Some of the best video game experiences that we’ve ever had didn’t come from a AAA
game studio, or indie studio - not even a hotshot solo dev.
They came from community members, enthusiasts, and maybe even someone like you!
Today we’re going dive into more games that can help turn you into a game developer!
In part one, we covered games that help us learn design, and we also took a look at the
Zachtronics titles.
Today we are going to look at some of the games that we missed!
Thanks again to the Ask Gamedev community for all of the suggestions.
We are Ask Gamedev, and this is part two of a series on the best games for learning game
development!
Welcome back!
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First up on the list, Roblox!
Launched in 2006, the game and its community have grown significantly over the last 14
years.
Roblox is both a game and a Lua-based game engine.
As a game, it’s an excellent place to discover creations to play and explore with your friends.
As far as game engines go though, using Roblox Studio comes with a ton of perks:
First off, there’s a vast and supportive developer community.
A simple search for tutorials on YouTube will show you just how much support you can expect.
There is a big built-in audience.
Your game is deployed within Roblox - a community with more than 115 million monthly active
users across 200 countries.
Free server hosting and asset storage.
Because everything is running on Roblox, you can create a multiplayer game without having
to worry about any fees generally associated with hosting your own game.
And of course, Monetization - Roblox has built-in monetization features.
Developers in Roblox earned more than $110 million in cash in 2019!
The developers behind Jailbreak have even cleared over a million dollars themselves.
Some standout creations in Roblox to check out are:
The aforementioned Jailbreak - a game of cops and robbers where you’re either the robbers
planning a heists, or the cops trying to stop them.
Welcome to Bloxburg - A house-building sim that will definitely scratch your “The Sims”
itch.
And Robot 64 - a love letter to the 3D platformers of the Nintendo 64 era.
Next on the list, a game that needs no introduction: Minecraft - which in 2019 became the best-selling
game of all time!
We all know that Minecraft is a perfect place for budding level and environment designers,
but what else can Minecraft teach?
Well with Minecraft: Education Edition and Minecraft Hour of Code, educators can now
create lesson plans in Minecraft that teach the basics of coding and AI.
You can learn more about Minecraft Education Edition at Education.Minecraft.net
For more Minecraft-themed learning, there’s also Minecraft Adventurer.
Minecraft Adventurer is a series of exercises hosted on code.org that teach computer science
basics.
Players are given a playspace, a series of goals, and code blocks.
The aim of the game is to use your code blocks to help your character navigate through the
playspace and hit each target.
While the game uses visual blocks to code, everything is based on JavaScript.
In fact, at any point, you can switch your view and take a peek at what your blocks look
like in JavaScript.
Check out Minecraft Adventurer at code.org/minecraft
Following Minecraft on our list is another Xbox Game Studios title - Halo 5: Forge.
The addition of Forge changed the Halo franchise forever.
With the introduction of Forge, players became able to create their own unique maps and experiences
and share them with others in the community.
What started out as a simple map editor, has evolved over the years, and is now one powerful
game development tool.
Halo 5: Forge took things up a notch by adding a number of features including:
More objects, music cues, and prefabs UI enhancements
Cross-play And its most prominent feature yet - PC support.
With PC support, players could finally use a keyboard and mouse and build their maps
with more precision.
There are so many awesome creations to try out!
Just to name a few, check out: Sumo Pit
Minotaurs And Hot Pursuit
You can download Halo 5: Forge on the Microsoft Store for free.
Here’s a game that was suggested by the Ask Gamedev community.
A Nintendo-DS gem from 2010 - WarioWare DIY.
If you’re not familiar with the WarioWare series, they are game compilations featuring
everyone’s favourite Nintendo anti-hero, Wario!
The series started in 2003 with WarioWare Inc, and introduced the concept of microgames
- short single-task games that are usually 5-seconds or less.
Over the next couple of years, Nintendo would release WarioWare titles that highlighted
their hardware.
For example WarioWare: Touched focused on touch-based microgames for the Nintendo DS
while WarioWare: Smooth Moves highlighted the Wii’s Wii Remote.
In 2010, they took it all one step further by releasing WarioWare DIY.
A version of WarioWare where you could design your own microgames.
Not only could you design your own microgames but WarioWare DIY also had tools for making
your own graphics, composing your own music, and even designing your own cartridge.
And just like the Mario Maker series, WarioWare DIY had an option to play other people’s
creations, and also share yours.
At the time you could even try creations from great devs like Cave Story’s Daisuke "Pixel"
Amaya, and Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai.
While the online component has been discontinued as of 2014, if you can somehow find a copy
of the title, it’s definitely worth playing around with.
#5 on the list is another title suggested by the community, Space Engineers, by Keen
Software House.
The title launched in 2013 and has been growing since.
Space Engineers is a sci-fi survival game where you play as a space engineer who has
just landed on a planet.
Your mission: explore, collect resources, build, and survive.
What put Space Engineers on this list though is its programmable blocks, which can use
scripts, written in C#.
With programmable blocks, players can create many things - including but not limited to:
autonomous mining drones.
long-range torpedoes.
And automated welding arms for ship construction.
If you’re new to programming, there’s no need to feel intimidated either.
There are tutorials on YouTube, and you can also import scripts from Steam Workshop.
Space Engineers is available on Steam and Xbox One.
If you liked seeing the games by Zachtronics and Tomorrow Corporation from our last list,
then you should definitely check out this title - while True: learn() by Luden.io
In while True: learn(), you play as a machine learning specialist who makes neural networks.
One night, while trying to figure out why your code isn’t working, you take a brief
step out.
Once you get back in, you find the code working - your cat fixed the problem!!
From there, you set out to create a human-to-cat translation program.
Just like Human Resource Machine and 7 Billion Humans, data comes in on the left side of
the screen, and you have to figure out how to process it to the right side.
You won’t learn any written programming, but you’ll use a visual, node-based system,
that will get you thinking and problem-solving like a programmer.
while True: learn() is currently available on Steam, the App Store, and Nintendo Switch.
2006 was an excellent year for games that can make games.
Not only was it the release year of Roblox, but it was also the year that we got the final
title on our list: the beloved, Garry's Mod, or GMOD, from Valve.
Garry’s Mod is a sandbox game where you can do anything you want.
You are given the tools, but the rest is up to you.
Play around in the sandbox, try other people’s creations, or build an asset or game and share
it with the 10 million+ member community on Steam Workshop.
There are community members that have even made a career out of their creations.
In 2009 a group of 4 modders created GMOD Tower - a for people in the community to hang
out, chat and play minigames.
It was an instant hit.
In 2015 the team launched an Indiegogo campaign to make a standalone version, newly named
Tower Unite.
They successfully raised $68,000, and as of today, the title has roughly 8000 reviews
on Steam with an overall rating of 87%.
If you’d rather play than build, you’ll have an endless amount to go through.
The Workshop page for Garry’s Mod has over 1.5 million add-ons to choose from.
Some popular game mode add-ons include: Prop Hunt
Slashers And Zombie Survival
Garry’s Mod is available on Steam.
Thanks for watching!
Check out part one of this series here or check out this game design playlist for more
Ask Gamedev.