Introduction to the AndEngine

AndEngine is a free open source OpenGL android game engine, developed by  Nicolas Gramlich. It covers the most important OpenGL aspects, which means even if you don't have experience with OpenGL - you can still create great games/applications using this engine, the most important thing obviously is proper Java programming experience.

1. Most important features of the engine:

• Scaling across various devices (different resolutions)
• Multi touch support.
• Physics extension - Box2D (the one used by for example AngryBirds)
• TiledMaps in TMX format support.
• Particle Systems.
• Live Wallpaper extension.

2. Benefits from using AndEngine:

• Free and open source.
• Most important aspects of every game are covered already by the engine.
• You don't really need OpenGL experience (but it might be useful, obviously)
• Fast, well designed and organized engine.
• Relatively big, active and helpful community.
• Great engine extensions.
• Plenty of examples, showing off engine capabilities.

3. Major drawbacks:

• There is almost no code documentation.
• Sometimes slower in comparison to other engines.
• Lack of documentation is the main difficulty while starting (hard to understand every parameter etc)

But instead of documentation, this engine has great example projects, showing most  every engine capability, it's a great way to check and understand how it work, hopeful while developing your own application. Also as mentioned, the engine community is very helpful, so you can always expect help from different developers. Hopefully this website will also help newcomers (as well as more experienced people) to understand how it works and improve the quality of your games!

4. Important links:

AndEngine Website

AndEngine Forum