this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2025
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I'll join the chorus recommending Godot. A lot lighter than Unity or Unreal, it's open source, well documented and quite capable. It's got a lot of features, in a lot of ways it isn't "dead simple."
I might recommend starting off using Python's Pygame library. Do something like create Flappy Bird in it, that will give you a pretty good idea of how a video game works under the hood, and it'll run on a potato.
For pixel art you might go with LibreSprite or Pixelorama. These will allow you to create tile sets for backgrounds as well as character sprites.
If you're looking to get into 3D art, you've basically got to go with Blender.
"Lightweight" and "small" isn't the same as simple. People seriously gotta stop recommending godot to beginners. It's good as a general engine, but a lot to take in for a beginner.
Pygame is a great choice. I would add Love2D as a similar alternative if you don't jive with Python.
Off topic but Godot has a serious cult problem. Say anything that could possibly be interpreted as negative about it, and you're going to get someone writing a very emotional response. It's pretty much at the Apple fan boy level, which is bad but mostly weird.
I did call Godot lighter than Unity or Unreal, which I believe to be factually accurate. I have run Godot on a 2014 era laptop, it runs well on a system of that vintage.
It is a full featured 2D/3D game engine and development environment, which can be a lot to take in. A lot of what I learned about game development I learned from a Youtube channel called Clear Code, who made the same snake game in both Pygame and Godot.
Python and Pygame does away with the cluttered IDE, and you can build a functioning game in one file, then you translate those concepts to a more full-on game engine which is going to be a bit more practicable for making larger games with things like tilesets and more complicated physics and collisions and whatnot. I'd hate to try making a Zelda-like game in something like Pygame. Fear the men who made A Link to the Past in 6502 assembly.