How to Make an Indie Game for Free: A Step by Step Guide

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Group of diverse friends playing game on mobile phone

There’s never been a better time to break into game development. It’s no longer necessary to spend years interning with a major game company. We’ve never had so much access to such a wealth of powerful technology, either.

There’s a booming market for indie game development, too. There are currently more than 40,000 indie game titles listed on Steam. The most popular have sold billions of copies!

Even better still, you don’t have to spend a ton of money to create a great game. In fact, you don’t have to spend any money at all! 

Keep reading to find out how to make an indie game for free.

1. Develop Your Idea

All great games begin with a great idea. The first step in learning how to make an indie game for free is to flesh out your idea. Luckily, this is easy to do for free.

All you need is some paper and a pen, or maybe a whiteboard if you’re working with others. Of course, there are all sorts of fancy online tools for collaborative projects if you want to get flashy. It’s not necessary, though.

The main thing is to think through your game carefully. This is actually one of the most important and useful video game making tips for indie game development, as it will get you thinking like a programmer and a developer.

2. Decide on an Engine

One of the reasons we’re experiencing such a renaissance of video game creativity is that you don’t have to start from scratch every time you’ve got an idea. There are a ton of exceptionally powerful development tools, like Gamemaker Studio 2 or the Unreal Engine. 

Even better still, there are a ton of excellent resources out there for each. This makes it even easier still to learn how to make your own video game without spending a dime.

3. Jump in to Learn How to Make an Indie Game for Free

The best way to learn is by doing. If you try and over-think everything before you begin, you’ll get bogged down in details and the endless avalanche of information out there for any given digital subject. 

It also lets you cater to your background, as you can begin where you’re comfortable. If you already have some experience as a video game developer, creating a simple game will help you learn what you have to learn. 

If you’re a digital artist, you can get started making art for your game. 

Diving in will also help you get involved with the indie game development community. You’ll meet other excellent digital artists, developers, and coders. Which is perhaps one of the best things about creating a video game for free, as it sets the stage for a career in video game development. 

Once your game exists, the only thing left is for people to play it! If you’re looking for some help with your gaming marketing, click here.

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