Tile & Level Editors
Tiled, LDtk, Trenchbroom — engine-agnostic level editing.
External level / tilemap editors that produce data files (JSON, TMX, .map) for your game to consume. They sit outside your engine, so you can swap engines and keep level data. Pair with pixel art tools, 2D engines, and 3D engines. For the broader landscape see Game Development.
2D tilemaps
- ★ Tiled — free, OSS (GPL), the universal tilemap editor since the mid-2000s. TMX/JSON exports, infinite maps, object layers, custom properties, AutoMapping rules. Importers exist for Unity, Godot, Unreal, Phaser, LÖVE, MonoGame, libGDX. Donations / paid sponsorship available; binary always free.
- ★ LDtk (Level Designer Toolkit) — free, OSS (MIT-ish), modern Tiled alternative by the dev of Dead Cells. JSON-only, auto-tiling, entity instances, image worlds, world maps. Designed around modern game-dev workflows.
- OGMO Editor 3 — free, OSS, beloved by 2D platformer devs. Lighter than Tiled, less plugin ecosystem.
- Sprite Fusion — free browser-based level editor, exports to Unity/Godot.
- Tile Studio, DAME — older tools, mostly historical.
Engine-built-in
- Unity Tilemap + Tile Palette + Rule Tiles — Unity 2D's native solution.
- Godot TileMap node — improved significantly in Godot 4 (TileSet editor, terrains, autotile).
- Unreal PaperZD / Paper2D — Unreal's 2D, weaker than Unity/Godot.
3D / brush-based level editors
- ★ TrenchBroom — free, OSS, the modern Quake / Source-style brush editor. Exports
.map. Used by Doom, Quake, Half-Life modders, plus indie devs targeting Godot or Unreal via converters. - Hammer (Source 2) — free with Source 2 SDK.
- NetRadiant — free, GtkRadiant fork for Quake 3 / id Tech.
- Sledge — open source Hammer alternative.
Hex / non-square grids
- Tiled has hex and isometric modes.
- HEXKit — paid, hex-focused.
- Hex Map Pro — Unity asset.
Dialogue + narrative trees as "level data"
For dialogue/quest data that pairs with these tools, see design / narrative: Yarn Spinner, Ink, Twine, articy:draft.
Format interop
- TMX (Tiled XML) and TMJ (Tiled JSON) — most engines have importers.
- LDtk ships official runtime libs for Haxe, JS, Rust, C#, Godot, Unity.
- .map (Quake brush format) — TrenchBroom output; converters to Godot scenes and Unreal levels exist.
Pick this if…
- Default 2D tilemap, mature: Tiled.
- Modern 2D, JSON-first, autotile: LDtk.
- Lightweight platformer levels: OGMO Editor 3.
- Quake-style brush levels: TrenchBroom.
- Already in Unity/Godot 4: built-in tilemaps; reach for Tiled/LDtk only if you need engine-portability.