Skip to main content
DATAL Projects logo
All technologies
Godot Engine logo

What is Godot?

Godot is a free, open source game engine for 2D and 3D games.

Game engine. Updated by DATAL Projects

Made by
Juan Linietsky, Ariel Manzur and contributors
First released
2014 as open source
License
MIT
Written in
C++
Type
Game engine
Official site
godotengine.org

What Godot is

Godot is a free, open source game engine for 2D and 3D games. It has no license fees or royalties and is lightweight, which suits small and indie projects.

Godot began as an in-house engine made by Juan Linietsky and Ariel Manzur in Argentina, and it was used for client games for years. In 2014 they released it to the public as open source under the MIT license. A community of volunteer contributors formed around it.

Godot 3.0 arrived in 2018 with a new renderer and C# support. Godot 4.0 followed in 2023 with a Vulkan-based renderer and many reworked systems. The Godot Foundation, a non-profit, was set up in 2022 to manage donations and support development.

How Godot works

Everything in Godot is a node. A node is one small piece with one job, such as a sprite, a sound player, a collision shape or a timer. You arrange nodes in a tree, where a parent node has child nodes. A player character might be a body node with a sprite, a collision shape and a camera as children.

A tree of nodes saved to a file is called a scene. Scenes can be placed inside other scenes, so a level scene can contain many enemy scenes and one player scene. This is how you reuse things in Godot. There is no separate prefab concept, since a scene does that job.

You attach a script to a node to give it behavior. Most people use GDScript, a language made for Godot with a syntax close to Python. Functions like _ready run once when the node enters the game, and _process runs every frame. Nodes talk to each other with signals, which are messages such as pressed or body_entered that other nodes can connect to.

Key features of Godot

  • Nodes and scenes

    The whole engine is built on one simple idea, a tree of nodes. Once you understand it, most of the editor makes sense.

  • GDScript

    A simple scripting language built into the editor, with autocomplete and a debugger. It is quick to write and easy for beginners to read.

  • Dedicated 2D engine

    2D in Godot works in real pixel units and has its own tools, instead of being a flat view of a 3D scene.

  • Small and fast editor

    The editor is a small download and starts quickly. It runs well on modest computers.

  • C# and extensions

    A separate build of the editor supports C#. GDExtension lets you connect code written in languages such as C++ or Rust.

  • Open source

    The full source code is public under the MIT license. You can read it, change it and ship your own version.

When to use Godot

A good choice for

  • 2D games of almost any size
  • Small and medium 3D games
  • Game jams and quick prototypes
  • Beginners who want a light engine and a simple language
  • Teams that want no license fees and full access to the source

Pick something else when

  • Large 3D games that need the most advanced graphics features
  • Teams that rely on a big marketplace of ready-made assets
  • Console releases without help from a porting company, since consoles are not supported out of the box

Godot compared with alternatives

Godot vs Unity

Unity has a larger asset marketplace, more learning material and built-in paths to consoles. Godot is lighter, fully open source and has no license plans to follow. For 2D and small 3D projects the two are close, and many developers pick Godot for its simplicity.

Godot vs Unreal Engine

Unreal Engine is aimed at high-end 3D and comes with heavy tools for large teams. Godot is far smaller and simpler, and it is stronger in 2D. Choose Unreal for realistic 3D at scale, and Godot for lighter games.

Godot vs GameMaker

GameMaker is a commercial engine focused on 2D, with its own scripting language. Godot is free, open source and also handles 3D. Both are friendly to beginners making 2D games.

How to start learning Godot

  1. 01Download the editor from godotengine.org, which needs no installer or account.
  2. 02Read the Getting Started section of the official Godot documentation to learn nodes, scenes, scripts and signals.
  3. 03Follow the official Your first 2D game tutorial from start to finish.
  4. 04Change that game on your own by adding a score, a new enemy or a menu.
  5. 05Build a small original game and export it for your own computer or the web.

What Godot costs

Godot is free and open source under the MIT license. There are no fees, subscriptions or royalties, and games you make belong fully to you. Development is funded by donations.

How DATAL Projects uses Godot

Godot is part of our game development work in the Philippines. Common uses:

  • 2D games
  • Small 3D games
  • Game prototypes

Common questions about Godot

Is Godot free?

Yes, completely. Godot is released under the MIT license, so there is no purchase price, no subscription and no royalty on games you sell.

What language does Godot use?

The main language is GDScript, which was made for Godot and looks similar to Python. Godot also supports C#, and other languages can be connected through GDExtension.

Is Godot good for beginners?

Yes. The editor is small, the node system is easy to picture and GDScript is simple to read. The official documentation includes step by step first projects.

Godot vs Unity: which should I use?

Pick Godot if you want a free, light engine, especially for 2D. Pick Unity if you need its asset store, wider platform support or if you already know C# and its tools. Both can ship commercial games.

Can you sell games made with Godot?

Yes. You can sell games made with Godot on any store and keep the revenue, with nothing owed to the Godot project. You only need to include the engine's license notice with your game.

Need a project built with Godot?

Tell us what you need. We reply with a scope, a price, and a timeline.

Start a Project