TL;DR

• Unity is good but I did not know programming
• Unity templates great saves time but customising them hard need c#
• Unreal Large project files
• Unreal good for 3D Games
• Unreal has templates like unity but less on their store

Summary:

After months of struggling with Unity’s C# requirements and spending more time programming than game-making, I’m switching to Unreal Engine. Blueprints let me focus on design over code, and Unreal’s opinionated structure actually speeds up development.

The Unity Struggle Was Real

I thought making a Vampire Survivors clone would be straightforward. I had JavaScript/TypeScript experience, C# looked manageable, and Unity seemed like the obvious choice for 2D games.

I was completely wrong.

Instead of designing gameplay mechanics, I found myself deep in C# concepts—OOP principles, namespaces, and Unity’s specific quirks. Simple tasks like character configuration became exercises in choosing between JSON files, ScriptableObjects, or other approaches. Every solution spawned three more decisions.

Templates Weren’t the Answer

Frustrated with building everything from scratch, I tried Unity Store templates to accelerate development. This backfired spectacularly.

Even paid templates required understanding the creator’s architectural decisions. Without knowing the underlying systems, I couldn’t make meaningful changes quickly. I was essentially learning someone else’s framework within Unity’s framework—double the complexity, zero time savings.

The GitHub templates were worse. I spent more time debugging other people’s code than building my game.

The Unreal Engine Revelation

Switching to Unreal Engine 5 changed everything, and here’s why:

Unreal is Opinionated (And That’s Good)

Unity gives you infinite flexibility, which paradoxically creates paralysis. Unreal has established patterns for scenes, game modes, and project structure. There’s usually one “right” way to do things, eliminating decision fatigue.

Blueprints vs. C# Coding

I built a complete UI system in Unreal in 2 days—something that took me a week to understand in Unity’s UXML system. Blueprints provide visual logic flow that makes debugging and iteration much faster for designers or visual arts persons

Better for 3D Development

Since I was pivoting my Vampire Survivors clone to 3D (inspired by Vampire Hunters), Unreal’s 3D-first approach made more sense than Unity’s 2D-centric workflow.

The Trade-offs Are Real

Unreal isn’t perfect:

Larger Project Files: Unreal projects are substantially bigger than Unity equivalents

Fewer Templates: The FAB store (formerly Unreal Marketplace) has fewer plug-and-play solutions than Unity’s Asset Store

C++ Learning Curve: Advanced customization still requires C++, which is harder than C#

Blueprint Complexity: Visual scripting can become messy in large projects

What I Learned About Choosing Engines

The biggest lesson? Match your engine to your skillset and project goals, not industry popularity.

Unity’s flexibility is powerful if you enjoy programming and system architecture. But if you want to focus on game design and rapid prototyping, Unreal’s opinionated structure and visual scripting can be liberating.

For my vampire survivors-style project “Sun and Moon,” Unreal’s blueprint system lets me iterate on gameplay mechanics without getting lost in code architecture decisions.

The Bottom Line

I’m not saying Unity is bad—it’s an excellent engine that powers countless successful games. But for solo developers who want to spend more time on game design than programming architecture, Unreal’s approach might be worth considering.

Sometimes the “wrong” choice for your project is actually the right choice for you as a developer.

What’s your experience with engine choice? Have you made similar pivots in your development journey?

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