Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

AppGameKit VS Solarus Action-RPG game engine

Compare AppGameKit VS Solarus Action-RPG game engine and see what are their differences

AppGameKit logo AppGameKit

AppGameKit is a game development platform for mobile devices.

Solarus Action-RPG game engine logo Solarus Action-RPG game engine

Solarus is a free and open-source Action-RPG game engine.
  • AppGameKit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-23
  • Solarus Action-RPG game engine Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-14

AppGameKit features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    AppGameKit allows developers to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. This saves time and effort in porting games to different devices.
  • Ease of Use
    The language and API are designed to be straightforward and accessible, making it easier for beginners and hobbyists to get started with game development.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    AppGameKit provides detailed documentation and tutorials, which can help both new and experienced developers understand how to utilize its features effectively.
  • Active Community
    The platform has an active online community where developers can share resources, ask questions, and assist each other, fostering collaborative learning and problem-solving.
  • Rapid Development
    The scripting language and tools allow for rapid prototyping and development, making it easier to iterate game design and mechanics quickly.

Possible disadvantages of AppGameKit

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Compared to some other game engines, AppGameKit may lack certain advanced features and tools, which could be a limitation for highly complex or high-performance games.
  • Paid Licensing
    While there is a free trial, the full version of AppGameKit requires a purchase. This can be a barrier for some indie developers or students with limited budgets.
  • Performance Overhead
    Using a higher-level scripting language can introduce some performance overhead, which might not be ideal for games requiring high optimization and efficiency.
  • Less Popularity
    AppGameKit is not as widely used as some other game engines like Unity or Unreal Engine, which means fewer third-party resources, plugins, and tutorials are available.
  • Basic 3D Support
    While AppGameKit supports 3D game development, its 3D capabilities are not as robust or feature-rich as those found in more specialized 3D engines.

Solarus Action-RPG game engine features and specs

  • Open Source
    Solarus is an open-source engine, which means developers have full access to the source code and can modify or extend the engine to suit their needs. This fosters a collaborative community and allows for customization.
  • Zelda-like Experience
    The engine is specifically designed for creating games similar to the 2D Zelda titles, offering built-in support for action-RPG mechanics akin to classic Zelda games, which is advantageous for developers aiming to recreate that experience.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Solarus supports multiple platforms including Windows, Linux, and macOS, which allows developers to distribute their games across a broad range of operating systems without needing major modifications.
  • Active Community
    A supportive and active community surrounds Solarus, providing resources, tutorials, and assistance, helping newcomers to get acquainted with the engine and overcome development challenges.
  • Integrated Map Editor
    Solarus includes an integrated map editor, allowing developers to build game worlds visually without needing an external tool, which can streamline the development process.

Possible disadvantages of Solarus Action-RPG game engine

  • Niche Focus
    The engine's specialization in creating Zelda-like games might not be suitable for developers looking to create games outside of the action-RPG genre due to its limited scope and features tailored specifically for this style.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its focus, there can be a steep learning curve for those new to game development or to Lua scripting, which is the primary language used for development in Solarus.
  • Limited 3D Support
    Solarus is heavily geared towards 2D game development with no native support for 3D graphics, which can be a limitation for developers wanting to incorporate 3D elements into their games.
  • Performance Limitations
    While Solarus is robust for 2D games, there are performance limitations compared to more modern engines that utilize advanced optimization techniques or hardware acceleration, especially for complex scenes.
  • Smaller User Base
    Compared to more popular game engines like Unity or Unreal Engine, Solarus has a smaller user base, which might mean fewer tutorials, plugins, and third-party tool integrations.

Analysis of AppGameKit

Overall verdict

  • Overall, AppGameKit is a solid choice for both beginners and intermediate developers who are interested in 2D and basic 3D game development. It strikes a balance between ease of use and flexibility, although it might not be the best option for highly advanced 3D graphics or very large-scale projects.

Why this product is good

  • AppGameKit is considered a good tool for game development because of its simplicity and cross-platform support. It is designed to let developers write code that can be easily deployed to multiple platforms, such as Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and HTML5. The language used is BASIC-based, which makes it accessible for beginners while still offering sufficient depth for more complex game functionalities.

Recommended for

  • Beginner game developers
  • Developers looking for cross-platform deployment
  • Individuals or small teams creating 2D games
  • Hobbyists and educators teaching game design basics

AppGameKit videos

AppGameKit Studio -- Introduction and Crash Course Tutorial

Solarus Action-RPG game engine videos

Solarus 1.6 Tutorial 1: Create A Quest

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to AppGameKit and Solarus Action-RPG game engine)
Game Development
85 85%
15% 15
Game Engine
81 81%
19% 19
3D Game Engine
74 74%
26% 26
Java
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare AppGameKit and Solarus Action-RPG game engine

AppGameKit Reviews

The Top 10 Video Game Engines
AppGameKit utilizes Vulkan as its coding language and doubles down on its cross-platform support. You can get started easily, have everything running quickly, and branch out to different platforms, achieving a large amount of exposure for your game.
Top 10 Mobile Game Development Tools For Intellectual Games
AppGamekit shares a similarity with Marmalade of “write once and run anywhere.” It uses its own scripting language that is quite easy to learn as it is similar to C++. The game development tool is user-friendly and caters to every type of developer from beginners to experts.
Source: unaryteam.com
The Best 15 Mobile Game Engines / Development Platforms & Tools in 2020
AppGameKit is great but it’s not C++ like. I would say it’s BASIC kinda language. But it’s not the exact BASIC that you know from Visual Basic, still quite familiar. New(ish) AppGameKit Studio has great features and fully backwards compatible with AppGameKit Classic.
Source: thetool.io

Solarus Action-RPG game engine Reviews

We have no reviews of Solarus Action-RPG game engine yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Solarus Action-RPG game engine seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 3 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

AppGameKit mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of AppGameKit yet. Tracking of AppGameKit recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Solarus Action-RPG game engine mentions (3)

  • Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) re-implemented in C
    I would like to give a shout-out to another awesome open source 2D Zelda engine called Solarus: https://solarus-games.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • What do you think about becoming a personal game developer?
    The thing is that there are people outside of industry who I think would easily be in love with my offer of $15K for 2-3 months. See this group of amateurs at solarus - https://solarus-games.org/ They have a free engine ready to go with all the art, music and complex programming built in. There is room for optional scripting. I just wonder how well my offer would go down with someone making a game in that engine. Source: about 3 years ago
  • [ALL] Biweekly Questions and General Discussion Thread
    Neither are ROM Hacks, though. They're made using the Solarus game engine, an independently created ARPG game engine that allows users to create their own games. I one tried my hand at creating one, but got a bit bored, because it's quite a large endeavour. Source: about 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing AppGameKit and Solarus Action-RPG game engine, you can also consider the following products

Godot Engine - Feature-packed 2D and 3D open source game engine.

Open RPG Maker - Open RPG Maker is a free and open source clone of features from the RPG Maker series (i.e.

MonoGame - MonoGame is an open source implementation of the Microsoft XNA 4 Framework.

ct.js - ct.js is a 2D game editor (desktop app) based on web technologies.

RPG Maker - Make your own PC game with RPG Maker. Our easy to use tools are simple enough for a child, and powerful enough for a developer. Try it free today!

BYOND - BYOND is the premier community for making and playing online multiplayer games.