The Best Free Game Engines and Free Game Assets for Indie Developers

You can make and ship a game today without paying for an engine, art or sound. The hard part is choosing, because there are dozens of free game engines and thousands of asset packs.

This guide covers the best free game engines for different kinds of games, plus where to find free game assets you can actually use. Everything here comes from the free game development tools page of my resource directory, which lists more than 180 tools.

The best free game engines

Godot: the best free game engine for most people

Godot is a free, open source engine for 2D and 3D games with a full editor. There are no royalties and no account to create. If you are not sure where to start, start here.

Unity: free for small teams

Unity is a cross platform engine and editor with a free plan for small teams. It has a huge library of tutorials and assets. Read the current plan terms before you commit a commercial project to it.

Defold: light and fast for 2D and mobile

Defold is a free engine for 2D and 3D games that publishes to many platforms. It is built to keep games small and fast, which matters for mobile and web.

Bevy: for Rust developers

Bevy is a data driven game engine written in Rust. It is code first, so it suits programmers more than designers.

Stride: a C# engine with an editor

Stride is an open source C# engine for 2D and 3D games with a full editor.

Best free engines for 2D and browser games

• Phaser: a 2D framework for HTML5 games that run in desktop and mobile browsers.

• PlayCanvas: a web engine with a collaborative browser editor for 3D projects in WebGL and WebGPU.

• LÖVE: a Lua framework for 2D games. Small, simple and a favorite for game jams.

• raylib: a simple C library for learning game programming and building games.

• MonoGame: an open source take on Microsoft XNA for cross platform games in C#.

• Ebitengine: a simple 2D engine for the Go language.

Free game engines that need little or no code

• GDevelop: an open source, no code 2D engine that is fast to learn.

• Construct: a visual game maker that uses events instead of code, with a free plan.

• Twine: for interactive, branching stories you can play in a browser.

• TIC-80: a fantasy computer for making tiny games with built in code, sprite, map and sound editors.

Where to find free game assets

Free game assets save weeks of work on a prototype, and some packs are good enough to ship. Always check the license on each asset. CC0 means you can use it without credit. Other licenses may ask for credit or limit commercial use.

• Kenney Assets: a huge collection of CC0 game assets: 2D, 3D, UI, audio and pixel art. The best first stop for a prototype.

• OpenGameArt: a community library of free art, sound and music for games. Licenses vary by asset, so read each one.

• Poly Haven: CC0 HDRIs, textures and 3D models that need no credit.

• Ludo.ai: an AI generator for sprites, icons, UI, textures, music and 3D assets, with a free plan.

Free tools for levels, art and story

• Tiled: a flexible tile map editor for 2D levels that works with most engines.

• LDtk: an open source 2D level editor focused on a friendly workflow.

• Material Maker: a procedural texture creator built in Godot.

• Ink: a scripting language for branching dialogue and narrative.

Which free game engine should you choose?

• First game, any genre: Godot.

• A browser game: Phaser for 2D, PlayCanvas for 3D.

• No coding: GDevelop or Construct.

• A story game: Twine or Ink.

• You already know a language: Bevy for Rust, MonoGame or Stride for C#, Ebitengine for Go, LÖVE for Lua.

For engines in more languages, sprite editors, sound tools and more asset libraries, browse the free game development tools page. If you also build 3D models, the free 3D software page lists Blender and other free 3D tools.

FAQ

What is the best free game engine?

For most people, Godot. It is free, open source, handles 2D and 3D, and has a full editor. Phaser is a strong choice if your game runs in the browser.

Can I sell a game made with free assets?

Usually yes, if the license allows commercial use. CC0 assets, like Kenney's and Poly Haven's, can be used in commercial games without credit. Check each asset's license on sites like OpenGameArt.

Do free game engines charge royalties?

Open source engines like Godot, Bevy and Stride do not. Engines with free plans, like Unity, have their own terms, so read them before you release a commercial game.