Learn Game Development with Raspberry Pi

By Mark Vanstone. Posted

Get a head start with Raspberry Pi game creation with this resource list.

itch.io

itch.io

For most developers of games, the main reason to create a game is to challenge others to play their game. So the first question is: how can we make a game available for other people to play? That's where itch.io comes in. The website provides an app store-style platform for independent developers to upload and sell their games. 

Games can be built and uploaded in all kinds of formats. They can be built as executables, source code downloads, or online browser games. There is a large active community and regular competitions to reward the best games. The itch.io site is free to use and provides lots of support for new developers and if you want to sell your game, they will deal with all the payment process but of course, ask for a small cut of the profits. 

Currently there are over 300 thousand games hosted on itch.io, so you can have a good look around and see what everyone else has uploaded and get ideas about how to present your new game to the world, get feedback from players, and even make a bit of money.

Creator

Itch corp 

Price

Free / Percentage of sales

 Link

itch.io

Scratch

Scratch

Scratch is available as a game and animation development system, both in a browser and as an offline program. Both work and look very similar. Scratch is an excellent introduction to programming and provides a visual block interface to create interactive content. You can share games that are created with Scratch and there are lots of examples on Raspberry Pi’s website for you to see what others have done with Scratch. Graphics and sounds are included in the Scratch library, but you can also create your own using the built-in pixel editor or a separate paint package. There are extra extensions you can add to connect to external projects and a whole range of tutorials to show you how to get started making the game of your choice.

Creator

Scratch Foundation 

Price

Free

Link

scratch.mit.edu

Raspberry Pi Game Projects

Raspberry Pi Game Projects

Since the launch of Raspberry Pi, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has been producing example projects of all kinds on its website. In the game section, there are around 60 projects for you to delve into and find out how they were made and download the elements you need to build them. There are projects for Scratch, Python, web browsers, and even games to play with external hardware like the Sense HAT. Each project describes what you will need to make it, shows the finished project, and then walks you through, step by step, what you need to do from beginning to end. You will also find suggestions for other projects to look at after you have finished, to progress further with your game development experience.

Creator

Raspberry Pi Foundation

Price

Free

Link

magpi.cc/projects

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