to help you save your time
Advanced checklists: This checklist helps prepare project boards with details of tasks
Butler animations: The feature offers command keys to automate routine and repetitive tasks
Dark mode: Use the dark mode to give your eyes some relief from constant screen staring

Trello Pricing: Trello has a free version available. There also exists a free trial version of its paid business plan. Price ranges of the two paid plans are:

Business ₹ 732
Enterprise On request

Level: Trello is both popular and super easy to use.

Platforms Supported: Windows, Mac, Android and iOS

Ready to Make a Game Without Coding? Try These Free Software for Making Games

If you have been thinking about developing your own game, you can do so by choosing some of the best game designing software from our list. All the above-mentioned game development software come with a free trial so you can try and test them as per your needs and buy a paid subscription only if the software suits you.