Suggested platform/tools for rapid game development and game prototyping [closed]

Question

What platforms and tools should I use for rapid game development and prototyping?

Say that I have an idea for a simple game or a game mechanic that I want to try out, what are the best tools for quickly creating something playable that I can experiment with to try out the idea?

The platform does not necessarily have to be easy to learn, that is not the issue, but once learned it has to be quick to use.

Answer 1

Flash or Game Maker for 2D games. Unity for 3D games.

Answer 2

Pygame is worth a try, mainly because it is possible to use a high-level programming language like Python to structure the game.

See What do you use for game dev ?

Answer 3

Have you investigated Microsoft's XNA platform?

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/xna/default.aspx

• http://www.xna.com/

• http://creators.xna.com/en-US/