Stephen Brenish
Most engine comparisons are written as if you are onboarding a twenty-person team with a graphics programmer, a build engineer and a QA department. When you are all of those people at once, the right choice changes. The question is not which engine is most powerful. It is which one lets one person finish this particular game.
What each engine actually costs
| Engine | Cost to start | When you start paying | Source code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Godot 4 | Free | Never: no fees or royalties | Open source (MIT) |
| Unity Personal | Free | Once revenue plus funding passes $200,000 in 12 months, you need a paid plan | Closed |
| Unity Pro | $2,310 per seat per year (from January 2026) | From the first seat | Closed |
| Unreal Engine 5 | Free | 5% royalty on gross revenue above $1 million per product; Epic Games Store revenue is exempt | Source available |
| GameMaker | Free for non-commercial use | One-time $99.99 Professional license for commercial PC, web and mobile; Enterprise subscription for consoles | Closed |
| Defold | Free | Never | Source available |
Three things the table hides. Unity’s threshold is measured on revenue and funding, not profit, so a solo developer can cross it while still netting modest income. Godot’s console support comes through third-party porting partners, so confirm your target platforms early. And GameMaker’s pedigree is real: it has shipped major commercial 2D hits.
Pricing is the easy part of the decision, though. The harder part is fit.
Choose by genre and scope
The most common solo-developer mistake is choosing an engine based on the games you like to play rather than the game you can realistically build alone.
2D games (platformers, puzzle games, top-down action, narrative games): Godot or GameMaker are usually the best fit. Godot’s scene system and GDScript are well suited to one person building a medium-complexity 2D game, and GameMaker is built around 2D from the ground up. Unity’s 2D tools are capable, but it remains a 3D engine that supports 2D.
3D games with strong visuals and light systems (atmospheric horror, exploration, walking sims): Unreal Engine 5 can be a strong fit. Features like Nanite and Lumen let one person reach visuals that used to need a team, and the Fab marketplace helps with assets. The cost is complexity: expect to spend real time learning the engine rather than building your game.
3D games with heavy systems (RPGs, simulations, management games): Unity or Godot are often more manageable alone, because you spend less time fighting a large engine and more time on game logic.
Mobile, especially with live operations: Unity still has practical advantages, with mature iOS and Android pipelines and broad support for ad and analytics SDKs.
Choose by what you already know
What is the BEST Game Engine? (For Real) | Godot vs Unity vs Unreal · RixOne on YouTube
Your programming background shortens or lengthens every week of the project. If you know C#, Unity and Godot’s C# support will feel familiar. If you are new to programming, GDScript is easier to start with than C++ or C#. If you would rather avoid code for most of the work, GameMaker’s tools and Unreal’s Blueprints both lower the barrier, with Blueprints scaling further for 3D.
The real risk: switching engines halfway
Engine limitations rarely kill solo projects. Switching engines midway often does. A migration throws away working systems, resets your momentum and usually lands in the hardest stretch of the project, when you are tempted to believe the problems are the engine’s fault.
Most of the time they are not. The problem is scope, and scope follows you to the new engine. Before switching, ask whether a smaller version of your game would ship in the engine you already have. Usually it would.
A practical rule: prototype your core loop in your top two candidates for a week or two each, pick the one where you made more progress, and then commit for the life of the project.
Quick verdicts
- Godot: the best default for a solo developer starting a 2D or modest 3D game who wants zero licensing risk.
- Unity: a pragmatic choice for mobile, for C# developers, and for 3D games that need a large asset and tutorial ecosystem.
- Unreal Engine 5: the strongest option for visually ambitious 3D, if you accept the learning curve.
- GameMaker: a fast, proven tool for 2D games, with a one-time license for commercial PC and mobile.
- Defold: a lightweight, free option for 2D and mobile games, especially if small builds matter.
To compare twelve engines side by side, use the game engine comparison table, or take the which game engine quiz for a recommendation based on your project. Scoping the game to what one person can finish is covered in how to scope an indie game realistically.
Sources
- Unity: changes to subscription plans and pricing
- Unreal Engine license and FAQ
- GameMaker: pricing and licence FAQ
- Godot Engine
- Defold
Photo: cottonbro studio via Pexels
