Top 10 Python Frameworks for Game Development

Have you ever wondered how popular games in the gaming world, such as Battlefield 2, World of Tanks, and Pirates of the Caribbean, were created?

Python programming through its different frameworks has become a popular option among developers. 

It is used in many sectors, and python game development is chosen for rapid prototyping video games. If you want to explore Python through a self-paced course, try GUVI’s Python self-paced course.

Top 10 Python Frameworks for Game development

In this article, we have listed down the top 10 frameworks of Python used for game development. You can find top programming languages that are best for game development here.

#1 PyGame

When you look for python game development software, the most popular framework you will come across is PyGame. 

It is a Python wrapper for making video games built on top of the Simple Direct media Layer (SDL) library. 

The SDL library gives cross-platform access to the system’s multimedia hardware, including music, video, mouse, keyboard, and joystick. 

This cross-platform nature of both SDL and PyGame helps create games and rich multimedia Python programs for any platform supporting them. 

This helps to monitor the game’s logic and graphics without worrying about the backend implications for engaging audio and video.

Features of PyGame

• The use of multi-core CPUs is easy and helps to accomplish more in your game.
• For core functions optimized C and Assembly code is used.
• PyGame is compatible with multiple operating systems.
• It does not need a GUI to use all functions.
• Simple to use and portable.

#2 PyKyra

PyKyra is the fastest and most recent game development platform for Python. 

It is built on top of the SDL library and the Kyra engine, the drawing and rendering component of 2D and quasi-3D games. 

It supports MPEG video, sound (MP3, Ogg Vorbis, Wav, and Multichannel module files), direct image reading, and much more, in addition to Kyra’s standard features.

Features of Pykyra

• PyKyra is a stand-alone package that can be used on UNIX, POSIX, Solaris, Linux, and Windows platforms.
• It has no dependencies outside of the built-in Python modules.
• The framework supports top-down, side, and symmetric translation.
• It has a sophisticated toolchain, which includes a sprite editor and encoder.

#3 Pyglet

Pyglet library is a cross-platform windowing and multimedia library for creating games and other visually rich applications using Python. 

It is designed to support windowing, user interface event management, game controls, joysticks, OpenGL graphics, image and video loading, and sound and music playback. 

Pyglet is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Features of Pyglet

• There are no additional dependencies or installation requirements.
• Pyglet uses several windows and multi-monitor desktops to its advantage.
• Picture, sound, music, or video in any format can be loaded using Pyglet.
• Pyglet is released under the BSD open-source license, which allows it to be used in commercial and open-source projects with few restrictions.

#4 Kivy

Kivy is a business-friendly python game development framework. 

It is an open-source Python library that allows developers to quickly create applications with innovative user interfaces, such as multi-touch apps. 

Kivy helps to develop apps that run on Desktop computers like Linux, Windows, iOS devices like iPad, iPhone, Android devices like tablets, phones, or any other touch-enabled professional or homebrew devices supporting TUIO (Tangible User Interface Objects).

Features of Kivy

• Kivy is cross-platform compatible with Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Android, iOS, and the Raspberry Pi.
• Kivy is business-friendly as it is free and flexible to use.
• It is GPU Accelerated; The graphics engine is based on OpenGL ES 2 and employs a cutting-edge graphics pipeline.
• The toolkit includes more than 20 widgets, all of which are extremely extensible.

 #5 PyopenGL

PyopenGL is most preferred on the iOS side as a python framework for game development as it is a standard cross-platform binding for OpenGL. 

OpenGL is a software development environment for high-performance 2D and 3D applications. 

PyopenGL is compatible with multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS, and a wide range of Python GUI libraries, including PyGame, PyQt, and Raw XLib, to name a few. 

It also supports a large number of extensions.

 Features of PyopenGL

• Interoperable with multiple platforms.
• Supports a large number of external GUI libraries The iOS game development business mostly uses PyopenGL.
• Also, it is relatively easy in comparison to other similar graphics libraries.

#6 Panda3D

Panda3D is an open-source python framework for 3D rendering and games. It is a free engine for real-time 3D games, visualizations, simulations, and experiments. 

Its extensive feature set easily adapts to unique workflow and development requirements. 

An easy-to-use API reveals all of the graphics card’s capabilities. Panda3D blends the speed of C++ with the simplicity of Python, allowing rapid development without sacrificing performance. 

Features of Panda3D

• Panda3D is completely free to use.
• It is a cross-platform engine that provides extensive support for both old and new hardware.
• The most flexible and capable game engine globally, allowing it to innovate and develop.
• Panda3D comes with command-line tools for processing and optimizing source assets, allowing to automate and script content creation pipelines to meet specific requirements.

#7 Cocos2d

Cocos2d-x is a cross-platform system for creating 2D games, interactive books, demonstrations, and other graphical applications. 

It relies on cocos2d-iPhone, but instead of Objective-C, it’s written in C++. Hence, It is compatible with iOS, Android, OS X, Windows, Linux, and the Web.

Features of Cocos2d

• It has a modern C++ API which provides various functionalities such as sprites, actions, animations, particles, transitions, timers, events (touch, keyboard, accelerometer, mouse), sound, file IO, persistence, skeletal animations, 3DSupports large number of external GUI libraries.
• Good capacity to test and debug the game on the desktop before deploying it to a smartphone or desktop target.
• Cocos2d is free and easy to use.

#8 Ren’Py

Ren’Py is a visual novel engine that allows you to use words, pictures and sounds to tell interactive stories on computers and mobile devices. 

Thousands of creators use it all over the world. Visual novels and life simulation games are examples of these types of games by the Ren’Py engine development. 

Above all, Python scripting language allows everyone to create massive visual novels as well as complicated scenarios quickly. 

Features OF Ren’Py

•  Ren’Py is open source and free for commercial use.
• It is cross-platform compatible and runs with Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and web.

#9 Soya3d

Soya3D is an object-oriented high-level Python module for making 3D video games. 

It runs on Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows and is a multi-platform game engine. At the same time, It is a user-friendly game engine that focuses on rapid game development. Well, Soya3D includes standard 3D engine features such as simple scene management, cell coloring, shadows, particle systems, and so on. Some unique features aimed at making 3D creation simpler and faster.

Features of Soya3d

• Soya is easy to learn and provides admirable performances.
• It is open-source software with a license under the General Public License.

#10 Blender3D

Blender3D is an open-source game engine, modeler, animator, and 3D renderer which uses Python as the scripting language. 

Well, It supports the entire 3D pipeline activities such as modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, motion tracking, and video editing.

Features of Blender3D

• It is open-source and free to use.
• The python API gives both technical users and add-on developers access, enabling them to build custom tools and workflows.

Final Words

These are the top 10 python game development frameworks in the current Industry trend. 

However, The advancements in technology such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and various other programming languages and trends propel the gaming industry forward. 

Python frameworks are the most popular frameworks for game development in recent years. In addition, has become an excellent choice for developers to start their game development journey. 

The top 10 Python frameworks for game development. In conclusion, their basic functionalities useful for designing specific functionalities in video games have been addressed in this article.

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