Recent reviews by adambiser

As of an unannounced update in January 2022, the IDE now uses Steam's DRM system and must be run from the Steam client. This essentially means that the Steam version of AppGameKit Studio IDE cannot be used to develop games that use the Steam API (via plugin) because the IDE's appid will be used instead of the game's.

Note that this only affects Tier 1 / BASIC programming. Tier 2 / C++ doesn't use the IDE, so should be fine.

TheGameCreators, the developer/publisher, was nice enough to grant me a DRM-free version of the software on their site after I provided proof that I had purchased the Steam version. I encourage anyone who owns this software to contact them for a DRM-free replacement as well.

I pre-ordered this software and it has been problematic since launch. Bugs are currently taking months to be fixed as the main developers focus on GameGuru MAX instead of anything AppGameKit. I find myself using Classic almost exclusively and recommend it instead of Studio unless you really need Vulkan or the handful of commands that Studio supports and Classic does not. Even if you do need those, you can do the majority of your development in Classic before switching to Studio for the finishing touches and compiling.

If you have hopes of developing games that utilize the Steam API, at present, you should grab the DRM-free version from TheGameCreators, use Classic instead, or look elsewhere.

AGK is a nice, easy-to-use game development platform. I have mainly used it for 2D games, such as Toxic Terror, Boot Hill Blaster, and Daisia[fascimania.itch.io], but it also has some quite capable 3D functionality as well.

It has its own Basic language (tier 1) or one can also develop in C++ with it (tier 2). I've been using its Basic language which is quick to learn, especially if you have prior experience with other Basic languages. Exporting to APK for Android is pretty easy to do. Being able to broadcast the game from the Windows IDE to Android for quick testing is a very handy feature as well.

It's probably important to note that AGK is not a game engine itself. One still has to create their own game. It just provides tools that simplify the rendering and other back-end processes so one can focus more on designing the game itself.

There is an active and helpful community around AGK both on Steam and at their forum[forum.thegamecreators.com].