While the software allows for limited use of 3D graphics, this is in form of vertex buffer and matrix functions, and as such not intended for novice users. GameMaker is primarily intended for making games with 2D graphics, allowing out-of-box use of raster graphics, vector graphics (via SWF), and 2D skeletal animations (via Esoteric Software's Spine) along with a large standard library for drawing graphics and 2D primitives. Recent versions of software also focus on appealing to advanced developers. GameMaker was originally designed to allow novice computer programmers to be able to make computer games without much programming knowledge by use of these actions. GameMaker accommodates the creation of cross-platform and multi-genre video games using a custom drag-and-drop visual programming language or a scripting language known as Game Maker Language, which can be used to develop more advanced games that could not be created just by using the visual programming features.
The latest iteration of GameMaker was released in 2022.
GameMaker (originally Animo, Game Maker (until 2011) and GameMaker Studio) is a series of cross-platform game engines created by Mark Overmars in 1999 and developed by YoYo Games since 2007.
