Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Defold Engine VS Heaps.io

Compare Defold Engine VS Heaps.io and see what are their differences

Defold Engine logo Defold Engine

Defold lets you quickly build high performing, cross-platform games together with your team.

Heaps.io logo Heaps.io

Mature, cross-platform graphics engine for high performance games.
  • Defold Engine Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-19
  • Heaps.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2020-08-09

Defold Engine features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Defold is a highly lightweight engine, which makes it easy to download, install, and run on most systems without consuming significant resources.
  • Cross-Platform Development
    Defold supports multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and HTML5, enabling developers to create games that work across a wide range of devices and operating systems.
  • Performance
    The engine is optimized for high performance, which is crucial for creating responsive and smooth gaming experiences.
  • Easy to Learn
    Defold offers a user-friendly interface and good documentation, making it accessible for beginners and professionals alike.
  • Integrated Development Environment
    Defold comes with its own IDE, which includes features like a scene editor, code editor, and asset management, streamlining the development workflow.
  • Community and Support
    The Defold community is active and supportive, with forums, tutorials, and official documentation available to help new and experienced developers.
  • Lua Scripting
    Defold uses Lua, a lightweight scripting language, which is both powerful and relatively easy to learn, allowing for fast prototyping and development.
  • Free License
    Defold is available for free, making it a cost-effective option for indie developers and small studios.

Possible disadvantages of Defold Engine

  • Limited 3D Capabilities
    While Defold does support 3D development, its capabilities are limited compared to other engines like Unity or Unreal, which might not be suitable for complex 3D games.
  • Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basics are easy to grasp, mastering advanced features requires a significant amount of time and effort due to a lack of extensive tutorials and examples.
  • Smaller Community
    The Defold community, although supportive, is smaller compared to communities for other game engines like Unity or Unreal, potentially limiting collaborative opportunities and third-party resources.
  • Editor Limitations
    Some developers find the Defold IDE lacking in advanced features that are available in other game development environments, which might hinder productivity.
  • Dependency on Lua
    The necessity to use Lua scripting can be a downside for developers who are not familiar with or do not wish to learn this language.
  • Less Asset Market Support
    Compared to other popular engines, there are fewer ready-made assets and plugins available for Defold, which can slow down the development process.

Heaps.io features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Support
    Heaps.io is designed to work seamlessly across multiple platforms, including web browsers, desktop, and mobile devices. This makes it a versatile choice for developers looking to deploy applications across different environments.
  • Efficient Performance
    Heaps.io is optimized for performance, making it suitable for creating high-performance games and applications. It leverages Haxe's capabilities to produce efficient code.
  • Rich Multimedia Support
    The engine provides robust support for 2D and 3D graphics, audio, and other multimedia features, enabling developers to create immersive and interactive experiences.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source project, Heaps.io offers developers the ability to contribute to its development, customize the code, and access a community of users and contributors.
  • Integrated with Haxe
    Heaps.io is tightly integrated with the Haxe programming language, offering developers the benefits of a modern, high-level language with powerful cross-platform capabilities.

Possible disadvantages of Heaps.io

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For developers unfamiliar with Haxe, Heaps.io may present a steep learning curve as it requires learning both the engine and the programming language.
  • Smaller Community
    Compared to more established game engines like Unity or Unreal Engine, Heaps.io has a smaller user community, which can result in fewer resources, tutorials, and third-party tools available.
  • Limited Documentation
    Although Heaps.io provides documentation, it may not be as comprehensive or detailed as that of other popular engines, posing challenges for beginners seeking help.
  • Niche Use Case
    Due to its specific design and integration with Haxe, Heaps.io may not be suitable for all types of projects, especially those not requiring cross-platform capabilities or featuring complex requirements.

Analysis of Defold Engine

Overall verdict

  • Defold is a solid choice for 2D game developers who prioritize performance and a lightweight setup. While it may not be as feature-rich for 3D games compared to some other engines, it excels in its niche, providing an excellent development experience for those focused primarily on 2D games.

Why this product is good

  • Defold Engine is a cross-platform game engine known for its efficiency and ease of use. It provides a comprehensive set of tools for 2D game development, including a visual editor, scripting in Lua, and an integrated development environment. Defold is also lightweight, which means it runs well even on older hardware. The engine has a strong focus on performance and offers robust support for both web and mobile platforms. Additionally, being open source and supported by a dedicated community, it allows developers to contribute and customize the engine as needed.

Recommended for

    Defold Engine is recommended for indie developers, small teams, and hobbyists focusing on 2D game development. It's particularly suitable for those who appreciate an open-source platform with an active community, and who need support for web and mobile platforms out of the box.

Defold Engine videos

Defold Engine Open Sourced!

Heaps.io videos

BiteSize Heaps.io Tutorial - part 01

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Defold Engine and Heaps.io)
Game Development
80 80%
20% 20
Game Engine
80 80%
20% 20
3D Game Engine
80 80%
20% 20
Development
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 Defold Engine and Heaps.io

Defold Engine Reviews

The Best Gaming Engines You Should Consider for 2023
Defold is a 2D game engine developed by the creators of Candy Crush, King. It’s designed to make 2D game development easier than ever, and compatible with many platforms, including mobile, desktop, and web.
Best Game Engines for Linux in 2021
Defold is the ultimate game engine for Web and Mobile. You create your game with Lua scripts in Defold.
Source: kerneltips.com

Heaps.io Reviews

We have no reviews of Heaps.io yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Defold Engine should be more popular than Heaps.io. It has been mentiond 50 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.

Defold Engine mentions (50)

  • Building Game Prototypes with LÖVE
    Defold is not as well-known as Löve, but it seems to fit your description: https://defold.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
    Humble Bundle has a Godot bundle is available for the next day or so. That might be a good one to look at if you're ok with leaning into code a bit (gdscript is very very similar to python). https://www.humblebundle.com/software/learn-godot-43-complete-course-bundle-software Also check out the RPG Maker bundle. That's pretty point-and-click. You can have something basic up and running in a couple minutes... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Rawdrawandroid – Build Android apps without any Java, in C and Make
    Defold is another great open source Lua-based cross-platform game engine, and has a healthy ecosystem. https://defold.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Alternatives to Unity, Unreal, and Godot for 3D games
    Https://defold.com might anyway be something that is interesting for you. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Which GUI toolkit that can be easily distributed to win/mac/linux?
    Or maybe defold can be forced to only render when UI changed '__'). Source: over 1 year ago
View more

Heaps.io mentions (21)

  • Unity's Trap
    Maybe the engine used for Dead Cells, https://heaps.io ? - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: Best stack to make a 2D game in 2023
    I've personally had a very good experience with Haxe and Haxeflixel (https://haxeflixel.com/) although Heaps (https://heaps.io/) seems to be more popular nowadays. Haxe is very nice as a language, can easily cross-compile to a lot of targets, Haxeflixel is heavily inspired by some Actionscript framework and has a lot of goodies. Maybe Heaps is more mature, up to date and allows for more advanced features. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • What is the worst engine you've ever used and why?
    Not really the worst, but you can say my least favorite, and that would be heaps.io. Source: about 2 years ago
  • why are gamedevs so against sharing code?
    Yeah I think it's ideal for 2D development. Look into heaps.io . . You might like it! These days it seems the best source of community for haxe is in their official discord server. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Picking a language
    Many frameworks will let you export for the web, even if you don't code your game in JS. Unity, Godot, Bevy(?), heaps.io ... The list goes on and on. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Defold Engine and Heaps.io, you can also consider the following products

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

HaxeFlixel - Create cross-platform games easier and free. All with one codebase.

GDevelop - GDevelop is an open-source game making software designed to be used by everyone.

Unity - The multiplatform game creation tools for everyone.

Construct 2 - Scirra Construct is a 2D game development engine with a focus on building games visually.

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