Game Developer: Build and Publish Games with Godot
The intensive path to making real games: game design, GDScript programming, a 2D platformer, a complete action game, 3D games, art, sound and 'juice', Android and web export, game jams and a career in games.
What you'll learn
- Apply game design principles to make games feel fun and fair
- Program in GDScript: variables, functions, signals, scenes and nodes
- Build a complete 2D platformer and a 2D action game in Godot
- Create a basic 3D game
- Add art, sound, UI and 'juice' that make a game feel great
- Export games to Android and the web and publish them on itch.io
- Plan a game, run play-tests, take part in game jams and build a portfolio
Course content
Part 1. Start here5 lessons
Part 2. Game design foundations6 lessons
- How to think like a game designer (Game Maker's Toolkit)by Game Maker's Toolkit13 min
- 10 game design lessons from 10 years of GMTKby Game Maker's Toolkit16 min
- What does a game designer really do?by CG Spectrum6 min
- What makes a good combat system?by Game Maker's Toolkit17 min
- Write a one-page game design document
- Quiz: game design
Part 3. Programming in GDScript17 lessons
- GDScript: Hello, World!by Brackeys4 min
- GDScript: Inputby Brackeys4 min
- GDScript: If-statementsby Brackeys3 min
- GDScript: Variables 2.0by Brackeys5 min
- GDScript: Functionsby Brackeys4 min
- GDScript: Arraysby Brackeys4 min
- GDScript: Loopsby Brackeys4 min
- GDScript: Dictionariesby Brackeys4 min
- GDScript: Enumsby Brackeys3 min
- GDScript: Modifying nodes 2.0by Brackeys4 min
- GDScript: Signalsby Brackeys4 min
- GDScript: Classesby Brackeys7 min
- GDScript: Inheritanceby Brackeys4 min
- GDScript: Call down, signal upby Brackeys3 min
- Practise: Learn GDScript From Zero (free interactive app)
- Intro to GDScript for programming beginners (GDQuest)by GDQuest44 min
- Quiz: GDScript
Part 4. Your first 2D game: a platformer12 lessons
- 2D platformer: Intro to Godotby Brackeys3 min
- 2D platformer: Cooking with Assetsby Brackeys4 min
- 2D platformer: Player 1.0by Brackeys9 min
- 2D platformer: Worldbuilding 1.0by Brackeys7 min
- 2D platformer: Platformsby Brackeys5 min
- 2D platformer: Pickupsby Brackeys6 min
- 2D platformer: Dying 1.0by Brackeys6 min
- 2D platformer: Enemyby Brackeys11 min
- 2D platformer: Player 2.0by Brackeys10 min
- 2D platformer: Scoreby Brackeys7 min
- 2D platformer: Audioby Brackeys7 min
- 2D platformer: Where to go from here?by Brackeys3 min
Part 5. A complete 2D action game17 lessons
- Action game: About Roguelite Shoot'em ups/Survivor-likes and Godotby GDQuest1 min
- Action game: Create the Characterby GDQuest8 min
- Action game: Add Movement to the Characterby GDQuest22 min
- Action game: Add Game Environment and Collisionsby GDQuest13 min
- Action game: Add Mobs that Follow the Playerby GDQuest13 min
- Action game: Make the View Follow the Playerby GDQuest5 min
- Action game: Give a Weapon to the Characterby GDQuest4 min
- Action game: Make the Gun Detect Aim at Enemiesby GDQuest7 min
- Action game: Add Projectiles to the Weaponby GDQuest10 min
- Action game: Make the Bullets Damage the Enemyby GDQuest3 min
- Action game: Set up Shooting Mechanicsby GDQuest9 min
- Action game: Add Health and Hurt Animations to Mobsby GDQuest6 min
- Action game: Add Health Management to Playerby GDQuest14 min
- Action game: Randomly Spawn Mobsby GDQuest10 min
- Action game: Add Game Over Screenby GDQuest6 min
- Action game: Congratulations - Add up the Hidden Couponsby GDQuest1 min
- Practice: make it your own
Part 6. Into the third dimension12 lessons
- 3D: The bad newsby Brackeys4 min
- 3D: Greyboxingby Brackeys6 min
- 3D: Character Controllerby Brackeys5 min
- 3D: 3D Physicsby Brackeys3 min
- 3D: Assets in Godotby Brackeys5 min
- 3D: StandardMaterial3Dby Brackeys4 min
- 3D: Scene Workflowsby Brackeys4 min
- 3D: Replace Greyboxby Brackeys5 min
- 3D: Animated Charactersby Brackeys4 min
- 3D: Lightingby Brackeys6 min
- 3D: Tonemapby Brackeys3 min
- 3D: Render Qualityby Brackeys1 min
Part 7. Art, sound and game feel3 lessons
Part 8. Ship it: Android, web and itch.io4 lessons
Part 9. Game jams, portfolio and careers7 lessons
- How to game jam (Brackeys)by Brackeys9 min
- Find a game jam on itch.io
- The ultimate guide to a career in game devby Game Dev Garnet9 min
- How to get into the games industry: a recruiter's top 5 tips (Massive/Ubisoft)by Massive Entertainment - A Ubisoft Studio4 min
- Game development in Africa: Kiro'o Gamesby Tech Talk3 min
- The expansion of the gaming industry in Africa (CNBC Africa)by CNBC Africa28 min
- Building a games career from Africa
Part 10. Final project2 lessons
Capstone project: Capstone: design, build and ship an original game. You finish by building something real; a mentor reviews it before your certificate is issued.
About this course
Africa's games market is one of the fastest-growing in the world, and most of what Africans play is still made elsewhere. This intensive course trains you to change that. You'll use Godot — a free, open-source engine that runs well even on modest laptops — and learn from the best teachers in game development: Brackeys (a full beginner platformer, GDScript programming and 3D games), GDQuest (a complete survivor-style action game from zero) and Game Maker's Toolkit (game design). You'll add pixel art, sound and game feel, export to Android and the web, publish on itch.io, enter game jams, and learn how the industry hires — including from African studios. Your capstone is an original game, shipped and play-tested. About 9 hours of video plus a lot of building: 2–3 months at an hour a day.