Free Game Development Tutorial Series for Beginners

Over the coming weeks and months, we will explore how to build a simple 2D Top-Down Space Shooter computer game using the popular game development engine called GameMaker Studio.

You will learn how to create sprites, learn to code to make your player move around a game environment, code spawning enemies, enemy collisions, making the player shoot, creating a heads-up display with lives, score and health and much more.

We hope you enjoy this beginner game development series. Each tutorial is listed below for ease of navigation. If you have any questions or comments put them into the comments section of the relevant post.

Thank you and good luck to all of you budding game designers  – Tom.

The following is a link to a zip file of assets you can use for free to build your game

Download Spaceshooter Assets

List of Game Development Beginners Tutorials – * from Tutorial 9 onwards is for site members only. However, it is free to join here

  1. Tutorial 1 – Creating a Game in Game Maker Studio 2
  2. Tutorial 2 – Creating a Player Sprite in Game Maker Studio 2
  3. Tutorial 3 – Creating a Player Object, Movement & Animation
  4. Tutorial 4 – Creating a Game Room with a moving background
  5. Tutorial 5 – Making your player shoot
  6. Tutorial 6 – Adding sounds to your game
  7. Tutorial 7 – Coding Enemy Object with movement
  8. Tutorial 8 – Enemy Shooting
  9. Tutorial 9 – Automatically spawning enemies
  10. Tutorial 10 – Collision and Health Setup
  11. Design Tutorial 11 – Create an End Screen
  12. Tutorial 12 – Create an Start Screen
  13. Tutorial 13 – Create a Player Health Bar
  14. Tutorial 14 – Create a Light Effect
  15. Tutorial 15 – Create Score for your game
  16. Tutorial 16 – Create a room with a view
  17. Tutorial 17 – Create Particle Effects
  18. Tutorial 18 – Keep score between rooms
  19. Tutorial 19 – Create enemy waves

Code, Create, Play: Your 7 Day Guide to Game Developement
Gives More In-Depth and Advanced Game Development Skills

What you’ll Learn

  • Setting up a game development environment in GameMaker.
  • Fundamentals of game design & coding.
  • Understanding basics of game graphics.
  • Coding essential game mechanics.
  • Using GML for enemy dynamics.
  • Managing player health and lives.
  • Implementing a scoring system.
  • Designing a home screen, menu, and end screen.
  • Enhancing gameplay with music and sound effects.
  • Enhancing gameplay with music and sound effects.
code create play book your 7 day guide to game development
Code Create Play:
Your 7 Day Guide to Game Development