Comparison of Top Flutter Game Engines

Flutter is already a well-established and renowned mobile app development SDK. With Flutter 3, it has extended its reach to other platforms such as the web, desktop apps, smart TVs, smartwatches, and more. We all know how capable Flutter is when it comes to developing apps. However, there are also some debates and discussions around Flutter being the perfect framework for game development. How much truth does this hold? Can you use Flutter for game development? The short answer is yes, it can.  

Flutter is very capable of developing cross-platform mobile game apps for both iOS and Android. For this, you need to hire Flutter developer who knows various Flutter game engines and how to use them for developing a custom Flutter game as per your requirements. 

Why Flutter for your Game Development Project?

There are many advantages and features of Flutter that make it the perfect cross-platform game development framework. Here are the many reasons why you should make use of Flutter for developing your next mobile app game –

• Flutter games try aiming at 60 FPS for smooth animation but also support 120 FPS for devices with higher refresh rates.
• Flutter uses C++ at its core, making games perform at native speeds.
• Flutter is open-source, hence cost-effective since there’s no licensing fee. 
• Flutter is known for faster rendering and can be used on many platforms.
• Flutter has a powerful open-source graphics library called Skia Graphics Engine.
• Skia works on multiple platforms eliminating the need to call platform-specific graphics API for different platforms.

What is Flutter Game Engine?

Game Engine can be a broad term covering many different types of game development aids varying in style and complexity of functionality they provide Flutter developers to build Flutter apps. 

Some Flutter game engines are end-to-end solution providers, whereas others have a specific niche approach. The basic purpose of any Flutter game engine is to understand the game’s dynamic nature, handle various objects and manage interaction with Flutter UI components. 

You can create a basic Flutter app from scratch without using any game engines; however, if you are trying to build a complex gaming app, Flutter game engines can help you integrate complex features such as audio support, physics, camera movements, and others with ease in comparison to coding these features from scratch. 

Top Flutter Game Engines Comparison

Now that we understand the potential of Flutter for game development and the importance of Flutter game engines to developing complex games, let’s look at the best Flutter Game Engines you can use to power your Flutter-based gaming apps. 

1. Flame Gaming Engine 

1049 Likes | 130 Pub Points | 97% Popularity | License – MIT 

Flame Flutter is a complex and reliable game development framework. Currently, Flame is the most used gaming engine with Flutter. With Flame, developers can access all the assets needed to create a basic Flutter game app. Flame has game assets such as sprites, game loops, collision detection, audio, and more. Flame also has its repository of packages for advanced features like physics, enhanced audio, and Rive Integrations. 

Flame has an impressive code structure where its engine components are separated from the game logic, and it provides various kinds of game assets and functionalities. You can get proper documentation on how to use it for your Flutter app on their website and README files. 

2. SpriteWidget

87 Likes | 100 Pub Points | 85% Popularity | License – BSD-3-Clause 

SpriteWidget is a Flutter game development toolkit primarily used to develop games and animations. This package complements Flutter’s widget hierarchy approach, which makes using it familiar for experienced Flutter developers. You can use SpriteWidget to create both node graphs and sprite nodes. With SpriteWidget, Flutter developers can also create comprehensive animation, group various animations, and more. 

SpriteWidget is an impressive and useful library for adding animations to your Flutter game; however, it cannot be relied on for end-to-end game development and could be better maintained. 

3. Quill

6 Likes | 90 Pub Points | 19% Popularity | License – MIT

Quill is a lightweight Flutter game engine that uses basic components labeled Feather and Quill for rendering game objects. The purpose of Quill is to give complete control over your Flutter app. 

Although it is a newer gaming library, it has many upcoming and promising features such as Audio, Lifecycle Management, and Image Caching.

4. Illume

14 Likes | 120 Pub Points | 36% Popularity | License – BSD-2-Clause

Illume is a basic Flutter game engine that uses widgets in place of sprites to develop game objects. Due to this widget-based development approach, the app and game aspects of the project can share many standard components without having to rely on graphics to create backgrounds or sprites. Developers can also easily manage and generate game states easily using Illume Flutter game engine.

Even though using widgets in place of sprites is a new approach that allows sharing of essential assets, Illume is mostly going to be a less performant game engine than others since the size of some widgets can be heavier than using sprites drawn on a canvas. On the other hand, if you are someone who doesn’t have much design knowledge and wants to develop a gaming app, Illume can be a good choice for you. 

5. Pogo

Pogo is a 2D Flutter game engine that allows game development on Android and iOS. Moreover, it also supports web game development in beta stages and desktop apps in alpha stages. Pogo uses game entities or objects built with modular components that are easier to comprehend. 

Pogo can stand at par with other popular Flutter game engines for rapid game development that is used for developing robust and intense gaming apps. It also has many supporting packages for adding various features to your Flutter game development project. 

Final Words

These are some of the leading Flutter game engines that provide creative and efficient solutions for a game development project in Flutter. Many other Flutter game development tools and frameworks can help you create different gaming apps for platforms like iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux, and other platforms. 

Before using any Flutter gaming engines in your app, ensure it is stable, has good reviews, and doesn’t add bloatware to your Flutter app project. If you are developing a basic flutter app, you should hire dedicated developers who knows how to build different games on Flutter for various genres and categories.