For more than 20 years, British company The Game Creators has offered various kinds of video game development software, with some being more consumer-friendly than others. AppGameKit Studio is arguably the team’s most well-rounded current package, thanks to its powerful 2D and 3D features, as well as convenient mobile companion apps. However, AppGameKit Studio isn’t the most novice-friendly game development app; Editors’ Choice pick GameMaker remains the best tool for beginners to learn how to make video games.
What Kinds of Games Can You Make?
AppGameKit Studio is the software behind one of the Apple App Store’s top paid downlaods for 2020, a UK driving theory test app. If you just want to make apps like that, go ahead. But AppGameKit Studio also lets game developers make far more than educational mobile apps.
Browsing through AppGameKit Studio’s showcase page, you’ll find neon shmups, tower defense games, roguelike dungeon crawlers, and casual puzzle games. More impressive is the full support for 3D graphics alongside 2D sprites. Most consumer-level development software, including GameMaker, either heavily limits 3D development or restricts it entirely. The free, open-source Godot is one exception. AppGameKit Studio not only supports 3D visuals, but it also supports Vulkan and OpenGL rendering, realistic physics, augmented reality, virtual reality, and other advanced features.
I was surprised to see few recognizable games made with AppGameKit Studio, considering the engine’s horsepower. This is anecdotal evidence, but Construct, Twine, and even Stencyl are more popular game engines on indie game marketplace itch.io, despite AppGameKit Studio being more robust. This could be because AppGameKit Studio makes strange initial decisions that may turn off new potential customers—weird design choices I’ll discuss later.
Price and Platforms
As the name suggests, AppGameKit Studio lets you develop games as apps for Android and iOS mobile devices. You can also develop for the Windows, Mac, Linux, and the web via HTML5. Older software versions supported Raspberry Pi computers, but that’s no longer the case. You also can’t develop games for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, or Nintendo Switch, at least not without doing the hard and expensive work to port the game.
The core AppGameKit Studio costs $99, an affordable price given its functionality. The educational version is free for schools. However, that single purchase doesn’t include everything that the tool has to offer. You essentially buy DLC, either directly from AppGameKit Studio or through Steam, that adds new features. The add-ons include enhanced particle and shader effects, new audio and visual assets, and even demo games. This replaces the community marketplace you’ll find for most other game development programs. The add-ons frequently go on sale, with prices ranging from $5 to $175 for massive complete bundles.
Make sure that you’re using the correct software. AppGameKit Studio is the game engine’s most recent version, but AppGameKit Classic is still available. Some add-on packs work across both versions. The Game Creators team sells other specialized game development tools, such as the more accessible 3D engine GameGuru, so keep that in mind, as well.
Developing With AppGameKit Studio
AppGameKit Studio requires you to know text-based coding languages. Perhaps because GameGuru offers a more casual alternative, AppGameKit Studio doesn’t feel the need to be the best and most welcoming jumping on point for novice, aspiring developers. You should eventually learn how to code if your goal is to become a professional game designer, but other tools ease you into the process using intuitive, visual-coding languages. AppGameKit Studio lacks a visual language.
GameMaker and Construct have excellent visual-coding languages. Godot’s and Stencyl’s visual-coding languages are too complex and too simple, respectively, but they are available. AppGameKit Classic sells a visual editor add-on, but it’s out of date and not compatible with AppGameKit Studio. If you do know how to code, though, you’ll have a much easier time with AppGameKit Studio. The program has its own AppGameKit Studio script, but also supports familiar C++ languages.
AppGameKit Studio’s big upgrade over its predecessor is the revamped integrated development environment (IDE), and I can see why this is a selling point. The intuitive interface makes it easy to quickly browse media files in the asset browser. In addition, the new Scene Editor lets you drag and drop objects, adjust basic physic properties and variables, and cut tile sets into sprites that you can draw into a level. You’ll still need to write code to animate sprites or determine game logic, but the IDE workflow has hints of the smooth convenience that a full-on visual editor provides.
AppGameKit Studio isn’t limited to app development, but its mobile companion apps are another standout feature. With these free apps, you can write and test code for your projects on your phone. AppGameKit Mobile is for coding, and AGK Player is for playing. I tested the apps on an iPhone 12 mini, and they’re available on Android and iOS devices. They even offer free, example game code to study and copy.
You can sync mobile edits with desktop projects through the cloud, so you can use the mobile app to tweak games instead of creating them from scratch. As Fuze4 on Nintendo Switch proves, typing on a tiny touch screen isn’t the optimal way to write hundreds of lines of precise technical syntax, no matter how streamlined the editor. Still, even having a flexible option to code on the go is appreciated.
I wish AppGameKit Studio walked you through your first project, but the documentation does a decent enough job answering many questions. For more help, or just useful socializing and collaboration, you can join the community forums and Discord groups.
The Whole Kit and Caboodle
Between its paid add-ons and lack of newcomer-friendly coding options, AppGameKit Studio asks just a bit too much if you’re just getting started with video game development. That’s why GameMaker remains our Editors’ Choice pick for this category. However, if you stick with AppGameKit Studio, you’ll find an intuitive and capable engine that lets you make a wide variety of games on a PC or mobile device.
