game-engine-choice

Game Engine Choice

Overview

Choosing an engine is a one-way door: assets, scenes, scripts, editor tooling and the team's skills all bind to it. On an existing project there is nothing to choose — the engine and the exact editor version in the repository are the answer. The choice only opens for a brand-new game (or when the analiz task explicitly decides it), and then it is made from the target platforms first, not from preference.

Core principle: The repository's engine and pinned version win. For a new game, the platform list decides most of the choice before taste gets a vote.

Step 1 — read what the repository already says

Found one? Stop here and use it. Never open the project in a different editor version: Unity and Unreal re-serialize assets on open and Godot rewrites project.godot and import files, producing a diff nobody asked for.

Step 2 — only for a new game

digraph e {
  "Repo already has an engine?" [shape=diamond];
  "Use it, at its pinned version" [shape=box];
  "Console or high-end 3D required?" [shape=diamond];
  "Unreal (AAA-style 3D) or Unity" [shape=box];
  "Browser is the main target?" [shape=diamond];
  "Web stack: Phaser / PixiJS (2D), three.js / Babylon.js / PlayCanvas (3D)" [shape=box];
  "Rust team, code-first, accepts churn?" [shape=diamond];
  "Bevy" [shape=box];
  "Godot (2D or mid-scope 3D) or Unity (mobile, broad platform reach)" [shape=box];

  "Repo already has an engine?" -> "Use it, at its pinned version" [label="yes"];
  "Repo already has an engine?" -> "Console or high-end 3D required?" [label="no"];
  "Console or high-end 3D required?" -> "Unreal (AAA-style 3D) or Unity" [label="yes"];
  "Console or high-end 3D required?" -> "Browser is the main target?" [label="no"];
  "Browser is the main target?" -> "Web stack: Phaser / PixiJS (2D), three.js / Babylon.js / PlayCanvas (3D)" [label="yes"];
  "Browser is the main target?" -> "Rust team, code-first, accepts churn?" [label="no"];
  "Rust team, code-first, accepts churn?" -> "Bevy" [label="yes"];
  "Rust team, code-first, accepts churn?" -> "Godot (2D or mid-scope 3D) or Unity (mobile, broad platform reach)" [label="no"];
}