RPG Maker
RPG Maker is a game development tool that allows users to create their own role-playing games without programming knowledge. It provides graphics, characters, tilesets, music and a simple event system to build RPGs.
RPG Maker: Create Your Own Role-Playing Games
A game development tool with graphics, characters, tilesets, music, and a simple event system for building RPGs without programming knowledge.
What is RPG Maker?
RPG Maker is a popular game development tool focused on creating role-playing games. First launched in 1992 by ASCII, there have been several iterations of the software over the years by different developers.
At its core, RPG Maker provides a simple graphical interface and suite of tools that let users build RPG games without needing to code. It comes packed with basic graphics, characters, tilesets, music and a simple event system to trigger actions. By dragging and dropping elements into place, you can build maps, dungeons, towns, etc. There is support for dialog systems, variables, battles and more.
While aimed at beginners, skilled users can take advantage of scripting and plugins to customize every part of their game. There is also integration with Python for advanced users. Thousands of free assets are available online from the community.
Games made with RPG Maker run natively on Windows, Mac and Linux. They can also be exported to mobile platforms. Popular commercial RPGs have been developed with RPG Maker, most notably To the Moon and LISA: The Painful.
RPG Maker Features
Features
- Visual game editor
- Pre-made assets (graphics, music, sound effects)
- Event system for game logic
- Export to multiple platforms
- Plugin support for advanced features
Pricing
- One-time purchase
Pros
Easy to learn and use
Large community support
Active development
Cross-platform exporting
Visual scripting system
Cons
Limited compared to programming
Asset quality varies
Steep learning curve for advanced features
Exporting requires additional purchases
Official Links
Reviews & Ratings
Login to ReviewThe Best RPG Maker Alternatives
View all RPG Maker alternatives with detailed comparison →
Top Games and Game Development and other similar apps like RPG Maker
Here are some alternatives to RPG Maker:
Suggest an alternative ❐
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...
Scratch
Scratch is a free visual programming language and online community developed by the MIT Media Lab. It allows users to create interactive stories, games, animations, music, art, and more using a simple drag-and-drop interface.With Scratch, you snap together colorful programming blocks like puzzle pieces to build programs. There is no...
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...
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...
Adventure Game Studio
Adventure Game Studio (AGS) is a free, open source game development tool focused on creating graphic adventure games. It provides an integrated development environment (IDE) with an approachable interface and easy-to-use tools, making AGS a good choice for beginners looking to get into game development.At the same time, AGS supports...
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...
Tululoo Game Maker
Tululoo Game Maker is a free and open-source game engine designed for creating 2D video games. It provides a drag-and-drop interface and visual scripting tools to build games without needing to write code.Some key features of Tululoo Game Maker include:Intuitive visual editor for designing game levels and artworkEvent-driven programming system...
Game Editor
Game Editor is a software application used by game developers to create and modify video games of all genres and platforms. It provides a wide range of tools to design and manipulate all aspects of a game such as:Game worlds - Create 2D and 3D environments, landscapes, levels etc.Characters -...
Gamesalad
GameSalad is a drag and drop game building software designed to allow anyone to create professional-quality 2D games quickly and easily without needing to know how to code. It uses a visual programming interface and behavior-based logic system to enable game development via simple building blocks that control game objects...
QICI Engine
QICI Engine is a free, open-source graphic design and video editing software for Windows, Mac and Linux. It provides a wide range of professional-level tools for creating graphics, editing photos and videos, animating objects, web design, and more.Some of the key features of QICI Engine include:Intuitive and easy-to-use interface with...
GMKR
GMKR is a free, open-source 2D animation software for Windows, Mac and Linux. It provides a complete toolset for producing 2D animated videos including drawing tools, onion skinning, frame-by-frame animation, tweening, tools for coloring and painting frames, camera capture integration, and video export.Some key features of GMKR are:Intuitive timeline interface...
Smile Game Builder
Smile Game Builder is a game development engine and editor for creating 2D video games without needing to write any code. It uses a graphical, drag-and-drop interface along with pre-made game assets, backgrounds, characters and templates to allow anyone to build their own games.With Smile Game Builder, you can create...
Duality
Duality is an open-source, cross-platform 2D game engine and integrated development environment. It allows both visually-oriented designers and hardcore programmers to build games quickly and easily.Some key features of Duality include:Intuitive visual editor for quick scene prototypingModular systems for physics, graphics, audio, AI, and moreC# scripting access with CodeDOM compilationReal-time...
Nesmaker
Nesmaker is an open-source integrated development environment that allows anyone to create games for the Nintendo Entertainment System without coding knowledge. It features a drag-and-drop interface for designing levels, sprites, backgrounds, animation, and game logic flowcharts. Developers can use visual scripting to program game mechanics, enemy AI, win conditions, power...
Maratis
Maratis is an open-source, cross-platform 3D computer graphics software that can be used for modeling, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, and motion tracking. It provides a broad range of modeling, texturing, lighting, animation and video post-processing functionality. Maratis is well-suited to creating video games, visual effects, animated films, 3D printed models,...
Scroller Game Creator
Scroller Game Creator is a free and open source game engine designed specifically for creating 2D side-scrolling platformer games. It comes with a visual editor that allows you to easily design game levels by placing tiles and objects without needing to write any code.Some key features include:Drag and drop interface...
Playir
Playir is a cloud gaming service that allows users to stream their PC game libraries to any device. It works by running the games on remote servers in the cloud, then streaming the video and audio to the user's device over the internet. This eliminates the need for expensive gaming...
WOLF RPG Editor
WOLF RPG Editor is a powerful, free, and open source 2D game engine and editor specialized for RPG games. It allows users to create top-down 2D RPGs without needing to know how to code.Some key features of WOLF RPG Editor include:Intuitive map editor to design overworlds and dungeonsEvent system to...
GB Studio
GB Studio is a free, beginner-friendly game creation tool for making retro-style games for the original Game Boy. It features an accessible drag-and-drop interface that allows users to quickly build games without needing to know how to code.Some key features and benefits of GB Studio include:Intuitive interface for placing sprites,...
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...
Limon Engine
Limon Engine is an open-source, free 2D game engine built in C++. It is designed to be lightweight, easy to use, and very flexible. Some key features of Limon Engine include:Visual editor for building levels and gameplay logic without codingEntity-component architecture for high flexibilitySupport for sprites, textures, animations, sounds, and...
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...
RPG Paper Maker
RPG Paper Maker is an open-source, browser-based game editor focused on developing 2D role-playing games similar to classics like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. It aims to provide an accessible toolset for both hobbyist and professional developers to build quality RPGs.Some key features of RPG Paper Maker include:Visual map editor...
Platinum Arts Sandbox
Platinum Arts Sandbox is a free and open-source 3D game maker and voxel editor developed by Platinum Arts. It provides an intuitive interface that allows users to create 3D games, simulations, and virtual worlds without needing to write code.Key features of Platinum Arts Sandbox include:Voxel-based editing tools to create intricate...
Wintermute Engine Development Kit
The Wintermute Engine Development Kit is a free and open source game engine designed specifically for developing 2D point-and-click adventure games. It was created by Jan Nedoma and allows developers to build classic-style adventure games similar to titles from LucasArts and Sierra in the 1990s.Some key features of the Wintermute...
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...
Project Anarchy
Project Anarchy is a free mobile game engine and development ecosystem created by Havok. It provides a complete suite of game development tools for mobile game developers, including:Havok Physics - An advanced physics engine that enables realistic physical interactions in mobile gamesHavok Animation - Technology for high fidelity character animation...
Visionaire Studio
Visionaire Studio is a node-based visual programming environment designed specifically for interactive media installations, projections, and experiments. It features a flexible node workflow that enables rapid prototyping and development with real-time visual feedback.Some key features of Visionaire Studio include:Node-based visual programming for interactive graphics, video, VR, lighting, and moreSupport for...
Construct Classic
Construct Classic is a 2D game creation software designed for non-programmers and indie developers. It utilizes a drag and drop interface and event-based logic system that enables users to build 2D games without needing to write code.Some key features of Construct Classic include:Intuitive drag and drop interface to add sprites,...
G3D Innovation Engine
G3D Innovation Engine is an open-source, high-performance 3D graphics API and game engine middleware suited for video games, simulations, and visualization applications. It provides an extensive set of graphics features including:Advanced rendering techniques like deferred shading, ambient occlusion, and screen-space reflections for enhanced visual qualityA scene graph architecture that allows...
EasyRPG
EasyRPG is an open-source role-playing game engine designed to run RPG Maker 2000, 2003, and XP games on modern platforms. It implements the Ruby Game Scripting System used in those versions of RPG Maker, making it possible to play games created with them on Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and more.Some...
Urho3D
Urho3D is an open-source, cross-platform 2D and 3D game engine implemented in C++ and released under the MIT license. Some key capabilities and features of Urho3D include:Real-time 3D graphics rendering using OpenGL or Direct3D2D graphics rendering supportIntegrated physics engine (Bullet Physics)Audio system with support for sound effects and musicScripting in...
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...
Wicked Engine
Wicked Engine is an open-source 3D game engine written in C++ that is designed for high-performance real-time rendering. It supports Windows and Linux platforms and can utilize modern low-level graphics APIs like Vulkan, DirectX 12, and Metal to take advantage of modern GPU capabilities.Some key features of Wicked Engine include:Real-time...
RPG in a Box
RPG in a Box is a free, open-source tool for creating roleplaying games. It provides a visual editor that allows users to build RPG worlds, characters, items, quests, dialogue, and more without any coding required.It's perfect for beginners looking to make their first RPG, as it handles much of the...
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...
001 Game Creator
001 Game Creator is a powerful yet easy-to-use game making tool for aspiring game developers. With its drag-and-drop interface, you can create impressive 2D and 3D games without writing a single line of code.Whether you're looking to build simple arcade games, intricate puzzles or stunning action-adventure titles, 001 Game Creator...
MMORPG Maker XB
MMORPG Maker XB is a powerful game engine built from the ground up for creating immersive and expansive massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). With an intuitive visual editor, it allows designers and developers to build vast 3D worlds, craft engaging quest lines, customize playable races and classes, implement real-time...
RPGBoss
RPGBoss is a versatile software application designed specifically for game masters of tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, or World of Darkness. It aims to help GMs organize and run their tabletop RPG campaigns more efficiently.Key features of RPGBoss include campaign trackers to log details about the game...
Leadwerks
Leadwerks is a 3D game engine with a focus on ease of use and performance. It enables developers to quickly build high-quality 3D games without needing deep programming knowledge.Some key features of Leadwerks include:Visual scripting system based on Lua that allows rapid game development without codingSupport for building games for...
OHRRPGCE
OHRRPGCE (Official Hamster Republic Role Playing Game Creation Engine) is a free and open source 2D role-playing game creator that allows users to make their own RPGs. It was created by James Paige and has been under active community development since 2004.Some key features of OHRRPGCE include:Flexible event scripting system...
RPG JS
RPG JS is an open-source JavaScript framework designed to help developers create text-based roleplaying games that run in a web browser. It provides a structure and tools for managing common RPG elements like:Game statePlayer character and NPC entitiesTurn-based combat systemDialogue trees and text parsingInventory, quest, and equipment systemsSaving and loading...
3D RAD
3D RAD is a powerful 3D modeling, sculpting, and animation software optimized for speed and flexibility. With 3D RAD, designers and artists can quickly iterate ideas in 3D without getting bogged down in complex workflows.Key features include:Intuitive sculpting brushes for organic modelingRobust sketching tools to block out conceptsAnimation tools focused...
Reality Factory
Reality Factory is a professional 3D computer graphics software application used for modeling, animation, simulation, rendering, and design visualization. Developed by Tech Soft 3D, Reality Factory aims to provide an intuitive and efficient workflow for creating 3D assets for various industries including engineering, architecture, animation, and visual effects.Some key features...
RPG 20XX
RPG 20XX is a flexible and powerful role-playing game creation engine and framework for developers to build 2D RPG games across platforms. It provides a complete toolset for designing RPG elements like maps, characters, items, quests, dialogues, cutscenes and more out of the box.The key features include:Intuitive map editor to...
RPGWizard
RPGWizard is a comprehensive software suite for creating and running tabletop roleplaying games. With an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, RPGWizard makes it easy for game masters to build rich, immersive worlds for their players to explore.Key features include:Customizable character and monster generators to populate your worldInteractive map creation tools, including regional...
Open RPG Maker
Open RPG Maker is a free, open source 2D game engine designed specifically for developing role-playing games. With an easy to use visual editor, users can create intricate game worlds, levels, characters, items, quests and more without needing to know how to code.Some key features of Open RPG Maker include:Tile-based...
Blitz3D
Blitz3D is a 3D game engine and programming language that is designed to allow for rapid game development. It uses a Basic-style syntax that is easy to learn, making it a good choice for beginner and indie game developers.Some key features of Blitz3D include:Integrated 3D graphics engine and SDK for...
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...
Dart RPG
Dart RPG is an open source, rules-light tabletop roleplaying game released under the OGL. It was designed from the ground up to provide game masters and players with a flexible system that can be adapted to many genres and styles of play.At its core, Dart RPG uses a dice pool...
Mokoi Gaming
Mokoi Gaming is an innovative online gaming platform catering to casual gamers of all ages and interests. With its vast library of popular free-to-play web games, Mokoi Gaming aims to be the ultimate destination for casual gaming enthusiasts.The platform features hundreds of high-quality casual games across diverse genres and themes...
Fgmk
fgmk is a free, open source game creation tool for designing 2D video games. It is inspired by and based on Game Maker Studio, providing a more approachable and beginner-friendly alternative.Using an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, fgmk allows users to visually build gameplay mechanics, design levels, integrate graphics, audio, and other...
AresEd
AresEd is a powerful, free level editor made specifically for creating and editing levels and mods for games running on the Source engine like Counter-Strike, Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead, and more. It has an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor that allows you to visually place and edit terrain, entities, scripting logic,...
Whitestorm.js
Whitestorm.js is an open-source JavaScript framework aimed at accelerating 3D web development. It provides a complete toolset for building performant 3D web apps and games with WebGL and enabling rapid prototyping.Some key features of Whitestorm.js include:Modular architecture and lightweight footprintBuilt-in components like PhysicsEngine, Animator, assets LoaderReactive data flow and entity-component...
Maker3D
Maker3D is a free and open-source 3D design software aimed at hobbyists, makers, and beginner 3D modelers. It has an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface that allows users to create 3D models without needing to learn complex CAD software or coding.Unlike many 3D modeling tools that use parametric modeling methods, Maker3D uses...
Pixelbox
Pixelbox is a beginner-friendly graphic design and photo editing application. It provides a simple yet powerful set of tools for cropping, rotating, resizing, editing colors, applying filters, drawing, adding text, and more to create stunning images and graphics.Some of the key features of Pixelbox include:Intuitive user interface - The tools...
2D TopDown Plateformer
A 2D topdown plateformer refers to a style of 2D video game that features side-scrolling or top-down oriented levels, where the player controls a character that can jump onto and move between platforms while avoiding obstacles and enemies. This genre traces its origins back to early 1980s arcade games but...
Lite-C
Lite-C is a lightweight variant of the C programming language designed specifically for embedded systems and Internet of Things (IoT) applications where memory and processing resources are very limited.It retains the basic syntax and semantics of C, but removes many complex features like variable length arrays, recursive functions, and inline...
Power Game Factory
Power Game Factory is a game creation tool designed to allow anyone to build 2D and 3D video games without needing to write any code. It features an easy-to-use visual editor with a drag-and-drop interface that enables users to quickly construct complete game worlds, characters with customizable behaviors and appearances,...
Dot World Maker
Dot World Maker is a free and open-source voxel world editor and game engine for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Developed by Esprit Games, Dot World Maker enables users to build expansive voxel worlds out of dotted cubes similar to games like Minecraft.With an easy-to-use interface, anyone can sculpt beautiful 3D...
Lunar Engine
Lunar Engine is a free, open source 2D game engine and visual editor developed by students from the Ludum Dare game jam community. It provides a complete toolset for building 2D games without the need to write code.The visual editor allows users to create game scenes by dragging and dropping...
Fabric engine
Fabric Engine is an open-source plugin and framework for building high-performance graphics applications. It allows developers to build complex, interactive content by connecting modular building blocks called Canvases and KL Extensions.Some key features of Fabric Engine include:A visual programming environment for quick prototyping called CanvasA node-based authoring environment for building...
Polycode
Polycode is an open source framework for creative coding and game development. It provides a complete set of tools for building interactive 2D and 3D applications, games, simulations and visualizations using C++ and Lua scripting.Some of the key features of Polycode include:Integrated 2D and 3D rendering engine powered by OpenGLSupport...
Unreal Development Kit
The Unreal Development Kit (UDK) is a free version of Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 that gives developers access to the same tools and engine code used in games like Gears of War and Bioshock. UDK allows developers to create 3D games, visualize architectures in realtime 3D, simulate and train...
Thinking Worlds
Thinking Worlds is a powerful 3D simulation and game creation tool that enables designers, educators, and students to rapidly build richly interactive 3D environments without coding.With its node-based visual scripting system, users can quickly add complex logic and behaviors to objects and characters. Intuitive tools like the Behavior Wizard let...
Reality Factory 2
Reality Factory 2 is a feature-rich 3D modeling and animation software solution catered towards hobbyists and professionals alike. With its node-based workflow and logical interface layout, users can easily construct detailed 3D scenes and assets without getting overwhelmed.Some key capabilities of Reality Factory 2 include:Powerful modeling tools for crafting intricate...
FPS Creator X10
FPS Creator X10 is a game creation tool designed specifically for building first-person shooter games. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, you can quickly create expansive 3D levels and environments without needing to know how to code.Key features include:Drag-and-drop level editor to visually build out levelsSupports custom models, textures, sounds, code,...
Visual3D Game Engine
The Visual3D Game Engine is an open-source, cross-platform game engine designed for creating 3D video games. It provides a comprehensive set of tools for game development, including:A visual editor for level design and scene buildingA scripting system based on Lua for implementing game logic and behaviorsA physics engine with collision...
Lugdunon
Lugdunon is an open source 2D sandbox MMORPG engine and game developed in Java. It provides a full framework and toolset for developers to build their own multiplayer online games without having to code complex systems from scratch.Some key features of Lugdunon include:2D graphics and avatar system for players to...
Creyawo
Creyawo is a feature-rich vector graphics editor designed specifically for Windows. It enables users to create high-quality 2D graphics like logos, icons, illustrations, diagrams and more with ease.Some of the key capabilities and benefits of Creyawo include:Powerful drawing and design tools - It comes equipped with multiple vector tools like...
