Make Your Own Game Course

Lesson 1 • Game Genres and Their Conventions

Surveys major game genres and their defining mechanics. Helps students choose a genre that fits their skills and goals.

Lesson 2 • Core Design Pillars

Introduces the pillars of fun, challenge, and reward that anchor every design decision. Connects abstract theory to practical design choices.

Lesson 3 • What Makes a Game a Game

Defines games through rules, goals, feedback, and player agency. Establishes shared vocabulary used throughout the course.

Lesson 1 • Designing the Core Game Loop

Breaks down the action-reward-repeat cycle that keeps players engaged. Students map their own game loop using a structured diagram.

Lesson 2 • Balancing Mechanics Early

Introduces numerical tuning and playtesting to balance difficulty and reward. Students apply basic math to their mechanic parameters.

Lesson 3 • Understanding Core Mechanics

Defines core mechanics as the repeated actions players perform. Shows how mechanics drive all other design decisions.

Lesson 1 • Building a Digital Prototype

Guides students through creating a minimal playable version in their chosen engine. Focuses on testing the core mechanic, not aesthetics.

Lesson 2 • Iteration Cycles and Decision Gates

Introduces structured iteration loops with clear go/no-go criteria. Teaches students when to pivot, persist, or kill a concept.

Lesson 3 • Paper Prototyping Techniques

Teaches card, board, and token-based prototyping to test mechanics without code. Produces a testable physical prototype.

Lesson 4 • The Prototyping Mindset

Establishes fail-fast thinking and the value of cheap, quick experiments. Removes perfectionism as a barrier to iteration.

Lesson 1 • Environmental Storytelling

Uses props, lighting, and layout to convey narrative without text. Reinforces world-building goals established in the GDD.

Lesson 2 • Playtesting and Iterating Levels

Applies structured observation and data collection to refine level layouts. Students revise levels based on tester behavior.

Lesson 3 • Principles of Level Design

Covers spatial storytelling, flow, and the teach-test-twist framework. Provides the conceptual foundation for all level work.

Lesson 4 • Enemy and Obstacle Placement

Covers strategic placement of enemies and hazards to create tension and pacing variety. Connects placement decisions to difficulty curves.

Lesson 1 • Sound Design and Music Integration

Covers sourcing, editing, and implementing sound effects and background music. Connects audio choices to emotional tone and player feedback.

Lesson 2 • Building a Cohesive Style Guide

Consolidates all visual and audio decisions into a reusable style guide document. Ensures consistency across all future assets.

Lesson 3 • Defining Your Visual Style

Guides students through choosing an art direction that matches genre, audience, and team skill. Produces a visual style reference sheet.

Lesson 4 • Creating Game-Ready 2D Art

Covers sprite creation, animation frames, and asset optimization for 2D games. Students produce a character sprite sheet.

Lesson 1 • Enemy AI and Behavior Systems

Builds simple AI using state machines and pathfinding. Connects AI behavior to the challenge design established in earlier chapters.

Lesson 2 • Player Input and Movement Systems

Implements keyboard, mouse, and controller input mapped to player movement. Produces a responsive, configurable input system.

Lesson 3 • UI and HUD Implementation

Creates health bars, score displays, menus, and pause screens. Ties UI elements to underlying game data in real time.

Lesson 4 • Save Systems and Data Persistence

Implements save and load functionality to preserve player progress. Covers file-based and preference-based storage approaches.

Lesson 1 • Designing a Playtest Session

Teaches how to set clear test objectives, recruit testers, and prepare test materials. Ensures every session yields actionable data.

Lesson 2 • Collecting Quantitative Data

Introduces in-game metrics, completion rates, and session length tracking. Complements qualitative findings with measurable evidence.

Lesson 3 • Prioritizing and Applying Changes

Teaches triage frameworks to rank feedback by impact and effort. Students produce a prioritized change list and implement top fixes.

Lesson 4 • Remote and Asynchronous Playtesting

Covers tools and methods for gathering feedback without in-person sessions. Expands tester pool beyond local contacts.

Lesson 1 • Preparing a Release Build

Covers build optimization, platform-specific settings, and quality assurance checklists. Produces a stable, submission-ready build.

Lesson 2 • Post-Launch Support and Updates

Teaches patch management, player communication, and roadmap planning after release. Sustains player engagement and revenue over time.

Lesson 3 • Marketing and Community Building

Covers pre-launch marketing, social media strategy, and community engagement. Builds an audience before and after launch.

Lesson 4 • Monetization Models and Ethics

Compares premium, free-to-play, and subscription models with ethical considerations. Helps students choose a model aligned with their audience.