12+ Best Game Development Courses & Certifications

So, You have got some ideas to create your own game and want to give it a try?

Or you are someone who wants to build your career around Game development.

There might be so many choices but the main motive for you to be here is to learn game development. And being a skill that can be learned digitally it would be good for you to take some Game Development courses for getting on track.

This field is of continuous learning and evolution as new concepts and technologies keep on coming. Some people prefer working on their own gaming projects and others are interested to work with some big-shot gaming companies. It totally depends on you what you choose and how you reach there.

And even if you choose to work in a company you will need to have your own portfolio to showcase your skills. In some countries, there are very few opportunities for game developers and that makes it a competitive field to go with. But if you have the passion and right skills then nobody can take the chance for you to become a renowned Game developer.

Now when it comes to designing and developing games then there are some commonly used tools. Most of the developers use Unity and Unreal as the gaming engine which helps in the easy development of 2D and 3D games. The most common languages used are C++, C#, and Java. Different types of game procedures might require different tools and languages like for creating the graphical models you might be using the Blender tool.

Online Learning Can be a Lifeline to Those Who Have Obstacles , Such as Geographical Distances or Physical Abilities.

That’s a pretty good introduction out there and now I shall move to the topic of this article. I have created a list of best game development courses that can help you in your learning path. Choosing the type of career is totally your choice and there is no definitive guide for making you choose the perfect one.

I am starting the list with some guides to get you an overview of how things work and then we can move on to the list of courses.

Best Game Development Guides for Beginners

1. Video Tutorial from Unity Learn

Unity is one of the most popular game development engines. And thus it becomes their responsibility to help people in getting the best out of their efforts. This is a tutorial with byte-sized videos sharing some amazing tips and strategies for getting started with your game development journey.

The tutorial videos are really very interesting and got working examples for learners. Also, they have used animations to connect with the creative minds out there who are willing to dive into this amazing field.

2. Beginner’s Guide from Simple Programmer

Just like their name they have created a simple but effective guide for beginners. It answers many questions that always confuse beginners when they want to start developing their first game. After reading the guide you will have a basic understanding of how things actually work in this field.

Getting your things clear right from the beginning will help you in getting ahead of the competition. Wasting time in things that don’t work will not yield any good results.

3. From Zero to Game Designer – freeCodeCamp

It was very hard for me to find guides for game development. There are hardly any guides with updated insights that could help beginners. Then I got this guide from freeCodeCamp and my love for them increased a bit. This is the guide that you can bookmark and come back to read whenever you feel something missing in your process of game development.

They have divided the process into 6 main stages which include Design, Art, Code, Audio, Polish & Market. And they have not just mentioned these stages but have explained them further with so many examples. You surely need to give this a reading.

4. Beginner’s Guide from Kenney

Kenney is a game studio that creates some of the most amazing games and assets. They have created this guide for sharing some knowledge about the process of creating your first ever game. The guide is divided into 6 levels with each covering major problems that beginner’s face like choosing the tools, finding resources, building something amazing, and more.

After going through the book the reader will be ready to sign in to the tools and start building games. Moreover, it also shows how you can work on your feedback process for the next projects that you will be creating. Creating a game is just one thing and marketing it is another one. So you need to have a grip on both of these tasks.

Best Game Development Courses

After going through the above guides you might have got enough understanding of this field. You may also have decided if this is something that you can move forward with. So, we should be moving to the list of some best game development courses.

1. C# Programming for Unity Game Development (Coursera)

This is a specialization from Coursera consisting of 5 courses. It is created for beginner programmers who are just entering into the field of developing games. The courses will help you in learning to program games in the Unity engine with the help of C# language.

The course duration is of 5 months and students are suggested to give 6 hours a week into it. After completing the course the students will gain multiple skills including Video game development, C# Programming language, Unity engine, and more. There are multiple hands-on projects too as every other Coursera specialization includes.

The courses included in the specialization are:

1. Introduction to C# Programming and Unity
2. More C# Programming and Unity
3. Intermediate Object-Oriented Programming for Unity Games
4. Data Structure and Design Patterns for Game Developers
5. C# For Game Development Capstone Project

The specialization is paid but you can audit individual courses without a certificate for free.

2. Complete C# Unity Developer 2D (Udemy)

Although Unity is more of 3d games it has created many popular 2d games as well. And if you are going with C# for developing games then you are good to go. The course will be teaching students C# language from scratch with no prior programming knowledge required. Also, you will be learning the process to work on the Unity game engine.

This is one of the most-watched Unity courses on Udemy having more than 3 lac students at present. You will be learning the skills and then it helps in creating your own video games from scratch on Unity. If you are interested in building 2D games then this course is for you.

The games that you will create in this course:

• Laser Defender: A space shooter game with enemies where you will shoot and dodge
• Glitch Garden: A tower defense game
• TileVania: Class Side-Scrolling platformer game
• Block Breaker: A basic Breakout style game

3. Complete C# Unity Developer 3D (Udemy)

Now comes another course on C# and unity but this one is for building 3D games. Same as the other course you will be learning C# programming language from scratch. Then you will be learning the Unity interface to build games. This is just the next updated version of the 2D course.

The course has got more than 80,000 enrolled students with 14,613 ratings. Students have given it 4.6 stars based on the course content and guidance. The content has been updated as per the latest Unity version and the segments not updated yet are still suitable for Unity 2019.

Just like the 2D course here you will be creating some 3D games including Rails Shooter, Tower Defense, and first-person shooter.

4. Game Development Masterpack from Eduonix

We have featured Eduonix a lot of times in our free courses segment. They also have some paid courses and found good reviews for their courses on the Internet. This is the reason I thought to list them in this article. They have created a Game Development Masterpack where they provide 4 game development courses in a single pack. They have used the Ruby programming language and Unity platform for building the games.

The courses included in the master pack are:

• A-Frame Web VR Programming Tutorial Series
• Intro to Ruby or Game Development
• Learn to Code by Making an Air Hockey Game
• The Complete Game Developer Course Build 60 Games

The last module just amazed me as they are providing tutorials on building 60 games. This will help you in polishing your skills up to much extent. And they are providing it at a discounted price currently so you can check it out. So, this is one of the best free game development courses.

5. Charger Games

YouTube as you all might know is considered the best platform for learning new skills. There are so many creators trying way hard to provide amazing tutorials on different tech skills. I always list top YouTube channels in my list of resources for you.

Here is a YouTube channel Game Changer which shares tutorials on Game Development. Some videos are even 4 hours long which covers the complete topic in depth just like a course. You don’t need to pay anything for learning and the reviews in the comments are also in support of the channel.

6. Blender Guru

Game Development requires so many things in total including music, arts, characters, objects, etc. Blender is used to create 3d objects and interfaces that you interact with inside a game. There are so many tools for that but this is one of the most popular ones.

Blender Guru is a YouTube channel with over 1 million active subscribers. It shares tutorial videos on how to use Blender to create 3d objects, graphics, environments, etc. You can go through the playlists to find so many videos for explaining every bit of the Blender tool. Also, they share videos whenever there is a new update on the platform to present the changes that it came with.

7. Shaun Spalding

So all the tutorials that I shared earlier were about Unity mainly. This YouTube channel shares game making tutorials majorly on Game Maker Studio which is a good alternative to Unity. When it comes to 2D games making many people prefer Game Maker Studio over Unity so you can also give it a try.

The channel hosts a variety of videos showcasing the use of Game Maker Studio. Some tutorials go in-depth and show you real examples of working games. If you are a beginner then you must try the tutorials for some working tips and processes to build your first game.

8. Brackeys Tutorials

This is also a good YouTube channel for learning the nuts and bolts of developing games. The channel was started in 2012 and since then it is here to provide tips and tutorials. Mostly focused on the Unity engine it shares all the possible details on using the platform perfectly. The process of building games requires so much effort on polishing it with fine details such as textures, lighting, visual effects, and more.

I found a video on the channel which teaches to create a replica of Color Switch which once was my favorite game. There are more such tutorials that you can look at. The channel also shares some tutorials on Blender which I already told is an important tool for building game graphics.

9. Unreal Engine C++ Developer (Udemy)

I have covered Unity and Game Makers Studio with the previous courses. Now we are left with the Unreal engine which is also a popular game development platform. This course from Udemy covers building games on Unreal with the help of the C++ programming language. First, the course will cover learning C++ programming language and then will take you the learning path of basics of Games and visuals.

It uses Unreal version 4 for the Tutorials and lets you build some games including Triple X, Bulls & Cows, Building Escape, and Battle Tank. It currently has around 2 lac students enrolled with more than 37,000 ratings. Serving 42 hours of the course material at a discounted price from Udemy is also something that is good for students.

Here comes an end to this amazing list of game development courses and certifications that you can join and start learning. Hope you liked the list do share your feedback in the comments. Also share it with someone who needs it the most. ♥