Creating your own Video Game.
By Nick Petlock on March 22, 2021
Video games over the past decade have quickly become one of the biggest and widely spread pastimes of many people of all ages. But something that has also come up in the past decade is not just the playing of these games, but the creation of them. Today, Independently produced games, or “Indie” games as they’re known, have become a mainstay in the industry and the greatest ones have reached fame greater than professional, AAA studios’ productions. Games such as Minecraft, Undertale, Stardew Valley, Hades, have reached stunning critical acclaim despite being made by an independent studio or even by the work of a single person.
So that begs the question, how can you make your own video games? Well, it can be hard for the everyman to begin making their own creations without the foundations of coding (which is a skill set of its own.) Luckily, there are numerous programs on the internet that make creating something you can be proud of easy and fun!
The RPG Maker Series
Spawning many classic such as Oneshot and Lisa: The Painful, the RPG Maker series of software has always worn its tagline, “Easy enough for a child, powerful enough for a professional” on its sleeve.
Those who are looking to create a great top-down RPG Story will find easy to use, “Tile” based setting creation, as well as menu’s you can use to make anything you want happen. You don’t need to know how to code, but for those that do, there are options for you too bring your games to the next level. There are numerous entries in this software line, spanning back upwards of 21 years.
The further back you go, the cheaper the options are, with even the oldest for sale, RPGMaker 2003, still being a very robust and thorough system. For those looking to play around and create some stories, I can’t recommend this one enough.
Pixel Game Maker MV
Made by the same production company that created the RPGMaker series, the “Pixel Game Maker MV” series is a rather new product meant to create side scrolling and top down games, like your favorite platformers and beat-em-up games.
The program retains its Tile-based setting creation from RPGMaker, but breaks the mold with its more complex, yet still easy to understand systems. You can use “Actions” and “Animations” to cause objects to move and behave in accordance in a system similar to flow charts. While the learning curve is larger due to the more complex nature of the programs, it is a boon for more visual thinkers who find long strings of code hard to parse.
The other downside of the program is its hefty price tag of $96, though its not a subscription model, so once you make the one payment, you have it (and the license to sell any games you make with it) for good. Plus, it goes on sale quite often, so you can time it to get the most bang for your buck.
Game Maker Studio
Developed by YoYo Games, the Game Maker Studio line was made to bridge the gap between those who don’t know how to code, and those who do, in a way where both parties could use the program effectively, and those that don’t might be able to be educated in how to code through it, using its own in-house coding language unique to the program.
Famous games such as Hotline Miami and even Undertale were developed in Game Maker Studio, which brings unparalleled options for those who want to make a game without cracking into a coding language. The downside of course, being the cost. Licenses for different platforms if you want to release on there are sold separately, and can rack up quite a pretty penny.
Still, for those who are willing to dig into it, its one of the most feature rich programs of its type, and the possibilities are limitless.
While the hobby can be a little time consuming, Game Development is a very fulfilling and rewarding hobby to take up, and through these programs, you can get a start in it no matter who you are!