# GameMaker Reviews **Vendor:** YoYo Games **Category:** [Game Engine Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/game-engine) **Average Rating:** 4.1/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 32 ## About GameMaker GameMaker allows you to create cross platform games and functional prototypes with managed workflow, quality, multi format export, performance and more. ## GameMaker Reviews ### 1. Powerful tool for 2d game development **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Prajwal N. | Unity Developer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 31, 2023 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** It is easy to use and has minimal UI. It offers many excellent features which are helpful in game development. It has an active community that provides excellent support. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** To develop the game in gamemaker, we must learn its scripting language, which is quite complicated. It only develops 2d games and not 3d games. Import and export of files take time. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are developing various 2d games which are interactive. It also helps in understanding the concepts and mechanics of a game. It is very cost-effective and provides lots of features. ### 2. Game Engine Studio **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Himanshu S. | Unity Developer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 31, 2022 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** Game Maker Studio is extremely easy to learn as it required no programing language so you can make games in it easily. It provides developer access to more fine-grained control over the logic. The assets are cool. It is a multiplayer support platform. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** It contains no GUI effects. The scripting language used in it is quite limited. exporting to the game in some other formats required charges. The compiler to remove bugs is a little bit not that good. the editor is a little not efficient. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** As a Unity developer, I use it to make simple characters for my games. which does not require any kind of coding part. I use its assets to make my game realistic. probably I prefer doing some animation for my characters in it. ### 3. Excellent **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Diorling M. | DISEÑADOR GRAFICO DE PAGINA WEB, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 02, 2021 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** The drag and drop system facilitates the development of simple games, or you can create the outline of a game in a short time, to then develop it further. You can even make a game without knowing practically anything about programming, and this is very good for beginners as it allows them to understand the basics before moving on to the introduction of code. It has its own programming language (GML) which is very easy to learn since it is very similar to other languages, so the learning curve is quite low. The interface is very intuitive. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** I think it's perfect for platform games, but if you want something more advanced, a more professional level, there are other software options that might serve you better. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** I recommend it if you are venturing into the world of video game programming and if you love platform games. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have been venturing into platform game creation and so far I am very happy with Game Maker. It was my first software, with which I learned and continue to learn, and it is allowing me to scale to other higher-level software. ### 4. Makes developing game easy **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Subrata S. | VR Developer , Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 10, 2021 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** Gamemaker is an excellent piece of software that not only helps in making development easy but also quick. It has a lot of tools and technology and overall, the simple coding method it provides also makes it very easy to use. Creating 2d games using game maker is a piece of cake. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** The only thing that game maker lacks is simplicity and publicity, even though it is a great software not many people know about it and has fewer users and this makes the community weak and hard to find help. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have used many competitor game engines to design games, and some have been more useful. Still, the simplicity of game maker is fantastic and is a great application, specially for someone who is a beginner in game development. ### 5. Creating with GameMaker **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Roger Alexander E. | Profesor, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 07, 2021 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** It is a very comprehensive tool for creating many types of games and applications, offering great adaptability when one knows a programming language. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** Some tutorials are focused on block programming similar to the first versions, with text programming being much more convenient and practical when using many variables. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** It is a very interesting application for those who are starting in the world of game programming. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** It has allowed me to develop simple programs for my classes, very easy-to-program games, and to facilitate learning and motivation with the students. GameMaker has a great support community. ### 6. Most practical 2d game engine for rapid prototyping **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Games | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 25, 2021 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** The ease of use and its api especially the available object events built in **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** The lack of services for servers to test out large scale networking **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** While it attracts a lot of beginners because of its low learning curve, that doesn't mean advance users are better off in other game engines **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** creation of 2d mobile games ### 7. Easy simple **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Accounting | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 09, 2019 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** I started using game maker when I was 14 and for me in that age game maker was easy and simple to use. For example I created a zombie game it took me around a week to make it, and now I can make a full game in 2 days or less, you will have fun using it **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** What I didn’t like when I started using Game maker was that it has a limited features in comparison with other game making platforms, and the high subscription prices, also I think they should improve the graphics of the program, and if they can provide more tools to reduce the amount of coding **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am not using Game maker to solve problems in my work because I am an accountant. However, I use it as a hobby. You can make games and sell them ### 8. Good entry point, strong community with a lot of resources. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Andrew M. | Game Designer, Design, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 08, 2019 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** Game Maker is deceptively simple to start using, and it has powerful features under the hood. I use game maker for programming complex games with many objects, scripts, and interactions, but it's simple to get started using as well. Perfect for the beginner and extensible for the pro. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** Some pieces of game maker are a little inconsistent or poorly documented. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** There is a big community, so Game Maker is ideal for the beginning game maker. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** I've been able to add a new revenue stream to my company with Game Maker. ### 9. Review og Game maker **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Games | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 02, 2019 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** The many tutorials and easy to learn interface. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** Limited image editing tools although an outside software can be used to supliment. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** It is a comprehensive game making software that has detailed in software tutorials and an expansive selection of tools for different areas of game making. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is the software myself and 3 others are using to create games from scratch. ### 10. Perfect gaming creation **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Accounting | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 09, 2019 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** User friendly, and its clear and easy to use. It help to manage all the resources which we want to put in one game **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** It has limited scope as it handles only 2D applications, further its notes are not updated to see updated solutions. Further as it uses GML which is not a common language and new users find difficulty in understanding it. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** work toward updating its capability toward 3D applications **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** to create game prototype ### 11. Good introduction to easy game design **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Program Development | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 28, 2019 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** Gamemaker requires absolutely no coding knowledge, and allows you to create your first game within a few hours of work. It comes preloaded with some examples, but can be expanded fast. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** Over the years, the pricing of game maker has gone up quite steeply. It does not properly support creation of 3d-games, which have become the norm. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** Download the trial first; it will allow you to determine whether or not gamemaker is for you, before shelling out quite a bit of money. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Game maker gave me a good introduction to programming. It starts visually, which promotes logical thinking. ### 12. excellent option for those people who want to enter the world of video game development! **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jesús R. | Diseñador Gráfico, Graphic Design, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 20, 2018 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** let's talk about gamemaker is an excellent option for those who want to enter the world of video game development without having extensive knowledge in programming. It has an intuitive and quick understanding interfaces, offering its users the ability to create a game in a very short time and without programming directly, through its pre-established variables. It also has complex leguanjes for users with more experienced programming knowledge with a wide range of variables and options. You can Create any type of video game with Game maker since it has external tools to take better advantage and expand the use of Game maker (only in the paid version) Its interface is simple, it also has a version for Mac. It is easier to understand how the mechanics of some games work and how certain variables act in our experience as a player from the appearance of buttons and buttons to gravity, points of life and special items. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** is not available in several languages it lacks a clear indicator when detecting an error, that is, it indicates the error; but for inexperienced users it is difficult to determine where said error is located. Is slow compared to professional programming languages ​​(Unity in example), only supports 3D lowpoly or quite simple, without functions like Shaders and leaves Watermark in your games (Free Version only) **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** It would be good to get more guides, tutorials and content that helps new users to get into the program and advance within it; guides for beginners, advanced and already experts in the program by the same developers. I have little knowledge, but I have been able to create small platform games. I recommend it! **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** thanks to game maker, I have developed 2 platform games, so I can learn more about the program, although I would like to learn more about it and create more complex games, but it is very complicated to get tutorials. ### 13. It’s fun to use **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Games | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 02, 2019 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** You can make stupid games just for fun real quick **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** I don’t like how u can’t go super in depth like you can make simple things only but still fun to use **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** It makes me able to work out little fun ideas for bigger games ### 14. An excellent start for game developers **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Marcelo d. | Senior Visual Designer, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 28, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** GameMaker is easy to learn and adopts a visual interface for including game elements. It has a long history and it is a very stable platform for game development. Despite being considered a "beginner's" platform, there are several awarded professionally crafted games completely built in GameMaker, which confirm its maturity as game development solution. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** The need for learning a new script language, Game Maker Language (GML), can be frustrating for people who already know a more robust programming language. However, GML is pretty simple and, for its ends, very capable of providing everything for game development. The main problem with GameMaker, however, is it charges for additional modules (which allow to export the game for different platforms) and the whole package becomes expensive very quickly. Finally, GameMaker is not directed to 3D game design and it can be a limiting factor for some users. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** One important consideration is the need to use GML, which, despite being a language relatively easy to pick up, still demands some practice. Other consideration is the number of platforms you are developing your game for. If you intent to develop for several platforms, GameMaker will become expensive. In those cases, it is suggested evaluating Construct2 and Unity3D too. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** I teach game design for undergraduates and it is very difficult for students to implement game prototypes in typical programming languages (C++, C#, etc.). GameMaker allows me and my students to dive in to build small game mechanics at once, which is great for learning the basics of the area. ### 15. Easy to use IDE **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brandon C. | Owner, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 28, 2017 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** I like the support the community and staff provide. Provides all the essential tools and knowledge to get started in making games. The layout makes things easy to follow and pickup fairly quickly. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** I don't particularly like the programming language used. Its exclusive and will not help you with much other programming basics and fundamentals. The drag and drop method hinders people instead of helps them learn how to actually make a game. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** For beginning developers I highly recommend using this product before jumping into Unity or Python. Helps get all the basic terms and concepts required to make a game. Shows the steps involved and how much work and effort is needed. Free trial to make sure its actually something you want to pursue in the future as a career. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** GameMaker is what got me started with game making and not just programming simple apps. It is almost impossible not to learn if you actually apply yourself. Made me want to push myself more and motivated me to actually learn and pursue my passion. ### 16. Expensive to start, but good software **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Briana D. | Props Manager, Higher Education, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 09, 2018 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** This software is robust. It has both drag-and-drop and programming language capabilities. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** Some of the licenses have moved to a yearly model. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** Using this software is simple enough, so at least try the free trial version. If you are doing only Windows-based products, The $99 version will work. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am both finding ways to make apps and games using the software, ### 17. I love it. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Design | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 24, 2017 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** It is incredibly easy to learn. It requires almost no programming knowledge which means that those without the technical experience, such as designers or artists, can get create their projects without the help of a programmer. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** The cost for this tool is hindering for indie developers who have little money to work with. The GUI must be hard-coded, leaving a lot of tricky calculations and jumping through hoops to accommodate different devices and displays; it's probably the least developed and hardest thing about GMS2 compared to comparable engines Андрей Кашников **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** The programming is easy and can be picked up by anybody really and the power you can put into some of your games are great some amazing titles on the gamemaker showcase at the moment. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Well made a lot of games in the software for personal use, it is easy to use and a great little engine to start with as some of the bigger engines can seem very hard to understand. ### 18. I have used GameMaker for personal and academic use since 2008 **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Bryan K. | Junior Software Engineer, Entertainment, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 28, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** GameMaker is a simple game creation software that allows young students to better understand game development. It is also useful for creating 2D games and recently has allowed for multi platform development. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** GameMaker was originally made with education in mind sow while it excels in teaching game development it lacks in standard features for a modern game engine. There are a lot of quirks with GameMaker that can sometimes make it unusable for certain projects. Organization is very difficult with GameMaker and as such larger projects become more difficult. GameMaker is also not object oriented and its scripting language is interpreted, which makes performance pretty slow. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** If you are considering learning game development or programming I would definitely use GameMaker. It is an awesome tool to have fun and play around with while being able to learn quickly. This is the perfect game engine for creating ideas quickly and for small teams. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** GameMaker has allowed me to teach core game concepts to high schoolers and has allowed me to make small 2D game of my own. It can be an awesome tool for quick iteration required in the school setting and allows for quality games despite that quick iteration time. ### 19. Wanna make games? Game Maker is a good choice for beginners. **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brandon M. | Founder, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 03, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** Being aimed at beginners Game Maker is much easier to pick up on than other engines such as Unity. Instead of having to learn a more difficult language such as C#, Game Maker has it's own programming language tooled towards beginners, which is used exclusively with Game Maker. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** While Game Maker may be aimed at beginners, that is also a drawback as you won't be making vastly complex games, or 3D games with Game Maker. Game Maker is actually solely aimed at making two dimensional games. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** There are several books available that teach Game Maker. I suggest you grab one and experiment. Don't try to start off with something complicated otherwise you will end up bogging yourself down. Make something simple. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Quickly prototyping games and ideas using Game Maker is possible, whereas such a feat would take MUCH longer using the more robust engines available. ### 20. GameMaker Review **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Maxim L. | Interactive Software Developer, Media Production, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 09, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** GameMaker is a great tool for getting into Game Development. Anyone that has no programming experience can learn the basics of game development and make create games using Game Makers logic blocks and environment builder. Game Maker also has the flexibility for adding custom scripting for people who want more flexibility with their games. I Started using this as my first game engine and was very happy that I was quickly able to create my first game! **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** Game Maker definitely serves its purpose as a Game Development tool and many awesome games have been built using this tool. I am more of a Unity Developer and prefer writing C# code which could potentially make me biased but I think Game Maker is one of the best starting Game Development platforms out there. Another alternative to RPGMaker is RPG maker but I have never used that. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** For sure use Game Maker if you want to create 2D games or any game that does not require a lot of custom scripting or engineering work. I first learned Game Maker at a class at my university as an intro to game development and It was very fun to work with and see other students projects because even though Game Maker is seen as a beginner tool people have created really cool and innovative (AND FUN) games with Game Maker. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Game Development. Game Maker's benefits are that it is easy to use for people who do not have any programming knowledge. ### 21. Simple 2D Game Developing Tool **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jason C. | Independent Designer and Developer, Computer Software, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 23, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** GameMaker is a simplistic game engine that is great for fast prototypes and 2D games. Events such as collisions, sound, life, and timers are built-in using easily identifiable visual elements. Assets are imported and classified into predetermined categories. Level creation is intuitive where you drag sprites into a grid-aligned space. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** While the readily generated events and triggers are straightforward, GameMaker's own scripting system is tedious to use and the debugger lacks cohesion. When updating from GameMaker 8 to GameMaker Studio, many functions became obsolete and the engine simply identifies them as unknown or unidentifiable. This makes rewriting script for new updates a nightmare where you are unable to tell what the obsolete functions are originally. The pricing also adds up quickly when you need to export the game in other platforms such as android, ios, and html5. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** If you are looking to release your game in multiple platforms, consider other game engines. If you are a beginner at scripting and do not want to delve into C#, C++, or Java, GameMaker is a good choice. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** For small 2D projects, I need a platform that can quickly place assets in game and test simple functionalities. However, GameMaker does not have free options for importing to other platforms than Windows. Therefore, combined with it's limitations, I stopped using GameMaker after completing my small prototype and moved onto other tools. For the audience GameMaker targets, it does not make sense to charge what it does in the current market of multi-platform game engines. ### 22. Great For Making Indie Games **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Erik D. | Graphic Designer, Graphic Design, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 20, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** I enjoy how simple the program is to use as well as how versatile it is. Sprite creation, level making, and export options are fantastic. Many options for export to consoles make this a very worth-while tool for game creation as apposed to using in-house software **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** I dislike how the program is organized for the most part. Would benefit from a design overhaul and a simpler UI/UX. The color scheme is ugly, the layout is a bit sloppy, and the way directories and assets are managed is a bit haphazard. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** If you don't have the time or experience to design your own engine and are looking to make great 2d games, this is for you. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** It solves the problem of trying to create a code base and engine from the ground up. Much more time efficient and cost effective. ### 23. Perfect for a project in 2d **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Glenn B. | Graphic Designer, Entertainment, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 25, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** Simple to use and easy to import mass number of files. I find the little things like alpha levels in images nice to control and easy to trouble shoot when there's any sort of issue. that used to be frustrating in other engines. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** limited effects for the actual imagery you import, if there's a specific effect your looking for you pretty much have to bake it in rather then add it in the engine. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** Try it, if your not happy with the engine your currently using just try it. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Has improved efficiency and time management. It has allowed people who don't work generally with engines to use it effectively without large numbers of tutorials beforehand. ### 24. Easy-to-use game engine for both beginners and expert developers **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Christian C. | Junior Gameplay/AI Programmer, Computer Games, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 30, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** GameMaker's appeal is its accessible approach to game development. It provides a visual drag-n-drop editor to facilitate work for beginners, while providing a scripting system for those who wish to develop more complex features in their game. Additionally, its popularity result in a wide community of users and resources available on the web. GameMaker is a great tool for anyone interested in developing games. Although it may not be the best compared to others, like Unity, its simplicity results in a lower entry barrier for newcomers. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** Despite its easiness of use, GameMaker's user interface can be a little bit of a mess. For those who are picky with aesthetics, GameMaker might feel ugly, sporting an outdated interface by today's standards. Regarding the scripting system, programming in GameMaker can be tedious. For example, there's no auto-complete features in the editor and debugging tends to be guess-based most of the times. Finally, the engine supports cross-platform deployment. However, the price for each module (e.g. Android, iOS, HTML5, GNU/Linux) can be expensive, specially for new developers. This is particularily true now, when other, more popular and powerful game engines exist and are available for free. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** GameMaker might not be the best engine around, or even the cheapest one, but it is a great tool for beginners and for anyone in need of fast prototyping an idea. Furthermore, several great and successful indie games were developed with it, like GunPoint, Ink, Spelunky and Hotline Miami. These examples prove that most of the times it's not a matter of the tools you're using, but what you are capable of creating with them. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** For me, as an independent game developer, GameMaker has proven to be a great tool for quick prototyping of ideas and development of basic games in game jams. ### 25. Great Game Development Tool **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Juliano F. | Indie Games Developer, Computer Games, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 14, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** - Very easy to learn how to use (you can make a simple game really fast); - If you know nothing about programming, you still canl make your games with this tool; - if you know programming well, you can do even more cool stuff here; - Great for 2D games of any style (platformer, rpg, fighting, racing games..); - There is the possibility to integrate new modules and make your game multiplatform with few or in some cases, no adjustments (Actually i use to do Android games); - There is a slightly more limited, but free version for you to test and publish some games. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** - The modules of mobile platforms (in my case, Android), I believe that games are a little heavier than necessary, but you can optimize some things, so it's not necessarily a big problem. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** if you like to develop games, but does not have much experience, or even if you already have some experience, Game Maker can be a great option for you. Especially if you produce games alone, it is a tool that can facilitate your life. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Game Maker Studio to develop Android games (i thinking about making games for pc and also ios). I have been using this tool about six months and I have some published games. I had already studied programming and worked for some time with AS2.0, the language of the Adobe Flash Professional 8.0. So I already had some experience with programming, although not the language of Game Maker (which uses GML, as language). I am very satisfied with my investment in this tool. I believe I still have a little time of experience , but I learn a lot every new project and I'm surprised with the cool things you can do with it without too much complication. I develop my own games all by myself, so for me it is very important to use a tool that really assist me in the development of games, and Game Maker does it very well. ### 26. Game creation made simple **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Carlos D. | Freelance Concept Artist, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 17, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** Drag and drop construction for levels and almost everything, the codeless creation is something important to someone without any experience with programming and still have the oportunity to create his own games without write a line of code. Theres a marketplace so you can buy assets and is very easy to use. Great games get made in GameMaker, you can see the titles in the website. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** I like everything about gamemaker, you can create a game from scratch in this engine. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** If you have in mind create a videogame with 2D graphics/Sprites and your budget is a bit low, you can take a look at this engine, is an amazing option. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** The fast creation of layout and testing of sprites to see if they work or not in a videogame environment ### 27. 2D Done Right **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Davide A. | Ph.D. Student in Computer Science, Research, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 29, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** Game Maker has come a long way since I've seen it the first time, too many years ago. At the time, it was a really naive tool for building generic, simple, 2D games. So, it remains in the "didactical tools" until I rediscovered it in recent days. I was really really nice impressed that some of my favorite indie games were implemented in Game Maker. Game Maker today keep its "for dummies" attitude, but it is a capable and commercial competitive engine for 2D games. It brings a lot of built-in features for 2D game makers and keeps everything "as simple as possible". I think it is one of my favorite tools for rapid prototyping and I would really like to try it for something more "serious". **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** The interface is a bit clumsy in my opinion. I'm always worried that the engine will "fall apart" during the use. The drag-and-drop programming style is too old compared to some modern visual programming tools. I don't use it, but I think it is something that can be improved. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** If you are mainly interested in 2D games and in making games (more than learning "serious programming") GameMaker is the right tool. It is also useful if you want an engine for sketching fast prototypes. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** The main reason I come to Game Maker is to solve the need of a fast prototyping engine for 2D games. I was sick of Unity's lack of 2D basic features (such as tilemaps). When I want to try a basic 2d platform mechanic I don't want to fight with a custom and buggy tilemap support. GameMaker is simple enough to have a basic 2D game set-up in a matter of hours. I don't use it for complex games but titles such as Hotline Miami show us that this engine is capable of successful commercial games. ### 28. Game Maker Software Review **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sherryk K. | Customer Service/Waitor, Animation, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 24, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** It has a very generous layout for even people that are not familiar with coding. It has its own programming language that has been simplified for people to get into programming but isn't limited to just that, the fact that it can prepare you for other programming languages is one of its strongest suite in my opinion. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** It's not as powerful as other engines but that's only natural. Given enough experience and the assets to work with Game Maker's limits can be pushed to the very edge but for most users there is a certain line that won't be crossed (usually 3D) which is normal because the engine was originally designed to be for 2D creations anyway. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** Game Maker has a large community with plenty of online help files. There are several forums to visit and in general, any programmer should be able to help with Game Maker even if they don't use it because the language structure is similar to that of C++ or other game creation engines. Joining facebook game development groups will help benefit the user and boost confidence as well as gaining new network allowing for new users to feel right at home from the get-go. There are several stages of payment for Game Maker. For starting users, there's a cheap version which allows the user to gain familiarity with the program and should he/she want to take their creation further they can upgrade their license to gain the ability to export onto various other platforms. On multiple occasions there will be a Steam discount making the prices drop at a significant percentage which I think is an absolute bargain for anyone thinking of getting into game making. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Making AAA games with Game Maker is very unlikely. The market is heading towards mobile apps but some indie companies, with their small dedicated teams have made relatively larger games for Steam and often once gathered enough success becomes available on other platforms as well, such as Playstation and XBOX. ### 29. A fun and powerful 2D Game Engine **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Maryanne (Mac) P. | Developer, Information Technology and Services, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 27, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** It's easy to get a basic prototype up and running, and add features as you go. Audio, solid collision, and a lot of other things are built in, so you don't have to spend time on the basics. There's a level editor built in, or you can automate with scripts. Code once, build anywhere, once you've bought that platform expansion. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** No real code search, no object constructors, Android, IOS builds are tedious and cryptic. No obvious solutions for retina screens. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** If you can actually code, skip the drag and drop and get right into the coding to save yourself a lot of time. Take the time to find out all of what can be done with GM. There's a huge community, so lots of ways to learn and share what you've done. Games made in GameMaker are sold on Steam. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** I've made several games, released one to Apple and Google Play stores. ### 30. There are other alternatives **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Swayam S. | App Developer, Computer Games, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 13, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** I like how it's setup for beginners, it makes it more appealing with its drag functionality. If you don't know what programming means then this is for you. Nice tool for 2D games. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** Interface is ugly, drag and drop is laggy, Unity2D puts this entire software in the trash. Unity2D is free, and can do this and more, however it's more advanced. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** If you're new to programming or just prototyping a game, this is for you. If you are more advanced like me, stay away and run far away from this money grabber. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** It's good for prototyping, has some good basic features that unity lacks, but I would still choose Unity over this any day. ### 31. A different way to create 2D Games **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Alonso P. | Desarrollador de Software, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 30, 2016 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** Anyone can build a game because this tool use a interpreted language, that means if you don't have idea about programming, GameMaker will be good to start. Something that a like best is how simple is create an action just drag and drop the elements you need and done, basically is that. Letting you to understand a little bit more how the gaming world works. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** it is functional but, GameMaker has a poor Interface. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** If you don't have any experience programming and you want to create games this is a good first step **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** A better understanding of how can build a game, using an interpreted Language and manipulating images to create movement of characters or elements on the game ### 32. Perfect for beginners or pros alike, GameMaker provides tools to create almost any game you want. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Branden J. | Head of Deal Qualification & Redemptions, Internet, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 21, 2015 **What do you like best about GameMaker?** The tools are easy to use, and the Help system is very thorough. Depending upon the game you want to make, there may be more tools than you need, but having access to them helps you feel you are not limited by the software. **What do you dislike about GameMaker?** The interface seems a little dated -- nothing egregious or terrible, just lacking in visual polish. However, everything works as advertised. **Recommendations to others considering GameMaker:** Find some online YouTube tutorials for beginners. The community around GameMaker understands that many are coming into the software with essentially no experience, and they will provide step-by-step instructions to making your first game. **What problems is GameMaker solving and how is that benefiting you?** Having a head full of ideas without a way to realize them is a challenge. GameMaker provides a way to remove that barrier to entry and create the sort of product you want. Starting from nothing may seem insurmountable, but GameMaker provides useful tips for getting started. From there, you're largely limited only by your imagination. ## GameMaker Discussions - [Does GameMaker cost money?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/does-gamemaker-cost-money) - 1 comment - [Is GameMaker Studio free?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-gamemaker-studio-free) - 1 comment - [View GameMaker pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/gamemaker/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-30+21%3A22%3A08+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=febd63a3-808f-4548-8132-6c2104a7919f&secure%5Btoken%5D=19ec952e454b5447286efa44b516daa883313b7e52f10678afb2732cbacd4dc5&format=llm_user) ## GameMaker Features **Visual Fidelity** - Rendering Quality - VFX Quality - Texture and Terrain Quality **Creation Tools** - Cutscene Creation - Shader Creation - AI Control - Animations - No-code Creation Capabilities - Team Collaboration ## Top GameMaker Alternatives - [Unity](https://www.g2.com/products/unity/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (353 reviews) - [Unreal Engine](https://www.g2.com/products/unreal-engine/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (150 reviews) - [Godot](https://www.g2.com/products/godot/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (27 reviews)