Hi! I've been programming for games since I was in seventh grade, working with engines that range from GameMaker to Unity to, what I am currently working in now ,java using library/frameworks. I really want to get a game development club going in my school to sort of train some kids (9-12th grade) in my school to form a small team. Right now I am currently searching for an engine that will work on macs and can be used by beginners. I've looked at some stuff such as Stencyl but it wont publish to desktop (Mac or PC) without having to pay a fee.

So what I'm basically looking for is a game engine that can be used by beginners (I guess drag and drop stuff), can publish to desktop, and if need be a price under $50. Any ideas?

Some other features that would be helpful would be the ability to code as well as drag in drop (Like gameMaker if you ever used it) and a supportive community.

If there is any thing out there like that please post it! Thank you.

Unity seems to be your best alternative, though it doesn't meet all your requirements. But if I may ask, what's wrong with GameMaker?

Check out http://gamesalad.com/

You've already used Unity, how about choosing that? It has a large support base, plenty of tutorials and examples, and allows you to do just about everything and for most platforms. The editor/IDE runs on both Windows and Mac, oh and the best part is that for what you would need it is free!

Well the thing with Unity is that I believe it may be to advance for the club as these will be mostly beginners in programming/game making. I would like that use this as it does provide most of my needs, but I got to also think about the majority of people that wont know how to code.

Unity seems to be your best alternative, though it doesn't meet all your requirements. But if I may ask, what's wrong with GameMaker?

As I have said with sparzzarama's comment I fear it may be to advance for the beginners I hope to recruit. Although I will teaching them I think it may be to much for them to learn the things they need to know to make a quick game as it can be intimidating. With the problem of GameMaker is that it wont work on Macs. If it did I would definitely go for it.

Although I will teaching them I think it may be to much for them to learn the things they need to know to make a quick game as it can be intimidating. With the problem of GameMaker is that it wont work on Macs. If it did I would definitely go for it.

Sorry, but I don't think it gets much easier than GameMaker. Letting a player walk through a maze is a matter of dragging move items to the keyboard events... By the way, there is a GameMaker for the mac. At least last time I used it... Since then Yoyogames wants to be more "professional" and seems to be promoting Studio too much. The mac version is called GM4Mac. It was only paid some time ago, but it's pretty much GM 7 and should be complete enough for beginners. I don't know if the download is still around, or if you want to pay for it, but there are always other ways (though I'm not sure if I'm allowed to name them here).

For my native language, there has even been developed learning materials for people of the age of 10 or so (also the age I learned GM using the internet)... So I guess it's even possible below that age with your help). If the kids you want to learn creating games are younger than that (and GM is still too hard), I think you may have to wait, because I can't name anything much simpler than GM.

Edit: I recall there are also some projects that are really easy to use for kids. But these applications are usually very limited, so you can ask yourself if that motivates them). Good luck!

@ProtectedMode I think I was a little vague on what school and kids I'm talking about. I am currently a junior in high school and are looking to work with the incoming freshmen to the incoming seniors (Sorry for being unclear I'm going to change that). I have seen Gamemaker for Mac but I wasnt really sure if I needed to pay for it to even try it out. Do you need to pay for it or is there a trial verison for it?

@mk.jr.fan no problem.

I'm not sure if GameMaker for Mac has a free-to-use lite version like the PC. This page however, has a "Download installer" button for GameMaker for Mac, so I guess you can try it out pretty easily if you have a Mac. If not, depending on the situation, you could download it from "other sources".

Yeah I guess I will try it out when I get the chance but I'm still open for suggestions for any other engines.