I've been making video games in some form for 20 years, so I wrote an article about my process - and why I don't use an engine.

https://noelberry.ca/posts/making_games_in_2025/

Making Video Games in 2025 (without an engine)

Thoughts, tools, and libraries I use to make games

@noelfb Hello 👋 ! Thank for sharing your experiences in a very detailed post 😊. Nevertheless is not "without engine" is "without existing one" or "with my own". You do an incredible work by recreating one by yourself (with the help of some framework). I think it is important to say it.
@theludovyc i am conflating "engine" with "proprietary commercial game engines like Unity, Unreal, Game Maker, etc" to simplify my point under the common understanding of the term.
@noelfb Oh ! I get it. Thanks to clarify it 😊