10 Free Online Game Design Courses

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Useful knowledge for those who want to master a new profession or are simply interested in the gaming industry.

1. Game designer: how to create games from scratch

Start of the lesson: October 22, 2018, 15.00 Moscow time.

Duration of the lesson: 1 hour 30 minutes.

Area: "Netology".

Language: Russian.

The lecturer will tell you what a game designer does, what is his role in the development team, what skills he should master and what projects should be looked up to. And also where can you go to work or train in this profession.

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2. Introduction to Game Design

Course duration: 4 weeks.

Area: Сoursera.

Organizer: California Institute of the Arts.

Language: English, with Russian subtitles.

Is free: 7 days trial period.

You will learn about the mechanics and rules of different games, the basic concepts of gaming and the reasons why users start or, conversely, stop showing interest in your project.

The course is theoretical, suitable for beginners. No programming skills required.

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3. Principles of game design

Course duration: 4 weeks.

Area: Сoursera.

Organizer: Michigan State University.

Language: English.

Is free: 7 days trial period.

With the basics in place and an idea in place, it's time to take action. The authors of the course will tell you how to go from concept to prototyping a game and testing it - a complex and multi-stage process.

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4. Creating a game "Snake" in Unity

Scope of the course: 5 lessons.

Area: Loftblog.

Language: Russian.

You will create a simple 3D game with animation and voice acting on the Unity platform. The snake will crawl across the screen and grow, eating red cubes. In general, everything is as it should be.

To complete the course, you will need Unity (version 4.6 or higher) and a source code editor. It is also desirable to be able to write simple scripts and have basic knowledge of the operation of the game engine.

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5. History of game design

Course start: October 29, 2018.

Course duration: 5 weeks.

Area: edX.

Organizer: Rochester Institute of Technology.

Language: English.

Is free: without a certificate.

If you want to be a good game designer, you must know the history of the industry - and it is over 50 years old! When the first video games appeared, why did the industry collapse in the 80s, at what point did virtual reality become a part of it? You will learn the answers to these and other questions by listening to an exciting course.

The program was developed in collaboration with the National Museum of Games, which houses the world's largest collection of video games and related materials.

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6. Game design and development: game characters

Course start: October 15, 2018.

Course duration: 2 weeks.

Area: Future Learn.

Organizer: Abertay University.

Language: English.

Is free: without a certificate.

In this course, you will learn how to develop a character that will satisfy the needs of gamers. This is not only the study of anatomy, graphic design, storytelling and gameplay, but also insights on how and why the player identifies himself with one or another hero.

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7. Development of a simple game in Unity 5

Scope of the course: 6 lectures.

Area: Udemy.

Course author: Random Developer.

Language: Russian.

You will create a car racing game: learn how to work with the game scene, establish interactions between objects and set up controls for touchscreen mobile phones.

Suitable for anyone looking to make cross-platform games in Unity. To work, you need an up-to-date version of Unity 5. You also need a minimum knowledge of the C # language.

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8. Making Your First Unity Game: A 2D Race for Dummies

Scope of the course: 17 lectures.

Area: Udemy.

Course author: Roman Sakutin.

Language: Russian.

A step-by-step course: from installing the program to developing your first game. You will learn how to work with the Unity platform and the Tile Editor, write scripts, and create simple artificial intelligence.

To work, you need Unity 2018. You also need to know the basics of the C # language.

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9. Making Your First Game: A JavaScript Arcade

Scope of the course: 12 lectures.

Area: Udemy.

Course author: Chris DeLeon.

Language: English.

A text editor and Internet access will be enough to complete the course. You will learn the basics of gameplay development by creating a do-it-yourself retro game inside and out.

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10. The history of music in video games

Course duration: 2 weeks.

Area: Future Learn.

Organizer: Abertay University.

Language: English.

Is free: without a certificate.

You will learn how the soundtracks for the very first games were created and how it is happening now. The course materials include exclusive interviews with composers of the gaming industry.

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