Game Engines

This page contains a variety of game engines and distribution tools.

Note: "Developer" refers to what kinds of operating systems the developer engine will work on, and "Player" refers to what operating systems distributed games will work on.

Visual Novels
Ren'Py Belle
 * Developer: Windows, Macintosh, Linux
 * Player: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Android
 * Description: A visual novel engine based on the Python coding language. Minimal programming experience is needed to create a simple game, though the use of Python allows more complex games to be created. The Lemmasoft Forums contains a board dedicated to the discussion of Ren'Py, both in development and use.
 * Developer: Windows, Macintosh, Linux
 * Player: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Android, Internet Browser
 * Description: A cross-platform, open source engine based on HTML5 with an interface similar to Novelty. This allows greater versatility for players so they can play on a web browser or offline. Currently in development.

Nscripter
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: [Unknown]

NVList
 * Developer: Windows, Macintosh, Linux
 * Player: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Android
 * Description: NVList is an open source visual novel engine written in Java. All rendering is done through OpenGL, taking advantage of available hardware acceleration and allowing for high-resolution graphics.

Novelty
 * Developer: Windows
 * Player: Windows
 * Description: A visual novel engine that requires no technical knowledge to use. Users can drag and drop for certain effects easily.

BASSnovel
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: Internet Browser
 * Description: A visual novel engine that appears to be browser-based.

NovelStream
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: Internet Browser
 * Description: A visual novel engine that appears to be browser-based.

WebStory Engine
 * Developer: Windows, Macintosh, Linux
 * Player: Internet Browser
 * Description: Browser-based VN engine built using XML.

CatSystem2 (Japanese only)
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: [Unknown]

Text Adventures
Inform7
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: [Unknown]

Inform6 (Is this another link to the above resource?)
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: [Unknown]

General Coffee
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: [Unknown]

Quest
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: [Unknown]

Twine
 * Developer: Windows
 * Player: Internet Browser
 * Description: Text organizer that also doubles as a text adventure engine. The program alone graphs your story on a map that you can re-arrange as you work. If you get an error message saying you need a "MSVCP71.dll" file, search your computer (C:\Windows\System32 or C:\Windows\SysWOW64) for a copy of that file and paste it into your main Twine folder where the .exe is located.

Other Engines
Ambrosine's Game Creation Resources & Classic Game Links
 * A collection of even more game engines.

Adventure Game Studio
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: [Unknown]

Freeware Game Creation Engines
 * Another list of engines.

Adventure Maker
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: [Unknown]

Monogame
 * Developer: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Xbox 360
 * Player: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Xbox 360, iOS, Android, OUYA (in development), PlayStation (in development)
 * Description: An Open Source implementation of the Microsoft XNA 4 Framework.

YoYo Games
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: [Unknown]

Alice
 * Developer: [Unknown]
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: [Unknown]

Zoetrope
 * Developer:Windows, Macintosh, Linux
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: Free library for making 2D games with LÖVE and Lua.

LÖVE
 * Developer:Windows, Macintosh, Linux
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: [Unknown] Creates 2D games in Lua. It's free and open-source.

Lua
 * Developer: Windows, Macintosh, Linux
 * Player: [Unknown]
 * Description: Powerful, fast, lightweight, embed-able scripting language.

Installer Makers
NSIS
 * Description: Creates an installer for your game

Inno Setup
 * Description: Creates an installer for your game