Credit: Sam Scribbler

One of the first (and earliest) choices made in a game jam is what engine to use. In HAGJ, there are many options – any engine that is publicly available can be used for a HAGJ project. You may also use any publicly available coding base. So what we’re trying to say is - no purchased assets allowed.

Participants may also create/use their own engine. Obviously, this is extremely difficult, so we strongly recommend using a pre-existing publicly available engine, but we aren’t going to stop you if you can! Participants should feel free to choose whatever engine they like, regardless of its complexity.

Here are some options of free/publicly available engines that you can use during HAGJs:

Open-source engines

• Godot
• Ren’Py
• Twine

Non-open-source engines

• Construct
• GameMaker
• Unreal Engine
• Unity

Considering whether an engine is open-source or not may be important. Many non-open-source engines require users to pay a fee to upgrade to the complete version, to sell the games they make using the engine, or to pay royalties if game sales reach a certain threshold. Please ensure that you give proper credit for everything you use, whether it’s a pre-made asset or yourselves!

Is this wiki incomplete? Please feel free to suggest changes or let us know at historicallyaccurategamejam@gmail.com