It’s Easy to Make A Game in 2025 Part 1

If you have dreamed of making your own video game, 2025 is the best time in history to get started.

The hardest part is to actually START … well… it’s harder to finish but that topic will be covered much later in this series. For now, in just 15 short minutes, I’m going to share some resources, tips and tricks as part of a road map that will cover concept to launch – things that I learned the hard way. Hopefully it’ll help you.

It’s easier than you might THINK to become an indie game dev in 2025

Designing your first game will be a journey. You’ll make many decisions as you move from concept to launch for your project. Yeah, I know. You just want to jump right into the fun stuff. Its way more exciting to see things come to life in the game immediately.  For my first few games, I made that mistake too.

I jumped right into the Unity editor before considering any  decisions might be needed. In fact, I didn’t even know the right questions to ask. I certainly didn’t know how MANY decisions were needed.

So, I made a ton of mistakes. This caused frustration and slowed down my process. But you don’t have to make these mistakes!

I plan to use what I learned from those mistakes and do things differently for Resue. I’ll share my new plan in this and future devlogs.  Hope you join me.

I made tons of mistakes with my first game – but you don’t have to.

I’ll cover 5 main questions you may want to think about early. Take some time to consider and answer these questions before you even open Unity’s editor and your journey to success will be a lot easier.

When I started my new game, Rescue, I considered these 5 questions  

• Why do you want to make a game?
• Which game engine should you use?
• What kind of game do you want to make?
• How do I get started? What do I do first?
• When do I need a Steam page? What is needed for that Steam page?

Part one covers the first 3 questions

You can watch on YouTube! Part One covers the first three important decisions you should consider before you start your journey as a game developer. Why do you want to make a game? Which game engine should you use? and What kind of game do you want to make?

Grab a cup of coffee & your inspiration & Let’s get started!

Game design is a very rewarding hobby or career. It’s just very important to know WHY you want to design your own game before you get started. Your answer to that question will guide your expectations and determine your journey to success. Be honest with yourself. Write down WHY you want to design your own game. Define your expectations and what outcome is expected for you to consider it a success. If you just want to be creative and do something for fun, create something cool to share with your friends, then there are no wrong answers. If you have fun – you have success. But if you want to be a professional game designer, if you depend on game sales to pay your bills, then your journey will be far more difficult. Your definition of success will be far different than just having fun and creative.

Be honest – why do you want to make your own game?

If you just want the creative freedom to design and develop a game that you want to play or something cool to share with your friends – that is a perfectly good reason to make your own game in 2025.

If you want to quit your job and get rich quick – I’d say STOP – SLOW DOWN – consider this decision carefully. With 30 to 50 games releasing on Steam every day, it is HARD to get seen as a NEW developer. Rarely does a game go viral overnight – or make you rich.

If you want to become a professional and rely on game sales to pay your bills, then you need to research the industry and have a realistic vision of what you’ll have to do to make that happen. If you don’t have a strong portfolio, or a launched game, you should minimize your risk. Participate in game jams, design and launch a small game, or create a mod for a game you love to play. This way, you’ll have something concrete to show a potential employer.

which game engine should you choose?

There are numerous game engine choices in 2025 and many of them are free or at least offer a free trial version. I considered Unity 3d, Unreal Engine and Godot. At the time I started, Unity was free for individuals making less than 100K on their games, Unreal only offered a free version to students and educators, and at the time Godot was not stable. I am a coder and knew how to code using C#, so I chose Unity and remain loyal to them.

Download different game engines, play around, see which one you like

Play around with the different game engines. See which one works best for the game you want to make. If you want to write your own code, see which one offers the programming language you want to use. Unity, Unreal and Godot all offer visual coding tools for non-coders. Other game engines may offer similar resources too.

What kind of game to you want to make? genre really matters!

Genre really matters. If your definition of success is money from game sales, then you may want to consider which genres make the most money on the platform you are targeting. Chris Zukowski is an expert in how to market your game on Steam. if you are targeting Steam, you may want to watch his videos and look at Steam’s stats for game sales by genre. If your goal is to have fun and create a game you want to play, then choose a genre you love.

Choose a genre you love to play

Honestly, I’d highly recommend choosing a genre you love to play no matter what your reason for making games might be.

You’ll play your game more hours than you care to. You’ll grow to hate your game even if you love your game.

And the gamers will KNOW if it’s all about money or if you hate your game or more importantly if you don’t fully understand that genre. Trust me on this.

create a life you love

Whatever your reason for making games, and however you define success, just make sure you love what you do. Game development is a rewarding creative journey. And your work should be PASSION not PRISON. The gamers will know if you are passionate about your game – or if you are not.

Rescue will be an action-rpg with 3rd person shooter features

Be sure to join me on this journey. I’ll present a road map – a step-by-step process for the making of Rescue. I’ll provide tips and tricks along the way. I’ll share the mistakes that I made while developing my first few games so that you don’t have to make those mistakes!

Be sure to check out “its easy to make a game in 2025 | Part 2

It’s easy to make a game in 2025 will cover the last 2 questions:

How do I get started?

When do I need a Steam page?

How do I get started will cover how to create a game design document and why you need one. It’ll also cover story, characters, game theme and game style.

When do I need a Steam page will give you suggestions on when you need a Steam page, why you should consider a Steam page early in the development process, and what things you’ll need to get that done. I’ll share my experience in naming my games. I made mistakes with my first game, Jaki’s Wacky Adventure. Find out what those mistakes were so you don’t repeat them. I’ll also cover the game logo design process for Rescue.

thanks for watching! Please leave your comments below & let’s start a positive community.

Comment below:
What kind of game are you making?

How did you decide on a name for your game?

Do you have useful tips or tricks you can share with us? We love to hear from you!