What is a Game Engine Anyway? Do You Know What a Game Is to Begin With?

Games. Love them or hate them (who are we kidding—everyone loves them), they’ve become a massive part of our culture. From casual mobile time-killers to intense, hours-long AAA experiences that make you question your life choices, games offer something unique: interactivity. And behind every great game is something you may not think about as you’re gleefully smashing buttons—the game engine. But what is a game engine, and what exactly makes a game… a game? Buckle up, because we’re about to take a deep dive into the mechanics of your favorite interactive experiences.

1. Introduction: Enter the Matrix (of Game Development)

Before we get into the weeds, let’s establish something right away: games don’t just magically happen. It’s not like a wizard waves a wand, and—POOF—there’s a game. No, my friend. Behind every pixelated hero, every space-invading alien, and every wacky goat you’ve simulated, there’s a finely-tuned machine working under the hood to make it all tick. And that machine is called a game engine.

What’s the Point of This Blog Post?

If you’ve ever wondered:

  • “What even is a game engine?”
  • “How do games work?”
  • “Why does my favorite game sometimes crash, and is it secretly my fault?”

Then you’re in the right place. By the end of this blog post, you’ll understand the basics of how games function as pieces of software, how game engines keep everything running, and what the terms affordances and mechanics mean in this crazy world of game design. Oh, and we’ll probably throw in a joke or two to keep things spicy.

2. What Is a Game? Let’s Get Philosophical (But Not Too Much)

Before we can understand a game engine, we first have to answer the age-old question: What is a game? I mean, it’s not just flashing lights and sound, right? There’s more going on.

A Game Is a Loop—Literally

At its core, a game is just a fancy loop. No, not like a loop on a rollercoaster, though the emotional highs and lows of Dark Souls might make you feel like you’re on one. In programming terms, a game runs in a game loop. This is the backbone of any game and involves three primary steps: input, update, and render.

Here’s a breakdown:

  1. Input: This is you, the player, furiously mashing the buttons on your controller or swiping your screen. The game is constantly checking for player input—what buttons are being pressed, what direction the player is moving, etc.
  2. Update: Based on that input, the game updates the game world. Did you jump? Did you fire a weapon? Did you finally (FINALLY) manage to dodge that incoming enemy? All of these changes happen in this phase.
  3. Render: After updating the game world, the game engine draws the new state of the game to the screen. This is where your fancy graphics card comes in handy, painting a beautiful or terrifying (looking at you, Silent Hill) picture of the game world.

Then the loop starts again. It happens so fast (60 times per second, give or take) that you don’t even notice it. But trust me, that loop is the heart of every game you’ve ever played.

Games Are Interactive Stories (But Not Always)

Think of a game like a choose-your-own-adventure book—except instead of flipping pages, you’re interacting through buttons, keyboards, or controllers. Games have mechanics (things you can do) and dynamics (how the game reacts to what you do). These two concepts form the foundation of what makes a game… well, fun. Whether you’re shooting lasers in Halo or collecting fruit in Animal Crossing, the core idea is that your actions change what happens next.

So, what separates a game from, say, a movie? Interactivity. Unlike passive entertainment (TV, movies, etc.), games allow you to influence outcomes. You get to be part of the action, which is why you screamed at the TV when that blue shell ruined your perfect lap in Mario Kart. You didn’t just watch that catastrophe happen. You lived it.

3. Enter the Game Engine: The Unsung Hero of Your Gaming Addiction

Now that we know what a game is—a loop-driven, interactive experience—let’s talk about the real MVP: the game engine. If the game loop is the heart of a game, the game engine is the whole darn body. It’s what keeps everything running, from physics calculations (how your character jumps) to rendering beautiful sunsets over virtual worlds.

What Exactly Is a Game Engine?

A game engine is a software framework designed to help game developers create games quickly and efficiently. Think of it like the foundation of a house. You could technically build a house without a foundation (if you hate yourself), but it’d be a lot harder and way less stable. Game engines provide developers with all the essential tools they need so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time they want to make a game.

Here are a few things that game engines typically handle:

  • Rendering: Making sure the game world looks pretty (or as pretty as your graphics card can handle).
  • Physics: Simulating gravity, collisions, and movement so when you jump off a ledge in a game, you don’t float into space (unless that’s the kind of game you’re making).
  • Input handling: Managing how the game responds when you press a button, move a joystick, or swipe on a touchscreen.
  • Audio: Ensuring that when something explodes, your eardrums are treated to a satisfying boom.

Basically, game engines are the magical toolboxes that make the world of game development possible. Without them, developers would have to code everything from scratch—imagine hand-coding the physics of every bullet fired in a first-person shooter. Yeah, no thanks.

  • Unity: If game engines were soft drinks, Unity would be Coca-Cola. It’s everywhere, especially in the mobile and indie game scenes. Plus, it’s incredibly versatile. You can use it to create 2D, 3D, VR, or even AR games. Want to make a game where you simulate being a goat? You can do that in Unity (and someone did).

  • Unreal Engine: Unreal is the AAA beast. It’s used to make high-budget games with ridiculously good graphics—think Fortnite, Gears of War, and Final Fantasy VII Remake. If you want to get fancy with ray tracing and real-time lighting, Unreal’s your engine.

  • Godot: The underdog, open-source, indie darling of the game engine world. Godot is lightweight and perfect for smaller, passion-driven projects. Plus, it has a cool name, which is obviously the most important feature of any engine.

4. The Player’s Role: Affordances, Mechanics, and Dynamics (Wait, What?)

In a game, the player isn’t just a passive observer—they’re an active participant. This is where things like affordances, mechanics, and dynamics come into play. Don’t worry, these words sound fancier than they actually are.

Affordances: What You Can Do

An affordance is anything that a player can interact with. Think of affordances as the verbs of the game world. In Super Mario, for example, you can jump, run, and stomp on enemies. Those are the basic affordances of the game.

In open-world games like The Witcher 3, you have a much broader range of affordances. You can ride a horse, swing a sword, brew potions, and spend hours playing Gwent (because that’s basically a game within a game).

Mechanics: How You Do Stuff

Mechanics are the rules and systems that define how the game works. They’re like the physics of the game world. In Minecraft, for example, the mechanics of the game include breaking blocks and crafting items. Want to build a mansion out of dirt? Sure, go for it.

Mechanics are what make the game interesting and challenging. They create the structure of the experience, and a good game will introduce mechanics that are fun and engaging without being overly complicated (unless you’re into that kind of thing, Dwarf Fortress fans).

Dynamics: The Cause and Effect

Dynamics refer to the way mechanics and affordances interact to create the game experience. Think of it as the ripple effect of your actions. In a game like The Sims, the mechanics might let you build a house and start a family, but the dynamics emerge when you forget to feed your virtual kids and they get taken away by social services (whoops). The best games have rich, dynamic interactions that keep players coming back for more.

5. Conclusion: So, What’s the Point of All This?

To sum it up, a game engine is the backbone of game development, making the creation of interactive, dynamic experiences possible without requiring developers to code every little detail from scratch. A game, at its heart, is a loop—an ongoing series of actions, updates, and renders—that the player interacts with through affordances and mechanics, which in turn create dynamics.

By understanding these fundamentals, you’re already one step