I can't give the best recommendation, as I'm a player who has never tried to program. This said, I can give some advice, you could be more specific as to what you're trying to accomplish.

For example, if you plan on making an entirely text based management game, twine is one option.

If you want it to be primarily story driven, you could try making a visual novel (or something somewhat close to that) in Ren'py

If you're looking to make an RPG, well there's obviously RPG Maker.

If you're thinking making something in 3D, Unity seems to be the most popular choice for porn games, some others use Unreal.

QSP and RAGS are two that tend toward text based adventure, with the ability to add pictures.

I haven't played a game on Adrift, so I no clue about that.

As I said, I'm not really a developer, just someone who plays a lot. I could give a general outline of what people seem to be doing with each system but I can't speak to the pros and cons of each devwise.