How To Make A Game

You've played plenty of them, and think you've amassed enough knowledge about what does and doesn't work. But how do you make a game? In the coming weeks we'll be publishing a wide range of advice on how to make your first videogame: the tools to use, the platforms to target, sources of funding and, once it's out there, how to avoid your game sinking without trace in an increasingly competitive market.

One thing's for sure: would-be game developers have never had so many options at their disposal. Thanks to the App Store and Xbox Live Indie Games, it's possible for lone bedroom coders to hit it big for the first time since the 1980s. Tools like Game Maker require minimal prior experience or knowledge of coding languages. With Unity, it's possible to make games with console-quality visuals on a shoestring; Epic Games, meanwhile, won't take royalty fees from sales of a game developed in Unreal Engine until it makes $50,000 in revenue.

Kickstarter may be an increasingly tough nut to crack, but it's made it possible for devs to fund ambitious projects without giving up IP to publishers or company stock to venture capitalists. Sure, Sony lost Limbo because it wanted the IP, but it's a committed supporter of the indie cause through its $20 million Pub Fund. There's the newly announced Steam Greenlight, too, letting developers build a following for a game while it's still in development.

Then, when your debut game has launched, the real battle begins to ensure it stands out on the download services. The sparser release schedules on XBLA or PSN will help you stand out, though you'll have to know how to pitch a game to publishers for that. If you're releasing in a crowded space like the App Store, though, you'll need skill at marketing games on social media.

This, then, is the hub page for How To Make A Game. It will be updated as we add more content in the weeks and months to come, as we seek to create the internet's principal destination for budding developers who have a great concept, but no idea of how to make it a reality. In time, then, you'll find below a host of stories, broken down into sections, each containing essential advice from developers, publishers and marketers on making your first videogame.

Development tools

Core advice: the dev tools to give you the edge
Getting started with Game Maker
Developing with Unity

Platforms

Core advice: the platforms on which to start your career

Mobile

Core advice: making a living from mobile
How to make an iPhone game

Console

Making PS Minis

Working with partners

How to pitch your game to publishers

Marketing

Core advice: marketing games on social media