[casual_games] 3rd party engines/frameworks

[Christian Belmont]

Hello all.
 
This is my first post to the list, although I've been reading submissions for a few weeks.
 
I was wondering if someone out there could relay any experiences with 3rd party engines such as:
 
Torque 2D Game Builder and Engine - GarageGames
PopCap Framework
 
I come from a C++ background and am really interested in the types of products that can be delivered from these tools. It should be evident that I haven't researched them yet, but I thought I'd gather some initial opinions. 
 
Is the development process radically different? Is it faster? Or are these tools really only good for prototyping? What kind of executables do they generate in size? Do additional libraries need to be installed as part of the final product? Are these considerable in size?
 
Also, what other 3rd party engines/frameworks do developers feel are relevant to casual game development?
 
Any comments will be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks,
Christian
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