You've probably spent hours staring at a screen, imagining a world that doesn't exist yet. Most people think learning how to create a video game is just about writing code or drawing cool characters, but honestly, it’s mostly about managing your own frustration. It’s messy. It’s tedious. You will likely spend three days trying to figure out why a door won't open, only to realize you forgot to give it a "collider."
The industry likes to glorify the "indie darling" story—the solo dev who strikes it rich—but the reality is closer to digital plumbing. You're connecting pipes, hoping they don't leak, and then trying to make the water look like magic. If you want to actually finish a project instead of letting it rot in a "New Folder" on your desktop, you need a reality check on the workflow.
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Stop Trying to Build Your Dream RPG First
It's the classic trap. You want to make the next Elden Ring or a sprawling space odyssey with 10,000 planets. Don't. You'll fail. Even Eric Barone, who spent years making Stardew Valley, started with a clear, limited scope inspired by Harvest Moon.
Scope creep is the silent killer of every aspiring developer. When you're figuring out how to create a video game, your first goal isn't "fun"—it's "functional." Can a square move across the screen? Good. Can it jump? Better. If you can't make a simple block-jumping mechanic feel snappy and responsive, adding a 50-hour storyline won't save you.
Start with a "Vertical Slice." This is a tiny, polished portion of your game that shows off the core loop. If your game is about shooting slimes, make one room, one gun, and three slimes. Get that feeling perfect before you even think about Level 2. High-level designers at studios like Naughty Dog use this to prove a concept works before spending millions. You should do it to prove to yourself that the game is actually worth making.
Choosing Your Engine Without Losing Your Mind
You’re going to hear a lot of shouting about engines. Unity is great for 2D and mobile. Unreal is the king of high-end visuals and "Blueprints." Godot is the open-source underdog that everyone is rooting for lately.
- Unity: Still the industry standard for indies. It uses C#, which is a very logical, middle-ground language. Not too hard, not too easy.
- Unreal Engine 5: Use this if you want your game to look like a movie. The "Blueprint" system lets you script logic by connecting nodes visually, which is a lifesaver if you hate typing code.
- Godot: It’s lightweight. It’s free. It’s growing fast. If you’re a fan of open-source philosophy, this is your home.
- GameMaker: Still a powerhouse for 2D. Undertale and Hyper Light Drifter were made here.
Picking an engine is like picking a car; they all get you to the grocery store, but some are better for off-roading while others are built for speed. Don't get paralyzed by the choice. Most skills you learn in one—like logic, spatial math, and asset management—transfer to the others anyway. Just pick one and stick with it for at least six months.
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The Invisible Art of Game Design
Design isn't art. Design is communication. You're teaching the player how to play without them realizing they're being taught. Think about the first level of Super Mario Bros. No text boxes. No tutorials. Just a goomba walking toward you. You either jump or you die. You just learned the whole game in four seconds.
When you're deep in the weeds of how to create a video game, you’ll probably over-explain things. Resist that urge. Humans are natural problem solvers. If you give them a locked door and a shiny key on a pedestal, they’ll figure it out.
Logic is everything. You need to understand "State Machines." Is the player "Idle"? Are they "Running"? Are they "Attacking"? You can't be all three at once. Mapping out these states on a piece of paper before you touch a keyboard will save you dozens of hours of debugging later. It sounds boring because it is, but it’s the difference between a buggy mess and a polished experience.
Why Your Art Doesn't Need to Be Good (Yet)
Placeholder art is your best friend. Use gray cubes. Use spheres. Use "Capsules" for characters. If the game is fun when it's just gray boxes hitting each other, it'll be incredible when you add the textures and lighting.
I’ve seen too many people spend a month painting a character's face only to realize that the character doesn't fit the gameplay mechanics and needs to be deleted. Work in "Graybox." This means building your entire level out of simple geometric shapes. Test the flow. Can the player reach that ledge? Is this hallway too long? Adjust the boxes. Once the "fun" is locked in, then—and only then—bring in the artists or start browsing the asset store.
The Technical Debt Nobody Warns You About
Coding is easy. Writing maintainable code is the hard part.
When you're learning how to create a video game, you'll likely write "Spaghetti Code." This is code that is so tangled and messy that changing one thing breaks ten other things. You change the player's jump height, and suddenly the main menu is upside down.
- Comment your code. Future you will be an idiot. Write notes to that idiot explaining why you did what you did.
- Version Control. Use Git or PlasticSCM. If you don't use version control, one day your project file will get corrupted, and your three months of work will vanish. It’s not a matter of "if," it’s a matter of "when."
- Modular systems. Don't write a unique script for every single enemy. Write one "Health" script and put it on everything that can die.
Audio is 50% of the Experience
Seriously. If you play a horror game on mute, it’s not scary. If you play an action game without "thud" sounds when you hit something, it feels cheap. Sound effects provide "juice." Juice is the tactile feedback that makes a game feel alive. Screenshake, particle effects, and a solid "clink" sound when you pick up a coin are more important than 4K textures.
You can find amazing free sounds on sites like Freesound.org or buy packs on the Unity Asset Store. Just make sure the "foley"—the ambient sounds like footsteps or wind—is consistent. If your grass footsteps sound like gravel, the player will feel a subconscious "wrongness" that ruins immersion.
The Reality of Testing and "Killing Your Darlings"
You are the worst person to test your own game. You know where all the secrets are. You know how to avoid the bugs. You need to put the controller in the hands of someone who has never seen the game and then shut up. Don't help them. If they get stuck, your design is bad. If they can't figure out where to go, your lighting is bad. It hurts to watch someone struggle with something you thought was obvious. It’s a gut punch. But it’s the only way to make the game better.
Sometimes, you’ll have a feature you love—maybe a complex crafting system—but testers find it confusing and boring. You have to be willing to cut it. This is called "killing your darlings." Professional studios at the level of Blizzard or Valve cut massive amounts of content that just wasn't "hitting."
How to Actually Ship the Thing
Finishing is a skill. It's actually a completely different skill than starting. The last 10% of the work takes 90% of the time. This is where you deal with menus, save systems, resolution settings, and bug fixes. It’s the least "creative" part of the process, which is why most people quit here.
To get through it, you need a deadline. Join a Game Jam on itch.io. These are competitions where you have to make a game in 48 hours or a week. It forces you to make decisions quickly and actually finish a product.
When you're figuring out how to create a video game, the goal of your first three projects should be to release anything. Even if it's a "Flappy Bird" clone. The feeling of seeing your game on a public webpage where people can download it is the fuel you need to tackle the bigger projects.
Marketing and Discovery
If you build it, they won't necessarily come. You need to be your own hype man. Start a "DevLog" on YouTube or TikTok early. Show the ugly parts. People love seeing the "behind the scenes" of how bugs happen.
Steam is the goal for most, but itch.io is the best place to start. It’s low pressure. You can get feedback from real players without the harshness of Steam reviews.
- Steam Page: Create this as soon as you have a few polished screenshots. You need to collect "Wishlists."
- Discord: Build a small community. Even 50 dedicated fans are better than 5,000 bots.
- Press Kits: Have a folder ready with your logo, screenshots, and a short description. Journalists and YouTubers are busy; make it easy for them to talk about you.
Your Path Forward
Don't buy a $2,000 course. Don't spend six months writing a "Design Document" that no one will read.
Download an engine today. Look up a "Hello World" tutorial. Make a character move. That’s it. You’re a game developer. The rest is just solving one tiny problem after another until you have something you're proud of.
- Pick one engine (Unity, Unreal, or Godot) and commit to it for one project.
- Scope down until it feels "too simple," then simplify it again.
- Create a core loop that is fun with just cubes and spheres.
- Join a 48-hour Game Jam to practice the "act of finishing."
- Set up a basic version control system like Git immediately to protect your work.