pixel perfick
TiAm
For 120$ you get an easy to use (almost no programming skills needed) game maker that export HTML5 (even without the "exporters", the index.html file can still can be tweaked to run on any device that supports HTML5). Of course that it has some issues like the TileMap scaling that makes it unusable on variable resolutions or the overall performance could be better... etc
The performance is not that great compared to native games, but it comes really close. We are talking about average casual gamer, the one that plays Angry Birds, not the one that plays Battlefield 4 at Ultra-Quality and expects no less then 60 fps... Any constant fps higher than 30 would do fine for average casual gamer.
Also HTML5 is not complete, still evoluates as we speak and Scirra team upgrades Construct 2 very often, for example:
- WebGL increased significantly the performance/speed
- asm.js powered physics
- bug fixes
Just to make a quick comparison with another few engines I tested until I decided to go with Construct:
Unity
Great engine, free for Indie Devs until they reach 100.000$ , great tools and support, and also exports native games on different platforms (including consoles) and decently easy to use.
The bad: You need to know programming, spend more time, need 3D models if you decide to make a 3D game and does not export HTML5. You can skip some programming if you buy a 100$ plugin named PlayMaker that gives a Construct-like interface, but also buy other plugins like IAP, Social (even PlayMaker have different plugins depending on platform, each variate from 10$ to 25$)... or you can code them yourself.
Game Maker: Studio
Costs 200$ to get the HTML5 exporter and the performance is not that good even if makes native games (Try Street Fighter X Mega Man to see the minimum requirements for a 8bit-like game)... For "better" performance you can buy the Yoyo-Compiler for just another 300$ or the whole package and exporters for 800$. On top of that you get to work with a very outdated layout editor and need to learn a proprietary programming language. Quite the deal.
Also has a great community and the support team answers to all questions you have about bugs and features. /sarcasm
The good part is that exports directly to other platforms without the need of 3rd party wrapper.
... and a few others engines
Long story -> Short:
You get what you pay for. But yes, I dislike the fact that I need to relay on 3rd party wrappers in order to export my game on different platforms. Also, from here on, HTML5 is just getting better and better.