Post
The 2D-first engine behind Undertale, Hotline Miami, and a generation of indie hits.
GameMaker was created by Mark Overmars in 1999 as a hobbyist tool, commercialized as GameMaker Studio by YoYo Games (now owned by Opera). It uses a custom scripting language (GML) and a visual editor friendly to non-programmers. The engine powers some of the most beloved indie games of the 2010s — Undertale (Toby Fox), Hotline Miami (Dennaton), Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine), Spelunky (Derek Yu), Risk of Rain, Katana ZERO, and many others. In 2022 GameMaker became free for non-commercial use; commercial use requires a subscription.
Example
Undertale (2015) was built almost entirely solo by Toby Fox in GameMaker, with a custom dialogue system and combat mechanics built in GML. The engine's accessibility to a non-engineer enabled a game that has sold over 5M copies.
Why it matters
GameMaker is one of the most important engines in indie history, particularly for solo and tiny-team developers building 2D games. Its low barrier to entry and proven shipping track record make it a default for the hobbyist-to-professional pipeline.
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