Game dev | Notion

Game Dev Differs from Programming

Multidisciplinary Nature
- Requires merging multimedia and coding into a single medium.
- Art, shaders, music, and physics.
The "Game Loop"
- Standard apps wait for user input to do something, but games run a continuous loop.
- To update physics and redraw the screen, making performance and "lag" much more critical.
Game Engines
- Specialized engines like Unity, Unreal, or Godot. (visual interface)
- "no / low code" like GDevelop or RPG Maker

Feature	Unity	Unreal Engine	Godot
Primary Language	C#	C++ or Blueprints (Visual)	GDScript (Python-like) or C#
Best For	Mobile, 2D/3D, Cross-platform	AAA Visuals, Large 3D worlds	2D Games, Indie, Rapid prototyping
Learning Curve	Moderate	Steep	Gentle / Beginner-friendly
Licensing (2026)	Free tier up to $200k revenue	5% royalty after $1M revenue	100% Free (Open Source)
Installation	Medium (via Unity Hub)	Very Large (Heavy hardware req.)	Extremely Lightweight (<100MB)
Pros	Excellent support for web-based games.	Blueprints allow to "program" by connecting nodes (fast).	Starts up instantly.
Best for 2D games.
Cons	Can feel "bloated" with long import times.	Hard to learn, need high sys requirements.	Lags behind Unity and Unreal for high-end 3D features.