With the rise of mobile gaming, people all over the world are tapping into the huge video game market by creating and selling their games. Naturally, the number of people learning how to develop games has also increased.

So learning to create a video game from scratch can be fun and rewarding. And that’s why in this guide I will introduce you to the 5 steps to follow to develop a video game.

Step 1: Research and conceptualise your game

The first thing is to think about exactly what kind of game you are planning to create. Do some research and find out what skills you need to create this game and what kind of features it should have.

If you are serious about learning how to make a video game, you should take a couple of introductory courses before moving on.

On the other hand, if you are serious about creating an advanced video game, you may need to put in a little more effort.

Step 2: Work on a design document

Once you’ve figured out how to make a video game, conceptualised it, and started thinking about what you want it to look like, you need to put together a brief game outline, or design document, which includes what the game should look like and what needs to be done to build it.

Consider the following:

• The skills you have at your disposal. Things can get expensive if you have to start hiring people to do things because you don’t have the right skills.
• What language(s) you are going to use. This will help you narrow down how it will be built.
• What it should look/behave like.

Once you’ve drawn up your design document, it’s almost time to start programming!

Step 3: Decide what software is needed

The last thing you need to do before you set out to create a video game from scratch is to figure out what software you need.

Developing a simple mobile game from scratch doesn’t require a lot of sophisticated software, but more advanced games can require very powerful and specific software.

Note that you will also need a computer with a high quality processor and lots of RAM to run much of the software needed to create complex games.

Step 4: Start programming

Once you’ve downloaded the necessary software, it’s time to start programming! While more complex games require game engines to run, simple mobile games don’t need any of this. Simply decide in which language you are going to write your game and get started. For this step it would be interesting to have a professional team that handles 3D animation and works on the creation of the video game.

Step 5: Test your game and start marketing it!

Knowing how to make a video game will not make it successful, you will need marketing. The first thing you need to do is make sure you test everything about it so you can eliminate any bugs. This can take a long time, so make sure you are prepared to sit down for hours and try things out.

Marketing is relatively straightforward. I would recommend hiring a marketing consultant to at least help you get started, especially if you have no marketing experience. Getting people to buy your game is a bit more difficult, but you have a few options:

• Create a website where people can buy your game to download it.
• Create printed copies of your game and distribute them through different game shops and other retailers.

If you have created a mobile game, be sure to list it in the Apple app shop and Google Play store.

These are just some of the options you have. Again, talk to an expert if you are unsure of the best way to sell your game.

If you have any further questions about how you can create your video game from scratch, don’t hesitate to contact us.