F2PMMO News Game Dev
One Month, One Game: How to Make Your First Game in 30 Days
Pick a tool, shrink the idea, and ship something a stranger can play by day 30. Engines compared.
Thirty days, adventurer. One game. No excuses.
Your first game won't be an MMO, and that's the point. It'll be small, a little rough, and finished. Finishing is the skill every studio is looking for, and it's the one most beginners never practice.
Here's the plan.
Which engine should you pick?
All of these are free to start. Pick one and stop shopping.
- Godot: free and open source, light enough for an old laptop, great for 2D and growing fast in 3D.
- Unity: Unity Personal is free for people and small studios with less than $200,000 in revenue and funding over the last 12 months. Huge tutorial library.
- Unreal Engine: free until a game earns $1 million in lifetime gross revenue, then a 5% royalty. Stunning 3D, a steeper climb.
- GameMaker: free for non-commercial use, and $99.99 once if you want to sell. Made for 2D.
- Roblox Studio or Fortnite's UEFN: free, and players are already there. You build inside their worlds and rules.
Not sure? Godot for 2D, Unity or Unreal for 3D, Roblox or UEFN if you want players on day one.
Week 1: What's the smallest version of your idea?
- Follow one beginner tutorial for your engine all the way to the end. Don't skip ahead.
- Write your game in one sentence: "You're a ___ who has to ___ before ___."
- Cut it in half. Then cut it again.
A single room with one enemy and one goal is a game. Start there.
Week 2: Can someone play it?
Build the core loop with gray boxes: move, act, win, lose, restart.
No art yet. If it isn't fun as gray boxes, art won't save it. Post a short clip as a work in progress and ask one question about it.
Week 3: Does it feel good?
Now add the things that make it feel alive: sound on every hit, a little screen shake, particles, a title screen, simple art.
Keep a list called Not this time. Every new idea goes there instead of into the game.
Week 4: Ship it
- Watch five people play without helping them. Fix the three worst problems they hit.
- Publish it on itch.io, where you choose the store's share and a free game costs nothing to list.
- Write a short postmortem: what worked, what didn't, what you'd do next.
Congratulations. You're a game developer who finishes things.
What's on F2PMMO for this?
The Your first game chain on Start Here follows this month step by step: pick a learning path, post a work in progress, get a critique, enter a challenge, and share something playable. Each step pays 10 VOID, and finishing makes you an Apprentice Dev.
