ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how, for game developers, the space for possibility, for creative freedom and for radical sensibility shrinks through a series of decisions about the adoption of distinct game technologies. The focus here is on the subtle compromises that are made in the selection and use of a game engine. Many independent developers, in the pursuit of efficiency, have no choice but to accept this limit, to tie their intellectual properties to the systematized writing associated with proprietary engines, and to see their works operate less queerly, less out of bounds. This chapter considers a range of different engines—more dominant, costly, high-powered tools, and alternative entry-level tools such as Twine and GameMaker—and considers the value of seeing engine choice in such binary terms for independent communities of practice and in education, where learners are likely trained through centrally licensed software frameworks and in dominant industry practices.
