Hey, everyone! First of all thank you for looking at this thread. I just signed up to this website because I think it'll help me with my game dev goals so I hope you all can answer my question.
I've been very unsure of what game engine to use/start working with. I'm currently majoring in computer science so I can eventually work in the game industry after I graduate so I need to start getting a portfolio together. Currently, the languages I know Visual Basic, Python, and HTML5, but I am willing to learn whatever languages I have to. At the moment, I'm interested in making 2D computer games to start out with and go from there. I'm just not sure what the best game engine to use. I've been looking at those best game engine lists, but I'm still not sure which one will be best to pick. I would like something with good documentation (being a beginner I'll need to do a lot of reference making), something that will help me improve my game programming skills (so no drag and drops that don't use programming), and something that will be applicable to the game industry (if at all possible).
I was hoping as experienced game makers you all could possibly help me out? Thanks!
E: I would also like to add that I would prefer a program that is free to use. Paying to ship a game is fine as I don't plan to publish anything anytime soon. Thank you!