Godot Engine

A free, open-source engine for 2D and 3D games.

  • Free
  • Open source
  • Good for beginners
  • Jam-friendly

What it does

Godot is a lightweight, completely free engine with a friendly scene system and its own beginner-friendly language, GDScript (C# is supported too). It is a popular first engine for students and a favourite at game jams because it is small, fast to open and exports to desktop, web and mobile.

Highlights

  • Dedicated 2D and 3D workflows
  • GDScript (Python-like) and C# scripting
  • Exports to Windows, macOS, Linux, web, Android and iOS
  • No royalties or fees, ever

Is it right for me?

Skill level
Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Useful for
Game jams, Indie developers, Students, Hobby projects, Studios, Professionals
Game jams
A good fit — quick to pick up and use under time pressure.

Pairs well with

GDQuest

Learning

Godot tutorials and courses, with plenty of free material.

  • Free + paid plans
  • Good for beginners

Official Godot docs with a step-by-step first-game tutorial.

  • Free resource
  • Open source
  • Good for beginners

Kenney

Game assets

Thousands of free, CC0 game assets for 2D, 3D, UI and audio.

  • Free
  • Good for beginners

itch.io

Publishing

The easiest place to publish and share indie and jam games.

  • Free
  • Good for beginners