4 answers
Blake
Student
2
Questions
Asked
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What are some of the most highly recommended tools and resources for getting into Video Game Design?
It would be a great help if I could get help finding any of these tools as I've been interested in video game design for a long time. Anything helps. Cheers!
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4 answers
Teklemuz Ayenew Tesfay
Electrical engineer, researcher and Software Developer
159
Answers
Ethiopia
Updated
Teklemuz Ayenew’s Answer
If you're just starting out in video game design, the first exciting step is choosing a game engine. Unity is an excellent choice for both 2D and 3D games, especially for beginners, because of its easy-to-use interface and tons of helpful tutorials. Unreal Engine is another great option, offering stunning graphics and visual scripting through Blueprints, which is perfect if you're not ready to dive into coding yet. For those focusing on 2D games, GameMaker Studio is a quick and simple tool that's fun to use. RPG Maker is fantastic for crafting story-driven RPGs and requires little to no coding experience.
To kick things off, explore YouTube channels like Brackeys (for Unity) and Game Maker’s Toolkit. Online courses on platforms such as Udemy, Coursera, and freeCodeCamp are also wonderful for guiding you through your learning journey. Books like The Art of Game Design and Game Design Workshop offer valuable insights into the field.
For creating game assets, Aseprite is a fantastic choice for pixel art, while Krita or GIMP are great for 2D illustrations. For 3D modeling, Blender is highly recommended. When it comes to sound, Audacity is perfect for audio editing, and Bfxr is ideal for retro sound effects. For music composition, give LMMS or Cakewalk a try. Joining communities on platforms like Itch.io, r/gamedev, and Discord servers such as the Unity Developer Hub can help you learn faster, get feedback, and stay inspired. Participating in game jams like GMTK or Ludum Dare is a fun way to practice, collaborate with others, and grow as a developer. Remember to start with small projects, finish them, and learn from each experience. Play games thoughtfully, take notes, and stay consistent—growth comes with time and effort.
Enjoy your game development adventure!
To kick things off, explore YouTube channels like Brackeys (for Unity) and Game Maker’s Toolkit. Online courses on platforms such as Udemy, Coursera, and freeCodeCamp are also wonderful for guiding you through your learning journey. Books like The Art of Game Design and Game Design Workshop offer valuable insights into the field.
For creating game assets, Aseprite is a fantastic choice for pixel art, while Krita or GIMP are great for 2D illustrations. For 3D modeling, Blender is highly recommended. When it comes to sound, Audacity is perfect for audio editing, and Bfxr is ideal for retro sound effects. For music composition, give LMMS or Cakewalk a try. Joining communities on platforms like Itch.io, r/gamedev, and Discord servers such as the Unity Developer Hub can help you learn faster, get feedback, and stay inspired. Participating in game jams like GMTK or Ludum Dare is a fun way to practice, collaborate with others, and grow as a developer. Remember to start with small projects, finish them, and learn from each experience. Play games thoughtfully, take notes, and stay consistent—growth comes with time and effort.
Enjoy your game development adventure!
Philip Pardoe
Game designer
1
Answer
Calabarzon, Calabarzon, Philippines
Updated
Philip’s Answer
I think the first question here is: what kind of video game designer do you want to be?
Grabbing an engine and designing games is a good start, but a lot of design roles don’t work directly with engines and require little to no code. In the industry, studios often use their own tools or in-house or modified engines.
If you want to design games, focus on understanding what makes a game good or bad. Do you need to play games to design them? No—but you do need to play enough to understand how design works in practice.
You’re asking for tools and resources, but I’ll explain this from my perspective as a designer. The tools I use are:
Miro
Figma
Notion
Spreadsheets
Word
Midjourney
I design systems—combat, enemy behaviours, world layouts, quest structures, etc. None of that required five years of Unity knowledge.
Learning an engine does help, especially if you plan to build and prototype your ideas. That’s a good way to start building a portfolio. If you're heading to university for game design, find a group of friends and build a game together. That’ll do far more for you than the degree itself. Actually finish and publish something—try Itch.io. If that’s the route you want, show companies you can finish what you start.
It’s hard to get a job as a game designer if all you have is design work. Design docs are often 200+ pages and hard to assess quickly. I didn’t spend much time learning engines—I just used Construct 2, a simple HTML5 engine, and started making things. I’ve been designing for over 10 years now.
My key advice:
Learn the business side.
Watch game reviews.
Watch people play games.
Follow industry trends.
Know what’s being released, who’s running the companies, how they make money, what’s working and what isn’t.
Ask: Why is this game bad or good? How would I improve it?
Focus on core analysis. For example, benchmark a game tutorial:
How long is it?
How are the controls explained?
How long do UI prompts stay on screen?
How long does the first combat section last?
These are practical tools to improve your design skills. Learn from what came before you.
Finally do not be afraid to specialise into design, if you really love designing boss battles and this is all you want to do then focus on that. If a studio can hire someone who's great at designing boss battles and they will happily do it 8 hours a day then you already stand out.
Good luck.
Grabbing an engine and designing games is a good start, but a lot of design roles don’t work directly with engines and require little to no code. In the industry, studios often use their own tools or in-house or modified engines.
If you want to design games, focus on understanding what makes a game good or bad. Do you need to play games to design them? No—but you do need to play enough to understand how design works in practice.
You’re asking for tools and resources, but I’ll explain this from my perspective as a designer. The tools I use are:
Miro
Figma
Notion
Spreadsheets
Word
Midjourney
I design systems—combat, enemy behaviours, world layouts, quest structures, etc. None of that required five years of Unity knowledge.
Learning an engine does help, especially if you plan to build and prototype your ideas. That’s a good way to start building a portfolio. If you're heading to university for game design, find a group of friends and build a game together. That’ll do far more for you than the degree itself. Actually finish and publish something—try Itch.io. If that’s the route you want, show companies you can finish what you start.
It’s hard to get a job as a game designer if all you have is design work. Design docs are often 200+ pages and hard to assess quickly. I didn’t spend much time learning engines—I just used Construct 2, a simple HTML5 engine, and started making things. I’ve been designing for over 10 years now.
My key advice:
Learn the business side.
Watch game reviews.
Watch people play games.
Follow industry trends.
Know what’s being released, who’s running the companies, how they make money, what’s working and what isn’t.
Ask: Why is this game bad or good? How would I improve it?
Focus on core analysis. For example, benchmark a game tutorial:
How long is it?
How are the controls explained?
How long do UI prompts stay on screen?
How long does the first combat section last?
These are practical tools to improve your design skills. Learn from what came before you.
Finally do not be afraid to specialise into design, if you really love designing boss battles and this is all you want to do then focus on that. If a studio can hire someone who's great at designing boss battles and they will happily do it 8 hours a day then you already stand out.
Good luck.
Rachel Masters
Kernel/Software Engineer
5
Answers
Fort Collins, Colorado
Updated
Rachel’s Answer
Hey Blake! I got a master's degree related to designing virtual environments, and to answer your question, it kind of depends on what your goal is.
Unity and Unreal Engine are the two most popular game engines, where you design games. Unreal has better out of the box graphics, and because the code is written using blueprints (which are almost like block code), it is very beginner friendly to learn. The blueprints are all written in C++, but that is mostly hidden, though you can write your own blueprints in C++ as well. However, it is a heavier engine in the sense that it is more computationally intensive and may be slower on your computer. Unity is faster and more lightweight but requires more formal coding in C#. There are a lot of youtube videos you can watch to learn Unity, and Unreal Engine actually has a free learning platform with different learning paths on their website you can look at.
As far as things you put in the game go (characters, trees, rocks, etc), these are called "assets." Both Unity and Unreal Engine have "asset stores" that have hundreds of free assets you can use which are a great place to start. Eventually, if you want to design your own assets, it is popular to learn 3D modelling in Blender, and if you want to make your own textures for the ground or walls in your game, it is beneficial to learn how to work with Photoshop or GIMP to create alpha channels for your images you want to make textures.
This is a lot of information, but most of the words/tools I have mentioned are googleable, so I'd start there!
Unity and Unreal Engine are the two most popular game engines, where you design games. Unreal has better out of the box graphics, and because the code is written using blueprints (which are almost like block code), it is very beginner friendly to learn. The blueprints are all written in C++, but that is mostly hidden, though you can write your own blueprints in C++ as well. However, it is a heavier engine in the sense that it is more computationally intensive and may be slower on your computer. Unity is faster and more lightweight but requires more formal coding in C#. There are a lot of youtube videos you can watch to learn Unity, and Unreal Engine actually has a free learning platform with different learning paths on their website you can look at.
As far as things you put in the game go (characters, trees, rocks, etc), these are called "assets." Both Unity and Unreal Engine have "asset stores" that have hundreds of free assets you can use which are a great place to start. Eventually, if you want to design your own assets, it is popular to learn 3D modelling in Blender, and if you want to make your own textures for the ground or walls in your game, it is beneficial to learn how to work with Photoshop or GIMP to create alpha channels for your images you want to make textures.
This is a lot of information, but most of the words/tools I have mentioned are googleable, so I'd start there!
Art Cab
3D Modeler
4
Answers
West Covina, California
Updated
Art’s Answer
Hi Blake!
There are several programs you may need for video game design! Typically, you may learn several of these programs and implement your skills where you see fit. You may not need to know every tool, but it is a good idea to learn what each one does, and which one you find to be the most exciting to use. This lets you know what you may want to focus on in for game development. There are different categories to game design, such as art/3d modeling, coding/rigging, and animating.
Some programs are: Autodesk Maya, Blender, 3dsMax, Zbrush, Substance Painter, Unreal Engine, Unity.
3D asset creation and animation is typically made in Maya(modeling, animation), open-source modeling and animation), and Zbrush(sculpting and high-resolution models). Substance painter is used for texturing some 3d assets. Unreal Engine and Unity are the game engines where the video games come to life.
There are a lot of online resources to start learning about video game design! There are millions of free learning videos online and many forums made available. You can find some of these through the developers' websites. Some external sites to learn more: youtube, reddit: gamedesign and gamedevelopment. If you continue with schooling, you can find colleges and universities that offer majors in video game design.
Good luck!
There are several programs you may need for video game design! Typically, you may learn several of these programs and implement your skills where you see fit. You may not need to know every tool, but it is a good idea to learn what each one does, and which one you find to be the most exciting to use. This lets you know what you may want to focus on in for game development. There are different categories to game design, such as art/3d modeling, coding/rigging, and animating.
Some programs are: Autodesk Maya, Blender, 3dsMax, Zbrush, Substance Painter, Unreal Engine, Unity.
3D asset creation and animation is typically made in Maya(modeling, animation), open-source modeling and animation), and Zbrush(sculpting and high-resolution models). Substance painter is used for texturing some 3d assets. Unreal Engine and Unity are the game engines where the video games come to life.
There are a lot of online resources to start learning about video game design! There are millions of free learning videos online and many forums made available. You can find some of these through the developers' websites. Some external sites to learn more: youtube, reddit: gamedesign and gamedevelopment. If you continue with schooling, you can find colleges and universities that offer majors in video game design.
Good luck!