Example of a 2D game being developed with GameMaker.

In this article, I will share some of the great resources YoYo Games has made available for teaching coding and game design with GameMaker. Before we get into that, I wanted to share why teachers love working with this 2D development environment. It is a great tool for teaching students how to make games because of the fast and friendly cross-platform game development technology it offers. This includes an intuitive ‘Drag and Drop’ (DND) feature that allows students to create a game quickly.

Once students get used to using the DND feature, they can easily progress into learning about programming using the GameMaker Language (GML). Teachers have found that teaching with GameMaker promotes class engagement and builds student confidence. It is a great way to improve the student and teacher bond. Now, let’s take a look at those education resources!

GameMaker Education Resources

The first item we will look at is Space Bubbles. It provides everything you to teach your students how to program in GameMaker Studio 2 using drag and drop. Curriculum topics covered include programming concepts & principles, sequencing, selection statements, iteration, and modeling real-world problems and physical systems. This complete educator resource includes lessons with powerpoints, worksheets, video tutorials, written tutorial worksheets, extension & challenge tasks, an assessment system, a teacher’s guide, and completed GM projects at each stage. View Space Bubbles “Learning to Program” for Education resource.

Here is an example of one of the video tutorials that are part of the Space Bubbles offering.

Home Learning Resources

If you are looking for something that students can work on at home, Space Rocks is a great fit. This tutorial can help students create their own fully functioning version of the definitive asteroid space blaster. Within about an hour, students can make a simple classic arcade game with GameMaker Studio 2.  Students have the option of creating it without coding using the drag and drop editor or use the GameMaker Language (GML) to code it. This resource provides an introduction to GameMaker and programming. It also teaches set up & movement, collisions, lives, sound effects, and more. View details.

Students can continue their Space Rocks game with the Space Mods tutorial. This resource teaches five new topics that expand both the student’s knowledge and their existing Space Rocks game. The topics are cameras, parallax & layered backgrounds, enemy factions, power-ups, and visual effects like particles and screenshake. Again, this tutorial takes about an hour and can be done using drag and drop or GML. View details.

Academic License Options

As a YoYo Games Education provider, Studica offers 1 and 2-year GameMaker Studio 2 classroom licensing options. There are currently three license options available:

1. Educator – Desktop license for Windows, Mac & Linux
2. Educator Plus – Desktop license for Windows, Mac & Linux + Web license for HTML 5
3. Achiever –  Educator Plus + Mobile for Android, iOS & Fire + UWP license for Xbox One Creator Program + PS4 license

If you aren’t sure which license will work best for you, please contact Studica for more information.