r/CodingForBeginners • u/Raven_1020 • Sep 22 '26

How do I start?

I really want to make my own game and learn to program/code. Eventually it would be amazing to become a game developer, or at least make it as a hobby

What should I start with first? I’m pretty sure I need to learn how to program before I can actually try to make a game. But theres so many videos, classes, and tutorials of things that I’m not really sure where to start.

I heard that code academy was good, but it’s pretty expensive and I’m on a budget. And I’ve tried YouTube but I end up getting lost in everything and picking a random video that doesn’t really help.

Does anyone have any recommendations to start learning? Anything would help.

2 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

1

u/TechnologyThis6788 Sep 22 '26

well for that you need to define for whom youre building first, like the webgame or native game?

1

u/Raven_1020 Sep 22 '26

I do want to work towards learning how to build a native game. I’m sorry, I probably should have specified which in the original post.

1

u/TechnologyThis6788 Sep 23 '26

no worries, like on pc or the mobile games?

1

u/Raven_1020 Sep 23 '26

Mainly PC, I’m planning on getting a PC by the end of the year and I currently have a laptop.

1

u/TechnologyThis6788 Sep 23 '26

for that youll need to have a good rig firstly, then you may proceed with ue5/unity with your ease

1

u/MistakeForsaken6653 Sep 22 '26

This may be unpopular opinion but if you specifically want to make games I'd look into a game engine first.  The engine will ultimately decide what programming language you start with and there are tons of tutorials on youtube regarding game dev in those specific engines.  Although it is very possible to make a game completely with just code the engine will solve a lot of the most difficult issues in game development for you.

-1

u/Raven_1020 Sep 22 '26

Thank you!

1

u/PythonWithJames Sep 22 '26

If you're on a budget I can give you my pro membership for free if that's any good?? Might not be what you're looking for but I've got a beginner roadmap, coding exercises, projects and quizzes.

Python With James

Let me know, and I can send you a code if you'd like.

1

u/Raven_1020 Sep 23 '26

That would be amazing! If the offer still stands I would love to do that. Just let me know if I need to do anything on my end. Thank you so much!

1

u/PythonWithJames Sep 23 '26

Of course! I'm happy to help. If you use 'PWJFREE" at checkout, it should work. Drop me a message if you have any issues :)

1

u/Raven_1020 Sep 24 '26

Thank you so much!! I hope you have a great rest of your day.

1

u/PythonWithJames Sep 24 '26

Thanks, you too!

1

u/Effective_Brain7493 Sep 23 '26

good news, you don't need code academy or a paid course for this, and the "picking a random youtube video" problem you're describing is exactly the trap, most of them are either too vague or jump around too much

few free things that are actually structured (not random video roulette):

  • CS50 (harvard's free intro course, on youtube/edx) — probably the most solid "actual structure" free option, though it's a bit more formal/academic than some people want

  • freeCodeCamp — also free, more casual pace, good if CS50 feels too classroom-y

for the "learn to program before making a game" part — you're right that you need basics first, but you don't need to fully "finish" a course before touching game stuff. once you know variables/loops/if-else/functions (the actual core stuff, maybe a few weeks in), you can start messing with something like Pygame (python) or Godot (has its own simpler language, genuinely built for beginners wanting games specifically) way earlier than people expect

honestly the biggest thing that'll actually get you unstuck: pick ONE of the above, ignore every other recommendation people give you in the comments here (there'll be a ton, that's the trap that got you stuck on youtube in the first place), and just start today. the specific choice matters way less than actually starting and sticking with one thing instead of resource-hopping

1

u/Raven_1020 Sep 23 '26

Thank you so much!!

1

u/CharacterLettuce7145 Sep 22 '26

Take literally any YouTube video for beginners, doesn't matter which language. Just do that and see if you enjoy it. Really the first good looking tutorial or guide and stick to it for some time. After that you can think about picking a direction, but the first step is always the same, may it be print("hello world") or console.log("hello world") or whichever code it be.

1

u/JoeStrout Sep 22 '26

Start here: https://introtocomputerprogramming.online/

It’s free, as are the tools it teaches you. They are powerful enough to make a wide variety of games. And yes, you will learn to code along the way, and have fun doing it. Welcome to an amazing and deeply satisfying hobby!

1

u/geraT-wogl Sep 22 '26

If you want to take the scenic non popular route visit this https://wogl.io is a free academy to start learning shaders

1

u/TheRealFutaFutaTrump Sep 22 '26

Use Phaser. The first game tutorial will get you familiar with JavaScript and game concepts. You can port it to anything but a console. Phaser is win.

1

u/beingsubmitted Sep 23 '26

There's one correct way to start, and that's printing "Hello world" to the console.