When we were younger all we wanted to do was make our own Super Mario game. We’d take
graph paper, look at level maps in Nintendo Power, and try to design our own Super Mario
Brothers levels. Who knew that decades later, thanks to the Mario Maker series, you would
not only be able to design and share your own custom Mario levels, but as of April 2020,
design and share a complete Mario game.
That begs the question: Can you learn actual technical game development skills, like game
design, or even programming from playing video games? Luckily, the answer is: of course!
There are games out there that help you hone skills like level design, and programming,
even some that encourage you to build entire worlds and create your own masterpieces. In
fact, some people have actually received job offers from game studios based on the work
that they’ve made within some of the games on this list!
In this video we will look at 12 games that can help you kickstart your gamedev journey!
We are Ask Gamedev and this is part one of a series on the best games for learning game
development!
Welcome back! We make videos on how to elevate your game development and inspire others.
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First up on the list is the aforementioned Super Mario Maker series! The Super Mario
Maker series debuted in 2015 with the WiiU title Super Mario Maker. When the title came
out, it was like nothing ever seen before, and it made every Nintendo fan’s dreams
come true.
With Super Mario Maker you were able to build your own levels using characters, building
materials, elements, powerups, and more in the style of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario
Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and the New Super Mario Bros. U. Not only that, but you could
upload and share your levels. The community exploded almost overnight and designers from
all over the world populated the game with custom levels. In no time, players were starting
to see their creations featured on sites like Kotaku.
Soon after, some of the best game designers in the game industry started joining in on
the fun. Polygon even started a series called Devs Make Mario where they featured the likes
of Matt Thorson, Keiji Inafune, Derek Yu, and more building their own levels.
In 2019 Super Mario Maker 2 launched adding elements from Super Mario 3D world, more ways
to build, and it’s biggest feature yet... In a 2020 update, Nintendo added the world-maker.
Prior to this, you could only make and share single levels. There wasn’t a cohesive wrapper
to tie all of your creations together. World-maker allows you to design an overworld map, and
place your creations within the world. This gives creators what they’ve been waiting
for since the beginning - the ability to build and share an entire 40-level Mario game!
If you want to design a platformer, but don’t know where to start. Try out Super Mario Maker
2. It’s available on the Nintendo Switch. Who knows, you might end up just building
an entire game out of it.
If you want to try a Super Mario Maker alternative, you should check out Levelhead. It’s the
newest title by the team that brought you Crashlands - Butterscotch Shenanigans. Like
Super Mario Maker, you can design and share levels using elements that are commonplace
in great platformer games. The game also has a pretty in-depth single-player campaign (filled
with Butterscotch Shenanigans’ trademark humour) to help show you the ropes and teach
you what’s possible for your own creations. While the game may feel like a Mario title
near the beginning, by the end, you’ll be venturing into tough-as-nails Super Meat Boy-eque
territory. It’s a great way to introduce you to the rules and world of Levelhead while
inspiring you to come up with some outlandish level designs of your own.
The dev team also does a great job of nurturing the community. They provide Daily Build challenges,
and they also regularly feature community creations on their website and Steam page.
While Levelhead has only recently launched, it’s also been in Early Access for over
a year. This is great for anyone wanting to pick up the title as there is already a thriving
community, complete with an endless amount of player-created levels.
You can find Levelhead on Steam, Epic Game Store, Nintendo Switch, Google Play, the App
Store, and Xbox One. As of this writing, it’s also available on Xbox Game Pass.
Next up on the list, from Media Molecule, is the LittleBigPlanet series. LittleBigPlanet
debuted on the PS3 in 2008, and has since spawned two sequels: LittleBigPlanet 2, and
LittleBigPlanet 3. When the title was announced, everyone fell in love with the aesthetic,
the game’s mascot Sackboy, and of course the promise of being able to create some amazing
levels and contraptions.
In an interview with SF Gate, Reggie Fils-Aime even said “I've been very intrigued with
Little Big Planet. I don't know that it belongs on their platform.” when asked if there
was a game that he wished that Nintendo had on Wii. It’s a fair assessment given that
LittleBigPlanet looks like it was inspired by Nintendo’s catalogue. It would also be
fair to say, though, that LittleBigPlanet went on to inspire the look of future Nintendo
titles like Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and Yoshi’s Woolly World.
In LittleBigPlanet, you play as Sackboy, a sack puppet on an adventure through a whimsical
2 and a half D world. The levels are happy, unique, and look beautifully handcrafted.
The game would have probably done well already as a standalone platformer. The heart of the
game though is its ability to create.
Like the previous titles on this list you can create your own levels and share them
in the game. You can also create special objects and share those too - sort of like creating
assets for an asset store. So you can not only share your levels, but you can influence
the design of other creators’ levels by having them use your creations. Subsequent
titles in the series added more and more creator tools and options, allowing for more expansive
levels.
By the launch of LittleBigPlanet 3 in late 2014, there had already been more than 9 million
user generated levels created! Some of our favourites include:
The Little Big Computer - a fully functioning calculator built in-game
TimeTown - an atmospheric steampunk adventure And Flapper - an 8-bit arcade Shmup
There’s also some pretty cool homages to games like:
Plants vs. Zombies Megaman
And Street Fighter
LittleBigPlanet 3 is available on PlayStation 4.
If you had already thought that Media Molecule made the ultimate in-game game maker with
the LittleBigPlanet series, you’d be surprised to know that their followup title is magnitudes
more complex…
Number 4 on the list, from Media Molecule, is Dreams. The devs of Dreams wanted to make
a tool that you could use to make anything that you could dream of - and we think they
succeeded! We know that’s a bold statement, but wait until you see the community creations!
Announced in 2013 and released in 2020, it’s safe to say that the devs took their time
with the title. Just seeing the sheer amount of content and creation tools in the game,
and thoughtfulness that they put into building the interface, you can tell that they made
the most of their time!
Dreams is everything. It’s a game, a place to make and share games, and a place to play
an endless amount of creations. In terms of creation tools, it’s a game framework, a
2D & 3D art & animation suite, a music studio and more.
So let’s take a look at some community creations. These are some of our favourite original creations:
Rabbit and Boy - a beautiful short film Ruckus - a cartoony kaiju sim
and The Pilgrim - an atmospheric 3D platformer
And just like the LittleBigPlanet community has, Dreams has a ton of fan remakes and homages.
Here are a few that are really impressive:
Final Fantasy VII Crash Bandicoot
and Sonic For more creations check out the Dreams subreddit
at r/PS4Dreams
So could making your own masterpiece in Dreams help your gamedev journey? The Escapist wrote
a great article about how Dreams is helping to foster the next generation of game developers.
Some creators have even been approached by game studios already.
You also know you have a bright future when IGN wants to talk to you about your Dreams
creation. Colin Gluth has put over 700 hours into Dreams, working on the Aang Project - An
Avatar: The Last Airbender fan game. You can check out the full interview on IGN.
Dreams is available on PlayStation 4.
So far on the list we have games that are focused on art and design. Let’s switch
gears. Are there any games out there that may help you become a better programmer? The
answer is yes. Games 5 through 11 on this list are by Zachtronics. Zachtronics is a
game company that focuses on puzzle games that have an emphasis on engineering and programming.
These titles teach you how to think like a programmer, and solve problems like one.
The games have also been used in schools. In 2019 Zachtronics launched Zachademics - a
program to provide a number of Zachtronics games to public and non-profit schools for
free! So for this list, let’s take a look at some of those games.
At #5 there is SpaceChem - a visual programming game that takes place in space. You take on
the role of a Reactor Engineer, and your goal is to construct elaborate factories for your
colonies.
At #6 we have TIS-100. In TIS-100 you are repairing an old computer using assembly code.
What’s cool about the title is that it actually comes with a manual that teaches programming
and introduces concepts like assembly code, registers, and parallel programming.
#7 is the most approachable of the bunch, Infinifactory. Infinifactory is a first person
factory builder where your goal is to build factories and automate the manufacturing of
alien products as efficiently as possible.
#8 is SHENZHEN I/O. This is another assembly based game from the studio. In SHENZHEN I/O
you work as an engineer based in Shenzhen, China and your job is to build circuit boards.
This time around, the game comes with a 30-page manual complete with datasheets and technical
diagrams. Make sure you read it.
At #9 there is Opus Magnum. Opus Magnum is also one of the more approachable titles on
the list. In Opus Magnum your job is automate alchemy. You design and build steampunk-esque
machines that build potions, poisons, and more.
At #10 we have Exapunks. It’s a cyberpunk themed game that takes place in the year 1997.
In Exapunks you write computer viruses and hack into a variety of simulated networks
including banks, factories, TV stations, and game consoles.
And rounding out the collection is MOLEK-SYNTEZ at #11. The year is 2092 and you are alone
in your apartment in Romania. It’s just you and your molecular synthesizer. Your task:
Program your molecular synthesizer to convert ordinary industrial chemicals into drugs.
Check out more titles and read up about the Zachademics program at zachtronics.com.
Prefer your programming games a little more on the cartoony-side? Check out the final
title on our list, #12 Human Resources Machine - a visual programming game from the makers
of Little Inferno and World of Goo.
In Human Resources Machine you automate little workers to solve tasks that come in from your
boss. Basically boxes come in along the left side of the screen, and you have to figure
out how to process them and get them out to the right side. Like the Zachtronics titles,
Human Resources Machine won’t teach you a specific coding language, but the game is
designed to make you think like a programmer. The devs have also stated that they based
the design of the game around Assembly.
We love the title’s art, the simplicity of its coding blocks, and its overwhelming
amount of presentation and charm. You can pick up Human Resources Machine on Steam,
Epic Games Store, Nintendo eShop, Google Play, and the App Store. If you want to dip your
toes into the space, we highly recommend it. If you enjoy it, check out their followup,
7 Billion Humans.
Thanks for watching! For more Ask Gamedev check out this video on game design., or this
video on game engines.