Going into game/app development for mobiles I wanted to see what the different choices are out there. And there are choices...
Googling and searching the web I found probably hundreds (well, it felt that way anyway...and it probably was!) of different solutions. Most however seem to be the same in the "back", but having different "fronts"/choices. I settled for doing a "quick-small-n-dirty" analysis of 38 of these. This is not a "real" comparison, I haven't tried any of these yet.
tl;dr Go to the matrix
The Matrix
I read what I could find on the pages, checked the docs, tutorials, forums, examples... Also googled for other experiences for the particular game engine/framework/tool. I have NOT installed and tried each one of these. That will be the next step, picking out a handfull that seem to match my requirements the best.
This was/is a new world to me. I have some experience in building simple (native) Android apps, but that was just playing around. Mostly I develop enterprise solutions using the web. I have also built a couple of games using JS/HTML, C++ (DirectX) and Java. The choice to learn both Android and iOS as well as I would have to, to create games, is not a choice for me at this moment.
I have concentrated on the following requirements, that are important to me (you might have others):
- build for Android and iOS
- in-app-purchase is possible (both iOS and Android)
- seems to be an active platform
- game-centric, as much help for the dev as possible
- use as much of the same base-code for all platforms as possible
- 2D games with OK performance, possibly with a physics engine (like Box2D eg)
- indie dev, not too expensive. I will not make a living on this...
I have not looked at the following:
- Output app (eg. native, web, ...). It does not matter to me as long as it has OK end-performance on the client
- mobile hardware API-support (eg. supports GPS, accelerometer etc), I will not make use off these at a great extent for the moment (not for the first game anyway)
- if there is support for other "output formats" (Windows, Mac etc)
I would have loved a tool where I could build games using JavaScript/HTML5 and/or C# and get a fast, native output app without the need to own a Mac-computer, with instant deploy and test to my dev-client, including on-device debugging. Free and open source would be nice too. :) Well, I can always dream...
Getting a huge table nicely in HTML isn't easy...so here is an image (click it to see the original size). And a link to the actual matrix using Google Docs/Spreadsheet. An yes,
I have probably missed some thing. And I might not have found everything I was looking for in the docs/forums. So please do
point this out in the comments below. I do not guarentee any of this data. :)
Also, a Mac is needed for most of these if you want to deploy to iOS Apple Store.
Conclusions: there is no one tool that solves all your requirements. Depending on what you want to create, use different tools. (As always, I guess) No tool is perfect.
I have chosen the following eigth to go forth with (i.e. test the to see how we get along). Yes, I know...I just couldn't make up my mind! They all seem great, on paper. =)
- Marmalade (popular way to build games it seems)
- AppEasy (Dr Mop has built upon Marmalade to make it easier to build games using it)
- IwGames (Dr Mop really seems to be into Marmalade and game dev! Game engine on top of Marmalade.)
- (AGK App Game Kit v2) Does not exist yet, will check it out when it does, seems great though
- Yoyo Games Studio (GameMaker: Studio) (speedy game development, write code if you want to, or not? Don't. Bit pricy for me...but could be worth it.)
- Game Closure (JavaScript with native speed? Sounds too good. :) )
- Gideros (they seem to have everything covered, feels mature, and a nice community)
- Loom (really nice workflow, fast testing on device, but still quite new)
- Cocos 2D-X (seems to be used a lot, most popular in the world according to them)