Update: This article was last updated on 16th February 2024 to reflect the accuracy and up-to-date information on the page.
In recent years, gaming has become popular as a pastime, and your favorite devices now have access to hundreds of amazing games. However, gaming is more than just entertainment; it can also be a viable career option.
You should try your best to steer your children appropriately if they are passionate about game design. It takes a lot of learning and preparation to transition from an avid gamer to a real game creator. The good news is that there are many tools available for students to hone their abilities.
Game Developers in America make an average salary of $91,009 per year or $44 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $127,000 annually, while the bottom 10 percent is under $64,000 annually.
What is Game Development?
The artistic process of creating, developing, and producing video games is known as game development. It entails developing tales, building environments and characters, coding gameplay mechanics, and incorporating audio-visual components in addition to brainstorming game ideas.
To make these concepts a reality, developers employ a variety of tools, gaming engines, and programming languages. Iterative testing and improvement guarantee that the game runs smoothly, amuses players and provides a captivating experience on all platforms. It takes a team effort from designers, programmers, artists, and sound engineers to create engaging and entertaining gaming experiences for a variety of players.
We are sharing tips that can help your child start their game developer journey. Here you go:
1) Creating fun stuff
Creating fun stuff is a good way of grasping the basics of game development. Here are some examples:
- Blox 3D Junior: It is designed for children aged 5 and above. Using Blox 3D Junior, kids can create and disassemble digital animals through simple-to-grasp design principles. It is excellent for children who enjoy constructing and disassembling 3-D constructions with virtual Legos. It’s useful for players to manipulate models by touching the screen with one finger.
- 3-D Dot Game Heroes: Players in the parody and homage to the Legend of Zelda series known as 3-D Dot Game Heroes have the freedom to design their own zany heroes and the primary weapon they’ll use throughout the game. The game encourages players to create and publish their characters online for other fans. The pixelated character models are unmistakably a throwback to the 8-bit era. This is excellent for kids in the age group of 10 years who enjoy humor, retro adventure, and Nintendo games.
2) Editing games
Editing games is an excellent way to understand the structure of games. Given below are some examples:
- Mushroom Kingdom: Kids can design their adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom with Super Mario Maker. Children can learn while they play thanks to in-depth lessons and pointers on how to make levels effectively. The game’s 100 Mario Challenge will test players’ gaming prowess and give them inspiration for level creation.
- Minecraft: The idea of altering an existing game is best demonstrated by Minecraft. There aren’t many games that can compete with Minecraft’s in-game editing features.
Other than the games, various websites, and YouTube channels offer editing advice to players for their projects.
3) Learn to create code
Children can master the fundamentals of game development and coding with the help of various entertaining and engaging learning resources. The fundamentals of game production, including design, mechanics, and incentive structures, might be taught to your child.
With the aid of these tools, children can easily and amusingly learn crucial coding concepts like conditions and loop abilities. In short, kids may learn to code in various awesome methods while also honing their game-creation abilities.
Here are some tools to learn to code:
- Scratch: The Scratch programming environment from MIT Media Laboratories is one of our favorite beginner tools. Kids may create straightforward 2D games using Scratch’s visual programming language. The best feature of Scratch is that it gives youngsters design control over the games they construct. They can control various factors, including the speed at which opponents move, the player’s hit points, the velocity of a laser blast, the appearance and feel of a game, and more.
- Moonpreneur: Coding course by Moonpreneur is a unique blend of learning the technical theory of coding and entrepreneurial skills. Young entrepreneurs will gain hands-learning experience with kits, right from their foundation to the process of prototyping, and also learn in-depth about eCommerce.
Once they have mastered the requisite skills, your youngster can use the Roblox, Unreal, or Unity platforms independently. All of them are open source and free, giving users access to the same tools used by expert designers at well-known studios. For instance, the Unreal 4 Game Engine was used to build the most popular game, Fortnite.
Youngsters can publish and even try to make money from selling their games thanks to platforms like Roblox. In reality, some teenagers are making millions by creating video games for the Roblox platform.
Game design involves a lot of coding, particularly for designers who wish to be more involved in making their games. Teaching your children to write code will enable them to complete functional items independently and translate their ideas onto the screen.
Conclusion
A great hobby for children with vivid imaginations is game design. Game design is a fantastic place for students to hone their creative abilities if they haven’t yet done so.
There are different ways for kids to get started with game development. Connecting schools with regional programs where students can enroll in classes to learn how to create video games are one approach to encourage young game designers. These programs offer curricular materials, online classes, and summer camps where students may put their learning to use while having a good time.
Moonpreneur is on a mission to disrupt traditional education and future-proof the next generation with holistic learning solutions. Its Innovator Program is building tomorrow’s workforce by training students in AI/ML, Robotics, Coding, IoT, and Apps, enabling entrepreneurship through experiential learning.
Many children have a strong affinity for playing video games, with some developing a keen interest in creating games themselves. This interest could potentially lead your child to pursue a career as a professional video game designer—a highly rewarding profession
Facilitating support for kids in game design involves establishing connections between schools and local programs. Students can enroll in classes within these programs to acquire the skills needed for video game design.