The best app to make games: an honest phone-first list
The best app to make games depends on what you want at the end: a game to play with friends tonight, or the skill to build one piece by piece. Here are five options for phones and tablets, who each is for, and where each falls short.
Five apps, compared
- Roam (iPhone, free). Describe a game in a sentence or a photo and it comes back playable, then change it by asking. Best for playing your idea with friends the same day. Weak spot: you do not get engine-level control or project files.
- GDevelop (iOS, Android, free). A free, open-source no-code engine. You build with events: if this happens, do that. The free plan includes a small monthly allowance of AI credits. Best if you want to export and own your game. Expect to spend hours learning it.
- Roblox Build (inside the Roblox app). Announced in July 2026, a prompt-to-game tab in the Roblox mobile app. The public alpha started in New Zealand on July 28, 2026, for age-verified users 9 and older, with a free base version. Best if your friends already live on Roblox.
- Pocket Code (Android, iPhone, free). A visual coding app from the nonprofit Catrobat project, built around phones. Good for learning logic step by step. You make simple games, slowly.
- Swift Playgrounds (iPad and Mac, free). Apple's app for learning Swift, the language behind iPhone apps. Great for learning to code. It is not on iPhone and it is not game-first.
How to choose in ten seconds
- "I want to play my idea tonight". Roam. The idea is the whole input.
- "I want to learn how games work". Pocket Code or Swift Playgrounds. Slower, and you keep the skill.
- "I want to publish to the app stores". GDevelop. Budget time, store developer fees and maybe a paid GDevelop plan.
- "My friends are all on Roblox". Roblox Build, if it is open in your country and for your age.
Where Roam leads, and where it doesn't
Roam leads on going straight from idea to play, and on friends. A sentence becomes a game, your friends can be in it, and a meme from this morning can be a game tonight. Collectibles on the run give people a reason to come back.
It does not try to be an engine. You cannot open the code, tune physics numbers by hand or export a build to sell. If that control is the point, GDevelop is the better pick.
Try your idea first with Roam
Roam is free on iPhone. Write one sentence and see what comes back before you commit a weekend to an editor.
Try: "2v2 water balloon fight on a rooftop, last team dry wins, we are the characters"Questions people ask
What app can I use to make a game?
On iPhone, Roam makes a game from a sentence. To build it yourself with events, use GDevelop, a free no-code engine with a mobile app.
Which app is best for making games on mobile?
To play your idea without building it, Roam. For a game you export and own, GDevelop. For learning to code, Pocket Code or Swift Playgrounds on iPad.
Can I sell a game I make in these apps?
GDevelop lets you export and publish, with store fees on top. Roblox Build games live on Roblox, and Roam games live in Roam.
Keep exploring
- The best AI game maker, compared by what you get
- Game maker apps come in two kinds
- How to make games on iPhone
- Free game makers and their real limits
- Games where you can make your own games
- Scratch alternatives, including ones that work on a phone
More on Roam: All Roam games Games to play, by kind