AME - Crawler Engine
A downloadable engine for Windows and Linux
Make your own Crawler Game - today.
AME Engine - From Delver to Master
AME is the natural next-step for gamers who love modding, level-editing and creating. Its completely new approach blurs the line between gaming and development. Users can create freely while being introduced to foundational development ideas: AME serves both Creatives and new Developers.
Engine Features
No need to code - assemble instead
From Creatures to User Interface - instead of coding, assemble your creations with dedicated, guided GUI tools. Assemble your creations with full creativity, composing them with powerful and customizable parts.
Complete control Game graphics and feel
Your game, your style: custom sprites from 8x8 to 64x64, modular GUI included. Add, remove and change sounds as you like. Enable/disable particles and lights/shadows effects. Assets are editable with any third party tool.
Intuitive, powerful level creation
Create detailed maps or room modules for procedural generation. Tweak level generation as you wish. Mix static and dynamic content. Force essential rooms and items to spawn.
Debbuging demystified and made simple
No haunting cryptic messages. AME tells you what the problem is and how to solve it, in plain English.
No guessing, everything is documented
Every step of your creative journey will be thoughtfully guided, From development to publishing.
Easy, multiplatform shipping
Ship your game for Windows and Linux. Sell your game on any platform and share your achievement on social media.
Gameplay Experience
Feels like a Tabletop RPG...
Deep textual interactions. Turn-based gameplay, grid-based world. Brutal, unpredictable outcomes. Old school RPGs are back.
...but with modern accessibility.
Keyboard and mouse navigation supported. Aim, interact and explore naturally. Start playing right away without barriers, become a master over time.
Automated RPG systems...
Tired of complicated systems that require constant study and intervention? Forget them: here, they're completely automated and intuitive.
...with unexpected results.
Get ready for complex, emergent physics-based gameplay: shrink enemies and blast them away. Turn your body to stone to resist fire. Create swamp to slow down enemies. Need a helping hand? Grow a third arm!
It's time to get the party started again!
Gather your friends: play on LAN or on the same computer, like it used to be!
Frequently Asked Questions
About the difficulty of AME and other game engines
Is AME hard to learn? What about coding?
No coding is required! Instead, you'll create manipulating powerful, tweakable building blocks. AME is carefully designed to offer unprecedented levels of accessibility. You can start creating your own dungeon crawler within minutes of using the software. It works more like a tabletop ruleset, where you just make the content and twist the rules to your liking
It's hard to make something interesting, even with intuitive tools
Think of your favorite tabletop RPG, where you build on an existing system, yet one that is flexible enough to allow you to create unique adventures without needing to be an expert game designer. This is one of AME's key features.
It's hard to make a game look good, even with dedicated tools. Assets are hard to make and there is no asset store!
AME includes an in-depth guide to help you find and use actually great free content from sites like Itch.io, supporting artists and spending nothing. That said, part of the focus is to approach people to game design, regardless of their skills and experience. That's why we also provide guides and tools that will allow you to create YOUR OWN assets, even if you've never done it before. Maps, creatures, UI: everything is brought to a new level of accessibility.
Testing and bug catching/solving is hard, error messages are cryptic
If you have any problems, AME always tells you what's wrong and how to fix it – in plain English.
Engines are hard/boring to learn and use. In other engines, I'm stuck at templates!
AME is the ideal starting point for gamers who want to get creative. With AME, the creative process is streamlined, intuitive, guided and powerful. AME is built to be accessible to everyone and to feel like a game, something like a tabletop RPG, where you create and twist rules in a direct and natural way. Creation is guided and illustrated, clear examples provided.
A team and/or technical expertise in multiple roles are needed to make games!
Absolutely not! AME is designed and optimized for single-user use, no prior experience in game development needed.
About quality
I don't want yet another level editor or game mod
And you won't. AME is a true engine, newly designed and highly complex. This translates into surprising ease of use and intuitiveness, with even more surprising results.
Without coding, there is not enough customization
The innovative Adaptive Modular Engine (AME) allows for total customization of content and promotes emergence, the property whereby a set of minimal rules leads to complex and surprising results.
Procedural generation is complex and takes away too much control
Well, forget about that! AME handles procedural generation with a system called PBMS: highly customizable, you decide which levels it's active in and which rooms must spawn. Rooms are like modules you create yourself, each containing either fixed or random elements of your choosing. They can be big or small, simple or complex. Your choice.
Simple tools usually mean average results. AME may not be worth my time or effort
Sometimes, a picture speaks louder than words. Check out the gallery, the images on the homepage, and try the demo. It's only right that you decide if AME is right for you.
Generative AI spoils games and other art. Does AME use AI?
No. Instead, AME puts all the power and creativity in the hands of the people, where it belongs.
About development
What's the status of development? How can I stay updated?
Actually, it's quite advanced. The entire architecture, the core components, the communication between modules, the I/O management, the fundamental components for composing entities, and much more have already been developed and tested. To stay up-to-date on the latest AME developments, the best place is the Devlog hosted on the Itch.io sales platform, easily accessible from the store page.
How often is AME updated?
Daily. A detailed update post will be posted weekly on the Devlog hosted on Itch.io (see store page).
What is ame's roadmap?
2023-2025: Solid functional foundation of the software. 2025-early 2027: Completed implementation of all features (pre-order available). Mid 2027: Early Access. This is a key time, during which users can test the software and request new features or modifications to existing ones. Late 2028: Official release of AME, available to everyone.
About support and guarantees
I need feedback and help from other users, where can I get it?
No problem! AME has an official forum, which is free of charge, where users and developers can communicate freely.
I want to report a bug or request a feature, where can I do it?
No problem! AME has an official forum, which is free of charge, where users and developers can communicate freely.
How do I know AME is going to be updated and maintained?
AME is indeed commercial software, but first and foremost, it's a product of love. It's what I wanted when I started developing games - simple, powerful, intuitive - but didn't have. AME is not going to be discontinued and you're guaranteed to have a finished product and weekly updates no matter what. Here's the best guarantee I can give you: putting my face on it! [LINKEDIN URL]
About pricing and hidden costs
Engines cost a lot and/or take a share of your profit
MONTHLY costs for an engine designed for indie developers: - Dedicated SOLO DEVELOPERS plan: 179€ (210$) and GROWING! We're talking 2,148€ (2,520$) PER YEAR. - Free plan with limited features: available until you're actually earning or receiving funding. In the meantime, you can buy expensive plugins and graphic assets that you can't customize. Yes, engines are expensive and complicated to use. This is one of the biggest differences with AME: to offer solo or beginner developers a powerful and intuitive tool at the right price. No premium plans, no fees on earnings, no asset store, no hidden costs: once purchased, the engine is yours forever. Bug fixing and feature updates included. Please note: there are good free engines out there, but they require a high level of expertise from you (see for yourself).
Am I going to be charged if my game earns a lot/receives funds?
Absolutely not. You pay for AME once: when you buy it. Bug fixing and features updates are always included.
Purchase
In order to download this engine you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $35 USD. You will get access to the following files when they are released:
