With Android continually increasing in popularity it is always interesting to take a look at the latest collection of game engines available for the paltform. I am also further intersted in seeing which game engines include x86 support since the number of Intel x86 based mobile devices continue to increase. There are many game engine choices out there, all with a different set of features, pricing, maturity, etc. After doing some research, I found a wide variety of game engines that can be used for creating games that run on Android* based mobile devices. Some engines provide x86 support, while others can be ported to support x86 devices without too much effort.
Here is the ever expanding list of game engines I have collected information about. The list includes some features and details about each engine and an example game on Google Play if I could find one.
Project Anarchy by Havok - http://www.projectanarchy.com/
FREE Cross-Platform Engine and Toolkit for Mobile Game Developers
Develop and release titles on iOS, Android and Tizen for free.
Extendible C++ plugin based architecture
Includes Havok’s Vision Engine together with Havok’s leading Physics, Animation Studio and AI tools
Available now
GameMaker by YoYo Games - http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/studio
2D Cross platform game engine with support for iOS, Android, HTML5, Mac OS, Windows 8, Ubuntu and Windows Phone 8
Integrated Development Environment that manages fonts, sounds, game objects, etc.
Use GameMaker scripting language to write game logic.
Free for Mac and Windows export, license required for Android export.
Has native x86 Android support.
Examples: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yoyogames.lazymousefree, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yoyogames.planetdescent
More games: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=YoYo+Games+Ltd
Corona Game Edition - http://www.coronalabs.com/products/corona-sdk/
2D cross platform (iOS, Android, Kindle and Nook) engine.
Write games in scripting language Lua.
Animated sprites, Social API integration, native device features integrated.
Also used for application and eBook development.
C++ based engine that should easily port to x86 Android devices.
Starter license available for free and allows publishing. Additional features available with a paid license.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.base2.walkaboutb, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.frozengun.freeze
Unity 3D – http://unity3d.com
2D/3D cross platform (iOS, Android, PC) with full-featured integrated editor.
PhysX physics engine, C#, javascript or Boo scripting language, multiplayer and network support, streaming assets, etc.
License purchase required for phone publishing, try for free.
No Android x86 support in current version.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.ArtInGames.AirAttackHDLite
Cocos2D - http://www.cocos2d-x.org/projects/cocos2d-x
A port to C++ of the popular iPhone Cocos2D engine.
Cross platform (Android, iPhone, Win32) 2D engine
C++ based engine that supports x86 Android devices.
Free engine with full source code.
Example: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.xmg.cowsvsaliens
jPCT-AE- http://www.jpct.net/jpct-ae/
A java 3D engine optimized for Android.
Nice set of features including 3DS, OBJ and other file support, skeletal animations, shader support, texture compression, collision detection, various lighting modes, transparency, fog, and more.
An all java game engine that supports x86 Android devices.
Free for personal and commercial use.
Example: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mk.grami.max
Libgdx - http://code.google.com/p/libgdx/
Cross platform (Windows, Linux, OSX and Android) 2D/3D Android engine. Build, run and iterate on the PC before deploying to phone.
C++ and Java based engine that easily ports to x86.
Box2d physics, TMX tile map, shaders, 2D particle system, sprite support, camera apis, OBJ and MD5 model loaders.
Full source code available for free.
C++/Java based engine that with a few minor changes I was able to run on x86 Android devices.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.tani.penguinattack
PlayN – https://code.google.com/p/playn/
Cross-platform game abstraction library for writing games. Compiles to, Desktop Java, HTML5 Browsers, Android, iOS and Flash
Include APIs for graphics, assets, Box2d physics, and more
Free and open source.
Examples: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gabumba.tupsu.android, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.rb.game
More demo and example links: https://code.google.com/p/playn/wiki/DemoLinks
gameplay – http://gameplay3d.org/index.php
Open-source cross-platform 3D engine aimed at the indie game developer ecosystem.
Supports BlackBerry 10 and PlayBook, Apple iOS 5+, Android NDK 2.3+, Microsoft Windows 7, Apple MacOS X, Linux
Full featured rendering system, node-based scen graph system, particle system, Bullet physics engine, audio and UI systems, etc.
Open sourced under the Apache 2.0 license
Adobe AIR – http://www.adobe.com/products/air.html
Use Action Script and Flash to build 2D/3D cross platform (iOS, Android, PC, BlackBerry and TV) apps and games.
There are several engines built on top of Flash that provide APIs to build games easily, see a list here http://www.adobe.com/devnet/games/gaming_engines.html
Hardware accelerated graphics, native extensions, Android Licensing Service support, and more.
Adobe authoring tool purchase required.
No Android x86 support in current version.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.d20studios.heromages
Andengine - http://www.andengine.org/
2D Android game engine
SplitScreen support, network multiplayer apis, live wallpaper support
Primarily a Java engine with some C++ that includes x86 native libraries.
Full source code available for free.
http://wiki.andengine.org/List_of_Apps_and_Games
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.bestcoolfungamesfreegameappcreation.bunnyshooter
Esenthel Engine - http://www.esenthel.com/?id=overview
Modern 2D/3D C++ based game engine (Windows, Mac, Android and iOS)
Available for unlimited trial if used non-commercially
Scripting and C++ support, multiple renderers, animation system, physics engine, streaming game engine, GUI, etc.
DirectX 9,10,11, OpenGL, OpenGL ES 2.0, PhysX 3, PhysX 2, Bullet physics integration
Tools include a world editor, model editor, data browser, code editor and more.
One-click cross platform publishing
Android native x86 support
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Esenthel
Linderdaum Engine - http://www.linderdaum.com
Cross platform (Windows, Android) 2D/3D engine
Free engine with full source code
C++ based engine that supports ARM and x86 Android devices (precompiled x86-libs are also included).
http://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Linderdaum
ShadingZen - http://traxnet.github.com/ShadingZen/
A 2D/3D Engine for Android
Open Source (MIT License) with full source code
Java based and heavily optimized for mobile, supports multi-core CPUs.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.traxnet.kidscube
Kivy - http://www.madewithmarmalade.com/
Open source Python library
Cross platform, running on Linux, Windows, MacOSX, Android and IOS.
Kivy is 100% free to use, under LGPL 3 licence.
Suport for getures, multi-touch, graphics and shaders
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kivy.showcase
Marmalade SDK (previously Airplay SDK) - http://www.madewithmarmalade.com/
Cross platform (iOS, Android, BlackBerry PlayBook OS, bada, Windows Desktop, Mac OS, WindowsPhone 8) 3D C++ game engine.
Free to try for 30 days, license purchase required to publish.
C++ based engine that should easily port to x86 Android devices.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.imperialgamestudio.golfbattle3d
Gideros Studio - http://www.giderosmobile.com/
2D cross platform (iPhone iPad, Android) game engine.
Write Lua code in provided IDE, iterate on PC with simulator.
Features include Box2d physics engine, fonts, sprites, tile maps and sensor integration.
Free version includes Gideros Splash screen, licensed version removes it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jenots.mashballs
App game kit -http://www.appgamekit.com/
Cross platform (iOS, Windows, MacOS, Android, BlackBerry)
A 2D OpenGL based game engine with Box2D. Include support for Sprites, particles, input APIs, sound and music.
Looks like it is a C++ based engine that should easily port to x86 Android devices.
Write game code in BASIC or has an available upgrade option for writing native C++ code.
Free to try, license purchase required to publish.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.texasoftreloaded.theblackhole
ShiVa3D - http://www.stonetrip.com/
Multi-platform 3D game engine, which handles advanced shading systems, physics engine , HUD rendering and the sound library.
Cross platform (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iPhone, Android, Palm, Wii, iPad, BlackBerry)
Write code in Lua or C++
C++ based engine that should easily port to x86 Android devices.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dvidearts.crusadeofdestiny
Orx - http://orx-project.org/
Orx is an open source, portable, lightweight, plugin-based, data-driven and extremely easy to use 2D-oriented game engine.
Cross platform (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Linux, Android) game engine.
Camera APIs, animations, sound, sprite rendering and data driven for fast and easy prototyping and development.
Free open source.
C++ based engine that should easily port to x86 Android devices.
Example: https://market.android.com/details?id=lyde.sik.gravity
DX Studio - http://www.dxstudio.com/
3D game engine with editor.
Android limited features now supported.
C++ based engine that should easily port to x86 Android devices.
Currently offered for free.
SIO2 Engine – http://sio2interactive.com/
2D/3D cross platform (iOS, Android, bada, WebOS, WIN32 ) game engine.
Iterate via simulator on PC
Features lua support, exporters for various 3d modeling tools, Bullet physics engine, path finding, sound apis, shader support, animation and networking support.
C++ based engine that should easily port to x86 Android devices.
Various licenses available for purchase, free to trial.
Papaya Social Game Engine - http://papayamobile.com/developer/engine
Cross platform (iOS and Android) 2D engine.
Write games in scripting language, includes social APIs, physics, and particle effects.
C/C++ based OpenGL engine that should easily port to x86 Android devices.
Engine is free to download.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.papaya.papayaFish_hd
moai - http://getmoai.com/
Open-source game framework for Android, iOS and Chrome (via NaCl).
Lua scripting language based development engine that has integrated cloud services available.
Engine is open source and free to use, pay for cloud services.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ziplinegames.slotstycoon
Unigine - http://unigine.com/products/unigine/
3D cross platform (Windows, Linux, Max, PS3, iOS, Android)
Physics, scripting, etc. Unclear what features are supported for mobile.
Evaluation available to companies working on commercial projects. License purchase required.
C++ based engine that should easily port to x86 Android devices.
Example: http://www.demolicious-game.com/
Candroidengine - http://code.google.com/p/candroidengine/
2D Java engine.
Sprites, tile animation, background APIs, etc.
Dalvik only engine that should work on all architectures.
Full source code available for free.
Mages Engine - http://code.google.com/p/mages/
multiplayer client/server game engine
Java engine that should work on all architectures.
Full source code available for free.
Unreal Development kit - http://udk.com/
No Android support in UDK. The full license on Unreal Engine needed for Android support.
This is the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides access to the 3D game engine.
UDK supports iOS and Windows only.
Free to use UDK for noncommercial and educational use
Rokon - http://code.google.com/p/rokon/
2D engine no longer being updated, suggests the libgdx engine as an alternative.
Cuttlefish Engine - http://www.cuttlefishengine.com/
Site is no longer working
2D cross platform (Windows Phone, Android, iPhone, Windows PC) game
The great thing about Android on x86 is that it opens a new class of devices for all of the games built on these engines. Unfortunately not all these game engines have support for x86 native binaries but it’s probably just a matter of time. x86 support is available in the latest Android NDK. Porting to x86 for some of these engines may simply be a recompile. We have created a couple of documents to guide you and have forums available to help along the way.
NDK Android Application Porting Methodologies
Understanding x86 vs ARM Memory Alignment on Android
Android* Application on Intel® Architecture Forum link
This post continues to gain in popularity, as does the number of Android game engine choices. I will continue to update this post with the latest information from user comments and news from the web. I hope this list helps as a great starting point for those thinking about writing an Android game. Feel free to post comments about game engines I am missing or any updated information you find.
The post Game Engines for Android appeared first on Blogs@Intel.