The Best Games for Learning Game Development [2020]

[@AskGamedev]

If you want more Ask Gamedev on how to design a game like the pros, check this out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6XQnZmLj9uXgNk

[@oneAMghost]

Dreams is such a great game. Hopefully multiplayer will be here soon enough

[@spongyoshi]

What personally kicked-off my game dev journey was WarioWare D.I.Y.! It has an easy-to-learn pseudo-code, music & graphic creators and great tutorials! It's a simplified game making tool, down to your creations only being microgames (or music/mangas if you like those too) but once you get the hang of it, it's a great way to learn the programming logic and start making little things before going on a way bigger project!

[@AskGamedev]

We will look at this for part 2 of this series!

[@spongyoshi]

Oh, I'm glad! I hope it keeps your attention! I had to re-buy that game three times so this game definitely has a place in my heart!

[@rickvanleeuwen9589]

A mostly forgotten classic that I should pick up again!

[@V3RYM3GAFUN]

LittleBigPlanet has been my first favorite game, I started at 5 years old and still play it today, 16. I've improved a lot in level and sound design, but... I still have troubles understanding coding

[@flummizockt7322]

I think minecraft can really help in getting into gamedevelopment aswell. Be it modding, mapmaking or writing plugins, you get introduced into a diverse ecosystem of APIs and tools. You learn to design on a more basic level and without the comfort of getting everything served on a silver plate.

[@benedict3965]

it's actually one of the reasons that made me interested in game dev

[@EscapeCondition]

LBP2 is the best I've seen in terms of motivating people to create their own levels.

[@Bananenbauer123]

Miss those times... I remember I had a level that kinda blew up (my level was mentioned on a youtube channel, too bad I never noticed until years later)

[@dopeoxide]

@@Bananenbauer123 what level?

[@EscapeCondition]

@@Bananenbauer123 I spent hours with my nephew finding people's levels to try out (or having him show me ones he had found) it's one of those generational games that was the favorite for both of us at the time. Love the simple gameplay.

[@Bananenbauer123]

@@dopeoxide sorry for late reply. The level is "Ballboy" you balance an orb through a parkour. My username should be Bananenbauer. I also have some levels that I'm less proud of, but ey, I was 16 at the time. Kind of insane to look back.

[@bronks_gd]

I see someone already suggested Geometry Dash for part 2, and being a part of the Geometry Dash community (and a level creator) mysefl since 2016, I would like to help you... The Geometry Dash editor allows you not only to create and publish online your own rythm-based levels with blocks, orbs, spikes or other obstacles, combined to create a gemeplay following the rythm of any song you can import from the Newgrounds website (songs are made by artists or even by you as the website is a free portal for indie artists to publish their creations), but also to create EVERYTHING you'd like to create, like recreations of entire games (such as "Break a leg", "Super Mario Bros", "Sonic", "Electronic Super Joy", "Just shapes and beats" and a lot more the community already created and shared), your own unique big game inside the game itself (like the top down zelda-like level/game "Mastergame" by Serponge) or even animated shorts (in the form of automatic levels called "Auto levels", some of which are groundbreaking, pushing the editor capabilities to its limit). Basically, the game has an editor full of pre-built and color-customizable blocks, spikes, enemies, monsters, orbs, portals (etc) all with their unique features or style, plus there are triggers, which you can use to make objects move, rotate, change color, disappear, pulse, etc... The combination of the previous makes everyone capable of creating whatever he/she wants, with the in-game level editor looking more as a 2D game engine as of version 2.11 of the game. A lot of very known creators in the Geometry Dash community even started their own indie game development journey (creators like Serponge or Etzer, who kept the names they had in-game as their nicknames) Hope this was helpful :D

[@Just4KeigA]

I felt so deep into Human Resources Machine. I played it to 100% through and afterwards i became an Indie game dev Hobby programmer. I love it. Definitely my recommendation !

[@HasanRx7]

Plazma Burst 2 deserved a mention in this video. Its a 2D shooting flash game that has realistic physics, ton of characters and weapons, and online multiplayer aside from the story. The map editor functionality is incredibly diverse and complex that you can make anything in it. Obviously, it was plain simple back in 2011, because it was meant for simple PvP maps. However, the community at that time still came up with unusual map ideas, such as saw/traps maps, boss-fight maps, parkour maps, and many others. I remember seeing maps that resemble Minecraft and Black Ops zombies. All of the logic in the map editor is retained in an element called Triggers. These triggers contain what is called as an action type, which receives two inputs: A and B. Example of this is an action that moves a door to a region, in which input A is the door and input B is the region where the door moves to. This is a very basic action to mention, as there are actions that control variables just like what you see in programming.

[@ZayyzYT]

You forgot about the geometry dash level editor, it has this things called triggers that you can place in the world its kinda like coding

[@AskGamedev]

Thanks for the suggestion! We'll check it out :)

[@slowbro13215]

This was an awesome video, especially for mentioning Levelhead! I specifically got Levelhead to work on my level design skills for game dev & it's been great for that, but I never could've imagined what I was getting into when I got it. I would've gotten Mario Maker 2 but decided to give Levelhead a try since MM2 would've required buying a switch, a controller, etc. & Levelhead was cheap. Now I've put hundreds of hours into Levelhead & have made over 30 levels. I've also given myself a reminder that I enjoy playing games more than making them, but it's great that Levelhead is really fun to play, and not just for making levels. It's neat to see all these options out there now. I loved games like Lode Runner, Robot Odyssey, and Adventure Construction Set in the mid to late 80s, so it's always great to see that those kind of games have only gotten more complex and more popular.

[@joshspears3951]

I still play little big planet till this day

[@AskGamedev]

Us too!

[@JstormZx]

Aww man you're lucky. My disc got frickin damaged I owned it for 7 years. Now it's gone. And being one of the best family appreciated game to play during this time, I feel really bad it's not around anymore

[@gummygecko23]

Me too!

[@MastermindAtWork]

Dreams is Underrated, it needs more marketing.

[@AB-pr4uc]

OMFG dude, I was pondering this myself a couple days ago and then I stumble upon this video!

[@AskGamedev]

perfect timing!

[@AB-pr4uc]

​@@AskGamedev Only visual/interactive guides work with my learning disability, especially this type of stuff... the dream of making my own game has just been made a ton easier :D

[@xatiter]

Lol the timing on this was perfect-my little brother's been begging me to teach him game dev thanks guys.

[@Abelius]

This video was seriously awesome. I'm an amateur dev already, but didn't know how to instill the wish to craft in my daughters... Now I know. 👍

[@arpgamer1884]

I was waiting for your video. please try to make next video as soon as possible 😍

[@Franciscomp70]

There were some games that also teach you how to manage the economy and also level design that, for me, are essential. Like SimCity, Rollercoaster Tycoon, or even The Sims (they can also teach about AI and NavMesh). I think those should've had at least a mention. Hopefully they will appear in the next vid :D

[@AskGamedev]

Thanks for the suggestions!

[@SwyftProduction]

RPG Maker is also another great beginning software! That's what I used before transitioning to GameMaker years ago. Comes with lots of assets and music! Btw guys I am working on an a project myself called RGB on itch.io. The prototype is out right now with a big update coming out in a couple of days. I'd love to hear some feedback from my fellow developers :) Edit: Update is out, which includes a new level, gamepad support and more! Thank you guys for the support!

[@jadeitov2209]

Which RGB is it? Could you give a link, please?

[@SwyftProduction]

@@jadeitov2209 you got it! yourold6amertag.itch.io/projectrgb

[@VilasNil]

Zachtronics games are AMAZING. I love them, I bought them all this winter's Steam Sale but they have been featured in some of the past months Humble Bundles, so there's a chance any of you got them recently. Give them a try. I've studied Computer Engineering and these games are great. I don't think you need to have studied anything about computers to play the games (though it certainly helps) as everything is REALLY well explained on the manuals. If you love this games I'd suggest studying the same as I did if you haven't made the choice yet, as it makes you feel the same way. I bought TIS-100 many years ago and loved all of it's levels. It's really fun to optimize either code line counts, core usages or clock ticks. Some achievements even encourage you to take a different perspective on the levels, making it really fun to come up with the solution. Later I bought Shenzhen I/O because I had just taken some courses on microcontrollers and was left wanting more. Oh boy did this game scratch that itch. I can't state how well crafted these games are. As a token of appreciation, I decided to buy all of Zach's games, and try to make people play them more because they are amazing. Thanks for all these games!

[@aapdev]

Good video as always

[@RealGoldenQuotes]

roblox: am i a joke to you?

[@HoloOfficial]

Some people literally have made a living out of Roblox content!

[@AskGamedev]

Roblox will be featured in part 2 of the series :)

[@Noobmaster-ub2gp]

Holo Game the creators of jailbreak are making millions of dollars

[@misterk7_-]

nineret easy but pretty advanced tbh

[@krash2]

Dreams and littlebigplanet are the ones I highly recommend for beginners, especially littlebigplanet... The other games don't have that coding and logic stuff unlike dreams and lbp So if youre into that, these 2 games are for you

[@slowbro13215]

Levelhead has a lot of that stuff too. There are sensors that send signals to other entities & you can write just about any kind of program with them. People have made calculators, random memory tests, custom boss fights with multiple attack modes, and lots of other elaborate things.

[@krash2]

@@slowbro13215 yes I heard about this game, and I think it's awesome BUT it's not a big deal comparing to dreams Just saying

[@slowbro13215]

@@krash2 I'd love to give Dreams a try some time, but it's not going to happen unless they put it on PC. I don't know if they have plans to ever do something like that.

[@krash2]

@@slowbro13215 they'll never put it on the pc port unfortunately, unless if u have second screen installed in the pc, or any other solution.

[@Peacekeeper_84]

Thank you for the videos! Amazing content!

[@RetroBananaManNL]

Wwooohhooo!!! LevelHead! That game is epic :D

[@IndiaHV]

there`s 1 more, Struckd: anyone can create a game out of it and it is amazing (available on mobile phones and steam)

[@sammytiel]

There's an obscure iOS and Windows game called Blocksworld that lets you build things and it has a drag-and-drop programming language. Unfortunately the servers shut down in 2020 so you can't share anything. Also it shut down because of an unfixable error that wouldn't let you create or share any worlds, so you can't use it anymore unless you've already created worlds before the error happened. There is a fanmade server for the PC version though.

[@BeeBlueBubble]

Great video! Games, where you build your own levels, are not really my cup of tea, but I think they are a smart way to grow a community for your company. Levelhead by Butterscotch is very fun to play and as a plus, they have a weekly podcast where they talk about game dev! It's worth to check it out, the 3 of them are very fun to listen to. What I am a fan of is the third type of game, where you can "learn" programming! As a programmer that feels like home. I think you forgot to include a great title in this category: while True: learn(), in this one you can taste the waters of machine learning!

[@HoloOfficial]

I'm gonna shout out Far Cry's Level Editors & Halo's Forge Modes. Both of these in my childhood really got me into Level Design and likely became the reason I have a job in the industry. Also Trials Fusion seems to be good for simple Plug-and-Play events. A fun starter to get a better understanding in coding.

[@AskGamedev]

great suggestions - we worked on Halo Forge so it is close to our hearts!

[@AnonPer]

No mention of Wario Ware DIY? I know it is an older title, for the DS, but it is essentially a game programming simulator. Also, the Nintendo Labo VR kit has a VR game development system built in.

[@AskGamedev]

Thanks for the suggestions! We'll feature Wario Ware DIY in part 2!

[@cleverpython1546]

My favorite games on little big planet were mechs, flood survival, and boat survival where shakes destroy a massive cargo ship and there is a helicotper!!!

[@seighart90]

minecraft/ terraria sandbox mode can help a lot too. i've seen the community built really creative stuff

[@alexandre5818]

I would like to know a way to show a game that i develop to a publisher that it's safe so they don't steal the idea or prototype

[@EscapeCondition]

All you do is make a playable demo and don't give them the game design documentation which is where a lot of the content would lie. If you aren't even comfortable having them play the demo you shouldn't be looking at publishers.

[@stickee4045]

There's a game called fancade that released less than a month ago, it's made by one guy and the amount of effort he put into it is astonishing, his name is martin magni, you might know him for 2 great games on the app store and play store, odd bot out and mekorama. You guys should check it out.

[@prashanthjoshi4058]

Bro I am interested in taking game designing but I got a question that will I get a job placement? what if I didn't want to study and quit what can I do further ? please clear my doubt

[@azlantafamily]

Hey Ask Gamedev, I'm curious on how you make the animation in every video and the opening too

[@joeessayvoice]

Awww.. little Gamedev guy! 🥰

[@whiitehead]

You guys should do a follow-up video about best games to mod

[@OnyeNacho]

I am really surprised TimeSplitters and their Level Editor is not on the list.

[@razvanab]

May I recommend checking out Core from Manticore Games too?

[@AskGamedev]

Thanks for the reco - we'll check it out!

[@bigb222]

Is unreal engine 4 suggested for a beginner?

[@DepakKumar08]

Well yes and no, Unreal engine has a blueprint coding which is a visual programming easy to learn, Swords & magic rpg game created entirely using blueprints. If you seriously want to learn unreal engine, I would suggest to buy a gamedev.tv courses from their own website or Udemy(it's cheaper on sale).

[@seanandrews5329]

I remember when Mario maker came out....that game was great.

[@DepakKumar08]

What about ARMA series, if I am right, Zombie survival, battle Royale type games originated from there.

[@LesliVinkl]

I think "Dreams" is actually not just a game, but a full blown game engine on PS4. You will even be able to sell your games in the future.

[@mryoyo1234]

You guys didn't even show the warioware DIY on DS. Has a game maker in there complete with logic based events and more.

[@ludologian]

Spoiler alert; Part 2 include Minecraft, Roblox, Microsoft project spark ,RPG maker And recent retro game which you can blend to classic games to get combination in one game ( I forgot its name)

[@megateamaj]

Amazing, thank you.

[@AskGamedev]

No problem - thanks for watching!

[@petereckmann3896]

If Dreams would be available on PC, I'd get it immediatelly

[@AnasMations]

littile big planet was one of my fav games on the psp

[@StygianStyle]

I actually did design games on paper when I was in high school.

[@OnyeNacho]

Kotaku.... Patricia Hermandez... Oh hell... Dear Void help this industry... _ My handsome eyes.... It burns....

[@Achose]

I was trying to remember little big planet finally

[@gibarel]

With the other games are in the list I don't understand why there was no Minecraft nor gMod

[@FloatingSunfish]

*_Knytt Stories intensifies_*

[@sarakoztas]

Hi did you play Chirpy?

[@violet4447]

Can I make a game based on movies? I am think to create a Marvel Thor Game

[@mcsanad]

They didn't add factorio.

[@griffinbrooks6748]

u also recommend Fuze4 for nintendo switch! its great

[@hiimandiandi]

You should also check out Geometry Dash, people managed to make amazing stuff using the ingame editor. Just search up "GD MasterGame" or "GD H O W"

[@pattech3960]

My childhood game is literally LBP-1-2-3

[@abrarzaheen4871]

Gosh, I am literally watching this video after working on my 3d fps game ,I am having trouble with animation controlls .So I am thinking of quitting the project.😯😯😯😯

[@mikezenox]

Animations, in my opinion, can be quite tricky, especially when you have to manage all of it yourself. Start small and simple, then add more 'features' one at a time. If you can't figure something out, put it down temporarily and look at what else needs work. Most importantly remember to have fun, and good luck!

[@rickvanleeuwen9589]

I'm waiting for you guys to mention WarioWare DIY

[@ItsProjectGenesis]

Dreams is hands down the best game for learning game development. It's the future and this is coming from someone who only plays games in Dreams.

[@ohshidd1670]

ayooo, didn't expect to see u here!

[@umazuoge4551]

Can $100,000 be enough to build a mobile battle Royale game like pubg mobile? P.S I am not a game developer and I intend to outsource the game dev. I truly appreciate your help.

[@krilink]

Sad, don't have any well game for PC(

[@impopcorn155]

awwwwe yeah! levelhead!

[@infogeekzstudio6497]

Why you are still not having 1 million subscribers

[@NoelJasik]

I played little big planet when I was younger, now i actually develop games

[@lyingpancake95]

I so wish Dreams was available on PC. The tech behind the engine is amazing, but the interface, though well designed, is clunky and slow to navigate.

[@Pingoinnn]

Dreams is such a babe tbh

[@deutandev1728]

Gladiobot is cooltoo.

[@MayoAnimations]

i like to call games for learning game dev: GAME GAMES

[@leondreamcast]

Animal Crossing is another good one

[@skygreentangerine]

what about geometry dash? there's a discussion in the community if it should be considered a game engine of itself, with its flexible level editor and it's trigger system (just my opinion though).

[@blenderalien]

You should add Portal 2's map editor

[@unal.05]

It’s kinda sad to not see Roblox in lists like this lol

[@NourArt02]

Where's Scratch

[@mausmechwarriorsareusmerce5064]

Compared to the games in your list, this game is quite light and more casual, but it does fit the ideia of programing robots running in a factory. store.steampowered.com/app/1218020/Factory_Rally_Madness/

[@raseruuu3742]

woooooowww!!

[@3rdaxis649]

LBP2 was the shit.

[@playertwopoint0]

they missed little big planet ps vita

[@Vertex2dawrld]

I love the videos

[@AskGamedev]

thanks so much!

[@floreaanam]

Romania Cluj GG !

[@Wyldfoxx]

Keep an eye out for a game coming from me. Soon.

[@misterk7_-]

what about Roblox? It’s probably the closest thing to real game development

[@deprecated8036]

rip LBP3

[@navaneethambati]

Hello sir

[@amund8821]

Umm roblox.

[@sagesurya7221]

Bro, you miss fortnite game

[@aviationbutterr]

you know this game is about the best games to learn how to make games. Fortnite is a battle royal that steals little kids money. I guessing your a little kid from your amazing grammar

[@Hellothere-bm2fo]

@@aviationbutterr He aint wrong dood. Also you didnt capitalize your first letter. Nice english dood

[@toastedperfection2488]

@@Hellothere-bm2fo says the person who says "dood".