# GameMaker

13 Hacker News commenters recommended GameMaker and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Beginner-friendly 2D game engine with easy GML scripting and one-time pricing. Critics say its bespoke language and drag-and-drop style limit normal coding.

## Why people recommend it

- Beginner-friendly for learning programming (3 comments): "GML (GameMaker Language) is also quite easy to write, so I think it's great for learning algorithms." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47985234)) "GameMaker visual programming was the first exposure to programming I could understand." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517139)) "the most beginner-friendly environment I've used" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47587268))
- Used to make well-known games (2 comments): "you can freely share games made with PICO-8, Löve, Godot, Rpgmaker, Game maker and the like" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48904208)) "Great games have been made with Godot (Cruelty Squad) and GameMaker (Sexy Hiking)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47410199))

## What people warn about

- Bespoke GML language is hard to learn (3 comments): "it would be so much easier if I didn't have to do internet archaeology just to figure out how GML worked 20 years ago" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49903944)) "all the others are just Unity/Gamemaker/Unreal not allowing the developers to write normal code" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47822684)) "I don't like the bespoke languages used by frameworks like Godot or GameMaker either." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46325435))
- Low-code drag-and-drop, not real coding (2 comments): "The entire "low code drag n drop" market like YoYoGames Game Maker and RPG Maker should be ready to pack it in soon" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47268189)) "all the others are just Unity/Gamemaker/Unreal not allowing the developers to write normal code" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47822684))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Godot](https://hackerapproved.com/p/godot.md): 213 recommend
- [Unity](https://hackerapproved.com/p/unity.md): 110 recommend
- [Unreal Engine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/unreal-engine.md): 104 recommend
- [Bevy game engine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bevy.md): 50 recommend
- [id Tech engine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/id-tech-engine.md): 26 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://gamemaker.io/en)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "GameMaker", https://hackerapproved.com/p/gamemaker/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).