So, I don't feel like being part of MFGG without making anything at all. I wanna start doing the Marios, too. However, I don't have the money to buy expensive game making programs, nor do I want to use shady tools to get them for free. Any good free game making tools for me to get started at fangame creation?

First thing I suggest is Game Maker! User Onpon has suggested several times this engine named "Godot". You choose.

Hold up a second... but isn't Game Maker a "free to start", but "pay to get full functionality" software? That's what I'm trying to recall. But I do know that's one of the popular ones these days now.

I'd like to know some that come completely full for free.

Stencyl is free for making browser games, I think. Seems like Construct 2 is free to some extent? Not sure to what extent. But generally, most people here use Game Maker. It's not 100% free, but the free version isn't that bad.

If you wanted to get Gamemaker Studio, there was a really cheap bundle from HumbleBundle months ago with every module available in discounted price. But unfortunately, it seems that you missed that one. Not sure when's the next one though. Otherwise, there's plenty like users suggested. Such as Godot, Unity, Corona and Stencyl.

[url=http://enigma-dev.org/]ENIGMA[/url] is a good Game Maker alternative. It's mostly compatible with Game Maker files, and it's totally free. If you have some programming background, Unity is an excellent choice, especially if you're interested in making 3-D games. Construct is also worth trying.

[quote="Merit Celaire"]Hold up a second... but isn't Game Maker a "free to start", but "pay to get full functionality" software? That's what I'm trying to recall. But I do know that's one of the popular ones these days now.[/quote] Well, Game Maker Studio 2 just came out and sorta reset the whole cycle. For awhile, free Game Maker Studio 1.x was a limited trial edition until they decreased the limitations to make it usable to people who didn't have a license. I [i]think[/i] they've now gone back to the super-limited system, though, and it'll probably stay like that for awhile.