We’ve all been there.

Struggling to unwrap the cellophane casing, fingers not finding any purchase. Pulling again and again at the tape holding the box shut. Waiting for the crisp “pop” of the game case’s premiere opening. Smelling faint adhesive residue. Admiring the glimmering, shining object within.

A new game.

Few things beat the excitement of unboxing a new game, except maybe the very first loading screen or opening trailer.

Sure, digital downloads have started replacing physical copies of games, but the nostalgia is still there for most of us.

The game can never truly meet our expectations. Our imaginations are too wild, our life experiences too unique to imagine the experience awaiting us in a new game. But even if games don’t line up with what we expect, they can still deliver.

As worlds keep getting bigger and the online multiplayer community continues to grow, It isn’t uncommon for players to dump days into a single video game. You know we aren’t being metaphorical here.

People will play a single video game for what amounts to entire days or even weeks of their lives. Not all in one sitting, obviously. But four hours a day into a new game you’ve been looking forward to?

Not that hard to do, especially in the first week that you own it. Just like that, you’ve played for 28 hours. More than a day.

Many of us have done it…but why? How are these games able to hold our attention for so long? How do the developers get us to keep coming back, again and again, for more?

That’s what we want to look at today: How do you maintain player engagement?

Fun: A Recipe for Success with Game Engagement

If your game isn’t fun or rewarding on some level, people aren’t going to play it.

Sure, they might give it a shot for a little bit. The price tag on games warrants a couple of hours, at least. But if the game frustrates the player more often than it gifts the player with fun, you’ll lose the player.

What causes this fun lapse?

• Cheating players
• Bugs or glitches
• Bad level design
• Lame or broken game mechanics

That’s not an exhaustive list, but if you shore up against those fun-suckers in your game, you’ll be off to a great start.

The reason these things make the game awful instead of the fun lies in the player expectation. As you design a game, you are building a world for players to interact in. You get to create these rules.

But, any rules you create, you have to maintain (unless you provide a compelling reason in the game as to why they’re broken).

Say you’re playing a game and your character can jump in the first level. When the second level rolls around, you’ll expect your character to still be able to jump. If you all of a sudden can’t jump anymore, you’ll be wrenched out of the game.

Woe is to the developer who pulls that stunt. Unless it’s clearly explained, it won’t make sense to you as a player, and so you’ll assume the game isn’t functioning properly.

Bugs and glitches also work to frustrate the player. There have been games where players lose their progress to glitches–they can’t save, or for some reason, they can’t advance in the game. This also serves to pull the player out of the world.

Those aren’t the only ways that fun can be ruined, but you get the idea. Keep the game mechanics intact, and make sure the player’s experience won’t be negatively impacted by any glitches or bugs.

What About Long Term Player Engagement?

There’s a novel excitement to games when you’re playing through them for the first time. There’s the thrill of hitting a new level. There’s sweet lewt to find, new weapons to unlock, new enemies to thump.

But what happens after you ding for the last time? How can game developers maintain player engagement after the level cap has been reached?

For answers, we must turn to an old friend.

World of Warcraft: The Endgame Engagement*

(*This expansion has not been officially announced)

How do you keep players engaged in a game after they max out their level? World of Warcraft is a great example of a game that shows us continued engagement after a level cap is possible.

Some of you might jump on the horn to talk about how World of Warcraft doesn’t have as many players as it once did.

This is true.

But many of the players they do have (and new players who buy the right DLC package) are maxed out in their level.

Certain WoW packages actually offer a free character “boost,” which lets you make a character and instantly boost that character to the max level.

Where’s the fun in that? Let’s look.

Endgame Material

The level 1-110 piece of the game is fun in its own right. But once you hit 110, the other half of the game opens up to you.

There are plenty of lore-filled solo missions to accomplish. New lore and global experiences are added with every expansion, and that keeps a lot of players coming back.

But Warcraft has done an excellent job of improving its dungeons and raids. These group-based adventures have scaling difficulty, so they’ll get harder as your gear and your party gets better.

There’s also player vs. player for people who are interested.

The level cap isn’t the end. The huge amount of loot and party-based challenges keep the game exciting and social.

The endgame content is more challenging, and ultimately more rewarding. There’s always a harder raid to beat with your raiding party, meaning better gear. And the late-level gear looks mighty fine, indeed.

Social interaction is another big element. It’s a way to blow off steam with friends, or feel really powerful, or interact with relative anonymity in a safe space.

And when you get tired of one character, you can switch to another. “Alt” characters let you play through your favorite parts of the game again, experiencing them as a different race and class. You can play through the same game but with a different play style.

The Takeaway

How do you get players to stick with your game?

Make it fun.

How do you get players to stick with your game even when they’ve maxed out their level?

Give them more games to play!

This goes beyond giving them “stuff to do.” Keep increasing the challenge. Give them loot, rewards, and incentives that make them want to keep coming back. Once they hit that level cap, open up a whole new world for them.

What Is a Game Design Document?

A Game Design Document is your master plan for making a game. It’s where you capture every key decision, what the game is about, how it plays, its systems, art style, soundscape, UI, and technical requirements.

Think of it like a blueprint for building a house. You could try to hold all the details in your head, but once other people get involved, or months pass and your “mental blueprint” starts shifting, you’re going to wish you wrote it down.

Even solo developers benefit. As Maruia Dark of Circuit Studios put it:

“Our first indie game stalled twice because we didn’t write a GDD. The third time, with a simple living document, we shipped in 9 months. It kept us focused and saved us from feature creep.”

AAA studios take this to the extreme. The Witcher 3 reportedly had over 200 pages of GDD content spanning narrative arcs, combat systems, and open-world rulesets.

On the other end, solo dev Toby Fox began Undertale with a two-page GDD and expanded it only when necessary.

The bottom line? You don’t need a massive doc, but you do need something.

What Should Be in a Game Design Document?

Here’s what most professional and indie GDDs include, from high-level vision down to implementation details:

1. Overview and Vision

• Game Title & Tagline: Sets tone and expectations.
• High-level Summary: A one-paragraph “elevator pitch.”
• Design Pillars: The core experiences driving every decision.
• Target Audience: Who are you making this for? Hardcore gamers? Casual mobile users? Kids?

Example: Hades’ design pillars included “fast, fluid combat” and “narrative depth through repeated runs.” Every feature was checked against these pillars.

2. Gameplay Core

• Core Gameplay Loop: What players do again and again.
• Primary Mechanics: Core actions like jumping, shooting, and crafting.
• Secondary Systems: Upgrades, crafting, inventory, etc.
• Progression Systems: How players grow over time.

Data: A GDC survey found 68% of indie devs use a simple flowchart in their GDDs to map their core loop before writing a single line of code.

3. Narrative and Characters

• Worldbuilding: Setting and lore.
• Plot Outline: Major story beats.
• Character Bios: Key characters and their motivations.
• Narrative Mechanics: How story and gameplay interact (e.g., Bioshock’s audio logs).

Personal Note: On our first team project, we didn’t define narrative mechanics early. Result? UI rework halfway through to support unexpected story features. Lesson learned: put it in the GDD.

4. Art and Aesthetics

• Visual Style Guide: Pixel art? Low-poly? Realistic?
• Mood Boards: Reference art to align the team.
• Accessibility Considerations: Colorblind modes, contrast ratios.

5. Audio Design

• Music Style: Ambient, orchestral, chiptune?
• Sound Effects: List key sounds (footsteps, UI clicks, combat SFX).
• Voice Acting: Plans and casting considerations.

6. User Experience and UI

• HUD Layouts: Health bars, minimaps, inventory screens.
• Menu Flowcharts: Navigation diagrams.
• Accessibility: Button remapping, text size options.

Example: Dead Space integrated health bars into the character’s suit, a diagetic UI choice documented in their GDD.

7. Technical and Tools

• Target Platforms: PC, console, mobile.
• Engine Choice: Unity, Unreal, Godot.
• Version Control: Git, Perforce.
• Collaboration Tools: Notion, Confluence, Trello.

8. Project Planning

• Timeline with Milestones: Pre-production, production, testing, launch.
• Risk Management: Known challenges and contingency plans.
• Task Assignments: Who’s doing what?

What Are the 7 Stages of Game Design?

1. Ideation: Brainstorming and refining the core idea.
2. Conceptualization: Defining design pillars and target audience.
3. Pre-production: Writing the GDD and building prototypes.
4. Production: Full development of features and assets.
5. Testing: QA, playtests, balance tweaks.
6. Launch: Release, marketing push, day-one patches.
7. Post-launch: Updates, bug fixes, DLC, live ops.

What’s the Difference Between a GDD and a TDD?

GDD (Game Design Document): Defines what the game is: concept, gameplay, story, art.

TDD (Technical Design Document): Defines how the game will be built: code structure, APIs, system architecture.

Both are critical for large teams. Smaller indie projects often combine the two into a hybrid document.

Are Game Design Documents Still Used?

Yes, but they’ve modernized. Static PDFs have been replaced by live, editable docs in Notion, Confluence, or GitBook.

According to a 2023 GDC survey:

• 85% of AAA teams use GDDs.
• 67% of indie devs use GDDs in some form.

Game Design Document Template and Examples

• Game Design Document Template PDF
• BioShock
• GTA
• Diablo
• Original Monaco GDD
• Collection of Game design document examples

What This Means for Aspiring Game Designers

If you’re new to game development, the idea of creating a full-blown Game Design Document might feel overwhelming. But here’s the truth: it doesn’t have to be complicated. Start small.

For your first prototype or game jam, a one-page GDD is often enough. Focus on your core gameplay loop, the key features that define your game, and how you want players to feel while playing.

As your project grows, expand your GDD incrementally. Add sections for narrative, art style, sound, and technical details when they become relevant.

Don’t try to map out every feature on day one. You’ll risk creating a static, bloated document that no one (including you) wants to read. Instead, treat your GDD as a living document. Update it regularly as your ideas evolve and your team provides feedback.

Clarity and usability are critical. Your GDD is only as useful as your team’s willingness to use it. Instead of endless pages of text, include flowcharts, diagrams, and mockups that visually communicate your ideas. These not only save time but also help you catch design issues early.

Remember, a GDD isn’t meant to lock you into a rigid plan. It’s there to provide structure, to keep your vision focused, and to make collaboration easier. If done right, it can save you hundreds of hours later in development by preventing misunderstandings and scope creep.

Keep it alive. Please review and update it as often as needed to ensure it reflects the current state of your game.

FAQ

Do I need a GDD if I’m a solo developer?
Yes. Your future self will thank you when revisiting the project.

How detailed should my GDD be?
As detailed as needed to keep your vision and team aligned. No more, no less.

What’s the best tool for a GDD?
Notion for small teams, Confluence for larger ones. Google Docs works for solo developers.

When should I freeze the GDD?
At production start. After that, major changes should follow a formal process to avoid scope creep.

Can I use GDDs for game jams?
Absolutely. One-page GDDs are perfect for jams and rapid prototypes.

Have you ever seen a real-life giant?

If you’re a long-time wrestling fan or an avid viewer of The Princess Bride, you probably know about Andre the Giant (or Fezzik, in The Princess Bride). And if you don’t know about Andre the Giant, well… all you really need to know is that he was a giant. Like–literally a giant human being. He was 7’4” and he weighed over 500 lbs.

Why does Andre’s size matter?

Because we’re talking about sizing and scale, people! And beer cans look so small in his massive hand!

His hands are considerably larger than the hands of the vast majority of the human population. So when you see something that’s ordinarily bigger than a hand look small in a hand, it looks off.

In real life, this sizing is hilarious. In a game, it could end up being hilarious. Or jarring.

We bring up Andre to demonstrate how important size and scale are. And to mention that humans are kind of trained to notice when things are “off.”

We’ve survived for most of our evolutionary lives through our ability to recognize patterns. We know when things aren’t quite right because that’s how we stayed alive. Don’t expect people to ignore it or miss it–if the scale or sizing is off in your game, the players will know!

What can you do to get your sizing and scale to work for your game?

Size and Scale

Size refers to something’s dimensions–how big is it? Scale refers to the relative size of something, whether it be the characters, objects or the game world itself.

Different types of games will require different adherence to the rules of size and scale. If you’re going for a realistic game, it makes sense that your in-game rendering would mimic the scale with the real world. That means that the size of a character in your game relative to the size of any objects, buildings, or vehicles in your game should be close to a real-world scale.

Real-life scaling can potentially cause some problems.

One issue is that it just doesn’t always look good. Objects can be too small to see clearly. Maybe an important feature on a character (like a face–the hub of emotional displays!) is too small for the players to see the expressions.

If you need to make objects or character features larger in order to improve the player experience, you should do it. This isn’t an uncommon practice, but the key to pulling it off successfully is consistency.

Consistency

You need to develop a consistent sizing system for your game. Consistency does a few things.

First, it helps to maintain the suspension of disbelief. Suspension of disbelief is why movies like Lord of the Rings and Guardians of the Galaxy make sense to us as viewers. We know that there aren’t rings of power or stones of power in real life.

Bargains with cursed ghost armies just aren’t being made in 2017 (mostly because the orcs haven’t marshaled their forces and marched against us. Yet).

And we aren’t having intergalactic space battles with humanoid species spanning planets and lightyears.

But we suspend our attachment to realism for the sake of our own entertainment. We willingly give in to the lore of these stories. For a few hours at a time, we adopt this alternate set of truths. We suspend our disbelief.

This happens in video games, too. It’s how we lose hundreds of hours to games like Skyrim, World of Warcraft, and Horizon: Zero Dawn.

So if you’re going to mess with the sizing and scale in your game, do it for a reason, and do it consistently. If you break your own rules, you’ll snap your audience back to reality (if no one is a giant, don’t all of a sudden give someone can-dwarfing giant hands–elements in your game should be the same relative size to each other, unless your plot is based around things changing size). If that happens too often, you’ll lose ‘em.

That’s why uniformity in the scale of your world is important.

Ditch the Real World

Now, just because you need to be consistent doesn’t mean you have to be realistic. If the idea behind your game isn’t rooted in reality, you can make things whatever size you want.

Ori and the Blind Forest has the player take control of a forest spirit. In the game, they made the forest spirit small, but it could have been any size. The trees in the forest are impossibly large.

They seem beautiful, ancient, and totally unrealistic. But it’s consistent, so we don’t need it to be rooted in reality to enjoy it. Disbelief suspended.

If you’re playtesting your game and the sizing feels off, tweak it. Like we mentioned, the “real life” scale doesn’t always transfer well into video games. Objects might feel too small or too big. Just as with game physics, the sizing choices are ultimately the designer’s call.

In certain games, the players are pretty big compared to the environment. Ogre Battle 64 is our favorite example. The character avatars are giant as they walk around on the map–they’re as big as the “castles” are.

Because the player needs an aerial view of the map, the camera has to be high up, almost birds-eye. If everything was to scale, it’d be impossible to see any details of the characters or the enemy avatars. The solution was to make the character avatars giant.

Character Sizing

Character sizing is an interesting component of character (and game) design.

Size can be used to show power, to inspire awe, to strike fear, or to elicit other emotions. The size of characters in your game can function as helpful visual clues for your player.

In Overwatch, for example, the tanks are all pretty large in size. From a function standpoint, this makes sense–tanks are damage absorbers. They’re supposed to draw the fire and attention of their enemies. Being big in size means they’re easier to spot.

It also means they can, theoretically, block more damage than other characters (since there’s more of them to hit).

Size can be used to show power, too. Think about boss fights in games like Horizon: Zero Dawn or Breath of the Wild–the enemies can be huge compared to the character you control as the player. It adds weight to the challenge and some excitement, too.

Small characters can go either way. In a game like Left 4 Dead, the Witch is the smallest character. But she is also extremely dangerous. In Bioshock, the little sisters are practically harmless….but they have giant characters, the Big Daddies, looking out for them, making them indirectly dangerous.

Just like in nature–some small spiders can kill, others are totally harmless.

Rule Buster

If you know the rules, you can break them. But it’s better to break them for good reason. Let your instincts guide you, young master. If something looks off to you because of its size, chances are good that other players will notice it too.

Keep them in a state of suspended disbelief… Fix the sizing!

The great plot challenge.

Plot is the kind of thing that can ruin your game. Or take it to the next level.

For a game like Angry birds, the plot is….eh, not really there. Birds fighting pigs, kamikaze-style? Ok… but we don’t really know why. And there isn’t much of a story.

There’s nothing telling us why we’re in the arctic on one level and in the desert on another. But the game doesn’t really need it. It’s the puzzle challenge that keeps people involved.

A game like Mass Effect needs a strong plot. The gameplay in the first Mass Effect was…subpar. But the story was engaging. The world was expansive. The plot was memorable.

The world’s greatest warrior is actually an evil mastermind controlled by an alien race that wants to exterminate biological life forms? And you, as the only human specter, have to convince the council and the universe at large that their champion is really the evil person you say he is?

Thrilling!

It’s a way to separate yourself from similar games. It’s a way to take your game from mediocre to a powerful piece of interactive fiction. An immersive world of memorable, emotional experiences.

And this all stems from the plot.

There are tricks, tips, and techniques that the experts use to put great plotlines together (most of the time it isn’t an accident). This guide is a collection of resources you can use to come up with your own game-changing plots.

Helpful Game Plot Lessons

Gamasutra: Darby McDevitt

Darby McDevitt is an industry veteran and is the lead writer for Assassin’s Creed at Ubisoft Montreal. In this “Practical Guide to Game Writing,” he walks you through the stages of script-writing in a studio setting.

Even if you’re only looking to create plots and write scripts for games you want to produce on the side, it’s a worthwhile read. He has steps for the three stages of game development:

• Before writing begins
• When writing begins
• Into production

He mentions the importance of collaboration between writers and designers. Designers will occasionally have to alter the level design or the layout of a map in for one reason or another. The changes might seem small to the designers, but if you’re the writer you need to know about it.

Why? Because part of your story or part of your dialogue might not make sense after the change.

McDevitt goes on to make a joke about how a Wayfarer must make his way to the Black Forest to find a crystal dagger–only to have a “producer person” interrupt him and say they scrapped the Black Forest and replaced it with a Walmart.

So, whether you’re working in a team or on your own, make sure your script and overall plot makes sense with any design changes you make.

TornadoTwins

The Tornado Twins are a couple of fun boys that make Youtube videos dealing with games. In this particular video, titled Tutorial: How to Write Story for Games, one of the twins walks you through a couple of important elements that every story should have.

He talks about character motivations for both the good guys and the bad guys. One interesting point he makes is this idea of giving the protagonist and the antagonist goals that are in line with each other. He references Half-Life and the motivations of the marines–they want to clear out Black Mesa and kill all the evil there.

Your character wants to do the same thing–kill the aliens. The marines think you’re part of the evil, but really you both have nearly the same goal.

This kind of misunderstanding or “same end, different means” makes for a compelling story. In addition, it should provide ample situations for the two characters to clash over and over throughout the game.

Building a Paper Prototype for Your Narrative Design

This YouTube video comes from the 2014 GDC and it features Jamie Antonisse who worked at Disney at the time. Now he works at Sirvo Studios, a company he cofounded at the beginning of 2016.

In the video, Antonisse describes how you can test your narrative design by building a paper prototype. In essence, he tells you how to make a board game out of your video game plot.

He describes both the “how” and the “why” behind the exercise in this 30 minute video. The “how” focuses on how to take your ideas for a video game plot and actually build a board game out of it. He talks about what content to include (such as important choices that the character will make, and where each of her decisions would lead).

And also how to build the game itself (like using “simple, familiar materials” such as poker chips, coins, or other board game pieces).

To be clear, you’re making a board game prototype. Not a board game that you intend to pitch to Walmart. You only do this to test your narrative before you start coding the video game version–and that brings us to our “why.”

You can see if players will enjoy the narrative in your video game by testing the same narrative on players in board game form. Antonisse goes into the process in more detail, so we’ll let him take it from here.

Your Own Study

There is another way to learn how to write game plots, and it involves playing all kinds of games–yes, even the ones you wouldn’t normally play.

Play through games and really pay attention to what’s happening with the story. If you like what happens in the story, think about why. The same goes for stories that you don’t like–what about them doesn’t work, in your opinion?

Is it the sequence of events? Is it something about the characters? Their motivations, or their dialogue, or their particular behaviors?

In both good and bad cases, think about why the dev team did it the way they did. If you didn’t like something, how would you have done it differently? What would you do to improve it?

There’s a lot of power in unpacking what others before you have done. It is, whether you know it or not, how most creative work comes to fruition. We don’t say that to devalue the work you’ve produced so far and the work you’ll go on to produce–not at all.

We’re using it as a way to persuade you of one more tool in your belt: inspiration from others.

It was Mark Twain who said “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely, but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”

Developing a Pong knockoff might sound like a piece of cake to you and your 2D design skills. But pop that into a third dimension, and all of a sudden we’re looking at some pretty complex stuff! 3D game design can be daunting, especially if you’re a beginner or planning an ambitious project.

The good news is there’s never been a better time to attempt designing a 3D game. The internet is a treasure trove of great resources to help you along, no matter what programming platform you want to use. This guide focuses on Unity (because of its popularity in the industry) and includes Java and some other programming tools, too.

This guide will give you a handful of great starting points for designing your own 3D games. Take a look at the wares below.

Start Learning 3D Game Design

Unity 3D Tutorial: How To Make A Game

The title of this YouTube video really speaks for itself, but we’ll still describe it to you because we just want your life to be easy.

True to its name, this tutorial is for beginners. Whether you’ve just downloaded Unity and aren’t sure where to start, or you’ve spent some time with the game engine but you aren’t super clear on it, this tutorial series is a good place to go.

The tutorials are put together by YouTuber Jimmy Vegas. Once you master the basics with his beginner tutorials, you can go on to his genre-specific game tutorials.

A quick look at his YouTube page will show you a multi-part “How To Make An RPG” tutorial series and a “How to Make An FPS” tutorial series. Both tutorials take place in Unity 5 and are also tailored to beginners.

He’s easy to listen to. His pacing is good. And he speaks clearly. If you end up digging his work, you can support him. He has a Patreon, and he offers exclusive access to videos and content for those who donate.

He doesn’t show you how to download Unity, but he does start his walkthrough from Unity’s “New Project” window. The video lengths fluctuate, with the first video clocking in around 20 minutes.

3D Game Programming – Episode 1 – Window

For all you Java girls and Java boys out there, this YouTube series teaches you 3D game programming with–that’s right–Java.

The series is put together by YouTuber theChernoProject. He recommends downloading eclipse–it’s not only his IDE of choice, but it’s also the IDE Notch used to design Minecraft.

The complete tutorial series contains 39 videos. Some are short, lasting about 14 minutes. Other episodes can pass 45 minutes in length.

He teaches you how to make a 3D java game from scratch, but he does assume you have some experience in Java. You don’t have to be able to write your own program, but you should be familiar with the programming tool.

So, if that describes you, then go ahead and give this tutorial a shot! If you need to learn Java, you can check out our Guide to Java Tutorials and get up to speed.

OpenGL 3D Game Tutorial 1: The Display

This here’s another tutorial for the Java fans out there. This YouTube video is for those of you with a bit more experience in Java. The tutorial relies on OpenGL 3.0 and above, as well as the lightweight java game library.

According to the creator, he’ll teach you to create a “simple but very awesome game engine from scratch.” The series is put together by YouTuber ThinMatrix.

The tutorial includes lessons on terrain generation, lighting, third-person camera, multiplayer support, multiple light sources, and more.

If you’re looking for a series that clearly explains OpenGL programming, it doesn’t get much better than ThinMatrix. It’s a series that only gets better as it goes along. ThinMatrix offers more thorough explanations and includes the occasional, relevant diagram to keep you on track.

Again, it’s not for beginners. But it’s a great resource for expanding your 3D game design potential after you spend some time learning Java.

3D Game Design 1

This game design course is offered by Apex Learning. It’s an online company that has put together courses with a younger audience in mind.

3D Game Design 1 is designed for a younger audience–ages 8 to 14. This course lets you design a game in the OWL game engine. As the title suggests, the courses focus heavily on the concepts of game design. If you enroll, you can expect to build a full game over the span of the course. It’ll focus on designing the theme, layout and 3D environments for your game.

It is a pay-to-use course. It currently costs $249.99, which gives you 12 months of access to the online content (boils down to about $21 per month, but there’s only an annual payment option).

It’s self-paced, which is nice if you or your child has a busy schedule. But the flexibility only works if you can be diligent about actually doing the lessons.

The price tag only gets you a year’s worth of access. Most online courses will offer lifetime access, so the 12-month cap comes across as a little stingy. You do get a 30-day money-back guarantee (as long as you or your child has completed less than 4 modules).

OWL is a bit simpler as far as tools go, making it a good tool for kids. It’ll let you build some nice-looking environments, too. Live teacher support is available, so any snags can be worked through with a professional.

The course boasts 30 hours of elearning, and the teacher has the vibe of a 90s Nickelodeon TV show host.

If you’re on the cusp of that 14-year-old cut-off, Apex Learning also offers a 3D Game Development course. The development course teaches Unity, so you’ll do some coding in C#. If you’re younger but already familiar with Unity or coding, you, too, might be more interested in this class.

It’s the same price, $249.99. You get full teacher support and 12 months’ worth of access.

Both classes have the teacher support, and the website says “don’t think tech support, think mentor.” These same teachers review the final project, which could provide valuable feedback and a rewarding sense of closure to you or your child.

The reviews are positive and the information is presented in an engaging way. With the money-back guarantee, it might be worth taking a month-long test drive.

Become a Game Developer: Master Series

If you haven’t paid for a udemy course yet, you might be able to nab this course for just $10 (it’s usually $200). At the time of this article, udemy was still running a “new student discount.”

The course teaches you Unity, Maya, 3DSmax, Mudbox, c#, and Photoshop. You’ll learn how to develop for everything from Android to Xbox. You will do some 2D programming in the course (along with 3D programming), but it’s worth it for the great deep-dive into game design.

Newton! Aristotle! Galileo! Descartes! Newton’s Laws!

These might be some of the exciting thoughts that popped into your head when we brought up physics.

Apples! Gravity!

Ok, that’s probably good for now. Feel free to shout ‘em out if any more come to you.

The forces and energy behind physics have always impacted our world and everything in it. And while we have learned quite a bit about how the universe works in the last 2600+ years, there are new breakthroughs in our understanding of forces and energy and nature happening all the time.

To escape the dangerous reality of rogue waves and falling fruit (and physics class!), we often stay in the shelter of our home. There, we can seek solace in video games.

Or can we? Surely you’ve noticed that many video games these days, especially of the AAA variety, are heading far down the path of realism. And with computer graphics on this photorealistic path, we have to wonder…

How strictly will games adhere to the laws of the universe, as we understand them? How important are the laws of physics in video games?!

Immersion

Graphics are looking pretty good these days. When virtual reality and futuristic graphics meet, miles down the road, it’ll be amazing. We’ll finally realize that we’ve actually been in a simulation this entire time (wake up, Neo).

Immersion is important in video games. It’s one reason why they’re fun. It’s a reason why they’re a great way to relax and part of the reason why they can be so addicting.

It’s amazing to dive in and explore the beautiful scenery and wander around incredible places (all without leaving the comfort of our home!). Games have physics in their design–but to what degree? Do games use the same physics that guide our real-life universe? Well, kind of.

The Role of Physics

Video game physics are modeled after our understanding of real-life physics in a number of ways.

There are a few reasons why mimicry, and not exact physics, are used in games.

Fun

Consider a game franchise like Grand Theft Auto. If you’ve driven an automobile IRL and an automobile in GTA, you’ll notice that they behave very differently. Collisions (hopefully you haven’t experienced this IRL), acceleration, deceleration, turning, etc., a big difference between the two.

The Grand Theft Auto franchise would lose a lot of appeals if driving the cars in-game were like driving cars in-life (anyone who’s glided around Vice City with flying car mode activated can back us up on this–Yeah baby!).

In a real car, you’re not “catching mad air,” ever. But in GTA you can do it. Your tires are super-grippy. You can take turns too fast. All that good stuff.

Physics in a game should boost the fun, not eliminate it! If making your game more realistic (i.e. with more realistic physics) makes it less fun, then it’s probably not the right design move.

Physics that seem to behave realistically, like shooting arrows in a bucket and having the weight of the lodged arrows impact the bucket, can be cool (thank you, Oblivion). Not so long ago, that kind of thing didn’t show up in games–when it first appeared, it was awesome.

And games, where the puzzles involve using the weight of random objects in the world, was pretty darn neat, too (like half-life).

Gravity is another element that’s fun to mess within games. Being able to jump really high, like in the Crackdown franchise, is a fun departure from reality. And any space-based game tends to ignore many realities of how space travel would actually work.

Sports games have gotten way more realistic over the years, in physics and in graphics. They used to be full of “speed boosts” and “fire” bonuses from your character’s hot streaks. You can still find speed boosts in some sports games, but franchises like Madden call it something more serious (and boring), like “acceleration burst.”

It’d be fascinating to watch payers IRL all of a sudden take off downfield with a blue Tron streak behind them, but alas, speed boosts just aren’t for the real world.

These breakaways from real-world physics behaviors get explained away with convenient cybernetic enhancements or futuristic tech (or sometimes they’re accepted as part of the game, in the case of sports games)–but it’s ok with us, the players.

As long as these departures are consistent within the game, and–more importantly–fun, who needs Newton’s Laws?

Computing Power

What goes up must come down!

It’s possible that you think of physics equations as something programmers code right into their games. But that’s not always the case.

Video games need to be told what to do. They aren’t processing advanced physics equations thousands of times over or solving for variables. They’re computing simplified equations that mimic real-physics.

And not even the real world runs on the physics equations we’ve come up with. It’s not as if the universe is running trillions of these calculations in real-time.

Physics and the equations involved are a way for us humans to understand what’s happening–we invented these manmade equations to explain what we’re observing. Which is kind of a neat way to think about it?

Of course, if this really is a simulation that we’re already in…then everyone’s wrong and there are physics equations running behind the scenes.

A helicopter in a game, for example, isn’t designed to actually take off against gravity. It’s more likely that the gravity simulation in the game turns off when you “take off” in the helicopter.

The rotors, which need to lift and stabilize the vehicle in real life, aren’t actually countering any acting forces in the game. The programmers more likely just write code to simulate it–

–In many cases, anyway.

Things like trajectory, or how light rays are reflected, or even characters jumping do involve some physics equations. That’s why a lot of physics coding is actually being done by science graduates. But the final “physics“ decisions for the game ultimately come down to the input of the designers.

Fascinating, isn’t it? What a time to be alive simulated!

Including Physics in Your Game

So if physics are just simulations and not actually the equations we use to describe energy and forces and natural laws–how do you go about getting it into your game?

A lot of developers turn to middleware. Certain companies, like Havok, are middleware providers. Middleware is software that mimics physics. It can include elements like collision detection or rag dolling.

These can be costly additions to a game, both from a computing-power and a time-cost standpoint. Developers use physics middleware as a way to more easily add mostly-believable physics-simulations to their games.

And then there’s always physics-based games… Angry Birds, Goat Simulator, etc. The fun of these games relies on physics–augmented physics, but still physics: gravity, velocity, trajectory, momentum, collisions, etc. For now, you can make a game with passable physic behavior, or a game that focuses heavily on physics.

Programmers take a lot of shortcuts when it comes to physics. While the formulas might be rooted in “real” physics, things are getting simplified behind the scenes.

There are elements that go untouched–the level structure (unless it’s an environment you can damage, like in Battlefield), everything under the surface of a body of water, or things that would bend or flatten IRL but don’t in-game.

It will be interesting to see where future gaming improvements take in-game physics simulations. For now, though, we’re content with Goat Simulator.

Physics’ Role in Game Design

There are some great resources to take advantage of to better learn physics. Along with reference texts, there are sterling examples of games that execute physics masterfully. Here are just a few of the best physics games.

Best Physics Games

Portal

Portal is the beloved title from Valve. In it, you create portals to solve puzzles in the game environment. Although a great puzzle game, it’s an ever greater physics game. Hiding under the veneer of a solid game is an interesting study in game physics.

• Multiple platforms:
  • Microsoft Windows
  • OS X
  • Linux
  • PlayStation 3
  • Xbox 360
• $9.99
• Link
• Pros:
  • Great gameplay
  • Good story
  • Great physics engine
• Cons:
  • The story may get in the way of the game engine
  • Slow-paced
  • May cause dizziness

Fun with Ragdolls: The Game

Fun with Ragdolls: The Game puts you in the role of a ragdoll. In three different game modes, your ragdoll with jump, smash and fly around the game environments. You get points by being daring and creative.

• Windows
• $12.99
• Link
• Pros:
  • Extremely creative
  • High replay value
  • Good price value
  • Great ragdoll physics
  • Very unique
• Cons:
  • Can seem somewhat underdeveloped
  • No mod support
  • No local or online cooperative play
  • Shaky camera
  • Not many minigames

Art of Gravity

Art of gravity is a voxel and physics-based puzzle game. In it, the player uses physics and gravity to destroy abstract objects and structures. This simple act creates mesmerizing visuals. Although it’s a fantastic visual effect, it also exhibits how physics can be done in a fun and interesting way in video games.

• PC
• $0.99
• Link
• Pros:
  • Beautiful visuals
  • Not too difficult
  • Addictive gameplay
  • Very cheap
• Cons:
  • Not enough levels
  • Can be finished in less than an hour
  • Can seem unpolished

Half-Life 2

An iconic title, Half-Life 2 is a sci-fi tour de force where you battle aliens and humans through multiple, detailed environments. Gordon Freeman is a scientist turned freedom fighter in a dystopian world.

• Multiple platforms:
  • Android
  • Xbox
  • Microsoft Windows
  • IBM PC compatible
  • Linux
  • Classic Mac OS
• $9.99
• Link
• Pros:
  • A perfect blend of puzzles and fast-paced action
  • Great controls
  • The Gravity Gun
  • Levels dedicated to physics-based gameplay
• Cons:
  • Story pacing can get slower at times
  • Hasn’t aged well in terms of visuals

Universe Sandbox

Universe Sandbox is a fantastic universe simulator. Being set in space, it naturally uses an amazing amount of physics and gravity to power gameplay. Players can run simulations of different gravitational effects on celestial bodies. Things like comets, asteroids, stars, planets, and black holes all make an appearance in this title.

• Multiple platforms:
  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Linux
• $29.99
• Link
• Pros:
  • High level of physics experimentation
  • Realistic visuals
  • Extremely in-depth simulation
  • Fantastic physics engine

Cons:

• Can require high-end hardware to run at its full potential
• Still in early access; not that many patches and updates from developers
• Can become tedious
• No replayability

Pro Tips and Hacks

Tips on How to Study Physics

Study

Studying the field of physics is pretty much the chief way on how to be good at physics.

Solving Problems

While reading material can perhaps get a little dull or dry, solving problems can illuminate a ton of important concepts and info about physics and how it’s applied.

Use Everyday Experience for Reference

Chances are, you are already familiar with basic physics. If you have ever walked, run, thrown a baseball, or jumped, you are an unofficial basic expert in physics. However, more advanced physics moves beyond sports and running.

Math Expertise

Studying math is the key to a more successful time with physics. Mathematical knowledge is the bedrock of all physics and is extensively used within the field.

How To Solve Any Physics Problem in 5 Steps

Read the problem, understand the situation.

This is crucial. You need to be extremely careful with the problem and its wording or framing. Reading it wrong can send you into disaster right away. You need to break down the important information and focus on the problem.

Don’t fret too much over it, but make sure you are familiar with it.

Organize Your Thoughts

After reading, organize your thoughts and diagrams into an easy reference so you can better understand the prompt.

State the Equation and Formulas

Write down the equation using the appropriate formulas

Solve the Problem

Use the formulas and your knowledge to solve the problem

Check and Double-Check Your Answer

Go back and see if you did everything in accordance with the formulas needed to solve the problem. This step, along with reading the problem correctly, is arguably the most important step to solving any physics problem correctly.

There are easy math mistakes that you can overlook if you don’t seriously check your work for errors.

A whole new world! Don’t you dare close your eyes….

Any Aladdin fans out there? No? What’s the latest Disney focus–live-action Beauty and the Beast? We’re out of touch.

Out of touch is not where you want to be when you’re designing levels. Luckily for you, we’ve decided to compile a list of tutorials that can help break down the mammoth-like task of designing and creating a level of your very own.

When you think of a “level” you might think of the largest world you’ve ever putzed around in. Maybe it was the 14+ square feet of Skyrim, although the exact size seems to be debated.

Maybe you think of Halo, or Call of Duty, where the levels and the multiplayer “maps” are far more contained, each one visually distinct. Or maybe you think of a 2D game’s levels, like Super Meat Boy or Worms.

The term “level” is often used interchangeably with “mission,” “stage” (winking at you, Super Smash Bros!), or “map.”

What Makes A Good Level?

Creating a level is more than just designing a layout and building whatever environment you feel like building. Good level design amps up the player experience. As you’ll see throughout these tutorials, a common theme is to build a level with purpose.

You won’t be designing a level for the sake of designing a level. You’ll design a level that tells a story, has character, and serves a real purpose within the game.

Ultimately though, the level needs to be fun.

One quick note on bad level design, and then you can get to the really good stuff!

One of our writers insisted on sharing that he’s never beaten Turok for N64. Not even that he’s never beaten the entire game-he’s never completed a single level, start to finish.

He’s never made it to a single boss battle without using cheats to teleport himself there… And he swears it was the awful level design. He never knew where to go.

The office agrees that part of him, maybe the best part, is still trapped in Turok: The Dinosaur Hunter. Wandering the foggy, open-layout maze, never to return.

Please, for the love of Talos, don’t start trapping kids in a level like our poor writer was trapped in Turok.

Only you have the power, dear aspiring level designer. Only you. We’re all counting on you.

Ok, back to the guide!

Easy Tutorials

Envato Tuts+

The tutorial featured on Envato Tuts + for level design is the “Beginner’s Guide to Designing Video Game Levels.” The tutorial is put together by Mike Stout, who worked on games like Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, and Skylanders as a designer.

His tutorial isn’t a deep-dive into concepts, but rather a basic look at the five-step process he uses when designing a level.

In Step One, you’ll learn how to identify any constraints and limitations for the level you’re designing.

In Step Two, he’ll show you how to make intelligent decisions on what should go into a level. This section will deal with brainstorming and structure.

In Step Three, you’ll learn about how he outlines a level, and he’ll show you his visual “bubble diagrams” method for mapping this out.

In Step Four, he’ll talk you through how he adds substance and expands upon each bubble in his diagram. You’ll end up with a rough map.

And then in Step Five, the final step, you’ll be finishing your design. He’ll talk briefly about how to move from your conceptualized design to actually create the final spaces.

He warns you a few times throughout the tutorial, especially in the latter two steps, that these concepts are too vast for the small scope of his guide. He really just covers the basics. Depending on where you are in your game design path, that might be more than enough help for you.

If you’re very far along, you might need to supplement this tutorial with others on this list, or with paid material you can find on the internet.

There are a number of other handy resources focusing on level design at Envato Tuts+. There’s one series that teaches you how to build levels using the Super Mario World Method.

There’s one for polishing the environments in your game and many others. It’s definitely worth taking a look to see if one of these tutorials suites a specific need you have within the realm of level design.

World of Level Design

World of Level Design is a great resource for picking up tips and tricks that can make you a stronger level designer.

If you’re stuck, drawing a creative blank, there’s a link to 121 Level Design Ideas and Locations. You can browse through the images and something might inspire you.

There’s a guide that walks you through planning levels and game environments in 11 steps. This guide goes into some great pre-planning detail and has solid tips for getting all your ducks in a row before you even open your design program of choice.

A big concept World of Level Design pushes is the idea that you need to pull from real life. So they naturally included a “Guide to Collecting Level Design Reference.” There’s even a tutorial for creating a playable level in 11 days (11 steps, 11 days, 121 ideas…what the i11uminati is going on here?).

In addition to actual design help, there’s a section of recommended game engines and level editors, as well as a section on managing your time and staying productive.

Depending on what aspect of your level design you’re looking to improve, there is likely a guide on this site that could help. Even if you only pull one useful practice or trick from a guide, it’ll be worth your time.

YouTube:
Sometimes it’s easier to learn by watching rather than reading! So we used this section to link to some tutorials that could prove helpful for those of you who are visual learners.

Tactical Gamer Pro (Using Unity)

If you know your way around Unity, you could check out this level design tutorial from Tactical Gamer Pro on YouTube. In it, he walks you through the steps to design an Autumn Park map using Unity. It might not sound like the most exciting thing, but he does move at a good pace and it’s pretty easy to follow along.

Unreal

If you’re looking to do more with Unreal Engine 4, check out this live training tutorial from senior designer Jim Brown. He goes into workflow customization in Unreal 4, which could be helpful if you’re unfamiliar with the power you have over window and toolbar configuration.

This isn’t the most exciting video either, but there’s a lot of helpful information in there, especially if you’re new to Unreal 4. Many of the features new to Unreal 4 simplify the level design process, so learning them now will only save you more time down the road.

The YouTube video description also includes a link to the official Unreal Engine Wiki “Learn” page. You’ll be able to fill in any knowledge gaps you have from the video, on that page.

As always, good luck!

9 Tips for Designing Platformer Levels

Keep a notebook or journal handy

As with many creative pursuits and exercises, it’s extremely valuable to keep a notepad or some scratch paper around for some doodling or more serious fleshing out of ideas. You don’t know when inspiration will hit, so best be safe and stay ready!

Build a level around one idea at a time

You may be eager to take some winning ideas and cram them all together. After all, the more fleshed out a level is, the more a player will be immersed.

However, don’t make your level too ‘busy.’ What I’m saying is that you need to build your level around one idea. This ensures that the player won’t be bogged down by too much going on, and shoddy, bloated level design.

If you want to contain multiple ideas, make sure that they fit together seamlessly and aren’t just ‘on top’ of one another.

Draw freestyle and play around with shapes

Using your new journal or notebook, be sure to scribble different shapes and ideas that you have. If you freestyle draw some shapes, you’d be surprised what your subconscious will pull out. Latch onto a particular form you’ve drawn and tweaked it until it’s perfect.

Play your game

This should be pretty obvious, but still. You need to play the game and see if everything works, and I mean everything. Do those game mechanics you’ve implemented work with the level design? Does the background mesh well with the game world?

Take a break!

Don’t be afraid to put your level design to the side for a bit. I know, I know, you want to complete your game, who doesn’t? But if you’ve hit a wall in the design process, but you keep plugging away, you could experience some severe burnout. At that point, your brain resembles a scrambled egg more so than the creative muscle you need it to be.

If you’re experiencing frustration, don’t be disheartened, and make sure to drink some water!

Spice things up for players once in a while

Even if your level is fantastic and breathtaking to look at, if the player is spending a lot of time in this particular location, you’re going to want to spice things up a bit. You don’t want to be spending 2 hours in the same location with nothing changing. Maybe add a significant event, or introduce more ambient lighting or particle effects, ANYTHING to break any sort of monotony that exploring one area could bring.

Don’t hold players’ hands!

Is there anything worse than persistent tutorials that pop up every time you move your character in any direction? It takes away from some of the gaming experience. By giving the player too much guidance and tips, you could effectively be doing the same thing.

You want your player to explore and discover the correct path through your level on their own, not because you blatantly showed them where it was. You need to find a balance between holding their hand and giving them free rein.

Give players the incentive to explore more open levels

Who doesn’t like a reward? Dedicated players who have been exploring your level should be able to find some goodies worth looking for. Whether these be upgrades for their character, secret easter eggs, or collectibles, this gives players further incentive to explore levels and admire your handiwork.

Games like Arkham Knight and Assassin’s Creed nailed this concept, as there are hundreds of collectibles in one shape or another that, when all compiled, give you bonuses or unlock costumes and other goodies.

Set the tempo, and don’t get greedy!

As I’ve said before, don’t get too eager to cram every good idea into one level. This also extends to multiple levels. Don’t get greedy and give the player 3 brain-busting levels of detail; instead, find a good pacing structure to follow so that the effect of your best levels is felt even more deeply by the player.

Dos And Don’ts

Do find multiple ways to use the same great mechanic

If you find a great mechanic to use, why not use it to its full potential? But be careful; don’t make it monotonous! If you can somehow implement a great mechanic in a game, vary its function that you can implement multiple times in new and exciting ways.

Don’t make pixel-perfect jumps

Making a jump works may seem like a no-brainer. However, if you measure up pixels exactly, you may be creating an unnecessarily difficult platforming situation for the player.

Who wants to play a game where you need to be in an exact position to nail a jump?

No one! Give the player some breathing room. This doesn’t mean you should make the game easier, but give leniency with smooth platforming.

Do reevaluate levels and trash the worst ones

I guarantee you that many players remember terribly designed levels over perfect ones. The bad experiences will often outweigh the positive ones, especially if levels are poorly designed and monotonous.

No one wants to play a water level! That’s why people talk about the Water Temple in the Legend of Zelda instead of Gerudo Valley.

Don’t repeat ideas

Don’t abuse the golden goose! A fantastic idea should stand on its own. If you’re able to branch off great ideas off of it, great. But like many aspects, don’t get greedy!

Do constantly playtest

You simply need to make sure everything works, and the only way to ensure that this is the outcome is by constant playtesting. You need to explore the level for yourself and see it as players will see it.

Level Design Tips and Tricks

Affordances

An affordance is something that appears to be possible to the player. A level on a control panel is an affordance, as it tells the player that they can most likely interact with it. Having clear affordances allows the player to have seamless gaming experience.

Leading Lines

Leading lines are informal design choices, much like focal points, to draw the player’s attention to where they should go in a level. Designing these leading lines can be a subtle and essential aspect, as it can make or break pacing.

Make use of the architecture to shape the play space

The developers of Assassin’s Creed have nailed this. They use the architecture of levels to form narratives and build upon existing stories.

Denial and Reward

D & R is a concept in level design where the player is rewarded with the view of an objective or famous landmark to give players a sense of accomplishment or progress.

For example, if a player is making their way towards a castle, they’ll see it closer up to get the idea that they’re incredibly close to the goal. This will allow the player to feel rewarded and spur them on further.

Give players a good starting point

This defines nearly everything going forward. Start the player off in the right direction, preferably in the direction of their goal. Having them backtrack or turn around multiple times is a definite game design ‘don’t.’

Boundaries

Although we all love no restrictions in gaming, boundaries are vital. Soft and substantial boundaries notify the player that they’re transitioning between areas, or entice the player into an area that seems to be off-limits.

Level Designs & Game Environments

The Main Idea

What’s the big idea? What is your level or location trying to convey to the player? What purpose does it serve in the story at large? Your concept is the primary fuel for your creative engine.

Setting, Location, and Theme

Going further with the idea, pick out a setting, a location, and a time. Does it take place in a secret base late at night? Or does it take place in a beautiful castle in the wilderness at noon?

This can be added upon in world creation games, where you’re fleshing out an entire world for the player to take part in.

Research

This can be crucial. Do your due diligence with the topic of your level. Research levels that are similar that have come before. Try not to lift anything from them; instead, make aspects of those levels your very own, adding new and exciting twists to them. Never steal ideas or artwork!

If you’re doing research into a real or semi-realistic place or event, you want to make sure your research is airtight. If you’re using a photo as a reference, make sure everything is clear and concise.

Environment’s Story

How did the level get this way?

Is it an abandoned space station with years of rust and decay?

How did the space station fall into such disrepair?

Telling a story with visuals can be so much more powerful than holding the player’s hand and straight-up showing them what they’re looking at. Sometimes the things we aren’t told allows us to create the narrative in our minds. It’s a powerful tool.

Objectives, Obstacles, and Set Pieces

Find out the objectives you want the player to complete in your level. Is it a standard ‘point A to point B’ scenario, or is it a more exploratory affair in which the player needs to find particular objects?

Set Pieces are also an exciting feature to take advantage of. We’ve seen them in games like Tomb Raider and the Uncharted series. Giant, blockbuster set pieces in which the player is effectively taken for an exciting ride through a level.

Focal Points

What do you want the player to focus on? We all know levels in which we walk into a room and are floored by a fantastic focal point, which your eye is immediately drawn to. Try hard to come up with something to impress gamers.

Focal points add depth, stunning visual cues, and bring the player in.

The Best PC World Building Games

Here are some fantastic world-creation games in which the player has control of multiple aspects of the level design.

Rust

• Facepunch Studios
• February 8, 2018

Terraria

• Re-Logic
• May 16, 2011

Starbound

• Chucklefish
• July 22, 2016

ARK: Survival Evolved

• Studio Wildcard
• August 27, 2017

The Forest

• Endnight Games
• April 30, 2018

FAQs

How can I improve my level design?

Here are some level design tips to improve an already existing level: examine and play the level, notice every detail, what works and what doesn’t work, and above all, be willing to change the facets of the game design. You need to be open-minded going into each process. Above all, take RISKS!

What makes a good level design?

Good level design is when everything works: lighting, ideas, physics, artwork, character interaction, etc. Although you can get more specific, ‘good level design’ is a complete package with many different parts.

How do you level design?

You need to take several things into account when level designing. You have to be able to craft vibrant and creative ideas, implement them into software and programming, and make all of the different elements come together in a cohesive package.

How do you design a 2D level?

In 2d game level design, you need to make sure your game is oriented for the player to move left, right, up, and down. If you’re doing a class Metroidvania -style game, you’re going to need to put extra work in, as there are so many moving parts.

2d level design may look more manageable on the surface, but it’s not a slam dunk; you need to make sure everything is running smoothly and efficiently to create a convincing effect.

What does a level designer do?

A level designer formulates the idea that creates the game world. They’re the ones who put all of the necessary game mechanics together to create a living, breathing, and a convincing world that the player can thrive in.

Character creation is your chance to let your imagination run wild. If you already have ideas, it’s easy to hit the ground running. If you don’t have ideas….well…. That can be a different story.

We’ve put together a brief beginner’s guide to tutorials that will help you create characters. Some offer ideas for finding inspiration, others offer sound advice for developing technique or workflow.

We recently had an opportunity to sit down with a freelance illustrator who’s working on a hush-hush indie game right now. Now, she doesn’t have a full-blown tutorial for us, but she does have some tips and “guiding questions” she uses to create and inform her own characters.

Her name is Lauren Walsh, and you can check her stuff out here.

Tips From an Illustrator

Her first tip? References, references, references.

Even the designers of the most fantastical creatures will start with references. They will take the skeletons of different real-world creatures and pull them together, building this amazing monster by first designing its skeleton. The foundation is everything.

The best way to ensure the strong starting point for your character is to reference the real world.

Walsh says history can be a huge help. She recommends collecting from history as much as you can, both images and information. Certain things around today once served a different function, and tracking that progression can lead to cool ideas for intricate character decisions.

Take, for example, high heels. In today’s age, we understand them as an elegant footwear option for almost exclusively women, or men dressing up as women. Or men who are also rockstars.

Anyway… way back when heels were used exclusively by Persian men while they rode horses–it was easier for them to fire arrows with the extra stance-security the heel provided.

When Europeans caught a whiff of Persian culture through an emissary trip, the high-heeled boot caught on with the aristocrats.

When the plebeians started to wear heels too, the aristocrats did the only logical thing…Jacked the heels even higher (since they’d be useless if one actually had to walk in them on cobblestone streets!

Fashion is a tricky beast to track, and you can find more to this story here. The short of it is, eventually, women start wearing the heeled boots to make their outfits more masculine in the 1600s. Then, another hundred years after that, men weren’t wearing them and women’s heels had grown taller.

Today, we think of high heels as a women’s shoe. Hundreds of years ago, it was worn by men to shoot arrows. It’s that kind of function to form thinking that can lead to really innovative character designs.

Here are some other questions to consider:

• How do you convey personality through appearance? (Think Overwatch)
• How do you convey rank or hierarchy?
• How does the environment impact your character’s physical features? Posture? Skin? Height? Weight? Body language? Stance?
• How do religious or cultural influences impact your character’s features?

When it comes to character creation, observation can be your best friend. Observe the world around you and pull from it what interests you.

Oh, and also observe the tutorials below.

Learn to Design Characters Online

Creative Bloq: Art and Design Inspiration

The team over at Creative Bloq put together a list of 100 Amazing Adobe Illustrator Tutorials. Page 5 of that list has 12 tutorials tackling character design.

The character design tutorials cover quite a range of topics, from “How to Draw Happy Tree Friends Characters” (for those of you who are familiar with that grisly series) to create comic book style or hip hop style characters.

If you’re looking to do some illustration work in Adobe Illustrator, this tutorial selection is a good place to start. The selection is broad enough that you’ll be able to find a tutorial that walks you through the steps to design a character you’ll actually want to design, and it’s free to use.

Envato Tuts+

The contributors over at Envato Tuts+ never take a break, it seems. Posting new tutorials anywhere from 1 to 3 times a month, the newest content is constantly being updated with new tutorials dealing with character design.

Since January 9th, the site’s been updated to include how to create a cute rooster in honor of the Chinese New Year using Affinity Designer. In December? They added tutorials on how to create a reindeer character construction kit or a unicorn in Adobe Illustrator.

If you go further into their database, from May and March of 2016, you can learn how to draw creatively using photo references–a tactic highlighted in our artist interview introduction. There’s another tutorial for “10 Top Tips for Creating Unique Character Designs.”

These tutorials are great if you’re looking for help turning your real-life inspiration into fresh characters, or if you’re looking to develop your skills by copying successful illustrations.

If you want to start with the basics you can check out their Easy Character Design tutorial collection. This section features a similar variety at a more accessible skill level.

Vandelay Design

The Team at Vandelay Design compiled a very helpful resource containing 60 tutorials on character design using various software options.

There are tutorials for creating pirates, monsters, grumpy bears, and cute red-haired boys. It’s all in there, and it’s a great place to find a tutorial for the kind of characters you hope to design in the future.

The only downside here is that there’s no search feature, and every tutorial is listed in a single column on a one really long page. Since there are about 60 tutorials, it can be a little tedious to search through and find the one you want.

Still, a little extra time searching is a small price to pay for a character design tutorial that can unlock your skills and kick your creative juices into gear.

Autodesk: Make Games Campaign

Autodesk’s Make Games Campaign has video tutorials that walk you through creating characters (and environments) in 3D. It will show you how to take your concept art and render that as a 3D model. It also shows you how to add colors, textures, and lighting to give your 3D models a unique look.

An important element in 3D rendering is rigging. This is the concept of building a “control structure” for your character. When you build this structure, animators can then give them movement and bring them to life in-game–or you can animate them yourself!

These tutorials will show you how to add movement to your characters and objects after the rigging process. You’ll learn how to bring your characters to life, all by yourself.

The tutorials focus on MAYA LT. If you don’t have it, you can download a free trial to get through the tutorials and see if it’s the kind of software you could see yourself working in. The game kit is also available for download on the site.

And if you’ve never worked with Maya LT before, don’t fret. They have a handful of Maya LT 101 tutorials to get you started.

Some Indie Game Characters We Love

Sans

• Undertale
• Sans is the loveable, mischievous skeleton who interacts with the player along with his brother, Papyrus.

Meat Boy

• Super Meat Boy
• Meat Boy is a dedicated boyfriend, vanquisher of evil, and an all-around good dude.

Cuphead and Mugman

• Cuphead in Don’t Deal with the Devil
• These two brothers are the playable characters from Cuphead in Don’t Deal with the Devil. After some hijinks in a casino, we find the two ceramic-based brothers fighting for their very souls.

Top 4 Female Indie Game Characters

Clementine

• Telltale’s The Walking Dead
• Clem’s been through a lot. Introduced as a young child in the first season of Telltale’s famous series, she quickly grows to be a dynamic and captivating character as the years go by.

Toriel

• Undertale
• Toriel acts as one of your first guides in the mysterious and quaint world of Undertale. She has an innate ability to care for the main protagonist and goes as far as to stand in the player’s way if they want to explore the world’s depths, basically having you fight your surrogate mother.

Chloe

• Life is Strange
• Chloe is the brash, punk rock chick best friend of our hero, Max Caulfield. Throughout the game, Max bends over backward to save Chloe’s life by using her strange new abilities. The dynamic between the two friends is fantastic, and fighting for Chloe’s life feels essential, scary, and monumental.

Mae Borowski

• A Night in the Woods
• Mae’s strengths lie in her quintessential ‘normal-ness.’ That may sound not very interesting, but it actually makes her more relatable than any other indie game characters. She’s going through a weird time in her life; who hasn’t?! This adds a sense of reality to an otherwise more cartoonish-looking game.

Resources

Create Your Own Character (Websites)

• The Character Creator – Build visually stunning avatars
• Create Your Own Character – Character Creator
• Avatar Maker – Create Your Own Avatar Online

Website Tutorials

• How to Design Characters // 6 Tips & Tricks!
• Live Drawing – Character Design Tutorial!
• Character Design Design & Illustration Tutorials by Envato Tuts+
• How to Draw Video Game Characters
• How to Draw Popular Video-Game Characters | Speed Drawing compilation by HooplaKidz Doodle

Courses

• Character Design Tutorial And Classes
• Character Design Tutorial – Course & Video Lessons

Books

• How to Draw Video Game Characters: How to Draw The Characters & Environments of Video Games (Drawing Basics and Video Game Art)
• Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels
• Drawing Basics and Video Game Art: Classic to Cutting-Edge Art Techniques for Winning Video Game Design
• How to Draw Video Games: Create Unique Characters, Worlds, Levels and More!
• Costume Design & Illustration: for Film, Video Games and Animation
• More Heroes and Heroines: Japanese Video Game + Animation Illustration

FAQ

How Can I Create My Own Character?

You can use multiple pieces of software, like Photoshop, Maya, and more. You can also utilize free online character creators, like The Character Creator, which gives you many options to customize and build a fully-fleshed character.

What Is the Best Free Avatar Creator?

There are a ton of options out there (and many based on your preference of art style), but for overall quality, go with Face Your Manga for a more unique and fresh internet presence.

Where Can I Create My Own Avatar?

There are tons of free avatar creators out there for you to experiment with and see what clicks. There are manga-based ones, and even one based on the hit AMC show, Mad Men.

Is the Character Creator Free?

Yes, and the creators have stated that it will remain free to use for as long as it’s up.

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When game developers and software programmers talk about their favorite programming languages, it isn’t long before the rapid use of C++ in gaming.

It’s played a huge role in the coding of countless games, and has been among the most popular programming languages since its creation–all the way back in 1998!

But why is it that C++ has stuck around for so long? What video games in C++ have been made over the years? We’ll cover all that including how to learn game programming in C++, so let’s dive right in!

What Does C++ Do?

C++, like other programming languages, is used to write lines of code that give a computer instructions on what to do. Every video game, website, or piece of software uses these programming languages.

Though your average person may never see them, every time you hit a button on your controller, there are lines of code interpreting your button presses and producing a programmed response.

Written in 1998 by Bjarne Stroustrup as an improvement to the C language, C++ was created to be relatively easy to learn, highly adaptable to even modern programming standards, and most importantly: able to run high-level programs incredibly quickly. This explains why there are so many C++ games in the market nowdays.

It’s this speed that is its biggest selling point. How much of a selling point is it? Well, consider that Spotify, Google Chrome, and Youtube all use C++, and you begin to get an idea of its importance to the programming world. Some other benefits of game programming in C++ include:

Object-Oriented Programming

Object-Oriented Programming, or OOP, is a part of the language that allows you to reuse code you have already written, by organizing it into different segments called “objects” or “Classes”.

This is a huge time saver when creating C++ games, as developers can quickly copy huge walls of code that they’ve already spent the time to write. You can even make subclasses within those classes so that you already have presets of written code, and how it interacts with other code, ready to go.

Not all programming languages use object-oriented programming, so it’s one incredible feature that makes C++ an essential tool for developers.

Learn C Programming

An Easy Middle Ground

As mentioned before, C++ is a fairly simple programming language to learn. Like any language, it has its own Syntax, but on average takes developers less time to get a read on than other programming languages.

It’s similar enough to Java and C# that if developers already know how to learn to program C++, they can easily switch over to those programming languages for the parts of development where they excel.

On top of that, C++ is a cross-platforming language, allowing your code to be compiled and made functional across multiple different gaming systems. Simply being able to use it anywhere makes it a great choice for developers to learn.

Memory Management

The C++ language allows for a process called “dynamic memory allocation.” This gives the developer much more control over how much memory is being used by their code, as well as system resources. This is part of what makes C++ game programming so convenient.

In other languages, the memory is allocated automatically, but this doesn’t give the developer the most amount of control over it, and means the language is doing more work to optimize the code, potentially slowing it down.

Community

Since C++ has been around since 1998, it has had plenty of time to develop a massive community. A community that has had plenty of time to figure out and troubleshoot the language, tutorials on C++ game development and learning guides for new developers getting into it for the first time.

On top of that, C++ has actually remained supported. It’s most recent update was in 2017, with a new major update currently in the works.

The community around C++ game development has made the language far more accessible. Finally, because it’s used with such regularity, coders and video game development who are familiar with the language are always easy hires.

Is C++ the Perfect Language for Game Programming?

Even with all of these benefits, C++ in gaming isn’t the be-all and end-all. Most video games use several coding languages.

Developers switch to the programming language that works the best for the task they’re doing. For example, the Python programming language is widely considered to be the easiest programming language to learn. But, due to the shortcuts in the language that reduce the amount of code that programmers need to write, the computer has to do a lot more work to process what’s written, and it is a much slower language as a result.

In other words, C++ game development is often used when speed is the top priority, while other languages may be a better choice for developers when it is not.

Why is C++ Used for Games

Well, C++ has great performance. It is a compiled language, instead of an interpreted coding language, which makes it nearly as fast as the computer’s speed itself.

That’s mainly why C++ game development has nearly become the default for embedded code.

The Influence of C++ in Gaming

Video games can sometimes have hundreds of thousands of lines of code being processed by the games engine, and if the programming language used to write this code is too slow, it can impact a game’s experience.

Due to its speed, C++ has had the greatest impact on the creation of game engines. Unity, Unreal, and Frostbyte were all created using C++ game programming.

Anyone who’s even taken a passing interest in game development knows how influential Unreal and Unity have been to game makers. On top of that, most game engines can use C++ as well, making it possible not only to develop a video game engine, but a game to run off of it.

Examples of C++ Video Games

Well, the team at Blizzard was very familiar when it comes to creating games coded in C++ when they made World of Warcraft, the PC gaming sensation that took the world by storm.

Similarly, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in particular a few examples of C++ video games.

Counter-Strike, Diablo 2, Doom–essentially if it is a AAA gaming title, the creators used C++ at some point during the development process. Games always want to run as fast as possible, and games made with C++ are looking exactly for that.

Here’s a list of popular games made in C++:

1. Mortal Kombat 11
2. Batman Arkham Origins
3. Fortnite
4. Splinter Cell
5. Unreal Tournament
6. Half-Life 2
7. Portal
8. Killing Floor
9. Left 4 Dead
10. Team Fortress

Online Resources to Learn C++ for Game Programmers

Want to learn by making games in C++? We assembled a few of our favorite tutorial resources so you can get started learning C++ game development immediately.

Learn CPP

LearnCPP.com has “tutorials to help you learn to program in C++ and object-oriented programming.” Sounds pretty good, right? After all, that’s…kind of exactly why we’re here…

Anyway, this is a completely free website that guides you on how to learn C++. The site explicitly says that no prior programming experience is necessary.

When you visit the site, you’ll find that there are 18 chapters to scroll through, many with 10 or more lessons. They appear to be in the middle of rearranging the order of some of the lessons, but that shouldn’t pose too much of a problem.

You’ll want to learn all of this at some point anyway. If you find a lesson isn’t clicking, you can always skip it and go back.

The first chapter, “Chapter 0” is a full-blown introduction to more than just C++. There’s a lesson for using the tutorials, a lesson titled “introduction to programming languages,” a lesson on development, a lesson about common C++ problems, and more.

The database is extensive, which isn’t surprising with a language as old as C++. It does seem well thought out, and there are ample examples to help you stay the course.

Learn C Programming

YouTuber Derek Banas

Derek Banas is a YouTuber who has a single tutorial video on C++ Programming. The idea is that he’ll cover everything you need to know about C++ for game programmers in a single, one-hour, and ten-minute video.

The convenience and expediency of “one video for everything” come at a cost: Banas doesn’t take any prisoners.

If you have no programming experience, this is not the video for you.

But, if you’ve had experience as a developer, or have any C++ game coding experience, this video could be a great refresher–and you might even learn some new things on the way.

Complete beginners should stay away, those with some experience can give it a shot and see if they can keep up. He shows you the commands and quickly and simply explains why he’s doing what he’s doing, but there’s no coddling.

It’s less like Banas is holding your hand, and more like Banas is sounding his location by snapping his hands in a dark room. If you’re familiar with the room(or C++) it will be a lot easier for you to track his location (or keep up with a C++ game tutorial).

TutorialsPoint

Game programming in C++ tutorials over at Tutorials Point seem pretty solid. The syntax is a little wonky in spots, but not in a way that makes the text-based tutorials hard to understand.

It’s a missing article here or there, or an inverted phrasing–the kinds of slipups that come with learning English as a second language, and getting pretty dang close to mastering it.

A neat feature involves the practice examples featured in the tutorials. There’s a “Try It” option in the majority of the C++ example boxes. When you click on that, it brings up an in-browser window with the complete C++ code from the example on top and the executed code on the bottom.

You’re able to delete the code in the top box and input the code from the example yourself. Then you can hit “execute” and the window will run your code, showing you whether or not you input the code correctly. It’s convenient if you aren’t trying to save or compile all of your completed examples.

Cprogramming

This website has tutorials for getting started with C and C++. If you’re looking for ways to learn how to code a game in C++, the author of the site recommends you buy his ebook, titled “Jumping into C++,” as he claims it’s a more complete tutorial guide than the free tutorial he provides online.

You might want to give the free tutorial a stab before you go dropping money on an ebook. Or go back and check out the LearnCPP tutorial at the beginning of this guide before tapping into the tutorial at Cprogramming.

Aside from covering different C++ topics, the site also has a “practice” section. You can solve practice problems and take quizzes to test your C++ programming knowledge.

The site’s author also built a “resources” section. This has links to the source code page, source code snippets page, C++ tips page, and even a “finding a job” page.

All in all, there’s a healthy dose of information available here, and there are some resources outside of the standard tutorials on C++ for game programmers to help you hone your C++ skills. As you become more familiar with C++, give this site a look.

Udemy

Udemy has a free tutorial on how to learn C++ for game development” It’s a course that shows “how to program in the popular (and tricky!) C++ programming language, for complete beginners.”

Enrollment in this course is free. Despite the lack of a price tag, or maybe because of it, it received an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars (from 5,001 ratings). Over 75,800 students have enrolled in the history of this particular course.

The course assumes only basic computer knowledge. You do need to be computer literate, but you don’t need to have programming experience.

The course creator, John Purcell, calls C++ a tricky language, so he encourages you to bring both your patience and persistence.

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to develop C++ programs and even apply to C++ jobs with some potential for success. No guarantees, but this course certainly won’t hurt your chances.

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If you’re familiar with the Unreal Engine, developed by Epic Games, you know that puppy can pack a real punch. The Gears of War franchise, most recently added to Gears of War 4 back in October, takes advantage of the Unreal Engine.

We Happy Few, available as an early-play for PC on Steam, has been making some waves–that’s also powered by the Unreal Engine.

Mass Effect, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Mortal Kombat X, and more have all used the Unreal Engine. In short, it’s used on some pretty sweet AAA games.

Developing a game using Unreal 4 means you get a choice between Blueprints and C++. While C++ will likely serve you at some point in your game development career, learning game design software and a language at the same time can be a recipe for frustration and malabsorption.

Using Blueprints will let you familiarize yourself with the engine without stumbling overly much on language-learning challenges, plus, a lot of game developers really like Blueprints.

With that viewpoint in mind, most of the tutorials we’ve assembled for you today are based on Blueprints game development. Still, if you’re looking strictly for C++ tutorials, the official Unreal YouTube channel can help you.

Excellent Unreal Engine Tutorials

Virtus Learning HUB via YouTube

For those of you who love walkthrough videos, this is the channel for you. This tutorial goes deep, so be prepared to put some serious hours in.

We’re talking about upwards of 65 episodes, all dedicated to different elements of the Unreal 4 Engine or different Unreal developer techniques for different styles of games.

The creator of the tutorial, Virtus Learning Hub/Creative Tutorials, was active in the comments section of the first installment in his series as recently as December 2016, despite the video being posted over two and a half years prior. So if you have questions, you can still expect help from him if you post in the comments section of the video you’re struggling with.

A few downsides: The music is kind of loud and not the easiest to listen to (in the first video), at least for us (and a few people in the comments section).

The good news about that is it doesn’t last through the entire video for the rest of the episodes (the one exception being the first episode).

The microphone quality isn’t the best, but when he isn’t talking over the music it’s easier to understand what he’s saying. These are minor complaints against the video series.

The quality and depth of knowledge in these tutorials make watching it a no-brainer.

Unreal Engine/Epic Games

The official Unreal Engine website has a documentation section, where you can go over some text-based walkthroughs. Pictures are included in those guides to make the experience easier to follow.

After you’ve taken a look at the Beginner’s Guide, you can swing over to the video tutorial section.

The video tutorials teach you how to make games highlighting different functions of the Engine. You can make a twin-stick shooter, a 3rd person power-up game (using C++!), an endless runner, a 2D scroller, etc.

The video tutorial section isn’t just about building different games. There are more nuanced videos as well. There are animation tutorials, level editing tutorials, Blueprints tutorials, vehicle tutorials, and many more.

This is a solid resource for beginners or those with intermediate experience. Navigating the tutorial database is easy, so if you ever get stuck, popping over to this site might make your search for a solution much shorter.

PluralSight

If you’re looking to fork over some bills for an Unreal education, you can try the tutorials over at PluralSight (formerly Digital Tutors).

Here’s the quick price breakdown:

• monthly membership costs $29 per month.
• Annual membership costs $299 per year. You get access to all the site’s content, which means way more than just the Unreal tutorials

PluralSight offers 36 courses covering Unreal topics. The shortest one is just under an hour–the longest? Over Seven. Hours. Long!

There are tutorials covering everything from a quick start with the engine, all the way to material reference node library tutorials, with lighting, particles, and more lessons along the way.

It’s possible if you haven’t signed up with PluralSight before, to take advantage of a free trial and give it a test drive before you have to pay. It won’t give you enough time to get through everything, but you can see if you’d like to spend 30 or 60 dollars and take a month or two to work your way through the Unreal tutorials they offer.

RayWenderlich

If you’re looking for a quick tutorial that takes you through the steps to start a project, beginning with downloading the software and opening a new file, give this tutorial a look.

It’s largely text-based with pictures worked in (and the occasional humorous illustration). This tutorial could be helpful if you like some serious breakdowns in your step-by-step walkthroughs. He helpfully includes applicable troubleshooting advice for known trouble spots, which can help to keep you moving forward.

He also teaches “good hygiene” in your coding. Not only does he help you build a game, but he also helps you keep things clean behind the scenes, a habit that he says is worth building early on. We tend to agree with him there.

Part 1 of this tutorial shows you how to build a 2D side-scroller game using Blueprint.

Part 2 of the tutorial teaches you how to spawn loot! WHO DOESN’T LOVE LOOT?!

It’s a far cry from an exhaustive tutorial, but it gives you a bite that’s plenty big without too much to chew. If you’re a brand-spanking-new beginner to Unreal, this is a very manageable place to start, and you’ll learn some good developer habits.

Tesla Dev

Back to YouTube, we go! YouTube has turned out to be a real goldmine for some of the best Unreal 4 tutorials.

This particular YouTuber goes by the name Tesla Dev. As recently as October of 2016, Tesla Dev has uploaded a new tutorial video. In that particular video, he’s demoing a new feature in the latest version of Unreal 4 (which at the time was Unreal 4.13). His tutorial walks you through the Widget Interaction Component feature which, at this point in your learning journey, probably means nothing to you.

That’s alright. Rome wasn’t built in a day (unless you’re playing a Real-Time Strategy game and hundreds of years of construction and evolution and technological advancement take place in minutes–get out of here Sid Meier!).

So he has been posting these tutorials for at least 2 years and doesn’t show signs of stopping. His frequent and recent activity means that if you reach out to him, there’s a chance you’ll have your question answered by the man himself.

Be sure to check out our other top video game engine reviews and tutorials.

History

The Blender game engine was released in 2000, developed by Erwin Coumans and Gino van den Bergen, part of the Dutch company, Blender Foundation. It was designed to bring a more natural way of developing games and animation to people who otherwise wouldn’t have learned how to.

After 18 years, in April of 2018, the Blender 2.8 Game Engine was officially discontinued by Blender Foundation. But luckily, Blender animation, Blender modeling, and more are still available in the Blender Suite of products.

What Games Are Made With Blender?

• GraveLife
• The Forbidden Relic
• Tesseract
• Pipe Pipe
• Terra Asteroid Express
• Nuke
• The Queens Workers
• Crazy Bomb Ninja

Blender is a completely free, open-source 3D creation suite. The official website says Blender is perfect for individuals and small teams alike. Part of the reason is that Blender supports the 3D pipeline throughout the entire creation process.

What does that mean? It means it supports all of this:

• Modeling
• Rigging
• Animation
• Simulation
• Rendering
• Compositing
• Motion Tracking
• Video Editing
• Game Creation

The fact that you can do all of this using Blender makes it valuable creation software. And since it’s free and open-source… the pot really can’t get any sweeter.

In case you’re unfamiliar with open-source, we’ll break it down for you. Open-source means you are completely free to change the code. When you download the Blender creation kit, you’ll get access to 100% of the code that is making Blender run. And Blender encourages you to manipulate it however you’d like!

If you’re a beginner, open-source code manipulation might not be on your radar yet, and that’s OK. Hundreds of other people around the world are constantly tweaking and developing Blender. Since there’s such large community involvement, the changes being made constantly lead to new features released to the masses.

Not to mention bugs are fixed faster and the usability is always getting better. So even if you don’t have any interest in tweaking the source code, you benefit from others doing it.

Blender is a cross-platform 3D development tool, so you’ll be good to go regardless of whether you use Linux, Windows, or Mac. If for some reason you have more specific computing concerns, check the supported platform database for a complete list of developer-tested computers.

5 Ways to Learn Blender

BornCG

YouTube fans, unite! Here’s a tutorial series put together by YouTuber BornCg. It covers the basics of the Blender game engine. The series starts with the bare-bone basics of using Blender, so you don’t need to have any experience with Blender prior to diving in.

You also don’t need any programming experience, as BornCG doesn’t use Python programming to teach you in his tutorials. This series has 22 videos in it, some are short, like under 20 minutes, others break the 50 minute mark. IT bounces around depending on the complexity of the topic he’s covering.

He also has a Blender 2.7 Tutorial playlist. This playlist contains 79 videos covering all kinds of Blender elements, not just game creation. So if you want to do more than just create a game, if you want to really learn the ins and outs of Blender and what the 3D creation engine can really do, give this tutorial playlist a watch.

This YouTuber has spent the last eight years teaching all kinds of people how to use creative technology. Sometimes he talks really fast through a string of 2 to 5 words and it’s hard to catch what he said. But his video is very clear so your brain will retroactively fill in what he says based on what he’s gesturing to in his video.

The majority of the time he speaks clearly, so don’t get turned off in the first episode. If you adapt your hearing for his speaking style and stick with the tutorials, you’ll be using Blender on your own in no time.

Blender Tutorials

What kind of free-to-use, open-source 3D creation engine wouldn’t offer a compilation of tutorials? Not the Blender kind!

In the support section of the Blender website you can find an FAQ tab, a User Communities tab, and a Tutorials tab. These three resources alone will provide you ample guided material and assistance to get started using the creation software.

The page has an Introduction for Beginners tutorial which links to a tutorial perfect for you if you want help even starting at the downloading stage.

Then there’s the link to Beginner Tutorials which has a hearty amount of tutorial lessons to get you up to speed and doesn’t coddle you quite as much as the “introduction for Beginners” tutorial. Also, all of the lessons from this tutorial are available for iPhone and iPad download.

It’s provided via Tufts University in the iTunesU store. Could be helpful if you want to learn on the go, or for the dual-screen interface opportunities.

There are many, many more tutorials in the collection the Blender community put together, so if you’re struggling with something specific be sure to check here. Modeling, shading and textures, rigging, compositing, lighting and rendering, dynamics and simulation, and more — it’s all covered pretty extensively.

Game From Scratch

Sometimes developers will use Blender to create a 2D or 3D asset for use in a separate game engine, like Unity.

If you have no experience with Blender and want to build a “low polygon full textured game model” then this is the tutorial for you. If you just want to use Blender to make game art right now, then you can start with this tutorial.

The only knowledge it assumes you have is knowledge from the prior section of the tutorial. You can confidently start with zero knowledge of this game art tutorial.

KatsBits

In addition to a fun name, KatsBits offers game design and content creation tutorials for Blender (and more!). There are tutorials that cover making a simple sword, creating double-sided meshes, simple map creation, and much, much more.

These are largely text-based tutorials with a healthy amount of images logically placed to help you navigate the tutorial.

In addition to helping you create content in Blender, these tutorials also teach the skills you need to create models and create levels in an optimized, efficient way.

The explanations are in-depth and cover unique, specific topics (Like “Make a Medieval Chair in 7 Steps). It’s worth checking out KatsBits as you gain more experience with Blender.

BlenderNation

This site is updated with fresh Blender news every day, and the site was founded over ten years ago. It’s no wonder, then, that the tutorials section has hundreds of pages worth of content for you to check out.

New tutorials are added almost daily.

It might seem like a lot to keep up with, but luckily for all of us, there’s a search function attached to the site. If you find a tutorial you like (there’s a cool speed-rendering of the WoW sword Frostmourne), you can search a keyword and have it pop up without navigating pages and pages to get there.

Or, if you’re looking for help on a specific topic, plug it in and see if any results are returned for you. Based on the scope of this database, it’s pretty likely that you’ll have some results returned.

The site is founded by the guy who ran the crowdfunding campaign to open-source Blender, so you know he’s coming from a passionate, dedicated place.

Tips To Use Blender (For Beginners)

Installing Blender

To install Blender, you first need to choose which system you’re downloading it for. It comes for Windows, macOS, and Linux. From the site, determine which system is yours, and click download to get the most stable release. Save the file and run the installer and voila!: you are now the owner of Blender.

The Interface

The Viewport

The viewport is the main window you’ll be seeing the Blender basics through. It’s the main control bar specifically for 3D actions and animation with the engine. From here, you can see nearly everything you need to get started.

The Properties Tab

The properties tab includes ‘item,’ which transforms active objects; ‘tool,’ which shows the active tool; and’ view,’ which allows for more customizable and more specific options when viewing your project from different perspectives, focal points, and more.

The Timeline

The Timeline is the editor which allows the user to manipulate keyframes and customize animation length. The Timeline comes with a ton of variety in terms of video customization and how the user can manage the videos and frames on their project.

The Outliner

The Outliner is your basic outline of all of the nitty-gritty going on in your animation. It’ll appear on the left-hand side, and have your assets, Timeline, and other scene aspects listed.

Modeling Basics

Edit Mode and Object Mode

These two options are found in most software of this type and allow for the selection and various editing of a particular object.

Vertices

The vertices options are many, and allow you to edit nearly every aspect of how vertices appear and act. You can do this by using extrude vertices, bevel, connecting vertex paths, blending from the shape, hooks, and smooth vertices.

This option allows for extreme customization of where points and curves intersect.

Edges

Like the vertices options, the edges options are many. The main options are to extrude, bevel, bridge edge loops, screw, subdivide, rotate edge, edge slide, and examine the edge data. With this tool, edges will look as clear and defined as you can make them.

Faces

The faces refer to the faces of the shape or object. This option list has even more ways to edit. You can insert, extrude, fill, grid fill, weld edges to face, shade, smooth, and even more. This allows seamless integration with the flat face of an object to the different vertices and edges.

Modeling Basics: Edge Loops, Beveling, Extruding

These are the essential tools that allow you to manipulate the models in Blender.

Modifiers

Like many features, the modification of your creation is varied and has a ton of potential. Using a modifier does just that.

Materials and Textures

These are your necessary materials and textures that you can add to your creation. There’s a lot to choose from here, so make

HDRI Light

This is a High Dynamic Range (image). It allows for better and more impressive lighting to be added to your finished creation.

Camera

This is the perspective of your creation, and it matters a lot how your project is viewed through the symbolic lens of the camera. Perspective is everything, and you want to tap into your inner director and create the perfect camera angle at the right time.

Rendering and Saving Your Image

You’re all done! Rendering and saving your image is a process where you save your project, and it compresses the file format of your choice.

Modeling For Beginner Blender Artists

Model A Bicycle For Better Proportion Practice

By practicing proportions, the user can better realize the extreme of what they can do. An exciting way to do this is by modeling a bicycle in Blender.

Modeling a bike allows for the user to realize that all of the bits and pieces need to be proportional and in proper scale for them to look right. This goes further by illustrating how a human shape will look upon it, and you’ll know if you made it to proper size if everything looks normal. If it’s not in proportion with your human model, you know you’ve goofed up.

A Blender Kitchen

Now to build an environment, an interior to be more exact. A kitchen contains explicitly so many objects that require their own attention that the kitchen effectively turns into a testing ground of creating objects and solving problems to make them all proportional and correct. From forks to cabinets, each object is completely unique and requires a special touch to bring to life.

Character Base Mesh

This is especially important for the Blender character modeling beginner. Although characters seem simple, you’d be surprised how daunting creating one can be for the first time.

Building a mesh is one of the first steps to actually creating a modeled character. You start out with a cube. Think of art classes and how you’d draw a face; you start with an oval and add detail from vertices and lines. Same thing here!

You need to take advantage of all of the fantastic edging, face, and vertices tools to build up your character mesh. Do this by extruding arms and legs, and generally experiment around with it. Remember, it doesn’t need to be perfect!

5 Tips For Learning Blender

Watch Tons of Tutorials

I can’t emphasize this enough. Watching tutorials really illustrates in your mind what’s possible in Blender. Luckily for you and your curiosity, there are a ton of videos dealing solely in Blender 2.8 tutorials. Watching videos can show you the interface, the way the program responds, and more. Visual learning, for many, can be the key to success.

C’mon, Challenge Yourself!

Going outside of your comfort zone is really uncomfortable, but if you’re to grow as an artist and creator, you need to do it more often than not. Challenging yourself when using Blender can be a gratifying experience. I guarantee that you’ll be surprised at what you’ll accomplish if you push yourself just a little further than you’re familiar with. Try it!

Practice, Practice, Practice

I know it’s pretty cliche, but there’s a reason it’s a cliche! Practicing anything will familiarize it and make you more comfortable with it. That especially goes for something like how to make animation in Blender. This goes especially for total newbies, as Blender can have a steep learning curve, so practicing projects regularly is vital.

Please, Be Patient

I’m sorry to tell you this, but you’re not going to make the next big technological marvel overnight. To do a fantastic project that harnesses everything that Blender has will take time, effort, practice, and determination.

When pushing and challenging yourself, you may become frustrated and angry, but please be patient. It doesn’t happen overnight! Just keep practicing, keep watching videos, and keep plugging away.

Look for Feedback Outside of the Community

Although the community is a great place to bounce ideas off of and receive encouragement, it’s essential to diversify your viewing audience. Show other artists and designers in different communities to see what they think of your work.

Blender Tutorials To Improve Your 3D Skills

Free Assets

Here are some fantastic Blender free assets for you to enjoy and get started with.

1. Blender Free 3D Models – .blend download
2. Free Blender Models – Download blend Files
3. Free Blender 3D Models
4. Popular Blender 3D models

Animation

Drawing 2D Animation in Blender 2.8

Multi-frame

Multi-frame is a process of editing multiple frames at one time. Talk about useful! This saves a ton of time and energy that would typically take double the time and be an annoyance.

Modifiers

You have a ton of modifiers at your disposal, like hook and simplify. These modifiers allow for some intensive editing and tooling around, making your project more dynamic and comprehensive.

VFX Light

Lighting is arguably one of the most critical aspects, aside from the actual models and scenes. It proves to be challenging in certain circumstances; that’s why Blender made it easier and more accessible to add VFX lighting.

This allows for individual objects to enjoy their own lighting effects by affecting other objects or scenery. This is great for experimenting.

Build Modifier

This feature allows us to animate the drawing strokes’ implementation, much like the other 3D tools.

Simplify Modifier

This is essentially something that ‘cleans’ up the image. This simplifies more complex edges and faces, allowing for cleaner and more efficient looks.

Offset Modifier

This allows for amazing customization, as the offset modifier allows for specific modifying of certain parts of the drawing without affecting other areas, much like the VFX lighting.

Shader FX

Shaders and shading are essential in animation and drawing. This adds depth and variety to your creation.

Mixing 2D & 3D Animation in Blender

Multi-frame Editing Fall-off

Start of a Project

This might be the most challenging aspect, especially if you’re having a mental block of sorts. While very exciting, it can also be very intimidating. Don’t be scared! A good exercise is to imagine the final scene, then go backward. How did you get there? How did the scene transform into that last shot?

Advantages of Grease Pencil

Grease pencil is perhaps overlooked a bit. It allows you to seamlessly draw 2D aspects directly into the 3D world. This saves a ton of time and energy best left for creating the rest of your assets and scenes.

Color Palette

This is your choice of colors that you can use in your drawing and animations.

Composition

In art, especially photography, composition when it comes to positioning and lighting is paramount. The same goes for Blender animations and projects. Make sure you have your drawings and assets lined up and appropriately lighted for the best effects.

Transitions Between Frames

There are so many different transitions available to you. You have things like fade in, fade out, fade to black, and more. Experiment with everything to see what and what doesn’t work for you and your project.

Educational Materials

Keep in mind that there are many different youtube videos and documentation for you to peruse at your own pace. I highly recommend doing so.

Editing Videos in Blender

Before we go through the basics of editing videos, be sure to watch this fantastic Blender video editing tutorial.

Setup the Interface

After setting up Blender once installed, get familiar with the user interface, as it’s key that you know all of the bells and whistles of the engine.

You have multiple options to choose from.

Add a Video Strip

Drag and Drop – drag and drop is the bread and butter of Blender. You simply use the drag and drop-bar to drag and drop what you want to use and possibly get rid of.

Play

This plays your creation from beginning to end.

Move / Cut a Strip

Move – move a strip allows you to, you guessed it, move the selected piece to wherever you want to on the Timeline.

Cut

This allows you to cut and edit a piece of animation or video.

Save Your Movie

Save Your Project

Save, save, save! This helps you save your project for export and picking up later.

Set The Duration

Set the overall duration of your project.

Render Your Video

This puts your video through the renderer, allowing you to eventually export your project. This can take varying times to complete, entirely dependent on your video quality and length.

Reset the Sequencer

This resets the entire sequencer, allowing you to start over. Be sure to save beforehand to avoid losing work!

Keyboard Shortcuts

There are tons of keyboard shortcuts, and you’ll need to learn most of if not all of them to achieve master status in Blender. Some of these include:

• Split – K
• Separate Images – H
• Duplicate Strips – Shift+D
• Move/Extend from Frame – E

3D Character Modeling

Simple Character

Getting Started & Concept

You should have a concept down for whatever kind of character you want to create. If you recall our steps from beforehand to become better at using Blender, map out a simple, and even crude character mesh to get the character modeling process down to a science.

Scene Scale And Unit Size

For proper proportion, you need to set the scale and unit size. This defines a lot of what you’ll create later, so make sure that they are up to your personal specifications.

Scene View Controls

These controls let you see different aspects of the scene you’re creating.

Adding Objects To The Scene

Adding objects to the scene is a breeze with the drag and drop tool and the renderer.

Editing An Object’s Initial Properties

You can really go in-depth with property management and manipulation. It allows for more customizable options.

Object Duplication

This duplicates the selected object and creates a perfect copy.

Basic Object Manipulation

Use the many object manipulation tools to basically move and manipulate character and character models.

Joining Meshes Together

Joining the meshes allows for the character to come together and actually resemble a character you are designing.

Using Layers

If you’re familiar with programs like Maya and Photoshop, you’ll immediately be familiar with layers. These allow for comprehensive and cohesive video and artistic editing and rendering.

Female Character Modeling in Blender

Setting Up the Image Reference

Make sure you have a good hold on the reference for what you’re building, as it’ll help you more.

Starting to Model the Face

The face is arguably one of the most essential features of your character. Make sure your reference is lined up perfectly with what you want to accomplish, and use beveling, rendering, and edge tools to better create a face that you can be proud of.

Blocking the Nose and Lips

Although these seem simple, it’s easy to overlook how detailed these two features of a face can be. Like with the rest of the face, take some time to bevel and edge the objects that’ll eventually be the nose and lips.

Source Code

The blender source code is highly customizable. It’s based on different programming languages like Python and C-like languages, like C++ and C#. Blender even offers an IDE editing tool for multiple platforms and builds, depending on your operating system.

FAQ

Is Blender Good For Beginners?

Yes. The consensus is that, while having somewhat of a steeper learning curve, many have learned and used Blender with no background in coding or development whatsoever.

How Do I Start Learning Blender?

Learn Blender by watching a ton of YouTube videos to work alongside and visualize, and maybe take an online course in Blender basics.

How Long Does It Take To Learn Blender?

It depends on your personal aptitude with

Does Blender 2.8 Have A Game Engine?

No. The game engine portion of Blender has been discontinued by the developers.

How Do You Use The Game Engine In Blender?

Yes. As of right now, the game engine portion of the Blender Suite has been discontinued.

Is The Blender Game Engine Dead?

Unfortunately, yes. Blender Game Engine was discontinued in April 2018. Not only that, but the Blender team made short work of removing all applicable and important files within the engine.

Is Blender Good For Animation?

Absolutely. Blender has a fantastic and in-depth animation section that gives beginners a way to animate like the pros.

What Can Blender Be Used For?

Blender can be used for a ton of different projects and creative endeavors. Before 2018, you could use Blender for game design, but you can still create fantastic videos, animation, 2D, and 3D drawings.

How Do You Use A Blender For Beginners?

Tutorials are your best friend here. You can find excellent documentation and help from the community and watch a bunch of YouTube videos dedicated to learning Blender and its variations.

How Long Will It Take To Learn Blender?

It depends on your personal skill level. If you are familiar with animation and rendering, it might not take that long to learn Blender’s intricacies. However, if you’re a total beginner, the learning curve maybe a little more complicated. NOT impossible, but you’ll need to lean on some resources to thrive as much as you can with the engine.

What Can You Create With Blender?

You can create intricate animations, video edits, and 3D and 2D models.

Is Blender Animation Good?

Very good. This is a robust animation tool that any animator worth their salt should check out when they get the chance. Plus, it’s free of charge.

Is Blender Really Free?

Yes, Blender has been officially announced as being completely free, forever, by the developers.

What Major Companies Use Blender?

Blender has been used by Ubisoft and Netflix to make a film.

How Much Time Will It Take To Learn Blender?

Again, it depends on how familiar you are with animation and 3D software. Obviously, you’ll likely have no problems if you have a background in this stuff. However, you may want to brush up on some videos and tutorials if you’re going to learn it.

Is It Hard To Animate In Blender?

It depends on your personal skill level in animation. If you’re a veteran, you should be able to get through most of it with ease. Beginners will need some guidance, but it’s beginner-friendly.

What Is The Best Way To Learn Blender?

The best way to learn Blender is to basically do your homework. You can definitely do it on your own with some tutorials and documentation, but we recommend watching videos and practicing.

Is Blender Good For Video Editing?

Yes, it is. Blender offers a pretty in-depth video editing portion to its program. IT allows all of the basic necessities to create great video edits.

How Do I Edit Videos In Blender?

You need to access the video editor and use the tools provided. You first need to familiarize yourself with the user interface, then go from there.

How Do I Use Blender Video Editor For Beginners?

Check the tutorials! These are valuable resources that will show you step-by-step guides to starting your video editing journey.

How Do I Trim A Video In Blender?

You use the trim tool or drag and drop along with the video’s duration or Timeline.

How Do You Make A Video Using Blender?

You either upload an existing video of yours or create a project using Blender’s many tools.

Is Blender Video Editor Free?

Yep, totally free. It has been officially made free of charge by Blender.

How Do I Use Blender Video Editor For Beginners?

You can jump right in and experiment if you want to, but there are great resources and tutorials for you to check out.

Mobile games are all the rage! On February 8th, 2017, Game of War: Fire Age, made $1,919,237. That number might not sound like much in the grand scheme of game sales…

But then you realize that the figure we quoted is from a single day of sales. Fire Age came out in July of 2013. Three and a half years later, it made nearly two million dollars in a single day, and that’s only counting the US market.

As you can see, the Mobile Gaming industry is huge, especially when you’re on top. Mobile Strike took second place that day, with $1,438,826 in revenue.

These games are free to download, but they make money because they work on a “freemium” scale. Features, perks, in-game items, and other advantages can be purchased using cold hard cash.

That’s how the top ten highest-earning iPhone games in the United States are “Free”, but able to make close to 6.5 million dollars in a single day, in just the US market.

Now we aren’t saying your first mobile game is going to net you millions of dollars (but it might! Never stop believing!), but it’s certainly a good time to start creating.

Aside from being popular, mobile games are an accessible place to start. There are plenty of free resources, and even free development kits, that will turn up for you with a quick google search.

Because there are a number of different development kits with which you can make mobile games, we tried to spread the love. We’ve compiled some tutorials featuring different development toolkits and languages–when you find the software or language you prefer to use, you can focus your own tutorial search with that criteria.

Bloc

Bloc has a tutorial that we’ve featured before, under our Swift Tutorials Guide. The tutorial is called “Swiftris.” The tutorial lets you learn the basics of Swift while you build your own version of Tetris, the 2D puzzle game.

You get access to the free tutorial simply by providing your email. Whether you’re a seasoned programmer who’s new to Swift or a brand new recruit to the programming army, you’ll find value in this step-by-step walkthrough.

By the time you’re through the tutorial, you’ll have your very own iOS game. You’ll feel a lot more comfortable coding in Swift, and you’ll have some familiarity with SpriteKit, which is Apple’s 2D game engine application program interface (commonly referred to as API).

Make School

Make School offers a completely free course where you learn how to make your own iPhone game (or app) via their Online Academy.

Like we said, enrollment is free and can be done at any time. You’ll pick between two tracks, the game track, and the app track. On the game track, you’ll clone popular iPhone games. You’ll get an introduction to Spritebuilder and Cocos2D, and you’ll be picking between Swift and Objective-C as your development software.

As you move further into the course, you’ll clone more games, like Angry Birds, 2048, and Timberman. If you’re looking to get your games into the App Store, this could be a good tutorial course for you. They have a whole section where they’ll teach you how to succeed on the App Store. Then you’ll start creating your own iPhone game.

As you continue to develop your own game, you’ll be encouraged to playtest with friends, implement analytics, and continue making improvements to your app. By the end of the course, you’ll have developed an original game and you’ll learn how to submit it to the App store.

Quick note, the Make School suggests you know these concepts before entering the course:

• Objects
• Methods
• Classes
• Class Inheritance (subclasses, superclasses)
• Instance Variables
• Class Variables

If you don’t know those concepts, then you probably don’t have quite enough experience to take the course just yet. To get caught up, Make School recommends Codecademy’s Python course. It’s free, and it’ll give you the basics you need as a true beginner.

Kilobolt

Time to show Android some love! Kilobolt offers a game development tutorial that teaches beginners Java/Android game development.

It’s free, which rules. This is a good option if you have a game idea and aren’t sure where to start. It’s also a good idea whether you’ve programmed with other programs or if you’re a beginner.

The tutorial is broken down into four units. The first unit is for complete beginners. If you’re new to game development but familiar with Java, skip to units 2 and 3. If you’ve built Java games before and want to bring them to Android, unit 4 is just the thing for you.

This is a good place to start for beginners and Android fans.

AppCoda

AppCoda has a tutorial that walks you through how to build a basic maze game for the iPhone, a la Pacman.

This text-based tutorial is pretty clear, making it easy to follow. A healthy serving of pictures helps with that. It’s a neat project to learn because you’ll be taking advantage of the iPhone’s accelerometer.

The tutorial includes download links to the “image pack” you’ll be using for the game. Some yellow dots, a Pacman, a ghost, and some blue blocks to act as barriers.

You’ll need basic computer knowledge for this, like the know-how to unzip a zip file.

Text-based tutorials can be hard to follow, and this tutorial isn’t specifically geared towards beginners. You’ll be better off familiarizing yourself with the lingo through a tutorial that specifically caters to beginners.

YouTuber N3K EN

Here’s a YouTube series for those of you that like watching videos! This tutorial series teaches you how to make mobile games using Unity. You’ll be making a ball roller game, which is really way more exciting than it sounds.

This series does cater to beginners, with the creator doing his best to go into as much detail as he can. You’ll tackle some interesting challenges through this tutorial series, like creating a free-moving camera, and joysticks to control that camera, within the game.

The videos make it pretty easy to follow along, and while this isn’t the easiest place to start your Unity programming or mobile game programming, it’s a worthwhile challenge (if you’re up for one).

As recently as four months ago, the creator posted a comment in response to a post on his vid. So on some level, he’s still involved, still checking his posts. If you run into trouble, you could likely solicit his help.

If you want to drop some loot on courses, Udemy and Lynda both have a variety of mobile game development courses, featuring different programming software.

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Python is a simple language to start with, and if you’re looking for a quick win in your quest to master all coding languages (the Ultimate Quest!), Python is a good place to start. When I first picked up Python, I had no idea what I was doing. But the moment I got my first “Hello World” program running, I felt like I had just cracked some secret code. That tiny win hooked me instantly.

To get any value out of the game-making side of Python tutorials, you need to first be familiar with some core concepts of Python. The best way to learn those is through the more mundane functions of Python. By mundane we just mean not relating to games.

We’ve compiled a list of the most useful Python tutorials. This list includes those that teach basic Python elements and those that guide you on a game-building journey.

It helps if you know some programming language before diving into game-making, even if it isn’t necessarily the Python language. Don’t be scared, though. As you go through these tutorials, you will consistently see claims toward how easy Python is to use.

To make games with the Python language, you’ll end up using PyGame. Like we said earlier, some of the tutorials we’ve put together here include tutorials just for Python.

These are best if you have no coding or programming language experience. We recommend learning Python before jumping to PyGame because it will likely make your passage to competency a much smoother one.

If you’re a quick learner and you’ve done programming before (and don’t like listening to our advice, apparently), you could probably manage the challenges in PyGame game development. If it’s too hard, you can always rain check your PyGame lessons and hit the Python introductory tutorials.

Ultimately, the choice is yours. Mastering programming languages don’t need to be a sprint. If you think long-term, you’ll realize you have time to do it all. Take it one piece at a time, and absorb the language.

The following courses are ranked by Beginner to Expert level:

5 Courses for Python Game Development

Udemy Python Programming

If you don’t mind dropping 50 bones (see: $50) and watching close to ten hours of the instructional video, this on-demand course over at Udemy could be your fast track to Python success.

It’s a great way to learn the basics if you need video-driven lessons. The free stuff on YouTube isn’t quite as powerful for Python as it is for some of the other programming languages and software out there.

With an average of 4.6 stars across over 3,000 reviews, we’re talking about some high-quality programming. If you’re devoid of any prior programming experience, this course is your ticket into the great unknown. It’ll start you at the very beginning–you don’t even need to have Python downloaded yet.

You might notice this course shares the same title as one of the books previously mentioned. That’s because it’s the same guy, Al Sweigart. It’s hard to find better tutorial material than the stuff Sweigart puts out. Even the official Python pages link to some of his content.

If you liked his free written content, but want his video guidance to help things click, then grab this course. If you don’t like it, you have a 30-day money-back guarantee. That means you can take it for a spin and ditch it if it’s no good. We’re big on minimizing risk over here.

A month gives you plenty of time to get through at least a few hours of the program and decide if you want your fifty bucks back or access to the program for life. When I tried Udemy for the first time, I thought I’d only watch one or two lessons. Next thing I knew, I had spent an entire weekend glued to my laptop, pausing the video every five minutes to test what I’d just learned.

Python for Beginners

As is the trend for most game design software companies, Python offers tutorials for its development program. These tutorials can help whether you’re just starting or you’ve been entrenched in Python for a while now.

If you’re new to Python, but not new to programming, your best bet is to start with Python for Beginners. If you’re completely new to programming, Python has you covered with a non-programmer Beginner’s Guide, just for you.

The “standard” Python Guide introduces you to some of Python’s most noteworthy features (not all of its features). The tutorial itself even says that the tutorial is far from comprehensive.

After reading the tutorial you’ll be able to get started using Python. You will likely want to continue exploring the Python database (or other tutorials on our list!) to level up your Python capabilities.

LearnPython

This program is neat, and not just because it comes with its own Facebook group. This FB group is good because it acts as a “help and advice” forum for people using Python.

This tutorial isn’t specifically game-related, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find it useful. Learning all the tricks for the software, even those outside of what you think you’d need for game development, is a good way to develop your Python problem-solving skills.

The LearnPython site has introductory tutorials for those new to Python. It also has more advanced tutorials, which can help those of you who’ve been kicking around with Python for a bit already.

If you’re looking for knowledge surrounding the broader application of Python, this is a good tutorial to spend some time with.

Think Python: How to Think Like A Computer Scientist

If you need to get down to the brass tacks of all-things basic Python, this web-based, text-based guide could be just the thing.

We want to tell you something upfront about this: This guide is thorough.

You can buy the tutorial at amazon.com, but it’s provided for free online. We’ll link to it again here.

This guide starts with topics like breaking down the differences between high-level and low-level languages. If you have no programming experience, you will not be left in the dust. If you have some programming experience, you might find the extra explanations tedious to get through (at least in the early parts of the tutorial).

The guide continues through the Python programming language topics, explaining elements like variables, expressions and statements, functions, interface design, conditionals and recursion, classes and functions, and the list goes on. It’s a long guide. A thorough guide.

The tutorial also includes some exercises for you to practice, prompting you to write different programs and different functions.

All in all, it’s a very helpful guide for getting up-to-speed with Python. It’ll provide a helpful, stable base from which you can build your Python game-designing skills.

Invent With Python

If you don’t mind some “light” PDF reading, this 365-page tutorial, Making Games with Python and PyGame, could be just the thing to get you started making games with Python.

This particular book is for the intermediate programmer. If you have some experience programming, especially with Python, but don’t know how to use your knowledge to make games, then this is exactly the right tutorial for you.

The Making Games book uses game examples from the PyGame library to teach you how to make similar games. The goal of this tutorial is to give you a whole new batch of ideas for using Python software to develop your games. So even if you know Python and PyGame but you need ideas, you could give this book a skim.

If you don’t know anything about the Python language, have no fear. Invent with Python has other options for you. You can use this second tutorial to automate some basic computer tasks using Python, which is a good way to learn the language (and also automate tasks!).

They also offer “Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python”, which gives you source codes for completed games and teaches the concept using the provided source code examples. All three books are good options for you, depending on where you are in your programming.

All three of these books are offered for free online, or you can buy a physical copy through Amazon (in exchange for money). There’s even a subreddit for Invent with Python (it’s no Facebook group, but…), you can engage with other Python users who’ve read these books while you go through them yourself.

Python Game Development Tutorials Online

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Python is a simple language to start with, and if you’re looking for a quick win in your quest to master all coding languages, Python is a good place to start. When I first picked up Python, I had no idea what I was doing. But the moment I got my first “Hello World” program running, I felt like I had just cracked some secret code. That tiny win hooked me instantly.

More Python Development Courses

Flatiron School

The Flatiron School offers programs and, more importantly, valuable certifications for graduates of Python courses. For those who are strongly career-minded, the Flatiron school has an employment rate of 93% and an average salary of $76,000 for its graduates. With courses like UX/UI design, software engineering, and data science, your knowledge of programming mixed with these existing courses will only bolster your skills with Python.

Learn more…

Data Camp

Data Camp offers many different courses in Python. Starting with beginner courses, Data Camp covers all of the bases. With multiple classes, hands-on instruction, and examples, Data Camp is offering arguably the best way to learn Python. The instructors are veteran programmers who can instruct you on better ways to use programming in a matter of hours.

Learn more…

Pygame for Python

Python is a coding language celebrated throughout the programming and software engineering communities for being a stable language. People consider it a lot easier to learn than some other programming languages, like the C languages, C++ and C#.

That’s why developing games using Python, and its extension PyGame, is naturally becoming more commonplace.

How to Use PyGame

Pygame, Python’s set of guides and modules for gaming, is an excellent place for aspiring game developers to start their coding and game development journey.

How to Install Pygame

Before you install Pygame, you’re naturally going to need Python to get started. You can download Python straight from the official site.

Once you have Python installed on your system, it’s time for the Pygame install.

The best way to install PyGame is with the assistance of pip, the Python package installer. This makes installing various aspects and modules from PyGame a whole lot easier.

If you need further assistance in installing Python, check out the official documentation.

In general, you’re going to enter the following: ‘python -m pip install SomePackage.’
However, specifically for PyGame, you’re going to put ‘python3 -m pip install -U pygame –user’

Pygame Fundamentals

The main fundamentals of PyGame are crucial for understanding it as a game development tool. Everything you do takes place on the surface. To fill the surface, type in screen.fill() to fill the background.

Next, we have what we call ‘blitting.’ This is the process of rendering the game objects. You ‘blit’ the object, and it renders it onto the screen.

Then we have the event loop. This is how your game actually runs. This puts your game on a loop until you determine when you exit the loop.

Drawing Objects

This is a massive part of the PyGame process. You’re going to want to enter ‘pygame.draw.’ This allows the user to draw various shapes on a surface. Let’s look at some options you have.

• Pygame Draw Line
• Pygame Draw Circle
• Pygame Draw Rectangle

Working with PyGame Sprites

Sprites, as you may know, are pixels brought together to create a picture, character, or animation. Luckily, you can use sprites within PyGame.

Graphics & Animation Techniques

• Sprite Sheets – Combine multiple character frames into one file for smoother animations.
• Frame-Based vs. Time-Based Animation – Controlling speed for consistent frame rates.
• Particle Effects – Simulate fire, smoke, or explosions with simple randomized shapes.
• Procedural Graphics – Generate levels, textures, or patterns dynamically instead of pre-designing them.
• This can take your game from “basic demo” to “visually impressive.”

Game Physics in Python

The first time I added gravity to a character in PyGame, I stared at the screen like, “Wait, it actually fell?!” I even called my partner over just to show them a stick figure falling down a screen. To anyone else it looked silly, but to me, it was proof that I was actually making a game. There’s something magical about making a bunch of pixels obey the laws of physics.

Here’s what you’ll usually tinker with:

• Collision Detection – Making sure your character doesn’t walk straight through a wall like a ghost. Unless… ghost game? 👻
• Gravity and Jumping – That classic Mario jump? Yep, you can recreate it.
• Object Interaction – Projectiles hitting enemies, balls bouncing off paddles—you name it.

Want to get fancy? Libraries like PyMunk add more realistic physics. I once used it to make a ball bounce around like it was in a pinball machine. My computer fan did not thank me.

Adding Sound and Music

Here’s the thing: a game without sound feels… dead. Like watching a horror movie on mute.

• Background Music – Even a simple loop makes it feel alive.
• Sound Effects – Jumps, collisions, “pew pew” lasers.
• Libraries – PyGame’s mixer works fine, but you can get fancier with PyAudio.

When I first added sound, I literally jumped in my chair when the enemy made a noise. Scared myself with my own game.

Game Development 1-2: Working with Sprites

You can create sprites right in the PyGame interface and effortlessly include them in your game with just a few lines of code. All you have to do is type in.

pygame.sprite.Sprite.__init__(self)

Which opens PyGame’s sprite module. From here, you need to describe your dimensions of the object. If you’re creating a blue rectangle, you’d type in:

class Player(pygame.sprite.Sprite):
def __init__(self):
pygame.sprite.Sprite.__init__(self)
self.image = pygame.Surface((50, 50))
self.image.fill(BLUE)
self.rect = self.image.get_rect()
self.rect.center = (WIDTH / 2, HEIGHT / 2)

AI and Game Logic

AI sounds intimidating, but in Python, you can start small. When I made my first “enemy,” it was just a square that ran toward me like a toddler chasing candy. Not scary, but hey, it worked.

Ideas to try:

• Pathfinding – A* algorithm can make enemies chase you intelligently.
• State Machines – Idle, chase, attack. Sounds complicated, but it’s just a flowchart in code.
• Decision-Making – NPCs reacting differently depending on your moves.

It’s kinda like training a dog: simple commands at first, but eventually, it learns tricks.

Pygame Tutorials

Here are a few excellent tutorials for Pygame. These are various tutorials ranging from beginning modules to more complex projects like creating your first, more basic game.

• Pygame Tutorial for Beginners – Python Game Development Course – Pygame Tutorial Python 3
• Pygame Tutorial | Python Pygame | Intellipaat
• PyGame Tutorial | PyGame Python Tutorial For Beginners | Python Certification Training | Edureka
• Pygame Tutorial #3 – Character Animation & Sprites
• Python Pygame Zelda Game Tutorial for Beginners

Depending on the game, Python, and by extension, Pygame, can be a fantastic asset towards creating games. With these tutorials, you’ll be able to install Pygame and get the hang of a more simple game creation process than another programming outlet.

Whichever you choose to use in PyGame, you’ll hopefully get a good grip on game development, and you can master Python as a coding language. I still remember the first time I shared a little Python game with friends—they spent more time laughing at my terrible graphics than playing, but it was the first time I felt like a “real” game developer.

Multiplayer and Networking

Want to know the fastest way to humble yourself? Try coding multiplayer. 😅

That said, it’s super fun when it works:

• Turn-Based Games – Chess, cards, word games—easier to start with.
• Real-Time – Shooters, co-op games, anything chaotic.

Python has socket programming, and libraries like Twisted and asyncio. Be ready to debug though. A lot.

Beyond PyGame: Other Python Game Frameworks

Now, don’t get me wrong—PyGame is awesome. It’s like the comfort food of Python game dev: simple, reliable, and always hits the spot. But if you’re feeling adventurous, Python has more flavors:

• Arcade – Think of PyGame’s cooler younger cousin who works out. Runs faster, looks slicker, and is great for bigger projects.
• pyglet – The artsy kid who loves OpenGL. If you want to dip your toes into serious graphics, this is your jam.
• Panda3D – The “serious business” engine. Disney actually used it. Yes, the same Disney that owns half the planet.
• Kivy – Not just for games. If you ever thought, “What if my game ran on my phone AND my fridge?”—Kivy is the answer.

I tried hopping from PyGame to Arcade once and, let’s just say, it felt like upgrading from a flip phone to a smartphone. The learning curve was steep, but that moment when my first Arcade sprite actually moved? Felt like leveling up in real life. A little intimidating, but totally worth it.

Packaging and Deployment

I remember showing a friend my Python game and they said, “Cool, but how do I run it?” …and then I realized not everyone wants to install Python just to play.

Solution:

• PyInstaller – Turns your game into an .exe.
• cx_Freeze – Similar idea.
• Cross-Platform Testing – Check Windows, macOS, Linux.

Nothing feels better than sending someone a file and they double-click it—and it just works.

20 Games Made with Python

Mount & Blade 2

Mount & Blade is a pretty straightforward single-player game that makes it feel truly historical, even though it’s based on fiction. It uses Python scripts as part of its module system. Players have to guard against new kingdoms rising against it while the empire is ravaged by civil war.

Eve Online

Using StacklessPython, Eve Online is a community-driven game where players get to choose their own path in space explanation. The server and the client program used Stackless Python, which is a variation of the Python programming language.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean game used Python and C++ scripting to develop this exciting video game based on the popular ride and movies.

Galcon

Even though it has ported to other languages, the original Galcon was written using Python.

Sims 4

Similar to its predecessors, Sims 4 is a life simulation video game that has been incredibly popular for years. Module support was prepared using Python as was some of the application coding.

Civilization IV

Also known as Sid Meier’s Civilization IV, it’s the fourth version of the Civilization game franchise, this one develop by Soren Johnson. Launched in autumn, 2005, the map editor of the game supports Python.

Frets on Fire

This popular Finnish music video game allows players to earn points by hitting notes that would pop up on the screen, much like Guitar Hero.

World of Tanks

Created by the company Wargaming, World of Tanks featured World War II and early Cold War battle vehicles. It is free to play, but players are able to use premium features for a fee. The game uses Python as its focus for scripting language.

Toontown Online

Disney’s Toontown Online is a three-dimensional multiplayer online role-playing game based on a cartoon animal world. Developers utilized Python for writing codes. Panda3D was utilized for the graphics.

Battlefield 2

Using clear text Python scripts, Battlefield 2 uses some of the game logic with Python. Originally designed by Digital Illusions CE in 2005, Battlefield 2 is a military simulator first-person shooter game.

Conqueror of Empires

This strategy game allows up to four players to battle for victory, expand empires, conquer cities, and attack enemies.

Bloons Tower Defense

Written in Python, this game allows players to try and keep balloons from reaching the end of a course. Pop balloons and complete levels to earn “money.”

Snake Pygame

This basic version of a snake game has players moving forward with the trail left behind that looks like a moving snake. If you hit the border of the screen or the snake’s tail, you lose.

Asteroids Escape

Avoid various obstacles in space to try and reach your destination. Avoid the asteroids, even as they explode, fragmenting and creating more havoc in your path.

Alien Invasion Game

Using the Pygame Module of Python, it only requires basic knowledge of Python to really understand the game and how it works and was developed.

Metin 2

The legendary oriental action game Metin 2 pits players against dragons and demon lords. Built using a version of Pygame.

Severence

The original title of Severence was Blade: The Edge of Darkness and used Python for nearly every aspect of the game, built in C, although the graphics were built in another language.

Pycraft

Test your abilities and learn new skills in this game built using Python.

Space Way

This arcade-style game takes place in outer space. The player needs to maneuver around various obstacles to follow a certain path to victory.

Duckjump

Try escaping the evil bullet up on platforms, and you’ll be playing Duckjump, developed with Python.

Python Game Development Roadmap

If you’re new, here’s a suggested path to follow:

1. Learn Python Basics – Syntax, variables, functions, loops.
2. Build Simple Games in PyGame – Snake, Pong, Breakout.
3. Learn Sprites & Animation – Add movement, graphics, basic interactions.
4. Add Sound & Physics – Make your games feel alive.
5. Experiment with AI – NPCs, enemies, or challenges.
6. Build a Larger Project – A platformer or RPG.
7. Explore Advanced Frameworks – Arcade, pyglet, Panda3D.
8. Package & Share Your Game – Distribute your executable online.

This roadmap helps beginners see the bigger picture while giving advanced learners new challenges.

Python Game Project Ideas

Finally, here are some hands-on project ideas at different difficulty levels:

• Beginner – Snake, Tic-Tac-Toe, Pong.
• Intermediate – Space Invaders, Platformer with gravity, Top-down shooter.
• Advanced – Multiplayer chat-based RPG, Physics-based puzzle game, Roguelike dungeon crawler.

These projects will test your skills and give you portfolio-worthy code samples.

Python FAQ

Is Python good for game development?

Yes, Python is great for getting started with game development. It’s simple to learn, has tons of tutorials online, and with libraries like PyGame, Arcade, and even more advanced ones like Panda3D, you can build anything from small projects to more complex indie games. It may not be the fastest language, but it’s one of the most beginner-friendly.

Is Python or C++ better for game development?

C++ is the industry standard for performance-heavy, professional games—especially AAA titles—because it gives developers more control over memory and speed. Python, on the other hand, is much easier to learn and faster to prototype with. If you’re just starting out or focusing on indie or educational projects, Python is a better choice. If your goal is professional, large-scale game engines, C++ is the go-to.

Can I develop a game using Python?

Absolutely! With libraries like PyGame, you can quickly create 2D games, add sprites, handle physics, and even build full projects. Many beginners create arcade-style games, platformers, or puzzles with Python, and you can grow into using more advanced frameworks as you learn.

Can you make AAA games with Python?

Not really. AAA studios rely on performance-driven languages like C++ or custom engines for cutting-edge graphics and speed. Python just isn’t built for handling the massive complexity of AAA games. However, Python is still used in the gaming industry for scripting, tools, and prototyping—even by big studios.

Can you make an RPG with Python?

Yes, you can! Many developers have built simple 2D RPGs with PyGame or Arcade, including turn-based battle systems, leveling mechanics, and dialogue. While Python might not be ideal for huge, open-world RPGs, it’s more than capable of handling smaller RPG projects, especially if you want to focus on gameplay and learning rather than advanced graphics.

Is Python good for video games?

Python is readable and offers a clean syntax structure, so yes, it is good for video games, and is often considered faster for game development than in Java.

Is it hard to learn Python?

Depending on your dedication level to learning new things and programming, Python has varying degrees of difficulty. If you are an individual who has trouble with programming, Python may be more complicated than for those who are more computer science-minded. I guarantee the best way to learn Python is through the tutorials we have listed.

What is the best website to learn Python?

Overall, the best website to learn Python is from Udemy. Udemy offers users (for a nominal fee), valuable visual aids, and videos that truly make the process of learning Python more accessible and more comprehensive.

Udemy is perfect for beginners not only with Python but programming in general. If you are totally in the dark regarding the ins and outs of programming, Udemy will help you out on your journey to learn Python. No doubt, outside of the official documentation, Udemy is the best way to learn Python.

Which certification is best for Python?

Various certifications help with specific fields, all depending on where you receive it. The number one certification is one you receive from the University of Michigan.

This certification focuses on data and analyzing the data using Python. It has fantastic reviews from former students and earns you a certification in Python after learning in 5 courses. Lectures are interactive and hands-on, something that is key to learning something like Python.

The University of Michigan offers the best way to learn Python for a certification. Some of the courses deal with starting with data, data structure, using databases with Python, and accessing data with Python.

Can I learn Python in 6 months?

Absolutely!

With the resources offered in many different locations, both physically and remote, you could learn Python in 6 months. Of course, other factors come into play, like your propensity and preexisting knowledge of coding, Those with a talent for coding could learn Python quickly but fret not if you’re starting out.

Six months is a reasonable time estimate. However, we recommend taking longer to understand and utilize Python fully. The best way to learn Python is by making it slow and learning basics, so you have a foundation to build upon.

Sources Utilized

• https://www.statista.com/statistics/748044/number-video-gamers-world/
• https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/market-size/video-game-software-development-united-states/
• https://www.wepc.com/statistics/video-game-statistics/
• https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/the-global-games-market-will-generate-184-0-billion-in-2022
• https://venturebeat.com/games/why-indie-game-development-has-exploded-in-the-past-decade/
• https://pypi.org/project/pygame/https://realpython.com/python-statistics/
• https://www.gamesindustry.biz/global-games-market-value-expected-to-hit-211bn-in-2025
• https://idego-group.com/blog/2023/12/20/debunking-the-myth-pythons-role-in-the-gaming-industry/
• https://lp.jetbrains.com/python-developers-survey-2022/
• https://leftronic.com/blog/python-statistics/
• https://dev.to/snelson723/pythons-role-in-game-development-18il
• https://www.oyolloo.com/is-python-good-for-game-development/
• https://medium.com/@liamnelligan/indie-developer-using-python-79494aba0e63
• https://medium.com/@bryukh/why-python-for-game-designers-bfa7d813f661

Coming up with a story is a deceptively complex challenge. You’re developing a game and your game needs a story. Ok, you’ll just go ahead and whip up a story then! Sounds easy, right?

If only the task was that simple…

Creating a story people will enjoy is no small feat, but we’ve put together this little three-section guide to make it easier for you. You won’t come away from this guide with a fleshed-out story, but you’ll have plenty of solid advice to keep in mind while you do your writing.

Craft Worthwhile Characters

Characters are extremely important. You can have one character or you can have twenty characters–the number doesn’t matter, but you shouldn’t make the decision arbitrarily. Characters need to advance the plot in some way. They need to bring something to the table.

You’ll likely have characters sketched out for your game that you think are awesome on paper, but for some reason aren’t clicking in your game. If you have a character you really want to include, but he or she isn’t quite working out with your story, try giving the character a peculiar trait.

Make them allergic to bees. Make them always show up late. Make them right-hand-dominant, but have them always practicing with their left hand for tasks. Now put the characters in a situation with bees nests, or with a deadline, or that requires small-motor skills.

These particular scenarios might not work for your characters, or fit in your current game, but practicing this exercise could lead to story breakthroughs for you in ways you didn’t see coming.

Character Done Right: Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption tells a deliciously enticing story, full of vibrant characters who really bring the wild west to life and flesh out John Marston’s world.

Nigel West Dickens is a perfect example. He’s the snake oil salesman in Red Dead Redemption. John Marston (the main character) continually has to rely on this man, but it’s ingrained in Nigel’s very bones to be a swindler and a con artist. John Marston’s distrust, and by extension your own distrust, of Nigel, exists in a “not if, but when” state.

You both know he’s bad news, but you still can’t help but like him. And you have no choice but to trust his plans. Nigel has emotional weight and he’s a great plot-pusher. He’s always driving the plot forward with his schemes.

Player Agency

Player agency is tremendously important. Agency refers to the player’s ability to act or control actions in a specific environment. There are two examples we want to explore to help explain this concept. The first game uses it in a frustrating way, the second game uses it well.

Case Study: Witcher 3
We want to start by saying there are a lot of things this game does incredibly well. This particular example is one of the only times the game developers got it wrong in the Witcher 3.

There are some minor spoilers ahead.

There is a point in the game where you travel to the island of Skellige and you’ll come across a man named Jorund. You meet him initially because he has the monster-hunting details for a quest, “The Phantom of Eldberg.” Upon your arrival to the tavern, prior to meeting Jorund for the first time, you’re accosted by some Skellige losers for being a traveler, a stranger in a strange land.

Jorund comes to your rescue; he’s survived a lot of battles, and he has clout in his village, so the losers leave you alone. When you return to the tavern after solving the phantom issue, you meet Jorund again for a drink. Everything is fine and dandy.

So far, everything is good about storytelling. The characters and your interactions have triggered emotions. You feel anger towards the Skellig natives, and you feel appreciation for Jorund. After your drink with Jorund, the Skellige scum came back. This time they pick a fight for real.

This is where the developers miss the mark. This particular story element is not an issue, but how the game curates this element is an issue.

During your fight with the Skellige losers, the game mandates that one of the enemies knocks you down, at which point Jorund is run through and killed. You don’t have a choice in that. It doesn’t matter how well you fight, the game always has the enemy knock you down.

Jorund’s death is miserable because he really was a standup guy. It’s even worse because the game gives you the illusion of control. Here’s why it doesn’t work: When you’re in control of Geralt, you can fight wyverns without taking a lick of damage. You can vanquish earth golems, without getting a scratch on your armor.

Yet when facing off against two punks in a tavern, you not only get hit, you fall down! When Jorund dies you feel largely responsible– and at the same time, you feel jipped. You know that if you actually had control over Geralt in that fight, you could have dispatched the punks with no problem. If you had control, Jorund would still be alive.

We reloaded our last save when this fight went down, just to make sure that it wasn’t some weird fluke. We performed the quest again and entered the fight knowing what we had to avoid.

We had to see if we could do it without Jorund dying. When that didn’t work, we looked it up online to see how we could save him. No luck. He dies every time, no matter how well you fight, because you always get knocked down.

A cut scene might have been a better way to introduce what was otherwise a good piece of the story, especially since this fight choreography only happens once, and it’s during this particular quest.

Here’s the takeaway: Give the player her agency. Let her be in control. It’s important to guide the player along with your carefully crafted narrative, but do not disrupt her ability as the player and dispel her suspension of disbelief. Don’t make her reload her save and scour the web for answers on how to keep from getting knocked down in a fight.

Case Study: Pneuma
Pneuma, if you’ve never played it, is a fairly short puzzle game. It puts you in a beautiful world with some definite Greco-Roman vibes in the architecture. From the very beginning of the game, there is a narrator. The narrator is the character you, as the player, control.

What’s interesting is that the character doesn’t know anything about anything in the beginning–he doesn’t know who he is or why he is where he is. His dialogue is basically him puzzling through his current circumstances, out loud.

He fancies himself a god, as the world seems built around him and revolves (for many of the puzzles) around him. It’s very cleverly done, and it adds an interesting, often humorous element to the puzzle game.

At the end of the game the character, our narrator, realizes that he’s being controlled by you, the player. Once he realizes that, he starts “controlling” himself. This mostly entails the camera fighting your control and moving on its own. This is a very interesting use of wresting control from the player.

In this case, unlike in the Witcher 3 example, it works. It’s a surprising climax to the story, where the character finally realizes he’s not the god he thought he was. He’s just there for us (as players) to control for our amusement. And he fights back against us within the context of the game.

Obviously, the character isn’t real, but the game does a good job of bringing him to life, and the battle for control punches that story home. It’s a very cool 4th-wall break, and great use of manipulating player agency.

The takeaway? The player agency can be manipulated, but it has to be carefully thought out. If you take control away from the player without any context or buildup, it will likely interrupt the player’s experience. Let as much of the story unfold as you can with the player feeling like he or she is in control.

Give Your Audience Credit

If you “get” it, your audience is going to “get” it. Don’t reduce the cleverness of your story to cater to a lower common denominator. And avoid trying to tell a story above your pay grade. Tell the story that you’d want to experience, as you’d want to experience it.

Avoid explaining things overly much. Trust your audience, and give them the credit they deserve. They’ve played games, they know games, they’ll be able to figure it out.

We’ll use Pneuma again, as an example of subtlety. Some of the character’s dialogue can actually serve as a clue for solving the puzzles you face. One striking example is a puzzle involving a sundial that rotates, but only when you look at it.

If you look away, it resets. In the midst of the character’s lengthy dialogue, he briefly mentions one line about “patience.” It’s that clue that helps you solve the puzzle (spoiler: You have to keep watching the sundial until it completes a full turn and voila, puzzle solved).

This works because the hints are subtle, short, and they’re buried in entertaining dialogue that doesn’t help you solve the puzzle. The hint was not: “I wonder what would happen if I watched this sundial spin.” The quote is closer to “patience is a virtue I possess.

A god has infinite patience. A small proof of my deity. If I get frustrated with waiting, what does that mean… I’m not a god? Suppress! A momentary lapse of reason, existential crisis, everybody has one, don’t worry about it. Suppress!”

When you know the solution and you can read the words, it’s pretty apparent. But when you’ve been listening to a rambling man search for the Why, Where, Who, and What of his life, it’s a lot easier to miss the hints.

Be subtle, and let your audience work a little bit to figure things out. Let them feel like they’ve earned your story and unlocked its secrets on their own.

Concluding Thoughts

Crafting a great story isn’t easy. But it’s been done. It will be done again. And if you work at it, you can do it too. Some of the best advice we can give in closing is: pay attention to the stories in every game you play, even those outside of the genre in which your own game exists.

Pay attention to what works in stories. Notice, if you can, when, and why, and how you find yourself deeply engaged in a story. Heed the storytelling blunders that pull you out of the experience. Write these down and learn from them.

Keep them in mind as you create your own story for your game. Let others hear what you’re thinking and let them give you critical, constructive feedback.

Writing what you know is easier and more convincing than writing outside of your own experiences. Tell the story you would want to experience as a player. Lastly, have fun with it. If you don’t enjoy what you’re creating, no one else will either!

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The biggest smash hit game of the summer (and subsequently the quickest to fizzle out) was running on the Unity engine.

Do you know what we’re talking about? Pokemon GO!

Certainly, a game that was fun while it lasted. If you’re still playing, more power to you.

Unity is one of the most iconic gaming engines available today. For me, it easily rivals the Unreal engine in a lot of ways, and I know I am not alone in my sentiment. Unity has really come on the scene and taken away an ‘Unreal monopoly’ that was taking place in gaming.

Some of my favorite games use Unity as their engine. One of my top favorite games of the 2010s, Shadow Tactics, brilliantly uses Unity so you can execute a plethora of stealthy ninja moves against your enemies.

Okay, so the first question is: Is it easy to make a game in Unity? It all depends.

The best way to familiarize yourself with Unity game development is to download it and access some of its best tutorials. These can be absolutely crucial when it is crunch time, and you need a project done by a particular time.

Maybe you don’t want to build the next hit augmented reality game (or maybe you do–again, more power to you!), but you’re here because you want to learn some Unity! We’ve put together a list of 8 solid Unity game development tutorials.

You can use these guides to hone your skills and master Unity. Begin!

The Top 8 Unity Beginners Tutorials

Unity Site and YouTube

The official Unity 3D tutorials, from Unity itself, are divided into two sections. There are tutorials for learning the actual engine, then there are “services and production” tutorials, which teach you some “extra” features we’ll talk about later.

The tutorials for learning the engine will walk you through building different games. For beginners, there’s a “Roll-a-ball” tutorial. It’s a nine-part tutorial that does a good job of holding your hand through the process.

When you have roll-a-ball down, you can move into the “space shooter” tutorial section, where you’ll build a game revolving around asteroid blasting. We could all use more asteroid blasting.

Amidst these game-building tutorials, you’ll find other useful gems. One of the standouts is the procedural cave generation tutorial. It’s a tutorial that…yes, teaches you how to procedurally generate caves. It’s a 9 part tutorial, and it’s for advanced scripting designers only! Don’t skip the basics and jump to procedural cave generation, you wild animals!

If you have questions, you can use the official forums. The different tutorials have their own forums, so it’s not complete and total mayhem over there.

Don’t let our 3D focus distract you from the 2D love! If 2D is your thing, you can check out the Unity 2D game creation section, which is chock-full of walkthroughs covering all the relevant elements you need to get cooking.

Remember the Services and Production section we talked about? Those tutorials teach you about topics such as Cloud Build, Game Performance Reporting, and give you some general Developer Advice.

You also might want to try Unity’s tutorial called “Coding in Unity for the absolute beginner”, it covers everything about coding in C#; it includes the basics of coding, variables, functions & classes, and how you can use them. Basically, this tutorial is for someone who wants to learn to code in Unity but doesn’t know where to start.

Comparable knowledge and maybe some extra tidbits can be found over on the official Unity YouTube channel and make sure to check their wide range of learning resources—it includes different learning styles for developers at all levels.

One Month Game School

A great quick-start option is the one-month game school. This site offers three courses on making games. The classes were put together by Brandon Wu, who had spent years working at EA and Sony but has since left and started his own game studio.

He designed the curriculum of his “Make a Game” course to take just four weeks of work on the side. In short, it’s a tutorial that takes a reasonable amount of time.

The catch? The programs were designed with Unity 4. For the most part, they will work with Unity 5, which is currently the latest version but be forewarned that not everything will line up.

The second catch? There’s a $25 price tag on the course. You can get free material and $5 off purchase by signing up for the email list. Still, if you’re strapped for cash, dropping $20 on a tutorial for slightly dated software might not be your cup of tea.

If you do take the plunge and start the course and proceed to hate it, you have a 14-day window to get a no-questions-asked refund. The good news, though, is that he’s received nothing but positive reviews from those students that have worked their way through his month-long course.

He teaches a combination of Unity and PlayMaker, so you don’t actually have to code through these tutorials. If you have some experience with coding languages, this isn’t the tutorial for you—it will be too basic. The inclusion of PlayMaker eliminates the coding element, so you’ll make your game code-free.

He also mentions that his course is kid-friendly; he’s had an 8-year-old take it alongside that kid’s parents. So, if you’re young and looking for a way to start, or you’re an adult looking for a program for your child, give this one a closer look.

He was once in your shoes, having to teach himself how to develop video games. He is a big proponent of learning by doing, which is what you’ll do with his tutorials: Dive right in.

Catlike Coding

If you need an introduction to the C# language, Catlike Coding could be your ticket. It takes you through the basics, each tutorial building on the one prior. Eventually, you’ll have a solid foundational knowledge of C#, and a good concept of how best to use it in Unity.

The tutorials are text-based. Images punctuate the lessons, making it easier to follow along, but there are no videos (if that’s your thing, check out one of the other options on this list).

Catlike Coding has two-game tutorials after you spend some time entrenched in C#, that end with a creation which in the right light, you could call a “small game”. One’s a pipe racing game, and the other is a maze game that takes advantage of procedural rendering.

Aside from asking for your patronage via his Patreon account, the Catlike Coding tutorials for C# coding in Unity are free to use. If you can handle text and image walkthroughs, want to learn C#, and don’t want to pay a dime, then give Catlike Coding a look.

Udemy Unity Tutorials

The free options we’ve pitched are great so we’ll feature another potential pay-to-play tutorial winner. The Udemy online institution offers a course called “The Complete Unity 5 Guide: Unity Game Development Made Easy”

Right now it’s 80% off, meaning you can grab the course for just $19. It has a 4.4-star average across 176 reviews, meaning it’s not a bad use of your time. The course contains 17.5 hours of material, spread across 249 lectures.

The course revolves around building your own “dream” game (probably not a real dream game if it’s your first foray into game development, but it’s likely closer to the stuff of dreams than you would’ve gotten without the course!).

Throughout the course, you’ll learn how to build some games reminiscent of popular games already on the market, think Candy Crush, Balance Ball, and Subway Surfers.

You need Unity 5 and a computer that’s able to run Unity 5. Lifetime access is granted to the course for a one-time fee. It’s best for beginners, but if you’re further along and want a game-developing refresher, or some incentive to build something for your portfolio, this course could be a good option.

If you’re looking for an upper-tier option from Udemy, check out their “Learn to Code By Making Games – The Complete Unity Developer” course. It costs $195, but it has over 15,092 ratings and an average of 4.6 stars. That’s some premium programming, folks!

You’ll learn C#, you’ll learn fundamental game design elements, you’ll be able to transfer your newfound knowledge to other languages, and you’ll learn about object-oriented programming in practice, all while fostering a positive attitude to problem-solving.

If that’s not out of your price range, give the course a look. It will be an investment in yourself and one that you will likely thank yourself for years to come.

Tornado Twins

We have another free one, and it’s on YouTube, no less! This YouTube channel features all kinds of tutorials across different engines and different facets of game design. So, it’s worth browsing when you have an hour some afternoon.

After you’ve mastered the beginner and intermediate lessons for Unity 5, come back to this link. This particular link brings you to the first tutorial in their short series about the “hidden features” in Unity 5. It has some great features you might have otherwise missed.

MisterNinjaBoy

This Youtube channel has a tutorial series on how to make a first-person shooter game using Unity, overall it has 8 parts.

MisterNinjaBoy also has this video tutorial that shows you the basics of Unity game engine and this is a must-watch video for game developers that are new to this engine or are still beginners. MisterNinjaBoy’s latest video of the Unity engine is the “Unity 5 Tutorial : Basics“, the video won’t be talking about the programming side of development but will only show you an overview of the engine to help you be comfortable using it when you start developing your own games.

Escape Inertia

Another Youtube channel, Escape Inertia; he has a series of unity 3d engine tutorials on how to make a game, it only has 2 parts though. However, he also has other interesting Unity engine tutorials like, how to create fire & snow in your game, how to make your unity game look better, and a few other more.

Daniel Wood

Daniel Wood’s Youtube channel is all about coding and computer-based design tutorials and guides. His series of Unity 3d Game development tutorials is 30 in total and 2d game development tutorials is a total of 27—overall he has 57 Unity engine tutorials.

Technical Unity Guides

Unity for Beginners

Is Unity good for beginners? Yes, Unity is a fantastic choice for a budding game designer. While you may need to preferably have some coding knowledge already, it isn’t much of a stretch to become more proficient with Unity.

Not only can you learn Unity in a short amount of time, but the skills in which you employ with Unity can be used for your future career.

Unity Game Development Languages to Learn: Which Is Best?

Without a doubt, the language to use with Unity is C#. The engine itself is built using the C-like language, so it’s a natural fit. However, you can utilize other programming languages as well, with different effectiveness.

• Lua
• JavaScript
• Python
• Ruby
• Rust
• Boo
• C++

Coding in C# in Unity for Beginners

Coding is how we build nearly every aspect of a game/ By using a specified coding language, programmers create worlds, actions, characters, and more using complex codes, proofs, and prompts.

What is Scripting?

Scripting is a process of lining up tasks to be run in a run-time environment. It’s all about executing tasks. You can do this using a program or do it manually.

What Programming Language is Used in Unity?

Unity, of course, needs a programming language to run. Starting to code in Unity is, thankfully, more straightforward than some other options. Unity uses the C# coding language.

Unity Javascript Tutorials

There are some fantastic tutorials out there for your consumption. You can choose some longer, more in-depth tutorials if you want all of the nitty-gritty. There are also shorter, more digestible videos and tutorial series for those who need a quick fix.

Unity Coding In JavaScript | Episode 1: Basic Coding

• JavaScript Tutorial for Beginners: Learn JavaScript in 1 Hour [2020]
• JavaScript Crash Course For Beginners
• This Is the Only Way to Truly Learn JavaScript
• Unity3D Javascript Tutorial Chapter 1 – Ground Movement

Building for Mobile

Yes, you can even use Unity for mobile development. Mobile apps and games are a lucrative and worthwhile investment in game design. Could you create a new sensation that sweeps the nation?

Luckily, there are a plethora of options for you here: whether you are into searching up Unity 2d tutorials or even how to make an Android game with Unity.

Unity Projects

Unity Tutorial: Roll A Ball

Let’s start small. How about a simple action like rolling a ball? There are quite a few tutorials that can help you with such simple movements. Some are from the official Unity site and include the definitive, step by step guide on how to create a ‘roll a ball’ game. However, some unofficial ones are great too. Check these out!

• Unity 5 – Roll a Ball game – 1 of 8: Setting up the Game – Unity Official Tutorials
  • 9 Best Unity 5 Tutorials – Roll-a-ball game – Official tutorials images | Unity, Ball, Tutorial
  • This is a long, detailed video series about this concept that the official team covers in great detail. This is probably the best place to start.
• Roll-a-Ball
• Roll-A-Ball in Unity 5 (C#)
• Roll-a-ball (Deprecated)

2D Roguelike

Roguelikes are all the rage right now, and programming one can be a lucrative and fun endeavor. Let’s take a peek at some excellent Unity 2D Tutorials.

Unity Tutorials: 2D

• 2D Roguelike
• Creating Game Mechanics – Introduction – 2D Roguelike
• 2D Roguelike 1 of 14: Project Introduction
  • This is the beginning of a 14-part tutorial from the Unity team. Again, this is probably the best place to start making a 2d game in Unity.
• Learn To Create A Roguelike Game In Unity
  • This is a paid course on how to make a 2D game in Unity.
• Mini Code Adventure: Creating a Roguelike in Unity3d and C#

How to Create A Moving Train in Unity

Now that we’ve progressed past rolling a ball let’s get a little more detailed with creating a moving train. Here are the Unity train tutorials.

• How to create a moving train in Unity
• Train Controller Tutorial v1.0 (Railroad System for Unity 3D)
• Train system – Tutorial – Create Your Own Racing Game – Unity3D
• Unity 5 Transform on Rail! – Unity 3D[Tutorial][C#]
• I want to make a train go round a track using physics?
  • This is a forum discussion on this topic; it is a much more informal Unity train tutorial.

2D RPG Tutorial

Are you a fan of Metroidvanias? 2D side scrollers? Unity is perfect for 2D RPGs and other similar games. Whether you’re a Legend of Zelda fan or Stardew Valley addict, Unity is fantastic for this genre and style of game. Let’s look at some Unity 2D RPG tutorial resources.

• Unity RPG Tutorial #1 – Setting Up The Basics
  • Unity RPG Tutorial #2 – Player Movement
  • Unity RPG Tutorial #3 – Animating the Player
  • Unity RPG Tutorial #4 – Blend Tree Animation
  • Unity RPG #5 – Fixing Lines & Camera Control
• 2D RPG Game Unity Tutorial – Create A 2D RPG Game In 3 Hours
  • TOP-DOWN MOVEMENT in Unity!
• #0.0 Unity RPG Tutorial – Intro
• Part 1 – Setup: Make a game like the Legend of Zelda using Unity and C#
• 2D RPG Introduction – Unity3D
• How to Create an RPG Game in Unity – Comprehensive Guide

Unity Game Development Languages to Learn: What to Use and What to Avoid

There are a few coding languages you can use for Unity coding. Let’s examine what language is Unity best suited for.

Use: C#, the C-like Languages

The C-like languages, C# and C++, are the perfect coding languages for nearly every programming endeavor. That makes them a natural choice for coding with Unity. Unity is already built using C#, so it’s only natural that using this coding language is an excellent fit for Unity.

It’s a pretty significant coding language in the grand scheme of things and is relatively easy to learn if you’re just coming onto the scene. It’s also worth learning because of how widespread and used it is.

Avoid: Python

This may come somewhat as a surprise, as Python is a rather well-used and straightforward language in computing and programming. However, for Unity, it might not be the best fit. It may seem like the future’s language, and it very well may be, but for Unity? Not so much.

While this language used for web development and machine learning is undoubtedly attractive, it can be a roundabout process of actually coding a game. This involves a lot of work behind the scenes that you can simply avoid by using C#.

Use: Lua

Since the accessibility for Lua is found on Unity’s asset store, it’s actually quite simple to get it started. Using Lua, specifically, it’s variation MoonSharp, allows for excellent mod and workshop customization. It’s worth your time and isn’t too difficult to pick up.

Unity Jobs

Knowing Unity and it’s most advanced aspects can net you a job at Unity itself.

Becoming a full-time, professional Unity developer is actually an in-demand position. A bunch of major cities and countries have open positions for those with expertise in the gaming engine: 350+ open jobs across 38 locations in 11 departments.

There is also a hiring surge right now, with an emphasis on remote positions within the company.

Salary-wise, Unity can pay its employees very well. The average estimated annual salary, including base and bonus, at Unity Technologies, is $139,565, or $67 per hour, while the estimated median salary is $137,728, or $66 per hour. Granted, these most likely reflect more senior and experienced positions. But at least the potential for advancement is there.

But what about other companies? Knowing Unity is a valuable skill, and you can get hired at a number of different gaming or technology-based companies.

You could potentially find careers at any number of companies that specialize in using Unity for its technology. Most major jobs with Unity are located in North America.

Determination

Becoming a game developer isn’t something that just happens overnight. Chances are you will be checking out a ton of Unity tutorials by the time you feel completely comfortable with the engine. As long as you have the drive, you can progress.

Passion

If you want to deliver an added degree of quality to your work, being passionate about it helps tremendously. By having a passion for your work, you add new dynamics to it.

Learn

Be willing to learn new and foreign concepts. Whether you are a somewhat familiar Unity user or a complete rookie, being ready to learn things is crucial to success as a game developer.

Practice

It sounds cliche, but practice does make designing more relaxed and more lucrative. You don’t have to nail it on your first try!

Persevere

This is crucial. Having perseverance through all of the steps above is what keeps you designing. You may receive some critiques in the process of your game development that might sting a little. You need to recognize constructive criticism as a building block instead of an insult to your vision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you make a game in Unity without coding?

Actually, yes. I was surprised to learn that you can harness the power of one of Unity’s many assets, The Adventure Creator, in which you can develop 2D and 3D titles with no coding whatsoever.

Although you can use Unity without coding languages, I would still highly recommend getting at least a rudimentary knowledge in the various coding languages that Unity allows, as it will make you feel more secure and confident about your Unity game development.

What is the Average Unity Developer Salary?

The average salary for a Unity developer is a nice $110,000. That is more for the veteran developers, as more entry-level positions start around 52,000. And $110,000 is just that average; way more experienced developers make upwards of over $180,000. Not too shabby, especially with that hefty number in your grasp!

Which programming language does Unity use?

Unity uses C# as its programming language. Along with C#, Unity can also use Python and JavaScript, through the use of Boo. Unity’s allowance of various programming languages makes it accessible to many more developers than other engines.

What are the advantages of getting a Unity certification? Are there disadvantages?

Getting your certification is a prestigious accomplishment and will definitely show whoever is looking at your portfolio or resume that you know your stuff when it comes to Unity and game development.

Downsides include price, which can run upwards of $250 for a yearly license. You also need to take an exam and score at least a 70% on it to gain your certification. If you are okay with both of those, then definitely go for it!

How do I start learning the Unity game engine if I want to become an indie game developer?

The best way to start your indie game developer career is to check out these tutorials, and of course, download Unity to get a feel for Unity game development. Becoming an indie game developer isn’t something that will happen overnight. You’ll definitely need to bookmark those tutorials and keep trying. Keep in mind to experiment a lot as well.

What Unity tutorial order or preference should I follow in order to learn the Unity game engine from the beginning?

You should have the Unity official documentation and tutorials as your ‘base’ and supplement them with more unofficial Unity tutorials like those on YouTube and elsewhere.

I highly recommend using the official site and documentation for just starting out. If you start with the people who first developed it, you really can’t go wrong. However, there are some fantastic YouTube channels dedicated to game engine development and tutorials that you should absolutely check out to modify your ‘toolbox.’

As a beginner, should I learn plain C# and VS first before learning Unity, or can I learn how to code using Unity?

You cannot code in Unity, as great as that would be! Instead, it would be best if you learned how to code using the various languages that Unity supports in its framework. However, you don’t need to be a coding expert in using Unity, as learning code doesn’t necessarily make you an expert in developing games.

I would recommend learning C# first as a foundation for your developmental knowledge, so you can better utilize what Unity offers right off the bat. This gives you a better idea of how assets, build, and an overall better idea of how Unity game development is really done.

Why does Unity Game Engine use C# as the main scripting language?

Unity engine uses C# due to the versatility of the programming language. Many developers also use C#, allowing for better ‘communication’ through programming, allowing for better communication and project cohesion.

How long did it take you to learn C#/GLSL for Unity?

This is a pretty multilayered, nuanced question. Many variables are involved. Obviously, this varies from person to person. Someone with background experience with programming will most likely pick up these languages pretty quickly compared to someone who has never booted up an engine in their life.

That is not to say they can’t learn, however. The consensus is usually C# taking a shorter amount of time to learn than GLSL. We are talking either days to weeks. GLSL, especially for a total newbie, can present some challenges. Also, keep in mind that the complexity of the languages increases as a project demands more of you and your knowledge of the programming languages.

Don’t bite more off than you can chew! Again, start small to develop your ‘tool kit.’ In essence, it depends on the person.

Which language or platform is best suited for Unity?

Although Unity Script exists, the consensus is that C# is the ideal programming language to use in Unity Engine. This goes double if you already have a background or passing familiarity with C#. Consider it the de facto programming language of Unity, making it your best bet. Platform-wise, the PC is the best platform in which to use and develop things from Unity.

What is the best language for Unity 3d beyond 2022?

C# is your best bet going forward into 2022 for 3D Unity games. Although it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you by now, C# is really the lifeblood and skeletal structure of Unity Engine’s programming language.

If you want to branch out a bit, the other programming languages, like Java (via Unity Script), C++, and even HTML5, are all viable options in general. However, definitely go with C# for 3D games in the future.

Is Unity the best software for developing games for Android?

Without a doubt. Other than smaller game engines like Godot, Unity has an excellent interface and framework for creating mobile games, especially for Android. Developing the game will be an adventure all its own, but the sheer ease with which you can transfer your project cross-platform is intuitive and genuinely a breeze of a process.

See our full list of game design engines.

Is it true that Google Play deletes games made with the free version of Unity?

Most likely not. The rumor mill can often be a terrible and misleading thing. Consider developers who create projects that don’t precisely meet industry standards or that of Google. Along with that possibility, think of games that violate the Google terms of service. Logically, that would really be the only way in which Google deletes games made with the free version of Unity.

I could see maybe a combination of the two scenarios, as mentioned above, could lead game developers to think perhaps that Google is out to get them, but it just doesn’t make sense.

The biggest question is, why would Google do that? What would their motivation be to delete games, exceptionally well-performing, and quality games from their marketplace?

Some game developers have even chimed in, saying they have at least one game developed with the Unity free version, and their games haven’t been marked or deleted from the marketplace.

It seems like a lose-lose situation. Mark this as ‘pay no mind.’