GameMaker Reviews & Product Details

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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 Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

- 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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

- 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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like everything about gamemaker, you can create a game from scratch in this engine. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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". Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

No real code search, no object constructors, Android, IOS builds are tedious and cryptic. No obvious solutions for retina screens. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.