GamedevOnLinux

Narrat Game engine looks like someone wanted to make RenPy as easy as the Adventure Game Engine for Windows was when it was released. The engine looks like it was made for people who wanted to write their own novels with minimum coding experience. They have their own easy script language and a plugin for the visual studio code which makes work easier. The additional thing to release ready for desktop and web is that the engine and games itself can be integrated into the website, maybe someone will use it to make their own ChatBot in an adventure style? Maybe this will be a disadvantage but the games look like the chatbot on most of the sites. But there are always some sort of sacrifices, and maybe in the future, there will be the possibility to change the style to another like with the RPG mode in this engine. Let's hope that the engine and its author show us more good material in the future. There is even a game jam for this engine! Links Website:  Narrat Download:  Installin...

Engine build as fork of the Cocos2Dx, which means that it comes with most of their functions. It is slowly developed by their team but in the end they are trying to make something good. It does not come with the editor so it is up to you to take some. The engine let you develop games with C++ and lua as scripting languages. It let publish games on Linux, PC, android and even on Xbox as the UWP APP Links Website:  Axmol Download:  Github  |  Installation guide Community:  API  |  Github  |  Wiki  |  Discord  |  Reddit

Another retro engine, but this time limited to one platform and not the genre. It was created for making roms for first Nintendo handheld. Due to block programming it is easy to make games. Due to possible export in from for the device so it can be run on it. But due to enhancements the limits were removed and users can made bigger games than 32K. In the end it is nice engine for everyone which gave ability to made games for handheld. Due to nature of the engine it has predefined genre of games, but they can be connected in one. So nothing can stop you from making your own zelda/pokemon/castlevania gae in one. Links Website:  GD Studio Download:  Latest - itch.io  |  Old releases Community:  Reddit  |  GitHub  |  Documentation

RPG Maker in open source version. Thanks. Solarus was created with the idea of open-source engines for homebrew Zelda games and thanks to this it has its own niche. If someone looks for the small easy, portable engine that helps to recreate action-adventure games from the NES era on steroids that's it. Solarus is great for this and more. No one says that it is limited only to that type of game. Due to easy Lua scripting language development is easy for most people. The portability is good enough, the engine easily reads the quest pack created in the editor but it needs to change thinking for gamers, like in most open-source engines. It lets you publish even on Nintendo, but first, it is needed to have an NDA signed with a developer license. The engine is really nice and worth trying. Links Website:  Solarus Download:  Engine and editor Community:  Documentation  |  Forum  |  Discord  |  GitLab  |  Reddit

The editor is based on hype for programming for everyone - lowCode/scratch. It looks nice if you want to learn something or build a prototype on the go like in a bus/taxi on your phone and then test quickly. I have a problem with looking for proper documentation, maybe after creating an account, there will be a proper one. But in the end, it looks like a good engine for starters Links Website: www.modd.io Community:  Developers Blog  |  Forums  |  Documentation  |  Discord

Looks like another engine for corpo coders, or students from the previous decade. It looks clean and ready. It can be used as the main engine and also as the library for another app which can made things easier in some cases - android app. Due to being based on Kotlin, it gives all java features, even the rapid prototyping due to the nature of JVM. It is small and looks like one project for simple games. Devs are showing on the website features with the code, so users can check the complexity and approach for that feature. Links Website:  KorGE Download:  link  Information about installation and side projects Community:  GitHub  |  Discord  |  Forum(Github)  |  Blog  |  Documentation

The framework was created for making mobile games. It uses Lua as a scripting language over the C++ engine. Which guarantees that the end app will be efficient enough on most devices. Links Website:  gideros.rocks Download:  Version Community:  Forum  |  GitHub  | 

The Lightweight Java Gaming Library when someone needs SDL, but an easier package in case of porting. Maybe that's how this library was created, but it ends up, as a very powerful tool to make entertainment software. It is low-level and easy to gain new advantages from libraries like Vulkan on Metal. Cross-platform was in mind like the JVM itself. The library is made for serious developers and it is not recommended for those who learn programming. Links Website:  LWJGL Download:  Download  / you can choose from stable and EE versions with many additional features - section custom Community:  Blog(outdated)  |  Github  |  Wiki  |  Discord   Forum

Small engine for 2D games It is designed with 2D and web in mind. Using Haxe language helps with achieving this goal. Due to no code/block programming, it will be nice for people who start their way with Gamedev. Because it is commercial software it has three plans: 1. Free which lets deploy games for the web 2. Indie plan adds desktop 3. Studio lets you deeply on mobile oses. It looks nice as an alternative to Gamemaker Engine, with pros of the no-code programming and smaller community. Links Website:  Stencyl Download:  Multiplatform download  |  Instruction for installing Community:  Forums  |  Discord  |  Updated documentaction

This time I will write about two engines from the same community. Both originated from Torque Game Engine which was used in game Tribes from 2001. Later it was open-sourced and became two engines, the main was released as Torque3D and the simpler version as Torque2d. The main advantage is that the developers maintain the project. Both have excellent communities and a clear road map. The license for both is MIT and you can support the developers on Patreon. Torque3D was created for FPS games like most game engines. With version 4.x it got the PBR rendering and has output for Vulcan SDK. On the other side, it has a good network system and overall due to its module build architecture, it is easy to implement other technologies in it. Torque2D is a slightly smaller and easier version due to no third dimension. It does not have a editor so it is needed to use your own software. The engine is small and efficient. Another thing is that it has not compiled binaries for Linux. Links Website:...

The framework is another reimplementation of the XNA framework. It took another approach from the Monogame. In basics, those two will be similar but in documentation, you will find a  comparison , there is information about differences between those two. The project is being maintained by one person, it has monthly updates, so you need to check what was changed. The pros are that one project is enough to make games on various platforms. Con could be a lack of support for Android.  As in the wiki the library is not recommended for newbies. It uses old shader language from DX9 as in the XNA, but it is remade, to be used on newer platforms with Vulkan. Links Website:  FNA Download:  Github  |  Information from the site Community:  Wiki  |  Discord

It is just another good framework, where you can do everything. Fun fact, it was one of reasons which helps the popularity of C# and DotNet in gamedev, due to problems with XNA on other platforms, developers started to port it with the Mono Framework. The project started as Mono.XNA and ended as MonoGame. Mono from the other side was widely used in Unity 2.X. Now after many years it is still good foundation to make various of games, but it has it's own problems like support of newer consoles and DX12 libraries. But in the end, if you are .Net developer looking for making hobby game it is very nice package to look. Links Website:  Monogame Download:  Github  |  Full Instructions from MonoGame website Community:  Documentation  |  Forum  |  Discord  |  Github

Probably the last engine, from first three popular engines for indie developers - UE, Unreal. It is nice multipurpose 3D engine, and it can be used in Simulation and Cad projects. The product is organised in scenes and nodes so it could be similar like in Godot. It has few scripting possibilities C++ for best performance, C# for optimisation and their own UnigineScript which is good. They make their own shader language s it is easier when porting to various platforms. At this moment you can only export projects to windows and linux, there is work for current generation of consoles, and the mobile will be in some future. The community version is made for indie developers. The free version is for peoples that made under 100k $ in sales/funding, but if you need more information there is email to their sales group - licensing@unigine.com Links Website:  Unigine Download:  Download  - you need to register ad developer site. Community:  Docs  |  Forum  |...

Another project for those who like 3D especially Blender, Armory3D is build arund it by independent developer. It has Haxe as scripting language and nodes so it should be good Unreal alternative. Due to be build with blender integration it can be used as additional showcase for the engine and it's main features. Links Website:  Armory3D Download:  Download Community:  Github  |  Forum  |  Discord  |  Manual  |  API

Bevy, which was created on the ashes of Ametyst Engine, language Rust, so it means that it will be safe, optimized, and for another few years still in beta. But it has the ECS so it is ready to check what are new things in the industry. Due to its nature it will be very good when it comes to learn something completely new. With verion 0.12 there was new types of rendering introduced into the engine. It is more like framework now and could be included in other rust projects. Links Website:  Bevy Download:  Quick Start Community:  DeveloperBlog  |  API info  |  Learn  |  Github  

Small project which focuses on graphics. It has visual scripting, with addition of C# and C++ which are standard scripting languages. Because it want to be smaller Unreal it is optimised for the Graphics, it has own way of raytracing. Small student project which is very nice and good to try. Links Website:  Flax Engine Download:  Download - check the linux part Community:  Documentation  |  Github  |  Forum

Engine from era before Unity and Unreal where everyone build their own engines. Now it evolved to gemeral purpose engine and is free except of royalties. For some people it can be outdated due to not using DX12 and Vulcan but they are solid in their work. They are free but with 5% royalties. If you want to look into the source code there is GitHub sponsorship and possibility to check this. Links: Site:  Titan Engine Download:  Esnethel Store Community:  Documentation  |  Forum  |  Discord

So it was one of engines which was develop to help bringing Disney games to the world. It is made for 3D developing but due to its nature connected with python language as scripting it is possible to made games easier. So it is another less known engine but still has many strengths.  Which could be good for enter into the world due to hype for AI and easy learn the scripting due to python language. Links Website:  Panda3D Download:  Download  you need to choose version and the go to other downloads to find the linux builds Community:  Documentation  |  Github  |  Forum  |  Discord

Another rock solid library which was created years ago and still has some community which maintain it. It was created for making easier producing entertaining software and games. Mainly language in use - C/C++ Links: Website:  Allegro Download:  Download Docs:  Tutorials  |  Documentation  |  forums  |  Github  |  Discord

Happy New Year Created by game development teacher with two things in mind, first to be easy for learning programming, second to be modular so you will use only this what you needed. It starts with C as best example for creating games in old times but now have bindings for many languages. It is a framework, you need to have your own ide, follow instructions in their wiki . They support many platform due to OpenGl backend. License for the engine is Zlib. Links Website:  Raylib Download:  Itch.io Community:  Wiki/Github  |  Discord  |  Reddit