"But wait, I'm completely new to game development and I don't even know what engine might be best for my game idea! Send help!"
Fear not! There are websites designed to steer you in the right direction no matter how little experience you have! We would suggest taking a look at sortingh.at and see if you can find something there! If you're still lost, we're sure that there will be plenty of adventurers happy to assist you in the Discord group chat!
HOW TO SURVIVE ADVENTURE JAM
First of all, remember to plan and pace yourself. Check out this guide to surviving the fortnight from our own community moderator, Cheeseness, who above all advises to think small, work smart, and don't smash yourself!
GAME ENGINES
USING UNITY FOR ADVENTURE GAMES
Unity (Free) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Learn Unity (1) (2) (3) (Udemy)
Adventure Creator for Unity ($70) | Develop a complete 2D or 3D adventure game in Unity without writing a single line of code. | Manual | Tutorials (1) (2) (Udemy)
Fungus for Unity (Free) | A no-code tool to create adventure games, interactive fiction, and visual novels. | Tutorials
Game Creator for Unity ($65) | Complete tools suite that will help you kickstart your game in a matter of minutes. | Quickstart
PowerQuest for Unity (Free/Donation) | A tool for creating 2D point-and-click adventure games. Developed by Powerhoof, and featured in multiple AdvJam entries! | Tutorials (1) (2)
SPECIALIZED ADVENTURE GAME ENGINES:
Adventure Game Studio (Free) | For Windows. | PDF Guide Book | Tutorials
Bladecoder (Free - In Development) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Tutorials
Escoria framework for Godot (Free) | Learn Escoria (1) (2) | Learn Godot (1) (2) (3)
Point & Click DK (Free) | A point-and-click engine for Windows. | Message Boards | Tutorials
Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine (Free) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Quickstart Guide | Manual
SCUMM-8 (Free/Donation) | An easy-to-use engine for Pico-8 Fantasy Console for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Wiki
Visionaire Studio (€49+) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Manual | Tutorials | Tutorials (1) (2)
Wintermute (Free - No Longer Supported) | For Windows. | Wiki | Tutorials (Italian)
GENERIC 2D GAME ENGINES:
Construct 3 (Subscription Based with Free Trial) | A HTML5 no-code engine for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge. | Guide
GameMaker Studio 2 ($39+ with Free Trial) | An easy-to-use game engine using either code or drag-and-drop programming for Windows, and Mac. | Manual | Video Tutorials (1) (2) (3) (4)
Pixel Vision 8 (Open Source) | A full dev environment packaged inside an 8-bit fantasy game console for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Documentation
HaxeFlixel (Free) | Cross-platform game engine for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Documentation
LÖVE (Free) | Multiplatform framework to create games in Lua for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Video | Manual
Scratch (Free) | An in-browser drag-and-drop tool built for absolute beginners, with an offline version for Windows, Mac, Chrome OS, and Android tablets. | Wiki
Stencyl (Free with Subscription Options) | Drag-and-drop gamedev with built-in assets for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Tutorials
GENERIC 2D/3D GAME ENGINES:
Amazon Lumberyard (Free) | A high-performance real-time 3D engine for Windows 10. | Tutorials (1) (2) (3)
Godot (Free) | A 2D and 3D cross-platform engine released under the MIT license for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Learn Godot (1) (2) (3)
Unreal Engine 4 (Free) | A real-time 3D engine for Windows, and Mac. | Wiki | Free Online Courses
TRADITIONAL TEXT ADVENTURE ENGINES:
Adventuron (Free) | An in-browser engine that supports multimedia features and theming options. | Tutorial
Quest (Free) | An in-browser engine with an offline version available for Windows. | Documentation | Creator's Intro Video
INTERACTIVE TEXT ADVENTURE ENGINES:
Adrift (Free/Donation) | Toolkit for Windows | Manual
Squiffy (Free) Open source tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Documentation
gist-txt (Free) | Minimal text adventure engine that reads public gists from GitHub. | Info
Inform 6 (Free) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Designer Manual & Technical Manual
Inform 7 (Free) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Writing with Inform & Recipe Book
Twine (Free) | Open source tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Wiki
ink (Free/Donation) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Tutorial | Full Guide
inklewriter (Free) | Web-based with in-app tutorial.
Need to expand your engine search? Try this list from Game Career Guide!
DIGITAL ART
FREE ART ASSETS
Itch.io Top Free Game Assets | Downloadable sprites, tiles, etc.
OpenGameArt.org | High quality, freely licensed art for free/open source games.
16 Sites Featuring Free Game Graphics
PAINTING / IMAGE EDITING SOFTWARE
Adobe Photoshop (Subscription Based with Free Trial) | For Windows, and Mac. | Tutorials (1) (2) (3)
Clip Studio Paint (Free for iPhone, with Free Trials Available) | Drawing and painting with natural brushes for Windows, Galaxy, Android, Chromebook, Mac, iPad, and iPhone. | Tutorials
FireAlpaca (Free) | Digital painting software for Windows, and Mac. | Brushes | Tutorials
Gimp (Free) | Cross-platform image editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Manual | Tutorials
Krita (Free/Donation) | Open source painting program for Windows, Mac, and Linux | Manual
Paint.NET (Free/Donation) | General image editor for Windows. | Tutorials
SumoPaint (Subscription Based with Free Version) | Cloud-based image editing for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Tutorials
SPRITE CREATION / EDITING SOFTWARE
aseprite ($20 or Free 2012 Version) | For Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu. Purchase includes a Steam Key. | Documentation
GraphicsGale (Free) | For Windows. | Tutorials
Piskel (Free) | Browser based. Offline version available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Tutorial
Pyxel Edit ($9 or Free Version - In Development) | For Windows, and Mac. | Learn
ANIMATION SOFTWARE
Adobe Animate CC (Subscription Based with Free Trial) | Newest iteration of Flash for Windows, and Mac. | Video Tutorials
Spine ($69 with Free Trial) | 2D Animation for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Quickstart | Spine Academy
Toon Boom Harmony (Subscription Based with Free Trial) | For Windows, and Mac. | Video Tutorials
MAP EDITORS
Tiled (Free/Donation) | A 2D level editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Getting Started | User Manual
MODELLING SOFTWARE
Blender (Free) | Open-source 3D creation program. For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | User Manual | Tutorials
MagicaVoxel (Free) | 8-bit voxel editor and interactive path tracing renderer. For Windows, and Mac. | Tutorials and Resources
Still looking for more? Try this: Top 20 Most Essential Software for Artists and Designers
AUDIO & MUSIC
FREE SOUND TOOLS
Audacity | A cross-platform sound editor, for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Documentation
Bfxr | An in-browser tool for music creation, with offline versions for Windows, and Mac.
Bosca Ceoil | An easy-to-use, in-browser music creation tool, with offline versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Built-in tutorial available.
FamiTracker | A sound tracker for producing NES/Famicom music for Windows. | Wiki
LMMS | An open-source, cross-platform music creation tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | User Manual
Plugin Boutique | A collection of effects, instruments, and studio tools, with paid resources also available.
Plugins 4 Free | A collection of audio plugins.
Still looking for more? Check out TechRadar's roundup of the best audio editors!
FREE SOUND EFFECTS & MUSIC COLLECTIONS
Adventure Dev Discord | Check out our music reels channel under Sound and Music for artists looking to create new music for your Adventure Jam entry!
BBC Sound Effects | Free for Non-Commercial Use (License Info)
Freesound.org | Free Sound Effects (License Info)
Incompetech | Royalty-Free Music (License Info)
OurMusicBox | Royalty-Free Music (License Info)
Sound Image | Royalty-Free Sound Effects & Music (Attribution Info)
Sonniss Annual Preview Packs | Royalty-Free Sound Effects
55 Great Websites To Download Free Sound Effects
VOICE ACTING
Adventure Dev Discord | Check out our voice acting channels under Sound and Music to find voice actors who are offering their talents for your Adventure Jam entry!
GameVoices | A Discord community where game developers and voice actors can meet and discuss projects.
PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE
WORD PROCESSORS
Google Docs (Free) | A cloud-based MS Office alternative.
OpenOffice (Free) | An open source MS Office alternative for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Scrivener ($19+ with Free Trial) | A program for organizing notes, writing and more, for Windows, Mac, and iOS. | Learn
yWriter (Free) | A program that breaks your novel into chapters and scenes for Windows. | Video Tutorials (English) (German)
CHART / DIAGRAM SOFTWARE
draw.io (Free) | Cloud-based diagram software for making flowcharts, process diagrams and more. | Tutorials
HacknPlan (Free with Subscription Options) | A production tool inspired by Jira/Trello, with game development in mind. | Documentation
LucidChart (Free with Subscription Options) | A web-based platform for drawing, revising and sharing charts and diagrams. | Tutorials
Vizon (Free) | A browser-based dependency chart app using code, based upon Ron Gilbert's puzzle dependency charts.
TUTORIALS, eBOOKS, AND OTHER RESOURCES
ART (PIXEL)
How to Sketch a Pixel Art Landscape by Noah Bradley
Learn to Create Pixel Art for your Game by Benjamin Anderson via Udemy
Pixel Art for Video Games by Marco Vale via Udemy
ART (VOXEL)
PUZZLES
A Guide to Puzzle Dependency Charts by Ron Gilbert
Puzzle Dependency Graph Primer by Joshua Weinberg
Adventure Game Puzzle Design Roundup by Phil Fortier
TEXT ADVENTURES (TRADITIONAL)
Unity Text Adventure Tutorial (Video)
Creating Adventure Games on your Computer (eBook)
Creating Adventures on your Commodore 64 (eBook)
Write Your Own Adventure Programs (eBook)
The Captain 80 Book of Basic Adventures (eBook)
The Book Of Adventure Games (eBook)
WRITING
The Creative Writers Toolbelt (Podcast)
Writing Excuses (Podcast)
DOCUMENTARIES
Get Lamp - An Interactive Fiction Documentary by Jason Scott
Infocom - The Documentary by Jason Scott
Tim Schafer Breaks Down 20 Years of Double Fine Games by Noclip Video Game Documentaries
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