Defold Engine
Defold is a free, open source game engine designed for 2D game development. It uses the Lua programming language and offers a full editor for building and debugging games. Defold is focused on cross-platform publishing and offers native deployment to iOS, Android, HTML5, Windows,
2d
lua
crossplatform
free
open-source
Defold Engine: Open Source 2D Game Development Engine
Free game engine for 2D game development with Lua programming language support and native deployment to multiple platforms including iOS, Android, HTML5, Windows, macOS, and Linux.
What is Defold Engine?
The Defold Engine is a free and open source 2D game engine developed by King for building cross-platform games. Some key things to know about Defold:
- Uses the Lua programming language which is easy to learn yet powerful for scripting game logic and behaviors
- Built-in editor allows you to rapidly build and iterate on your game with features like live updating of code changes
- Focused on 2D game development with built-in support for features like sprites, tilemaps, physics, particles, UI and more
- Cross-platform deployment is a core focus - you can publish native iOS, Android, HTML5, Windows, macOS and Linux builds from the same codebase
- Completely free with full source code available on GitHub under the MIT license
- Integrated with Defold Hub which allows you to easily share and reuse components like physics materials, textures, UI themes etc
Overall, if you want to build and publish high quality 2D games for multiple platforms, Defold Engine is a great open source option to consider due to its specialization for 2D development and excellent cross-platform support.
Defold Engine Features
Features
- 2D game engine
- Uses Lua programming language
- Built-in editor for building and debugging
- Cross-platform publishing
- Native deployment for iOS, Android, HTML5, Windows, macOS and Linux
Pricing
- Free
- Open Source
Pros
Free and open source
Active community support
Fast iteration and rapid prototyping
Good performance optimization
Easy to learn and use
Cons
Limited to 2D games
Less flexible than general game engines like Unity or Unreal
Limited documentation and learning resources
Not ideal for complex 3D-style games
Smaller user base than major engines
Official Links
The Best Defold Engine Alternatives
Top Games and Game Engines and other similar apps like Defold Engine
Here are some alternatives to Defold Engine:
Suggest an alternative ❐
Unity
Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies that is primarily used to develop video games and simulations for computers, consoles, mobile devices, and websites. Some key features of Unity include:Integrated editor for scene creation, scripting, asset pipeline, and building gamesSupports both 2D and 3D game development with...
Godot Engine
Godot Engine is a feature-packed, cross-platform game engine designed for 2D and 3D game development. It is completely free and open source under the MIT license.Some key features and capabilities of Godot Engine include:Intuitive and easy-to-use interface for quick development iterationsComprehensive set of 2D and 3D nodes for crafting game...
Kodu Game Lab
Kodu Game Lab is a visual programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft designed specifically for creating games. Kodu allows anyone to quickly build 3D games on Windows and Xbox via a simple visual programming language without writing code.In Kodu, users build games by placing game objects on terrain,...
GDevelop
GDevelop is an open-source, cross-platform 2D game engine and IDE. It allows users with no coding knowledge to quickly build and deploy games using an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and behaviors system.Key features of GDevelop include:Visual scripting system using events and conditions rather than codeSupport for multiple platforms including Windows, Mac,...
Construct 2
Construct 2 is a flexible and intuitive 2D game creator optimized for building HTML5 games that can be played across browsers and mobile devices. It features a drag-and-drop interface that allows users to quickly assemble games without needing to write any code.Some key features and benefits of Construct 2 include:Visual...
Roblox Studio
Roblox Studio is a powerful yet easy-to-use game creation tool made by Roblox Corporation. It allows anyone to create immersive 3D multiplayer games and experiences with no prior coding knowledge required.With Roblox Studio, users can use the built-in editing and coding tools to design their own games, characters, environments, items,...
Construct 3
Construct 3 is a versatile 2D and 3D game creator optimized for rapid iteration and publishing games to the web. It features an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that allows non-coders to quickly build games without writing any code.Some key features of Construct 3 include:Powerful 2D and 3D rendering engines for visually...
Rogue Engine
Rogue Engine is an open-source, C# game engine designed specifically for developing roguelike games. It handles many common roguelike development tasks out of the box so developers can focus on content and gameplay.Some key features of Rogue Engine include:Flexible map generation with built-in algorithms like cellular automata, drunkard walk, various...
GeeXLab
GeeXLab is a free and open source Java development environment aimed primarily at beginner and intermediate developers. It provides an integrated graphical user interface for working with Java code, rather than needing to work from the command line.Key features of GeeXLab include:Code editors with syntax highlighting, auto-complete and other coding...
Amulet
Amulet is an open-source game engine and creative coding tool that allows developers and creators to build 2D and 3D games and interactive applications using Python. It features a visual node-based scripting system that enables drag-and-drop coding without the need to write lines of code.Some key capabilities and features of...
Phaser
Phaser is an open source HTML5 game framework that utilizes WebGL and Canvas for rendering. It is designed to create 2D browser games that can run across both desktop and mobile devices.Some key features of Phaser include:Fast performance with native browser rendering and optimizationsSupport for input via mouse, keyboard, touch,...
LÖVE
LÖVE is an open-source framework for developing 2D games in the Lua programming language. It allows developers to create games and multimedia applications using the flexible Lua scripting language. Some key aspects of LÖVE include:High-performance 2D graphics rendering using OpenGLBindings to libraries like OpenGL, OpenGL ES, SDL and OpenGLSupport for...
Bitmelo
Bitmelo is a music and audio streaming platform launched in 2019 that focuses on high quality, lossless audio formats. Unlike more mainstream services like Spotify that use lossy compression like MP3 to deliver music, Bitmelo streams songs in formats like FLAC and ALAC that preserve full audio fidelity.With Bitmelo, listeners...
Bevy Game Engine
The Bevy Game Engine is an open-source game engine written in Rust that is focused on usability, performance, and productivity. Some key things to know about Bevy:It utilizes the Entity Component System pattern which provides a flexible and extensible architecture for game development.Bevy is written in Rust which gives it...
Upbge
Upbge (Uchronia Project Blender Game Engine) is an open-source 3D game engine that is a fork of the Blender Game Engine integrated into the Blender 3D modeling and animation software. Upbge aims to improve and extend the original Blender Game Engine by fixing bugs, adding new features, and enhancing overall...
Stencyl
Stencyl is a game development tool designed to allow anyone to create 2D video games, even with no coding experience. It uses a drag-and-drop interface that allows users to quickly assemble gameplay elements like characters, obstacles, goals and powerups to build platformers, puzzle games, arcade games and more.One of Stencyl's...
Ct.js
ct.js is a lightweight JavaScript library for building user interfaces and web applications. It was created by Ryan Carniato and first released in 2021 as an open source project.Some key features of ct.js include:Virtual DOM diffing algorithm for fast performanceSimple API for creating reusable UI componentsSmall bundle size (around 5kb...
Pixel Game Maker MV
Pixel Game Maker MV is a 2D game engine designed for making retro-style games with pixel art graphics. It provides a complete, user-friendly game development environment for beginners and experts alike.Some key features include:Intuitive drag-and-drop interface for placing sprites, tiles, and objectsComprehensive sprite editors for drawing and animating 2D pixel...
MicroStudio
microStudio is a versatile graphics and animation software designed for hobbyists, indie developers, students, and other artists interested in 2D and 3D content creation. It comes packed with an intuitive and accessible toolset focused on key artwork and animation capabilities.Some of the core features of microStudio include:Powerful 2D vector and...
Flax Engine
Flax Engine is an open-source C# game engine designed for high performance and extensibility. It uses a modern data-oriented architecture to allow building complex games with large, detailed worlds.Some key features of Flax Engine include:Scene system based on archetypes and chunked rendering for efficient handling of large worldsMultithreaded systems for...
NCine
nCine is a professional nonlinear video editing application developed by nablet for film, video, and multimedia content creators. It provides a complete editorial environment for video editing, compositing, motion graphics, visual effects, color correction, and audio post-production.Some key features of nCine include:Powerful timeline-based editing interface with support for multiple video/audio...
HARFANG 3D
HARFANG 3D is an open-source 3D engine designed for building interactive 3D applications and games. Developed by Emmanuel Julien, HARFANG aims to provide an easy-to-use set of tools for creating immersive 3D experiences.Some key features of HARFANG include:Scene management with entities, components, and scriptingReal-time Physically Based Rendering, with support for...
