Learn to Code

You want to get started with game creation and programming but don't know where to start? That's what this study guide is about.

This guide is for you if you have little to no programming experience. You will learn:

1. That you should learn programming foundations first
2. That programming is for everyone. It's not just about math and it's not just for men or young people
3. How to get started today

Take it one step at a time

Game creation can feel overwhelming at first. We've all had a tough time getting started whether we remember it or not.

To make games alone you have to learn both:

1. Game design, how to come up with interesting mechanics, rules, and goals for the players
2. And programming, or how to translate your design into a language that the computer understands

That's a lot to tackle all at once. Like any creative discipline, it takes time, and the learning process itself can be rewarding.

Code and design are whole new worlds to discover and explore. Take your time, stay curious.

You may not be able to communicate your vision at first and you'll stumble upon obstacles along the way. But you'll also have plenty of "ah-ha" moments and deep satisfaction when your family and friends get to play your games.

When you are just starting out, you should focus on code and game design separately. Be it in parallel or one after the other, you should learn the basics, write a few programs, design simple games on paper... then bring both disciplines together to make video games.

What do you want to create?

To stay motivated it's best if you understand why you're learning and what your objectives are.

What drives you to create your own game? Take a moment to think about the following questions:

• What game do you want to make?
• Are you doing this for fun, as a hobby, or to become a professional?
• What do you need to learn first to achieve these two goals?

There's no right or wrong answer here. Here's how I got started, a long time ago:

"I want to create a small RPG inspired by Japanese games for fun, finish it, and share it with my friends. I want to do everything so I need to learn to do game design, to write a story, to code the game, to draw characters and environments, to design levels, to make sounds and music, ... err, where should I start?"

— Naive 13-year-old me

It was a lot to take on alone. Over the years I built some foundation in most of those areas, though programming came last for me. Eventually I found my path as a game development teacher rather than a game developer, which turned out to be the right fit.

One of our old Adventure game projects with Nemega

You will have to be patient. Start small and hone each skill you need separately. You don't have to do everything all alone either. With a little bit of experience you can team up with complementary game creators during game jams for example.

Let's assume that you want to make video games by yourself. Maybe it would just be game prototypes that you can try out with your friends and flesh out with the help of a developer at a later stage. You're going to have to dive into code, but...

To code games, you need programming foundations

If you jump straight into a game editor and try to write code you're in trouble. A game engine is a large collection of technologies that add hundreds, if not thousands of new tools and functions to learn on top of programming foundations. You're going to get stuck often and you'll hit frustrating roadblocks. If you don't know what variables, functions, loops, and data structures are or how they work to some extent, you'll want to build solid foundations first.

"You need to write code to become a developer. Many beginners are afraid to write code that breaks. You won't break your computer. Sure your app will crash and there may be bugs but that's okay. You can only learn by trying."

— Valryon, co-founder of Pixelnest

To get good foundations you should:

1. Learn your first language and get a sense for basic programming tools like variables, functions, loops, and data structures
2. Write simple programs like text-only interactive games or scripts to automate boring tasks on your computer
3. Read code from other people and try to understand what it does

Keep the KISS principle in mind: Keep it Short and Sweet. Short, focused practice sessions are more effective than long ones.

The first language you'll learn isn't that important

There are hundreds of programming languages out there. But it isn't that bad: by learning one language you learn a lot more than syntax. You're going to learn concepts like variables, loops, and data structures that work about the same in most programming languages. C++, JavaScript, C#, etc. have a lot of similarities so moving from one to the next won't feel like starting all over again.

Dozens of languages are represented in these old tech and programming textbooks. CC 3.0 SA Victorgrigas

Learning a given language is a small part of learning programming. As you gain experience, you'll acquire more and more knowledge that you will be able to transpose across tools and languages: how to structure your code, how to avoid bugs, how to learn on your own without relying on tutorials...

Programming is for everyone

You don't need to start with a tough, low-level language like C++. When I was in middle school, a more experienced developer taught me C++, his argument being that it is one of the most widely used languages. At the age of 14, I got a 1000 pages long intro to C++. I had a horrible experience reading it and concluded that programming was not for me: I was disgusted and stayed away from code for years.

I got back into code with Construct 2's visual event system, working as a junior game designer on mobile games. The engine's creators sold it as a code-free engine. That seemed perfect for a designer like me!

Construct's event sheets work by picking conditions on the left and coding actions or consequences on the right

It took me a few months to realize that I was storing values in variables, writing calculations, using functions and loops, data containers like arrays… I was actually programming, and it was fun! From there I learned some JavaScript, then Python. It felt nothing like my first experience with C++. Going through these steps eased me into it.

My first experience with C++ put me off programming for years. But the problem was not programming itself, it was starting with a tool that was not right for where I was. That is more common than you might think, and it has nothing to do with your ability to learn.

"Programming is for everyone. You don't need to be a man, to be young or "gifted". If I had started earlier I would've avoided a lot of obstacles in my career. It's a myth that we should debunk right now."

— Florïn Zolli, level designer at Ankama (Dofus, Wakfu), community manager at MotionTwin, now studying development

Women can code just as well as men. Designers and artists can also code. Programming is for everyone. The main thing is finding a starting point that works for you, and that is what the rest of this guide is about.

Don't start with C++

C++ is a complicated, feature-packed language designed to write code that runs fast. It is not meant to be accessible, and it is not a good starting point for someone new to programming. You do not need C++ to get started, and you do not need it to become a professional game developer.

You do not have to enjoy math or love coding for its own sake to make games. Some developers are driven by projects and creative goals rather than by the craft of programming itself, and that is a perfectly fine way to work. The taste for programming as a craft can come with experience.

Programming can feel dry and full of rules with no obvious connection to anything creative. But it is actually a problem-solving activity, and the problems you will be solving are things like "how do I make this character jump" or "how do I keep track of the player's score." There are always multiple ways to solve a given problem, and you will develop your own sense for it over time.

The next section covers one way many beginners ease into writing code without jumping straight into text.

Can I use visual programming instead of writing code?

Visual programming tools like Scratch, Clickteam Fusion, or Unreal's Blueprints are also programming and allow you to create different kinds of games. If you use them, you are already thinking like a programmer, storing values in variables, using conditions and loops, and so on. It is a perfectly valid way to start creating.

That said, text-based code scales better as your projects grow. Visual languages tend to get harder to manage at scale because connecting blocks and navigating menus becomes slower than just writing a few lines. Godot's scripting language in particular, GDScript, has a simple and readable syntax, and most beginners find it approachable fairly quickly. It is worth giving it a try before deciding visual tools are the only option for you.

Start with GDScript

Be patient. It won't take long before you can get started with game programming. Try to spend about 20 hours on programming basics first, then start making games while you keep building your skills in parallel.

Here is a small example of what GDScript looks like in practice. This moves a character based on player input:

var speed = 500.0

func _physics_process(delta):
	var movement_direction = Input.get_vector(
		"move_left", "move_right", "move_up", "move_down"
	)
	velocity = movement_direction * speed
	move_and_slide()

The app teaches you concepts like variables, conditions, loops, and functions through interactive exercises, so you write real code from the very first lesson.

Resources to get started

Start with Learn GDScript From Zero, a free and open-source interactive app that teaches you the basics of programming using GDScript. You write real code directly in the browser and get immediate feedback. It is the right starting point if you have little or no programming experience.

Once you have the basics down, our beginner's learning path will take you through the next steps: getting to know the Godot editor, making your first 2D and 3D games, and going further from there.

Summary

That was a long article. Here are the key points to remember:

1. You will need some programming foundations before you can make your own video games
2. Learning to code may feel hard at first but it gets easier with practice
3. You do not have to start with a difficult language
4. Code is for everyone, not only people who like math, not only men
5. Learning to code is a bit like learning a foreign language: you have to write and read a lot of it to get comfortable

Your Questions

What programming techniques and tools should I learn exactly before doing game code?

The answer depends on your goals and how comfortable you are with computers. If you want to create games, you do not need hundreds of hours of programming practice before making your first game. You can work on your programming skills and make games in parallel. You just need those first twenty hours to get a footing. Try not to learn everything at the same time though. Taking on programming, design, art, and music all at once makes it hard to make real progress in any one area.

Here are the concepts you should be comfortable with before writing game code:

1. Types tell the computer what kind of data you are working with. A whole number, a decimal number, a piece of text: these are all different types. Many bugs come from mixing up types without realizing it when you're getting started.
2. Variables are named containers that hold data while your program is running. A variable might hold the player's current health, their position, or their name.
3. Conditions let your code make decisions and take different paths depending on the situation. For example: if the player's health reaches zero, show the game over screen.
4. Loops let you repeat a set of instructions many times. A video game itself runs inside a big loop that updates everything on screen, typically at least 60 times per second.
5. Functions are reusable blocks of code that do a specific job. You give them a name, and you can call them whenever you need that job done.
6. Arrays and dictionaries let you store collections of data. An array is an ordered list, like a list of enemies on screen. A dictionary maps keys to values, like a phonebook maps people to phone numbers.
7. Objects and nodes: in Godot, the base building blocks of your games are nodes, and nodes are a kind of object. Think of a node as a self-contained piece of your game that has its own data and its own behavior. For example, an image you can hide, show, move, and rotate, and scale. You do not need to go deep into theory here, but knowing how to read and change a node's data is something you will do from your very first project.

Once you are comfortable with these, focus on the problem in front of you and write the simplest code that solves it. Read the problem, break it into small steps, and translate those steps into code one at a time. That's what developers do in a nutshell.

The goal at this stage is to get comfortable reading and writing code. You don't have to worry about abstract patterns or principles. You'll learn some of them later, once you have enough experience to see why they matter.

updates / code patches

• This guide has been rewritten to provide up-to-date recommendations in line with our approach to teaching today. It now recommends starting with GDScript and our Learn GDScript From Zero app rather than Python, as Godot now has all the resources beginners need to get started without learning a separate language first.
• Suggest an update.
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