Game development engines, toolkits and SDK’s are the proverbial “bread and butter” of game development. They are the layer upon which powers your entire game and/or world.

Depending on your specific development focus, these choices shouldn’t come as any surprise to you. Even though I’ve put this list together to help you choose the package or engine that is right for your project, it is by no means complete. For every commercial engine out there, there are thousands of hobby enthusiasts that have devoted their time to making their own mark on the world of game engines.

Please note: These are not “ranked” in any order or preference or even market viability (eg. how much you’ll make in return). They have all been used by game developers around the world to not only create games for sale, but for just plain having fun.

Update: Removed the Kanji Engine, as it’s been defunct and taken offline. Thanks to @Ken_Paulson for that.