There are many game development styles out there. Some people prefer building game worlds, some focus on rules and systems, and others prefer starting out with player/verb frameworks. These categories are nebulous at best, and even attempting to define them warrants an article of its own, but most people agree on the existence of at [...]

As an aspiring game developer, you may envision yourself one day taking a course, obtaining a qualification, and slotting yourself into Gigantic Megacorps to make awesome games forever with a team of six million people. But have you ever given serious thought to how you’re going to work with them? The size and scope of [...]

Klik & Play is one of those mysterious game creation tools that should, by all rights, be long dead. I was personally introduced to it as a wide-eyed, schoolgoing youth back in a time when accessible game creation was still rare. Countless hours, days, and even weeks were poured into dozens of small projects that [...]

Recent weeks have been particularly chock-full of interesting and easy ways to kick-start your game development career. But there’s something of a trump card that hasn’t yet been revealed: the humble board game. “But sir!” I hear you cry, “I’m here to make videogames! What’s with this analog nonsense all of a sudden?” Slappity slap, [...]

We mentioned Python a short while back as an easy introduction to programming, but if you want something that’s aimed more at the young ‘uns and practically guarantees a gentle tutorial for game coding, take a look at Scratch. Developed at MIT for mysterious educational purposes, Scratch is an animator, simulator and game creator. If [...]

Most of us have, at some point or another, indulged in a little JRPG goodness. But have you ever considered the possibility of creating one yourself? Thanks to RPG Maker XP, you have the tools to do just that. In this article, we’re going to show you how to create a basic room, an event [...]

What, have they released the first Sims 3 expansion pack already? Not quite: The Sims Carnival is a games creator and gaming portal, and a damn accessible one at that. You can make your own games in no time, upload them to the web, check out other people’s creations, and even peek in at the [...]

You’ve been yammered at before about the possibility of console development, but a recent innovation may just interest you even more than those ramblings about XNA, coding, and all that related madness. In fact, this one is touted as being aimed at complete beginners (even children) so there’s really no excuse for you to cross [...]

“Sound development is scaaaary!” you think. “I can’t possibly get nice audio for my game unless I trawl the Internet for free sound effects!” Most developers wouldn’t hesitate to agree with you. But it’s rather strange when you think about it. People are generally willing to code games from the ground up, draw their own [...]

This section has mentioned Game Maker in the past, but if you’re still not entirely comfortable with getting your hands dirty, then maybe it’s time for a crash course. Here you’ll create your first Game Maker project, from download to executable, after only 500 words. To start with, grab a copy of the tool from [...]

Flash is one of the most ubiquitous and lucrative game development tools out there today, so what’s stopping you from getting into it too? In a paltry 500 words, we’ll look at Flash from the ground up and have you creating a simple application in no time. For free, too! Getting the stuff There’s three [...]

Want to get into game development, but don’t know which tools to use? Fair enough: there are a lot of options out there, and it’s difficult to tell which ones are going to do the job for you. This week, we offer you a few handy suggestions, which are all absolutely free to download. And [...]

Ever wanted to create your own super-duper adventure game in the vein of those old Sierra and Lucasarts classics? If you’re open to flexing your point-n-click muscles with the big boys, then perhaps it’s time to try out Adventure Game Studio. All the cool kids use it, and so can you. Adventure Game Studio (or [...]

Scared of game development? Don’t be! Game Maker proves that making your own amazing titles is both fun and easy to do.

Ever wanted to kick-start your game development career but were too scared to try it out? Don’t worry – it’s a lot less scary than you think.