Corona SDK

For those looking to create the next Angry Birds or Candy Crush, Corona is a game engine to strongly consider. It's easy to use and powerful, containing pretty much every feature any serious 2D game developer would expect. It can be extended as well with plugins and custom libraries. What's more, games can be created quickly for many different platforms, and its performance is excellent, both in terms of graphics and gameplay. Best of all, it's free. It's not only free to develop games with it, but there are no licensing requirements, either. But what really sets this game engine apart from other 2D engines is its marketplace, because no matter how brilliant a game is it will go nowhere if no one knows about it. With the marketplace, developers can publish their games for free and build a large user base without having to spend money on marketing. Corona also has a very large and supportive user base that is more than willing to help new users when they have questions. The company also offers paid support options. The only thing Corona really lacks is a visual editor. Keep in mind also that it is only for 2D games. If you want to create a 3D game, you'll need to use something else.