Buildbox vs Stencyl

Buildbox is a game engine intended for people with little or no coding experience. It has visual scripting and mobile export, and lists Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows among its platforms. Target platforms also include Steam and Apple TV. Buildbox 4 can create game environments from text descriptions; its AI editing and gesture tools can change games, and its AI can modify logic nodes or make custom nodes. Buildbox 4 downloads are offered for Windows and Mac. Buildbox 4 Pro lists Android and PC exports, while Buildbox Classic Pro lists iOS, Android, and PC exports. Buildbox Classic Beginner costs $29.98 a month, while Buildbox 4 Beginner costs $49.98 a month. Classic Pro costs $399.98 a year, and Buildbox 4 Pro costs $549.98 a year. Buildbox has no free plan. It offers tutorials, manuals, and personal email support.

Stencyl is game creation software for making mobile, web, and desktop games with visual logic or custom code. Its drag-and-drop designer uses snapping blocks and includes hundreds of ready-to-use blocks. Creators can also make and share blocks, import libraries, extend the engine with code, and write Haxe classes that work with block-based Behaviors. The Scene Designer provides selection, zooming, grid-snapping, and flood fill; the Actor Editor adjusts appearance, behaviors, and physical properties. Stencyl targets iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux, and HTML5. The free Starter edition publishes HTML5 games and lets users test games on paid target platforms, but cannot publish desktop, iOS, or Android games and displays Stencyl branding. Indie costs $99 a year and adds web and desktop publishing without watermarks. Studio costs $199 a year and includes publishing to iOS and Android, ads, leaderboards, in-app purchases, and third-party plugins. Publishing iOS games to the App Store requires an active Apple developer license and a Mac. Stencyl says it collects no royalties on games.