You can access the full course here: CREATE YOUR FIRST 2D GAME IN UNITY

Game Over – Part 1

In this lesson, we’ll set up the Game Over state for our game. In our game, the Game Over state will happen either when the Player hits an Enemy, or when the Player falls from the level.

The Game Over Function

To implement the Game Over state, we’ll go to the PlayerController script and do the following changes:

• Add the SceneManagement library at the top of the script
• Add the GameOver function to the PlayerController script
• In the GameOver function, use the LoadScene function to reload the current scene

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.SceneManagement; // Add me!!

public class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour
{
    // Older code omitted for brevity
    // Called when we get hit by an enemy or if we fall below the level.
    public void GameOver ()
    {
        SceneManager.LoadScene(SceneManager.GetActiveScene().buildIndex);
    }
}

And here’s what the PlayerController script looks like at the moment:

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.SceneManagement;

public class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour
{
    public float moveSpeed;
    public Rigidbody2D rig;
    public float jumpForce;
    public SpriteRenderer sr;

    private bool isGrounded;

    void FixedUpdate ()
    {
        float moveInput = Input.GetAxisRaw("Horizontal");
        rig.velocity = new Vector2(moveInput * moveSpeed, rig.velocity.y);

        if(rig.velocity.x > 0)
        {
            sr.flipX = true;
        }
        else if(rig.velocity.x < 0)
        {
            sr.flipX = false;
        }
    }

    void Update ()
    {
    // If we press the jump button and we are grounded, then jump.
        if(Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.UpArrow) && isGrounded)
        {
            isGrounded = false;
            rig.AddForce(Vector2.up * jumpForce, ForceMode2D.Impulse);
        }
    }

    private void OnCollisionEnter2D (Collision2D collision)
    {
        if(collision.GetContact(0).normal == Vector2.up)
        {
            isGrounded = true;
        }
    }

    // Called when we get hit by an enemy or if we fall below the level.
    public void GameOver ()
    {
        SceneManager.LoadScene(SceneManager.GetActiveScene().buildIndex);
    }
}

The Fall Game Over Challenge

As a bit of a challenge, we want you to implement one of the game-over cases yourself. In this challenge, you should make the fall-from-the-level scenario work as a game-over.

One of the ways to do so is to check whether the Player’s vertical position is below some level. Checking could be done in the Update function.

In this lesson, we implemented the Game Over function. In the next lesson, we’ll implement the game-over scenarios.

Game Over – Part 2

In this lesson, we’ll implement the Game Over scenarios.

The Fall Game Over

To make the Game Over happen when the Player falls from the level, we should make the following changes to the Player Controller > Update function:

• In the Update function, check whether the vertical position of the Player is less than -4
• If so, call the GameOver function

// Using directives omitted for brevity

public class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour
{
    // Older code omitted for brevity


    void Update ()
    {
    // Older code omitted for brevity


    // If we fall below -4 on the Y, then game over.
    if(transform.position.y < -4)
    {
    GameOver();
    }
}

    // Older code omitted for brevity
}

If you start the game now and jump from the level, in a couple of seconds, the level will reload from the beginning.

Here’s what the PlayerController script looks like now:

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.SceneManagement;

public class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour
{
    public float moveSpeed;
    public Rigidbody2D rig;
    public float jumpForce;
    public SpriteRenderer sr;

    private bool isGrounded;

    void FixedUpdate ()
    {
        // Get the horizontal move input.
        float moveInput = Input.GetAxisRaw("Horizontal");

        // Set our velocity.
        rig.velocity = new Vector2(moveInput * moveSpeed, rig.velocity.y);

        // Flip the sprite to face our moving direction.
        if(rig.velocity.x > 0)
        {
            sr.flipX = true;
        }
        else if(rig.velocity.x < 0)
        {
            sr.flipX = false;
        }
    }

    void Update ()
    {
        // If we press the jump button and we are grounded, then jump.
        if(Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.UpArrow) && isGrounded)
        {
            isGrounded = false;
            rig.AddForce(Vector2.up * jumpForce, ForceMode2D.Impulse);
        }

        // If we fall below -4 on the Y, then game over.
        if(transform.position.y < -4)
        {
            GameOver();
        }
    }

    private void OnCollisionEnter2D (Collision2D collision)
    {
        if(collision.GetContact(0).normal == Vector2.up)
        {
            isGrounded = true;
        }
    }

    // Called when we get hit by an enemy or if we fall below the level.
    public void GameOver ()
    {
        SceneManager.LoadScene(SceneManager.GetActiveScene().buildIndex);
    }
}

The Enemy Hit Game Over

We should also go to the Game Over state once the Player hits an Enemy. We’ll do this from the Enemy script.

But first, we need to add a way for an Enemy to know that it hits the Player, and not something else. Here’s what we’ll do:

• Select the Player game object
• Go to the Inspector window
• Set the Tag property at the top of the Inspector window to the Player value

Now our Player is tagged as a Player. Well done!

And here’s what we’ll do in the Enemy script:

• Add the OnTriggerEnter2D function. This function is called when something enters the trigger collider
• In this function, check whether we have a collision with an object tagged as a Player
• If so, get the PlayerController component from that object and call the GameOver function on it

// Using directives omitted for brevity
public class Enemy : MonoBehaviour
{
    // Older code omitted for brevity
    private void OnTriggerEnter2D (Collider2D collision)
    {
        // Did the player hit us?
        if(collision.CompareTag("Player"))
        {
            // Trigger the game over state on the player.
            collision.GetComponent<PlayerController>().GameOver();
        }
    }
}

Now, if you jump into an Enemy, the game will reload as well. Here’s what the full Enemy script looks like:

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class Enemy : MonoBehaviour
{
    public float moveSpeed;
    public Vector3 moveOffset;
    private Vector3 startPos;
    private Vector3 targetPos;
    // Start is called before the first frame update
    void Start()
    {
        startPos = transform.position;
        targetPos = startPos;
    }
    // Update is called once per frame
    void Update()
    {
        // Move towards the target position.
        transform.position = Vector3.MoveTowards(transform.position, targetPos, moveSpeed * Time.deltaTime);
        // Are we at the target position?
        if(transform.position == targetPos)
        {
            // Is our target pos our start pos? If so, set it to be the other one.
            if(targetPos == startPos)
            {
                targetPos = startPos + moveOffset;
            }
            // Otherwise, do the opposite.
            else
            {
                targetPos = startPos;
            }
        }
    }
    private void OnDrawGizmos()
    {
        Vector3 from;
        Vector3 to;
        if (Application.isPlaying)
        {
            from = startPos;
        }
        else
        {
            from = transform.position;
        }
        
        to = from + moveOffset;
        
        Gizmos.color = Color.red;
        Gizmos.DrawLine(from, to);
        Gizmos.DrawWireSphere(to, 0.2f);
        Gizmos.DrawWireSphere(from, 0.2f);
    }
    private void OnTriggerEnter2D (Collider2D collision)
    {
        // Did the player hit us?
        if(collision.CompareTag("Player"))
        {
            // Trigger the game over state on the player.
            collision.GetComponent<PlayerController>().GameOver();
        }
    }
}

In this lesson, we implemented the Game Over scenarios. In the next lesson, we’ll work on the collectible Coins.

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Transcript – Game Over – Part 1

Welcome back everyone. In this lesson we are going to be working on setting up our game overstate for our 2D platform here.

So the way the game over state is gonna work is pretty much whenever our player gets hit by an enemy or if they fall off the edge and down below our level, they are going to basically reset, okay?

The level is gonna restart and the player will spawn back up here. Okay, so how do we do this? Well, let’s go over and open up our player controller script right here.

Now inside of the player controller script, we are gonna go down and create a brand new function. And this function is gonna be a public void called GameOver. Okay? Like so.

Now the reason we are making this function a public function is because we need to be able to call this from outside of the script. For example, our enemy script here is going to be able to call that function.

So in order to do that, we need to make it public. Now, inside of this function, what we are going to do is basically reload our current scene.

So in order to do that, we first of all need to tell the script that we want to be able to access Unity’s scene manager. And to do that we need to go to the top and you’ll see here we have these three lines of code, okay?

They’re basically using, and then we have a library here. Now, the way code and C Sharp especially works is that you don’t have everything at your disposal right at the start, okay?

So for certain things you may need to access a library. In our case, we are accessing the Unity engine library which allows us to access things such as mono behavior, rigid body, sprite renderer, the fixed update function, the update function, okay?

These are all things that are built into the Unity engine itself. Now, the Unity engine doesn’t always give us everything we need since there are a lot of different code libraries that we can access.

So if we wanna get specific, we do need to actually add them here. So for example, in order to access our scene manager, we need to be using the scene management library.

Now to do that, we can go to a new line here and just go using Unity engine dot scene management like so, and now we have access to our scene manager. So let’s go back down to our GameOver function.

And inside of here what we are going to do is go scene manager dot load scene, okay? And this function right here, basically we need to give it either a scene name, so we can just go level one like so, which is the name of our scene, or we can give it a build index.

And our build index for level one is zero. Basically, the levels go 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, et cetera. But what if we’re on level five, for example? We don’t wanna have to hardcode every single level we have.

So, instead what we can do is we can just get whatever our current scene is and reload that. So to do this, I’m gonna go SceneManager dot GetActiveScene.

Now this is a function call, so make sure to add the two empty brackets like so, and then dot buildIndex. So this here is basically getting the index for the current scene and loading that.

So this line of code essentially reloads our current scene. So we have our game over function, but at the moment it’s not hooked up to anything just yet. So if we were to play our game, nothing would happen.

So in order to make something happen, we are first of all gonna make it so that if our player is jumping along the level here and they fall off the platform we don’t want them to keep on falling down forever.

Let’s say once they reach below, we’ll say below negative four, okay? Once they go below negative four on the Y axis that is when we will basically call the game over function.

So to do this, we are gonna go up to our update function right here. And as a bit of a challenge, I want you to have a go at implementing this.

Here’s a hint. Basically, we are gonna have an if statement that checks to see if our Y position is below negative three or negative four, I’m pretty sure we said, and if that’s the case call the game over function. So have a go at that and I’ll be right back to see how you’re done.

Transcript – Game Over – Part 2

Pretty much what we want to do is inside of our PlayerController’s update function we want to check every single frame if our player’s y position is below a certain number.

So what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna create an IF statement here. We’re gonna go, if transform.position.y is less than, let’s just say negative four then what we are going to do is we are going to call the GameOver function like so, okay?

So that is what we need to do here and make sure it is inside of the update function since we do want to check this every single frame. So we can save that, we can then go back inside of Unity now.

And if we press play, we should be able to test this out. So let us go over to the side right here and jump off the edge. And as you can see, once we go below negative four our scene basically gets to reset.

So we are back at the start and there we go. Now one more thing and that is our enemy. As you can see right now our enemy is just passing directly through us.

So we need a way of making it so that when the enemy hits us the GameOver function gets called. So how do we do that? Well, let us go over to our enemy script right here, and inside of the enemy script we need to create ourselves a brand new function.

Now this is going to be the OnTriggerEenter2D function. So we’re gonna go void OnTriggerEenter2D. Now OnTriggerEenter works very similar to OnCollisionEnter yet they both differ in a certain way.

Collision is basically a solid hit, so you can think of when our player lands on the ground their feet are being planted on the ground’s collider, whereas a trigger is passing through something, okay?

So maybe you might want to have some sort of trigger when a player walks through a door that would be a trigger, okay? The player isn’t blocked, they can pass through it, yet we can detect when that pass through happens.

And that is what a trigger is. So what we need to do is we basically need to make it so that when the player is hit by the enemy we call the GameOver function. But how do we do that?

Well, we’ve got the function here that detects when a trigger has happened, but how do we know if it was a player or not? How do we know that what the enemy hit is a player and not a wall, or a coin, or another enemy?

Well, the way we can do this is by checking to see what the player’s tag is. And before we continue writing code, let’s go back inside a Unity and we need to give our player a tag.

So I’m gonna select our player here and if we go over to the inspector, you’ll see underneath their name they have this little tag dropdown. Now tag is basically a label that we can attach to a game object.

So I’m gonna click on where it says untagged and you’ll see there are a few preset ones here. We can click add tag to add a new one. But we’ve got player, sorry, I’m just gonna select that.

And now our player game object is tagged as player. And you can of course, create tags for other things as well if that’s needed.

But we’re just gonna tag our player for now. So back inside of our script, what we’re gonna do is we are going to check to see if the collision.CompareTag is Player. So the parameter here is collision.

This is basically going to be our player’s collider when the enemy hits us and we are checking to see if that game object’s tag is player, and if so then the condition is true and we can call the GameOver function.

Now, in order to call the players GameOver function, we need to access their player controller component. So to access another game objects component or get any component in general, we need to do a certain function call.

So I’m gonna go collision.GetComponent, and then inside of these two angled brackets we need to define the type of component we are searching for which is gonna be PlayerController, and then two empty brackets like so.

And then we can go .GameOver. Whoops, not GameObject, GameOver, like so. So basically what we have done here is we have accessed the collision component that we have hit.

In this case it will be the player after we do this IF statement. Then we are getting another component on that GameObject we are searching for the PlayerController and then we are calling the GameOver function on the PlayerController.

So we can save that, go back inside of Unity and let’s test it out to see if it works. So I’m going to press play right here and if we jump up into our enemy, we should see that when it hits us the scene gets reset and we can even jump into the enemy here to make sure it works.

There we go. So we’re able to reset the scene by having our enemy run into us. So we need to avoid them on this jump here. And if we jump off our level and fall down below that will also reset the level as well.

So yeah, that is a look at our GameOver state inside of Unity. Now, in the next lesson, we are gonna be looking at setting up our coins, okay? These are basically going to be the collectibles that our player will collect and that will increase their score over time. So thanks for watching, and I’ll see you then in the next lesson.

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In this Unity tutorial created by Daniel Buckley, you’ll dive into the basics of the Unity game engine which allows you to develop 2D, 3D, VR, and AR games, mobile content, training apps, and more. You’ll first discover the Unity Engine platform, how to create a Unity project, navigate Unity’s Editor, edit game objects, apply materials to objects, and adjust lights and physics in various ways. After, you’ll dive into the C# Scripting system and learn a few core scripting techniques to build your first interactive project!

Whether you want to build games, training apps, or something similar, these foundations will form the core knowledge you’ll need to build any sort of Unity Engine game or project in the future!

New to Unity Engine? Enroll in UNITY 101 – GAME DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATIONS on our website and find quick access to additional resources!

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Whether you’re a newcomer to Unity or an experienced developer, advancing your career with game development can be a fantastic path to take. However, there is a lot of competition – so what can you do to highlight your own self? The answer is Unity Certification, which can prove your credentials and is industry-recognized!

In this article, we’re going to focus specifically on the Unity Associate Game Developer Certification, get you excited about it, and then get you learning the materials you’ll need to obtain it!

Let’s get started!

What is the Unity Associate Game Developer Certification?

Unity’s Associate Game Developer Certification is designed for aspiring developers with intermediate skills who can take a game from an initial idea to completion. The certification will showcase a receiver’s mastery of Unity, proving their worthiness for a professional game development role.

Those that take the Associate Game Developer Certification will have a background in computer programming or be self-taught hobbyists with detailed knowledge of Unity and C#, including audio, animation, and game physics. Rather than focusing on more minor details, this exam focuses on the broader picture of game development and design.

To qualify for the Unity Associate Game Developer Certification, you’ll need to:

• Build complex games using C# in Unity
• Understand end-to-end game production
• Have previously built a game for publication
• Be confident using prototypes, debugging, and solving programming issues

When taking the exam, you’ll cover a range of topics, including:

• Animation
• Audio
• Asset management
• Employment preparedness
• Game art and design principles
• Industry awareness
• Lighting
• Materials and effects
• Physics & Programming
• Project management & services

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The Benefits of the Associate Game Developer Certification

Unity is an influential game engine, powering half the world’s games. Unity-made applications are used by 2 billion people every month, with 1.5 million creators using Unity to create new and innovative games and applications.

Learning how to use Unity will improve your chances of breaking into the gaming industry, and receiving an Associate Game Developer Certification proves to employers that you’re skilled in game design and development.

Here are the main benefits of taking the Unity Associate Game Developer Certification.

Become a Unity game developer

Receiving a Unity Certification allows you to stand out against your competitors as it’s a recognized qualification in the game development world. Even better, many Unity-based jobs will list a Unity Certification as a preferred requirement, helping you better your chances of becoming a game developer.

Showcase your skills

To take the Unity Associate Game Developer course, you’ll need advanced skills in both Unity and C#. You should be able to make intricate games from conception to reality. Having a Certification will prove your skillset to potential employers, allowing you to stand out in a busy crowd.

What courses are best to prepare for the Associate Game Developer Certification?

Taking the Unity Associate Game Developer Certification requires significant skill, and you’ll need advanced knowledge of Unity and C# to qualify.

It’s essential to build your knowledge practically by making fully-fledged games suitable for your professional portfolio. Luckily, there are plenty of advanced online courses you can take to improve your knowledge of Unity and C# practically by building games.

Here are the best advanced online courses you can take that are suitable to prepare for Unity’s Associate Game Developer Certification.

Unity Game Development Mini-Degree

As mentioned above, preparing for this exam isn’t just about learning Unity, it’s also about having proven game development projects under your belt. What if you could do both at the same time though?

In Zenva’s Unity Game Development Mini-Degree, you’ll go through a comprehensive set of courses that cover just about everything you might want to know about Unity. It covers everything from various tools offered by the engine, and up to covering specific genre mechanics. All the courses are project-based, so you’ll also get plenty of items to add to your portfolio. This includes things such as RPGs, FPS games, racing games, idle clickers, and much more!

Plus, Zenva’s courses also offer a ton of supplemental learning material. Like to read other people’s code? There are downloadable course files of the complete projects! Aren’t a video person? There are text-based summaries that can be used to learn independently of the video!

With Zenva’s Unity Game Development Mini-Degree, you’ll learn:

• C# coding basics
• UI systems
• Audio effects
• Cinematic cutscenes
• Special effects
• Procedural terrain
• Animation

Skill level: Beginner. You don’t need prior experience in Unity or C#.

Duration: 36h 23m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Unity Advanced Tutorials

When it comes to game development, there are a surprising lot of details in terms of how mechanics are rendered. Likewise, there are a ton of Unity tools that aren’t so clear or have nuances that can make or break how your game feels.

The Unity Advanced Tutorials series by Brackeys seeks to demystify this. From specific nuances of game mechanics to just taking better advantage of Unity as a tool, this series has a little bit of everything. Nevertheless, it will vastly improve your skillset that you can use for game development.

As part of this course, you’ll cover key topics, including:

• Gravity simulation
• Dialogue systems
• Altering the Unity windows
• Making a level editor
• Reversing game time
• Making a loading bar
• Procedural generation
• Putting Unity projects on GitHub
• Using Unity Analytics
• Volumetric lighting
• Scriptable objects
• Object pooling
• Different combat styles

Skill level: Intermediate. You’ll need to know how to use Unity and program in C#.

Duration: 4h 31m

How to access: Access the series here.

Survival Game Development Academy

To reinforce a point above, the game developer certification is about showing you can take a game from idea to completion. So, understandably, having experience in making a larger, more complex game can be a big boost.

This is where we come to Zenva’s Survival Game Development Academy. Unlike many entries on this list where you’re learning bits and pieces of Unity and doing a different project every course, this curriculum is about making one singular project: a survival game. You’ll learn core mechanics such as player needs, crafting, base building, and combat – and with the breakdown into several courses, wind up with a fairly complex game project!

Plus, this curriculum is perfect for any skill level. If you haven’t ever used Unity before, the curriculum will guide you through the fundamental courses first before throwing you into the project.

All in all, though, the skills here feed directly into learning what being a game developer is all about and teaches you a ton of material that will be helpful for taking the exam.

As part of this course, you’ll cover key topics, including:

• Hunger, thirst, health, and sleep needs
• Day-night cycles
• Item and inventory systems
• Crafting mechanics
• Base building
• Combat and Enemy AI
• Game Saving

Skill level: Beginner. No prior knowledge of Unity or C# is needed.

Duration: 18h 45m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Learn to Program with C# – Unity Advanced Tutorials

While programming isn’t the focus of this specific certification, you can’t really ignore it. After all, you’re going to need to know C# pretty well in order to show the advanced level at which you can create games.

Thus, we include Learn to Program with C# – Unity Advanced Tutorials by GameDevHQ. This series of tutorials focuses on a few very specific aspects of C# that are not typically covered in a beginner’s level journey. However, as you advance in game development, you will find they are integral and well-used – so learning them will boost your skills immensely (even if you decide not to get certified).

As part of this course, you’ll cover key topics, including:

• Lists
• Enumus
• Structs vs Classes
• Nullable types
• Interfaces
• Delegate and events

Skill level: Intermediate.

Duration: 1h 46m

How to access: Access the series here.

EdTech Mini-Degree

Unity is for more than just making entertainment industry games. EdTech is revolutionizing how Unity is used with educational games and job training applications. The industry is already worth $6 trillion and is set to grow further.

For the purposes of certification, though, EdTech is also a fantastic way to explore unique Unity features and other advanced skills that otherwise never get covered.

The EdTech Mini-Degree by Zenva is designed to teach you everything you need to develop educational and training-based apps. You’ll cover topics including developing in 2D and 3D, using virtual reality, data analytics, and much more.

Each subsequent project featured in the curriculum gives you a chance to explore new applications for Unity – while also teaching you important facets involved in the software development cycle. Plus, as these skills are a bit more unique, it adds some extra material to your portfolio to stand out from the competition.

As part of this course, you’ll cover key topics, including:

• Coding basics with C# and Unity
• Quizzes featuring text, images, audio, and video
• Virtual reality applications
• Data-driven development with Unity Analytics
• Retrieving data with external APIs
• Voice and language recognition
• Text-recognition and text-to-audio

Skill level: Beginner. No prior coding experience is needed.

Duration: 21h 40m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Learn Unity Engine and C# by creating a real top-down RPG

Similar to an earlier entry, a good portion of this exam is about showcasing you can make games as a whole. So, making games as a whole is sure to help you actually prove that.

Learn Unity Engine and C# by creating a real top-down RPG by Epitome, as the title suggests, is all about teaching you various skills while building a fully scoped top-down RPG. Where this tutorial is slightly unique is that it focuses specifically on 2D – which is just as important to learn as 3D. Nevertheless, this course will put you through the gambit and make sure you have tons of key systems down pat!

As part of this course, you’ll cover key topics, including:

• Setting up
• Moving and Manual Collision Detection
• Tilemap and Designing Dungeon
• Interactive Objects and Inheritance
• Saving Game’s State
• Floating Text System
• Top Down Combat System
• Animator and Weapon Swing Animation
• Character Menu and the new UI System
• Polishing and Adding Content

Skill level: Novice. Some basic knowledge of Unity and C# is needed.

Duration: 7h 45m

How to access: Access the course here.

Game Design Academy

Game design is integral to developing a game. Game designers will conceptualize levels and characters, create engaging stories, and make the game feel cohesive through stylistic and narrative choices. While not “technical” in the same way coding is, it still requires purposeful choices and skills that show you can plan a game. So, though often overlooked, it is a huge step in the entire game development process.

Game Design Academy by Zenva is the perfect way to jump into this aspect of the game development process. You’ll explore the main principles of design using real-world examples, and discover how these fundamental concepts affect the overall feel of the game

More importantly, though, you’ll learn skills that will let you enhance your game projects, which in turn improves your overall Unity skills with new reasons to learn specific skills and tools.

As part of this course, you’ll cover key topics, including:

• Core game loop setup
• How to guide players
• Game feel
• Level design foundations
• Storytelling techniques

Skill level: Beginner. You don’t need any prior knowledge of Unity or C#.

Duration: 3h 5m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Unity’s Associate Game Developer Certification

Well, that’s all, folks – the best courses for the Associate Game Developer Certification. This certification will be a lot tougher than the previous User level. However, preparing for it with enrich your ability to make games as a whole.

This said, be assured there are a lot more courses out there, even on platforms like Zenva. The more you can learn about Unity and game development, the better off you’ll be. Plus, everyone’s learning style is different, so your “best” course may be different from what’s on the list.

Regardless, we hope these resources help, and best of luck on your certification exam!

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This said, standing out from the competition can be difficult, as the industry is also highly competitive. With the popular Unity engine, though, the Unity Certification program – which is industry recognized – allows you to gain credentials to boost your resume and portfolio.

In this article, we’re going to help you prepare to take the exam for the Unity Associate Programmer Certification with the best courses available. We’ve also designed this list to work for both beginners and experienced developers – so all skill levels are welcome!

Let’s jump in and start learning Unity!

What is the Unity Associate Programmer Certification?

Unity’s Associate Programmer Certification is a credential offered by Unity Technologies, the company behind the Unity game engine. The program showcases a coder’s skills and knowledge in Unity, including C# programming and game development.

Unlike the User Programmer Certification, the Associate level exam focuses primarily on C# coding, and you’ll need a detailed understanding of Unity’s API to script behaviors and objects, including UI elements, to receive this qualification. This Certification proves that you understand best practices for data structures and that you’re competent at debugging.

After passing the exam, individuals will receive the Unity Associate Programmer Certification, which they can use to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in Unity programming and game development to employers. The certification is valid for two years. After this time, individuals must renew their certificates by taking the exam again.

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The Benefits of the Associate Programmer Certification

The Unity Associate Programmer Certification is an advanced exam designed to showcase your skills as a game developer. Some of the benefits of this certification include the following:

Stand out in the job market

Having a certification from Unity helps individuals stand out in the job market since it proves significant skill and dedication to programming. In fact, many employers, including Unity, will list certification as a preferred requirement.

Build your programming skills

Unity’s Associate Programmer Certification is an advanced exam and involves rigorous training on many concepts within game development. As you train for the exam, you’ll develop your skills and knowledge in core aspects, including programming, scripting, game physics, and optimization.

Networking

By getting Unity Certification, you’ll have access to a growing community of professional game developers, including holders of the certification. Having a network can provide individuals with valuable opportunities for their future careers, including learning and collaboration.

What courses are best to prepare for the Associate Programmer Certification?

To prepare for Unity’s Associate Programmer Certification, you’ll need a strong understanding of the Unity game engine and C#, as well as core programming concepts. Luckily, there are many online courses suitable for learning game development that will prepare you for taking the certification. Along the way, you’ll be able to develop complete games that will form the basis of your professional portfolio.

Here are the best advanced online courses you can take that will help you qualify for Unity’s Associate Programmer Certification.

Unity Game Development Mini-Degree

While the Associate Certifications are the second level of certifications available, that doesn’t mean that aren’t achievable by beginners looking to establish goals for themselves.

Our first stop is therefore Zenva’s Unity Game Development Mini-Degree. This comprehensive curriculum offers a little bit of everything in regards to Unity. You’ll learn the fundamentals of the engine and C#, genre game mechanics, asset handling, animations, procedural generation, and much more.

This curriculum also takes a very practical project-based approach, so you’ll get the opportunity to build things such as FPS games and action RPGs for your portfolio. There are also supplemental materials such as downloadable course files and text-based lesson summaries. This means that it doesn’t matter how you learn – this curriculum can match what you need!

Plus, as mentioned, this curriculum was designed for people with zero knowledge. So, any skill level can practice with these courses!

You’ll learn:

• C# coding basics
• UI systems
• Audio effects
• Cinematic cutscenes
• Special effects
• Procedural terrain
• Animation

Skill level: Beginner. You don’t need prior experience in Unity or C#.

Duration: 36h 23m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

C# Programming (Advanced)

As the title of the certification suggests, knowing how to program with C# is a super important aspect of this exam. However, remember that C# is a general-purpose language and was actually primarily created to make software. Thus, it doesn’t hurt to learn the language divorced from Unity.

The C# Programming (Advanced) series by Code Master does just that and focuses on C# from a software development perspective. However, the principles covered are near universal to all C# applications – so they can easily be applied back to Unity. This said, do be prepared – this series is intended for those with C# experience, and is heavily comprehensive in just about everything you can do with the C# language and programming in general!

With this course, you’ll learn the following and more:

• Delegates, lambdas, and events
• Generics
• IEnumerables
• LINQ
• Functional programming
• Dictionaries
• Lookups
• Joining data
• Programming patterns
• Anonymous types
• Conversions
• Structs and classes
• Indexers
• States
• Different architectures
• Component systems
• Zone systems
• Game mechanics such as inventories and dialogue trees

And much more!

Skill level: Intermediate. You’ll need some coding experience.

Duration: 17h 45m

How to access: Access the series here.

Survival Game Development Academy

In the complete opposite from the above, it’s also just as important to understand programming in the practical Unity setting. The best way to achieve this is simply by building games – and unsurprisingly, the more complex the systems the more you’ll learn about coding.

Zenva’s Survival Game Development Academy is a curriculum focused specifically on building one single survival game. However, in so doing, you can focus on a lot of game mechanics, such as crafting systems, inventory management, and enemy AI.

Due to the complexity of the project featured, you’ll get the opportunity to explore a ton of aspects of Unity’s API and C# in general, however, which is integral for taking the exam. Plus, you’ll get a nifty project for your professional portfolio as well.

As part of this course, you’ll cover survival game topics, including:

• Hunger, thirst, health, and sleep needs
• Day-night cycles
• Item and inventory systems
• Crafting mechanics
• Base building
• Combat and Enemy AI
• Game Saving

Skill level: Beginner. No prior knowledge of Unity or C# is needed.

Duration: 18h 45m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Learn to Program: C# Advanced Unity Tutorials

We’ve included a lot of comprehensive courses on this list, but what if you’re more interested in something a bit more simple and focused on just a few C# programming skills.

GameDevHQ’s Learn to Program: C# Advanced Unity Tutorials series is just for you then! Instead of learning everything you could ever imagine about C#, this series focuses on just a few advanced concepts that are both important and regularly used for game development. Thus, you can be assured there is no fluff here – just the exact material you’ll want to learn to code your game projects more efficiently.

As part of this course, you’ll cover key topics, including:

• Lists
• Enumus
• Structs vs Classes
• Nullable types
• Interfaces
• Delegate and events

Skill level: Intermediate.

Duration: 1h 46m

How to access: Access the series here.

2D RPG Academy

As part of preparing for the exam, we highly encourage exploring lots of different game mechanics. This forces you to learn and re-learn C# structures and systems, as well as focus on improving your coding efficiency.

The 2D RPG Academy by Zenva is a perfect choice when it comes to this. In this collection of courses, you’ll focus on creating a variety of 2D RPGs, including turn-based RPGs, farming sims, action RPGs, and rogue-like games.

As each project featured involves different systems, you’ll quickly expand what you can do with C# and 2D in general. Likewise, you’ll also reinforce programming certain features like character movement that are integral to any kind of game that needs to be created.

With this course, you’ll learn the following:

• Tile-based maps
• Melee & ranged attacks
• Items & inventories
• Randomized dungeons
• Mini-maps
• Enemy AIs

Skill level: Beginner. No prior coding experience is needed.

Duration: 19h 2m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Learn Unity Multiplayer

If you really want to advance your skills with C#, one of the best game types to practice with is multiplayer. Multiplayer involves a ton of more advanced concepts to consider when it comes to programming since networks are a subject unto themselves. Plus, with Unity’s new multiplayer system, it’s become fairly integrated with understanding the API.

Learn Unity Multiplayer by Code Monkey is the ultimate solution here. You’ll master a ton of things like synchronizing data, deciding the authoritative structure, using RPCs and network variables, balancing server-side and client-side data, and more.

There is little chance this won’t improve your C# skills in some way!

With this course, you’ll learn the following:

• Singleplayer Overview
• Install Netcode and Basic Setup
• Sync Player Movement, Client Vs Server Auth
• Sync Player Animations
• Sync Delivery Manager
• Fix Selected Counter Visual
• Sync Pick up Objects
• Sync Kitchen Object Parent
• Sync Trash Counter, Cutting Counter, Stove Counter
• Sync Plate Add Ingredients
• Player collisions
• Sync Game State & Sync Pause
• Handle Disconnects & Late Joins
• Connection Scene Flow
• Character Select Scene
• Lobby & Relay
• Game Server Hosting (Multiplay), Matchmaker, Vivox
• Multiplayer Debug Tools
• Singleplayer Option
• Gamepad Test

Skill level: Intermediate. You’ll need some coding knowledge to understand this course.

Duration: 6h 20m

How to access: Access the course here.

Strategy Game Development Academy

Strategy games aren’t just popular – they feature a ton of complicated systems. Thus, learning just how strategy games work and are programmed can be a big boost to your skills.

The Strategy Game Development Academy by Zenva allows you to explore a variety of different strategy game mechanics. You’ll learn everything from making city-builders with an emphasis on resource management to turn-based strategy games featuring multiplayer mechanics. You’ll even get to explore universal systems such as unlockable, tech research trees!

The breadth of variety here is astounding – but allows you to practice a ton of C# programming and cement it into your skill set. You can also practice expanding these games as well to further your skills and make certain you’re prepared for the exam to come.

With this course, you’ll learn the following:

• Strategy game mechanics
• Resource management
• Turn-based and real-time formats
• Enemy AI and state machines
• Multiplayer games with Photon networking

Skill level: Beginner. No prior knowledge of Unity or C# is needed.

Duration: 28h 33m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Unity Associate Programmer Certification Wrap Up

That brings us to the end of this list, and you should hopefully soon be ready to tackle the Associate Programmer Certification. Regardless of whether you pursue certification or not, though, these courses are sure to help you upskill.

All this said, we hope you continue to explore other courses available on platforms like Zenva and elsewhere. There is a lot to learn about Unity, and there are even higher-level certifications after this. More education on working with Unity can never hurt!

Good luck with your preparations, and we look forward to seeing new Unity experts out there in the future!

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The game industry is currently booming, projected to reach $372.00bn by 2023 and grow to $545.98 bn by 2028. For those interested in game art, now is a fantastic time to break into the industry with jobs galore available. However, even with a portfolio, game art is a super competitive field without some extra edge to bring you above the competition.

This is why having Unity’s User Artist Certification can give you a boost. It proves your skills, and proves your knowledge of the game engine itself (both highly valued skills for jobs). That said, how can you prepare for the exam?

In this article, we’re going to explore some fantastic courses available to help you master the art of game art and learn Unity – even if you have zero experience with the engine.

Let’s get started!

What is the Unity User Artist Certification?

Unity’s User Artist Certification showcases your core Unity skills to help you achieve a professional role as a Unity 2D and 3D artist. It will demonstrate that you can manage aspects of art assets, scene design, and use complex tools in Unity to make character creations.

To be eligible for this exam, you’ll need at least 150 hours of Unity experience and some basic knowledge of character creation, lighting, materials, and cameras. You’ll also need to undertake two to three semesters of Unity classwork or independent study and have a portfolio containing a range of completed Unity projects before applying.

Many holders of the Unity User Artist Certification will go on to become junior developers, junior artists, lighting and technical artists, content designers, or quality assurance testers.

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The Benefits of Unity’s User Artist Certification

Unity is the most popular game engine to date, powering half of all games worldwide. Making games using Unity will improve your chances of starting a game artist career.

Unity’s User Artist Certification is designed to showcase the professional knowledge of aspiring game artists to help them stand out against their competitors. Here are the benefits of receiving Unity’s User Artist Certification.

Boost your career chances

Having a Unity Certification will allow you to stand out in an incredibly competitive industry against hundreds of other applicants. It’s a rare credential in the game artistry industry and is used as proof that an individual has the skills needed to start a professional career. Alongside this, a Unity Certification proves dedication to being a game artist since it costs significant money and time to finish the exam.

Many Unity-based jobs list certification as a requirement, putting you in a great position to start your career in the gaming industry.

Improve your talents as an artist

You’ll need plenty of experience using Unity and C# to create game art before taking the Unity User Artist Certification, allowing you to improve your talents as a game artist. By spending at least 150 hours using Unity to create complicated characters and worlds, you’ll be more than ready to enter a professional career.

Showcase your technical skills

To obtain the Unity User Artist Certification, you need to have strong technical skills for games, apps, models, and simulations. You’ll be able to showcase your technical skills and proficiency in using Unity, one of the most popular game development programs.

What courses are best to prepare for Unity’s User Artist Certification?

To take Unity’s User Artist Certification, you need foundational knowledge of using Unity and C# for the purposes of game design. It is essential to study game artistry before applying to take the exam. Luckily, there are many online courses designed to help you improve your skills as a game designer so that you can take the Unity User Artist Certification.

Here are the best online courses you can take to prepare for Unity’s User Artist Certification.

Unity Game Development Mini-Degree

Passing the artist certification is as much about knowing Unity as it is about art. Zenva’s Unity Game Development Mini-Degree is a comprehensive curriculum designed around teaching you Unity from the ground up. You’ll work on everything from the foundations of Unity to building real-world projects that are perfectly suitable for bulking up any portfolio you might want to create.

Along the way, you’ll learn a ton of aspects relevant to the User Artist Certification – such as how the cameras work, how audio assets work, and even how to manage animations for your game projects (whether 2D or 3D).

Plus, all of Zenva’s courses offer tons of extra material to help with your learning process. This includes downloadable project files and text-based summaries so you can learn in whatever way suits you best!

With the Unity Game Development Mini-Degree, you’ll learn the following topics:

• C# coding basics
• UI systems
• Audio effects
• Cinematic cutscenes
• Special effects
• Procedural terrain
• Animation

Skill level: Beginner. You don’t need prior experience in Unity or C#.

Duration: 36h 23m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Intro to Game Development with Unity

If you want to start off a bit smaller with your Unity journey, Intro to Game Development with Unity by Zenva is the perfect starter.

This short course is focused specifically on people who have never used Unity in their life. As such, rather than throwing to you the deep end of the pool, it takes a light, hand-holding approach. You’ll discover how to set up Unity, what windows in the engine mean, how to work in 3D space with objects, and more. Of course, you’ll also discover some fundamentals around C# as well – so when you’re ready to start building games, you’ll have the key skills you’ll need.

By the end, the course will also get you building your first interactive project!

If you’re unsure, Zenva does offer a free sample of this course via Unity 101 – Game Development Foundations.

As part of this course, you’ll cover key topics, including:

• Installing and setting up Unity projects
• manipulating object size, position, and rotation
• How to change aesthetics with materials
• Coding variables and operators with C#
• Using various skills to create interactive games
• Building and deploying your games

Skill level: Beginner. No prior knowledge is needed.

Duration: 2h 7m

How to access: Access the course here.

Unity Pixel Art Game Tutorial – Complete Starting Setup

2D games are still thriving, so learning how those sorts of assets work in Unity is a good skill to have as well – especially for certification.

Through Unity Pixel Art Game Tutorial – Complete Starting Setup by Restful Coder, you’ll explore how to take 2D pixel art assets and bring them into Unity for game projects. This includes how to paint tilemaps in the engine, how to import your assets properly, and even some idiosyncrasies when it comes to setting up cameras and collisions.  You’ll also learn a bit about the different ways in which creating pixel art levels through parts works.

You’ll cover key topics, including:

• Unity overview
• Player character and sprite
• Player movement
• Tilemaps and background
• Obstacles and collisions
• Prevent character spinning
• Add a camera (Cinemachine) and follow player
• Make the camera pixel perfect
• Confine the camera to the background
• Fix background collision bug
• Tweak camera settings

Skill level: Novice. Some basic knowledge of Unity and C# is needed.

Duration: 51m

How to access: Access the course here.

Create your First 3D Game in Unity

One of the best ways to learn to work with game assets is to just build a game. Of course, you don’t want to start off too complicated, which is why Zenva’s Create Your First 3D Game in Unity is a great course.

Focusing specifically on 3D games, you’ll master a variety of platformer mechanics including how to work with character controllers, set up “enemies”, create coin collectibles, add UI systems, and more. Each element has its own asset requirements, of course, so you’ll learn a lot about how to manipulate art aesthetics using the tools Unity offers. Plus, by the end of the course, you’ll have a nifty entry for your portfolio and good skills to begin expanding into other relevant areas (such as lighting).

With this course, you’ll learn how to:

• Create player and enemy objects
• Construct a level with 3D models
• Script the camera to follow the player
• Set up the game-winning conditions
• Add collectible coins
• Build UI elements and menus

Skill level: Novice. You’ll need minimal knowledge of Unity and C#.

Duration: 2h 16m

How to access: Access the course here.

How to Make a Game – Unity Beginner Tutorial

In How to Make a Game – Unity Beginner Tutorial by Jason Weimann, viewers are taught the entire process of building a physics-based game using Unity. As mentioned many times before this is key to learning Unity in general, as it forces you to work with game assets in various ways.

What makes this course stand out is the fact it begins with a focus specifically on bringing and preparing your assets to actually be used in your game. So right up front, you know you’re learning about this aspect and how the basics work!

You’ll cover the following key topics:

• Sprites
• Importing Art
• Animation
• Background art
• Physics
• Coding
• Dragging
• Launching
• Obstacles
• Indicator
• Camera Controller
• Enemy
• Particles
• Prefabs
• Levels

Skill level: Beginner. No prior knowledge is needed.

Duration: 3h 4m

How to access: Access the course here.

Create your First 2D Game in Unity

The Create Your First 2D Game in Unity course by Zenva is similar to another entry on this list. Rather than 3D assets, however, this one focuses on 2D.

Throughout the course, you’ll work through building a 2D platformer featuring collectibles, enemies, character movement, UI systems, and more. You’ll even learn how you can manage your levels so you can easily make a multiple-level game.

Along the way, of course, you’ll master a ton of tips and tricks specifically for working with basic 2D assets, which come with their own sets of rules in comparison. Nevertheless, these are essential for preparing for certification, since these differences will be important professionally as well.

This course will teach you key coding techniques, including:

• Implementing player and enemy objects
• Scripting platformer-style movements
• Building levels with 2D tiles
• Setting up collectibles and scoring
• Controlling gameplay flow with goals
• Creating UIs for scores and menus

Skill level: Intermediate. Some basic knowledge of Unity and C# is required.

Duration: 1h 55m

How to access: Access the course here.

How to do Character Customization!

If you’re interested in something a little more advanced at this point, look no further than How to do Character Customization! by Code Monkey! This free course shows you how to build the ever-popular feature of allowing users to have a custom character for their gameplay experience.

As you can imagine, this will cover a lot about how assets are managed, changed, and rendered – all core skills you’re going to want to master in your practice to pass the User Artist Certification!

Key topics:

• Character Customization Unity Tutorial
• Sponsor
• 4 Methods to do Character Customization
• Characters with 3 different setups
• Change Material, Texture
• Change Mesh, Avatar, Keep Animations
• Add parts with SkinnedMeshRenderer
• Issues with SkinnedMeshRenderer
• Character Customization Unity Tutorial

Skill level: Novice. Some basic knowledge of Unity and C# is required.

Duration: 17m

How to access: Access the course here.

Unity User Artist Certification Wrap Up

This brings us to the end of our list of best courses for the User Artist Certification. We’ve covered a lot of ground here, and we just know these skills will open up new doors for you professionally and personally.

But… we’ve only been able to scratch the surface. There are thousands of courses out there, and what’s “best” may mean something different for you than it does for us. So, don’t be afraid to explore more Unity courses through platforms like Zenva – the more you learn, the better positioned you’ll be to pass the exam!

We wish you all the best of luck with the exam, and we hope we’ve made prepping for it just a little bit easier!

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Long story short – now is a fantastic time to learn game development – even if you intend to stay a solo indie creator. This said, for those looking to bolster their resume more professionally, you’ll need some extra “oomph” to stand out from the crowd, as plenty of other people have the same skills. Enter Unity’s User Programmer Certification, which is a quick and easy way to show you know the popular Unity engine and the programming skills needed for game creation.

As passing the exam is no walk in the park, though, in this article, we’re going to showcase our favorite Unity courses. These courses will be geared towards helping you pass that exam, and ensure you get the skills you need to be at for your career!

Let’s get started!

What is the Unity User Programmer Certification?

Unity’s User Programmer Certification is designed for aspiring game or app developers to teach them Unity’s primary capabilities and functions as a development platform. With this certification, learners are evaluated on how much they know about the fundamentals of Unity, including making projects and Prefabs and navigating the editor. Students will also be tested on C# knowledge.

The overall aim is to prove students can read, write, and understand basic code used all the time in Unity. Many receivers of the Unity User Programmer Certification go on to start postsecondary programs in game development, animation, or STEM – or alternatively, create their own successful games.

To take the exam, students must build their knowledge base of Unity and C#. Test subjects could include:

• Building projects in Unity, using C#
• Navigating the Unity interface and interpreting API basics
• Creating prototypes, debugging, and solving programming difficulties
• Programming a function state machine

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The Benefits of a Unity User Programmer Certification

The Unity game engine is used to power half of all games globally. Learning how to use and code with Unity is, therefore, not only beneficial for creating high-powered games, but breaking into the competitive game development and design industry.

The Unity User Programmer Certification is designed to help aspiring developers stand out in a busy crowd, as to receive this certification, you’ll need professional knowledge of not only Unity but programming with C#.

Here are the main benefits of receiving Unity’s User Programmer Certification.

Stand out in the job market

The game development job sector is incredibly difficult to break into. You’ll be up against hundreds (if not thousands) of applicants, all gunning for the same position. To have any chance of winning a developer position, you’ll need to stand out from the crowd and position yourself as a proven professional.

The Unity User Programmer Certification is a rare credential in the developer world and is recognized as proof that you have skills and dedication to game development – since there is significant cost and time involved in taking the exam.

In fact, many Unity-based job postings will list Unity Certifications as a (preferred) requirement, putting you in a much better hiring position.

Showcase your skill level

To qualify for the Unity User Programmer Certification, you must build a solid knowledge base of both the game engine and C#. It will allow you to not only improve your skill levels as you study to take the exam, but once you’ve obtained the certification, you can prove just how knowledgeable you are to potential employers.

Go from hobbyist to professional

Many Unity developers are self-taught gaming lovers, having fun creating their own animations and worlds. For some, the main goal is to be entertained and learn the ins and outs of Unity simultaneously.

However, teaching yourself a complicated tool can be difficult, especially without a guided learning path. While there are plenty of courses available online, it can be hard to know what to do after you’ve finished.

Unity’s User Programmer Certification allows hobbyists to follow a structured path, with certifications ranging from beginner to professional. Taking the exams in order will allow them to progress naturally, picking up the skills needed to move on to the next certification.

What courses are best to prepare for Unity’s User Programmer Certification?

Unity’s User Programmer Certification is designed to showcase an individual’s skills in Unity and C#, and it’s essential to build knowledge before taking the exam. There are many professional courses online that will teach you everything you need to know about making games with Unity.

Here are the best courses for preparing to take the User Programmer Certification.

Unity Game Development Mini-Degree

The Unity Game Development Mini-Degree, created by Zenva, is a comprehensive curriculum focused around Unity. With no experience necessary to jump in, users get the opportunity to learn a wide variety of tools. This includes basic engine functionality like object manipulation, to rarer tools such as ProBuilder and Cinemachine.

While mastering the fundamentals of Unity, students will also get the chance to build real-world projects for a professional portfolio. This includes games in popular genres like RPGs, idle clicks, and FPS games (to name a few). Plus, everything is made with expandable systems that you can practice with further to improve your skills.

Of course, for the sake of the certification exam, this curriculum has just about all the basics you’ll need in both Unity and C# to upskill yourself in preparation!

With the Unity Game Development Mini-Degree, you’ll learn topics including:

• C# coding basics
• UI systems
• Audio effects
• Cinematic cutscenes
• Special effects
• Procedural terrain
• Animation
• Genre mechanics

Skill level: Beginner and comprehensive. No prior experience is necessary.

Duration: 36h 23m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Intro to Game Development with Unity

If you’re looking just for a single course to start, then Zenva’s Intro to Game Development with Unity course is a great choice. This course is intended for ultra-beginners – i.e. people who have literally never touched Unity before in any capacity.

The course focuses on three major areas: the basic tools of the engine and interacting with objects, C# fundamentals for Unity, and combining everything to make a balloon popper game. Together, these cores will set you up for success in beginning your Unity education journey, as the skills will serve you as you move into more complicated projects.

Likewise, it is worth noting this course is suitable for younger users – as young as Grade 8. Thus, you don’t have to wait at all to start learning.

Lastly, if you’re a bit hesitant, you can try a free course sample by taking Unity 101 – Game Development Foundations, which covers the basics of setting up and using key tools of Unity.

Intro to Game Development by Zenva Academy covers key topics, including:

• How to install and set up Unity projects
• How to manipulate object size, position, and rotation
• Ways to change aesthetics with materials
• Code variables and operators with C#
• Combining various skills in order to create interactive games
• How to build and deploy your games

Skill level: Beginner

Duration: 2h 7m

How to access: Access the course here.

How to Program in C#

With the name being User Programmer Certification, you might imagine there’s going to be quite a lot of C# knowledge expected. So, learning to program with C# is kind of a bit point.

In the How to Program in C# series by Brackeys, you’ll focus more specifically on C# itself and learn all the principles you’ll need to apply in Unity. These videos are also designed to keep games in mind – so you don’t have to worry about it not being too divorced from Unity either.

The series includes the following topics:

• Input and output
• Variables
• Conditions
• Loops
• Array
• Functions
• Classes

Skill level: Beginner

Duration: 2h 4m

How to access: Access the series here.

Unity Mini-Projects – C# Fundamentals

Unity Mini-Projects – C# Fundamentals by Zenva is a beginner-oriented course aimed at helping users expand their Unity and C# knowledge by applying them to real-world projects. These mini-projects are designed both to build out learners’ portfolios while also teaching them a number of C# techniques.

The projects featured for the course are a balloon popper with a scoring system, an efficient object spawner, and bowling and skiing mini-games. Through these, users get the chance to play with physics and more as well, rounding out their Unity education.

This is also a great stop if you don’t feel ready to jump into full games yet, since this lets you experiment with basic interactivity first.

Broader skills will also be covered, including:

• Implementing multiple scripts in one project
• Building user interfaces
• Dealing with user inputs
• Detecting collisions between game objects
• Accessing object data through C# scripting
• Applying physics to objects.

Skill level: Novice, but some basic Unity and C# skills are required.

Duration: 1h 40m

How to access: Access the course here.

How to Make a 2D Game

Sometimes, the best way to learn Unity is just to build games and experiment with various features. As Unity is able to do both 2D and 3D games, though, it can be beneficial to learn both.

In the case of this entry, the How to Make a 2D Game series by Brackeys will cover 2D specifically. From the fundamentals of just making a game in the first place to working with Unity tools like lighting, this series has a little bit of everything. All are in line with what you’ll need for the certification exam, however, so it’s a good jack-of-all-trades series to start preparing.

With this course, you’ll learn the following key topics:

• 2D Movement
• Animation
• 2D Camera
• 2D Shooting
• Organic Levels
• Lights
• Top Down Shooting
• Melee Combat
• Making a Boss

Skill level: Beginner

Duration: 2h 9m

How to access: Access the series here.

Create Your First 3D Game in Unity

As a companion to the entry above, you don’t want to neglect 3D game development either. That’s why the Create Your First 3D Game in Unity by Zenva is an excellent next step in your journey

This course covers creating a 3D platformer project that is designed to teach you some of the most common game mechanics you’ll want to know. This includes how to craft levels through the scene editor, how to add collectibles, how to add enemies that can trigger game-overs, and how to set up a simple UI. Of course, you’ll also learn 3D player movement – which is essential knowledge to have no matter what direction you go!

With this course, you’ll learn techniques such as:

• Creating player and enemy objects
• Constructing a level with 3D models
• Scripting the camera to follow the player
• Setting up the game-winning conditions
• Adding collectible coins
• Building UI elements and menus

Skill level: Novice. You’ll need basic knowledge of Unity and C#.

Duration: 2h 16m

How to access: Access the course here.

Learn Unity Beginner/Intermediate 2023

Designed to teach users how to write high-quality code by making a complex project, the Learn Unity Beginner/Intermediate 2023 course by Code Monkey is an all around master course for covering every Unity basic. With this course, you’ll make a fun arcade game while learning the complexities of both Unity and C#. This includes everything from more intermediate C# coding to working with things like sounds.

This said, it is still relatively beginner-friendly – so perfectly suited to passing the User Programmer Certification.

With this course, you’ll learn topics such as:

• Unity Layout
• Visual Studio
• Code Style, Naming Rules
• Importing Assets
• Post Processing
• Character Controller, Visual, Rotation
• Animations & Cinemachine
• Collision Detection
• Interact Action, C# Events
• Selected Counter Visual, Singleton Pattern
• Player Pick up, Drop Objects
• Cutting, World Canvas
• Music & Sound Effects
• Main Menu, Loading

Skill level: Novice. You’ll need some basic knowledge of Unity and C#.

Duration: 10h 49m

How to access: Access the course here.

Unity User Programmer Certification Wrap Up

With these Unity courses, you should be more than prepared to take on the User Programmer Certification. While the exam sounds intimidating, do keep in mind the exam was also made to be suitable for high school students to be able to take and pass as well. Thus, as the entry-level certification, you don’t yet have to be a Unity expert!

This said, we do encourage you to explore more courses. Zenva, for instance, offers far more Unity courses than we could mention here. And the more you know about Unity, the better your opportunities will be. Plus, there are even higher-level certifications to look for after this, so more preparation won’t hurt for that either.

No matter where your path takes you, we wish you the best of luck with your game development adventures!

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If you’re looking to break into the gaming industry, having VR coding skills is a surefire way to get a foothold in the door. Of course, plenty of people already had this idea – so how do you stand out from the crowd? The answer here is Unity’s User VR Developer Certification, one of the few certifications available to showcase that you have the skills you’re boasting. However, preparing and passing the exam is a challenge in and of itself – but thankfully there are resources available to save the day.

In this article, we’re going to discuss some of our favorite resources that will help you learn the VR skills you need to not only to succeed in making VR projects in general, but in passing your User VR Developer Certification exam.

Let’s dive in!

What is the Unity User VR Developer Certification?

Unity’s User VR Developer Certification is an exam-based certification designed to show employers and postsecondary programs that you have a solid understanding of VR experiences in Unity. The focus here is on showing that you understand how to consider adaptations to games for VR.

To take this certification exam, you’ll need some foundational skills in both Unity and C# programming since this is an advanced qualification. Additionally, you’ll also need to pass Unity’s Certified User Programmer Certification first.

All Unity’s certification exams were developed through careful research and collaboration with testing specialists and game development experts. Currently, the tests are administered by Pearson VUE, a renowned educational company, meaning the certifications are regarded highly by industry professionals.

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The Benefits of a Unity User VR Developer Certification

The Unity User VR Developer Certification is designed to help professionals break into the growing VR industry. Here are the main benefits of taking this exam.

Stand out in the job market

Unity’s User VR Certification shows employers that you have the knowledge and skill levels needed to succeed in a VR developer position, giving you a competitive edge over other professionals. Since certifications are rare in the gaming industry, having a Unity Certification will help you stand out against other professionals. You’ll also have a better chance of getting a Unity-based job, which will often list a Unity Certification as a requirement.

The certification is industry-recognized and can be included on your resume and professional portfolio.

Improve your skill level

This certification showcases your abilities to create VR experiences and programs using Unity. You’ll need to put in 200 hours of Unity training before obtaining the certification, improving your skill levels over time. Naturally, preparing for the exam also improves your skills by association.

What courses are best to prepare for Unity’s User VR Developer Certification?

To be eligible for Unity’s User VR Developer Certification, you must have some base knowledge of virtual reality. Luckily, there are many courses online that will teach you the basics of VR coding, development, and design.

Here are the best online courses you can take to boost your skills, all from the comfort of your home.

Virtual Reality Mini-Degree

Zenva’s Virtual Reality Mini-Degree is a comprehensive collection of courses designed to teach you everything that you need to know about VR. You’ll start from the ground up in this curriculum – first learning the Unity engine itself and then mastering a variety of VR principles and mechanics. These include working with controllers, different styles of movement, and so on.

Throughout the courses, you’ll also get hands-on experience with projects – such as a kitchen simulator – which can also be used to build out courses.

Many courses in this set also come with supplemental material to cement your knowledge, including live coding exercises, quizzes, course files, and downloadable text summaries to help you refresh your knowledge!

Overall, this is a truly comprehensive choice whether you’re new to Unity entirely or are just ready to learn the features of VR.

You’ll also learn the following key topics:

• Coding basics with C# and Unity
• Movement options
• VR-optimized UI design
• Hand-tracked controllers
• Industry best-practices
• Simulations and games

Skill level: Comprehensive

Duration: 17h 46m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

How to make a VR game in Unity in 2022

Valem Tutorials’ How to make a VR game in Unity in 2022 series is designed to give you the basic knowledge needed to get into VR development. With the focus specifically on VR (so assuming you know some Unity already), these videos cover a wide array of topics. This includes movements and controllers – even covering how to grab with two hands!

The series also includes some other important considerations as well, such as dealing with motion sickness – which is a very common issue for VR projects.

Various topics include:

• Introduction: how to make a VR game in Unity
• Input and Hand Presence
• Continuous Movement
• Teleportation
• Hover, grab, and user interactable
• Offset and distance grab
• User interface
• Two hand grab

Skill level: Beginner

Duration: 3h 10m

How to access: Access the playlist here.

Intro to Game Development with Unity

If you’ve literally never touched Unity before, Zenva’s Intro to Game Development with Unity course is perfect. While there’s nothing pertaining to VR in it, as it is an ultra-level beginner’s course, you will learn all about Unity as a tool itself.

This includes how to do basic things like navigate the various windows, manipulate game objects, and so forth. You’ll also dive into C# programming and learn some basic coding principles.

So, while this course isn’t about VR itself, it’s an important step on the path. You have to learn Unity itself first before you can learn VR!

If you’re on a budget – or just aren’t sure about the course – there is a free course sample available via Unity 101 – Game Development Foundations. This will give you an idea of what to expect and help you get your feet wet without investing too much here yet.

Intro to Game Development with Unity covers topics such as:

• Install and set up Unity projects
• Manipulate object size, position, and rotation
• Change aesthetics with materials
• Code variables, operators, and more with C#
• Combine various skills to create interactive games
• Build and deploy your games

Skill level: Beginner level. No prior experience is needed.

Duration: 2h 7m

How to access: Access the course here.

How to Make VR Games in 2022

How to Make VR Games in 2022 by Justin P Barnett teaches you how to set up your first VR project on the fairly recent version of Unity, including basics on how to use the “grab interactable” tool to pick up objects in VR and the locomotion system. This fairly short but straightforward course is designed to give you the very basics you need to work with VR. While there is a lot more to explore, the foundations established here will set you on the right path forward!

Key topics covered in this course include:

• How to set up a new Unity project for VR
• How to import the Unity XR Interaction Toolkit package
• How to set up an introductory VR scene
• How to set up basic VR movement
• How to pick up objects in VR
• How to test your app on PC, Mac, or Linux
• How to add our VR template to Unity

Skill level: Beginner

Duration: 26m

How to access: Access the course here.

Build a Micro-VR Game

In the Build a Micro-VR Game course, created by Zenva, you’ll explore some basic VR coding techniques while creating a small outdoor grilling VR experience. The course covers some of the most fundamental concepts – including how to grab things with controllers and how to use teleportation-style movement.

You’ll also learn how to adjust your game to be deployed on various VR devices, including Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, Oculus Go, SteamVR, and more. All of this is to help prepare you to develop any VR rig.

Worth noting as well is that this course does not focus on Unity’s XR Interaction Toolkit. As this technology has become the predominantly covered aspect for VR, this course gives you the chance to explore other ways to create VR experiences that can be useful for the future!

Key topics covered:

• Understand the difference between virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality
• Create an environment for grilling and change the color of assets
• Set up Unity for a variety of VR devices
• Implement hand controllers that can pick up and place objects down
• Develop a teleportation system so players can move around the map

Skill level: Beginner

Duration: 1h 56m

How to access: Access the course here.

Learn Unity – Beginner’s Game Development Tutorial

Learn Unity -Beginner’s Game Development Tutorial by freeCodeCamp.org is another entry on this list that isn’t really focused much on VR. Still, as stated in a previous item, learning the fundamentals of Unity first is not only recommended, but required if you want to learn VR.

For complete beginners, this course is a good place to start as you’ll learn the foundations of using Unity. You’ll explore a ton of C# programming fundamentals not covered elsewhere as well, so if you want a full gambit for C# this is also an excellent resource.

Key topics covered:

• Downloading Unity And Unity Hub
• Camera Follow Player
• Enemy Animations, Script, Spawner, and Collision
• Unity’s UI System
• Navigating Between Scenes
• Selecting A Character
• Static Variables
• Singleton Pattern
• Events And Delegates

Skill level: Beginner

Duration: 7h 24m

How to access: Access the course here.

Discover the XR Interaction Toolkit for VR

When it comes to Unity, the XR Interaction Toolkit is considered the new standard for building VR projects. This new system basically forgoes any form of coding. Instead, everything is component based – so making an item interactable is as easy as dragging on the right components and adjusting the settings.

In Zenva’s Discover the XR Interaction Toolkit for VR course, you’ll learn just that – how to use the XR Interaction Toolkit. This course covers all the basics you’ll need to get started, including teleportation and hand-grabbing controllers. All the while, you’ll also create a nifty kitchen simulator project to add to your portfolio!

Key topics covered:

• Set up the XR Interaction Toolkit
• Create interactable objects
• Implement teleportation-style movement
• Deal with hand-grabbing controllers
• Add particle effects based on object orientation

Skill level: Beginner to intermediate – Unity skills are expected.

Duration: 59m

How to access: Access the course here.

Unity User VR Developer Certification Wrap Up

And there we have it – the best courses to prepare for getting the User VR Developer Certification from Unity.

While we’ve given you a lot of material to work with, we encourage you to explore as many courses as physically possible. Remember, you have to pass the User Programmer Certification first, so you’re going to need to ramp up your Unity skills quickly in order to even prepare for this particular exam. So please continue to browse sites like Zenva and master all that you can. The more you learn Unity, the better position you’ll be in!

We hope these courses help you start your preparations, and we wish you the best of luck in becoming a VR expert!

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Thanks to this huge demand for those ready to jump into video games, there are thousands of online courses available – ready to teach you the skills you need to succeed. In fact, maybe there are a few too many courses to choose from. So where do you start?

In this article, we’re going to showcase six of the best game design courses you can take to upskill yourself and get ready to apply to any sort of game you want to make!

Let’s get started!

What is game design?

Game design is a broader skill set in the field of game production, referring to the use of creative design to develop engaging video games. Video game designers are tasked with creating worlds, stories, characters, and objectives for the purposes of driving the game forward and making it as entertaining or educational as possible.

Those that work in game design are creative, analytical, and problem-solvers – all transferable skills that are beneficial in other areas of life. To succeed in this constantly evolving industry, game designers need to have a passion for game production, have patience, and be quick learners.

Game designers are rewarded a good income in the US, reflecting the skill needed to get a job in the industry. On average, game designers earn $74,920 per year, with some making well over $100,000 depending on experience.

By learning game design, you’ll develop a number of transferable skills including the ability to problem solve, design skills, teamwork, and independent learning skills.

You’re also easily able to learn game design skills from home, since there are thousands of professional courses you can take online. There’s no need to enroll in university when learning game design, and many professionals in the industry are self-taught.

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What are the best game design courses?

There are thousands of game design courses available online, and it can be difficult to know which one is right for you. Luckily, we’re diving into the top game design and development courses that you can take from the comfort of your home. Whether you’re a beginner or have some experience in coding and game development, there’s something out there for everyone.

Additionally, we’ll also be trying to cover a wide range of tools – so you’ll get plenty of options to choose from!

Unity Game Development Mini-Degree

Unity is a massively popular game engine, responsible for powering over half of all games. It is used in over 190 countries, and it’s also one of the easiest engines to start with in terms of game development.

Why? Unity is basically the ultimate cross-platform machine, being able to make 2D & 3D games, VR games, AR games, mobile games, multiplayer games, console games, and beyond. This has made it hugely popular for both beginners and experienced developers alike, and even among non-developers for things like film.

With Zenva’s Unity Game Development Mini-Degree, students can get hands-on experience with the platform by building a number of topics. This full curriculum covers everything from the fundamentals of using the engine, to making full projects such as action RPGs, FPS games, idle clickers, and more.

While the curriculum skews a lot towards game development, game design is not neglected. Learners also get the opportunity to explore a variety of tools used when designing games, including things such as audio and animations. Beyond this, learners also get the chance to experience the full scope of project management and learn how the entire game-making process works – an important facet to being a successful game designer!

Key topics covered:

• Coding basics
• UI systems
• Audio effects
• Cinematic cutscenes
• Special effects
• Procedural terrain
• Animation

Skill level: Beginner. This is a comprehensive curriculum, meaning you’ll learn everything you need about Unity to reach an advanced skill level.

Duration: 36h 23m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Game Artwork Academy

With the development of advanced digital art tools, game makers are able to create custom assets pretty easily. For independent developers, this means they can work solo without any hiccups. For designers in bigger teams (where the main assets will get delegated out), this can still be a great boon for helping with things like storyboards and similar.

Regardless, art is an important skill to have for game design, since you’ll need to do things like help dictate the art direction and similar. And the smaller your team, well, the more these skills will benefit you to bring the game to life!

With Zenva’s Game Artwork Academy, students will learn the skills needed to start creating 2D and 3D game assets – choosing from a variety of styles including vector art, 3D models, and pixel art.

The curriculum covers popular tools, including Blender, Photoshop, GIMP, MagicaVoxel, and Inkscape, which are used by professional game designers and artists working in the industry. With a balanced approach, learners will master both the tools each program has to offer and the fundamental art skills as they create projects on the go!

Thus, you’re going to build a strong portfolio along the way as well!

Key topics covered:

• 3D modeling basics
• Voxel model creation
• Pixel art painting
• Vector art techniques
• Exporting and importing assets

Skill level: Beginner. No prior art skills are expected for these courses and are tailored to work for everyone from soloists to large teams.

Duration: 9h 5m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Game Design Academy

Game design involves a lot more than just making the stories or creating various art assets for planning purposes. A lot of game design is focused on understanding the how and why things are constructed the way they are. After all, design is about making specific choices to get a specific effect.

In the case of video games, it centers around some specific questions, such as: Are my mechanics fun? Are players able to navigate my levels easily? Are my characters engaging?

These questions are at the heart of all design – from the biggest AAA game to the smallest indie project.

In Zenva’ Game Design Academy, you’ll be taught all these core design principles and learn how to balance the creative and technical aspects of your project. Learners will not only master how to conceptualize gameplay and characters, but also create engaging stories that build a cohesive theme throughout the video game.

As you learn, you’ll also get to see how these design principles apply to real-life games – as these design techniques are the same ones used by industry professionals. In so doing, learners can gain a new understanding how these choices influence the overall engagement games possess. Plus, you’ll get to see how they work for just about any genre – whether we’re talking about an action-packed FPS game or a calming walking simulator.

Key topics covered:

• Core game loop setup
• How to guide players
• Game feel
• Level design foundations
• Storytelling techniques

Skill level: Beginner. The entire curriculum is designed for complete novices.

Duration: 3h 5m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Learn Unity – Beginner’s Game Development Tutorial

Sometimes, learning game design is simply about learning development and making your own games as an indie creator. Not only does this give you useful knowledge of the tools available, but the approach challenges you to put design principles into action up front.

FreeCodeCamp.org’s Learn Unity – Beginner’s Game Development Tutorial is a free course designed to give learners everything they need to develop games using the Unity game engine. The course covers everything from UIs to C# coding to working with player characters. It’s also beginner-friendly for those who have never even touched Unity before in their life.

This said, it is a bit lighter on the design aspects than other choices on this list (such as the courses from Zenva above) – so something to keep in mind when diving in. However, the skills here can still be immensely valuable as you explore the world of video game development in general.

Key topics covered:

• Introduction to Unity’s Interface
• Starting with Unity’s Basics
• Rigid Bodies and Colliders
• Audio Source and UI Elements
• Moving our Character with Code
• Introduction to Variables & Operations With Variables
• Functions, Conditional Statements & Loops
• Coroutines & Classes
• Accessibility Modifiers (Data Encapsulation) & Inheritance
• Getting Components & Importing Assets. Sorting Layers And Order In Layer
• Creating The Game Background
• Player Movement & Animating The Player Via Code, Player Jumping & Camera Follow Player
• Enemy Animations, Scripts, Enemy Spawner, Enemy Collision
• The Collector Script & Unity’s UI System
• Creating Main Menu & Navigating Between Scenes
• Selecting A Character & Creating Player Animations
• Static Variables & Singleton Pattern
• Events And Delegates & Instantiating The Selected Character
• Finishing Our Game

Skill level: Beginner.

Duration: 7h 20m.

How to access: Access the course here.

Unit: Advanced JS: Games & Visualizations

While engines like Unity or Unreal are very popular, you can still make games with plenty of other coding languages. This includes JavaScript – one of the three pillars that make up all web development. Though JavaScript isn’t the typical choice, it still makes a great backbone for web-hosted games and is used in popular game frameworks like Phaser.

The Advanced JS: Games & Visualizations course, hosted by the nonprofit Khan Academy, offers learners the chance to undertake an advanced understanding of game visualizations, demonstrated through practical learning using design programs. Users can learn how to change between multiple scenes, create clickable buttons, implement side scrollers, and learn how to use features such as translate, rotate, and scale for better manipulation of program shapes.

These principles both challenge you to think about how you design your games – such as how buttons look or similar – but teaches you the skills to unlock JavaScript for game development.

As a catch though, and as the title suggests, this is for more advanced users who have prior experience coding with JavaScript. So if you’re a novice, best to stick with some of the earlier entries such as the ones from Zenva.

Key topics covered:

• Intro to Games & Visualizations
• Scene management
• Buttons
• Making a side scroller: Hoppy Beaver
• Making a memory game
• Transformations
• 3D shapes
• Advanced development tools

Skill level: Advanced.

Duration: Taken at own pace.

How to access: Access the course here.

Unreal Engine Game Development Basic to Advanced Full Course

We’ve featured a lot of Unity and a lot of digital art tools. However, there is one more engine worth discussing that is widely used within the game development industry – Unreal Engine. Unreal Engine is an immensely popular engine, known most for its high-fidelity graphics that even indie developers can unlock with a few simple clicks. As an engine used so widely in AAA studios, it doesn’t hurt to understand the tool for the purposes of game design.

The Unreal Engine Game Development Full Basic to Advanced Full Course by Free Course is designed to teach independent learners the skills needed to start working with Unreal Engine. With a huge focus on the tools, future or current game designers can explore things such as using Quixel – the free, photorealistic assets provider – or working with sounds.

Along the way, of course, you’ll also learn about various other aspects useful to development with Unreal. Even if not pursuing that path in its entirety, knowing these techniques will give you a leg up in understanding the capabilities and limitations of the tool – which is also quite important for game design.

Key topics covered:

• Recreate the process for blocking out a 3D environment.
• Ambient and Procedural Sound
• Converting Blueprints to C++
• Creating Photoreal Cinematics with Quixel
• Bind C++ functions to user input levels and delegates.
• Core concepts and best practices of using C++ in Unreal Engine.

Skill level: This is a beginner course designed to teach you everything you need to reach an intermediate/advanced level.

Duration: 8h 55m

How to access: Access the course here.

Best Game Design Courses Wrap Up

And that wraps up our post on the best game design courses. Now, of course, there are definitely more courses out there. Plus, what’s the “best” does come up a bit down to you, reader. What aspects of game design do you want to learn? How do you learn? There’s a lot to think about.

Nevertheless, we hope this list helps and we hope you try a variety of things out. Part of learning game design is about experimentation, as it’s the best way to find out what does and doesn’t work for games. You’ll also want to experiment on whether you work best with free courses that are totally independent, or paid services like Zenva that offer more support and supplemental learning materials to help you master the topics.

Regardless of your choice, we wish you the best of luck with your game design journey!

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Things such as sparkles shot from magic wands or fire sparks coming from a bonfire are small details that can add much more credibility to the sceneries and games we create. They are also an important aspect of “game feel” that can just, in general, improve the user’s experience with the game. So – as you can imagine – it doesn’t hurt how to learn to do them as a developer.

In this quick tutorial, we’ll show you how to make fire particles in Unity. We’ll go over the settings and adjustments needed to bring your particles alive inside this powerful game engine. Moreover, you’ll also have a glimpse of the numerous features Unity has already available for you to explore when designing your particle systems.

Let’s dive in!

Project Files

You can download a copy of the source code files for the project done in this tutorial here.

This tutorial assumes you have a few basics of Unity and, most importantly, that you have Unity installed. Also, just to be clear, we are using Unity’s default particle system, not the VFX graph. That’s a tutorial for another day.

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Unity’s Particle System

First, let’s create a particle by right-clicking in the Hierarchy and selecting Effects > Particle System:

In the small pop-up menu at the bottom of the scene, we have several configuration options at the ready:

We can pause, stop or restart the particle emission by altering the playback time of the particles, and also slow it down by changing the playback speed. By checking the ‘ShowBounds‘ checkbox we can also see how far the particles are reaching:

This comes very in handy for us to quickly test how our particles are behaving. Nonetheless, we have a much richer range of settings for our particle system inside the Inspector:

Each tab has a different feature you can apply to your particle. We see that the Emission and Shape ones have a little check symbol in front of them, meaning that they are currently enabled for our particle system. The Emission tab controls how many particles we emit over time, while the Shape tab indicates the sort of shape we’re emitting from (a cone, a box, a circle, etc) and sets up the angle and radius, among other properties:

Another tab that’s checked in is Renderer, which allows us to customize how the particles face the camera. Right now they are set to ‘Billboard’ and if we change it to ‘Horizontal Billboard’ we’ll see the particles flat as well but facing the up direction instead:

We can also change the material of the particles in this tab, as well as the trail material. To add any trails to your particles, you need simply to enable the Trails tab:

Particle System Properties

Let’s see all these properties in action! We have:

• Start Lifetime – Dictates how long the particle exists in the world

Going back to the Particle System tab, if we bring down the Start Lifetime property from 5 seconds to 1 second we immediately see how it changes in height, as the particles are only alive for 1 second now:

To add a more organic feel to it, you can click on the arrow next to the value entered and select “Random Between Two Constants“. You can then enter two numbers, such as 0.5 and 1.5:

Note how the particles don’t all disappear at the same time anymore. We can do so with the Start Speed property as well to add more variety in how fast the particles are emitted.

We also have:

• Start Size – how large the particles are when they start out
• Start Rotation – the rotation of the particles when being emitted
• Start Color – the color we want the particles to be
• Simulation Space – designates the spread of the particles in the world

If we switch Simulation Space from ‘Local’ to ‘World‘, we see that the particles are now being moved along with our cursor to whatever position we place it:

Other interesting tabs are Velocity over Lifetime and Color over Lifetime, where we alter the speed and color of our particles over their lifetime periods. We can use the latter to make our particles fade out as time goes by:

Or have multiple colors to our gradient as follows:

Going to the Size over Lifetime tab, it allows us to change how large the particle is over time, based on an animation curve as seen below:

You can edit the curve by adding points to it and the particle will reflect the changes directly:

The Noise tab is also helpful to add some randomness and organic movement to our particles:

Remember to be careful of the Collision tab, as it adds a collider to every single particle and you may have an impact on performance by having too many of them. You can add colliders to make an explosion effect and also trigger an OnCollisionEnter function for that, for example.

Let’s put all this to use by creating our fire particle!

Fire Particle in Unity

Create a new particle system and name it “Fire Particle”. From there, let’s change how the particles look by setting the Render Mode to Mesh and the Material to Sprites-Default in the Renderer tab:

In the Particle System tab, set Start Lifetime to 1 – 1.5, Start Speed to 0.2, and Gravity Modifier to -1. Also set Shape to Sphere and Shape Radius to 1 (or 0.5) in the Shape tab:

Next, enable the Color over Lifetime tab, and set the Color gradient to the one below:

Back to the Particle System tab, set the Start Size to 1 – 1.5:

Enable the Rotation over Lifetime tab, and set the Angular Velocity to 45 – 90:

Also enable the Size over Lifetime tab, and set the Size curve to the one below:

You can bring the first point more to the left-up corner for the fire to get bigger faster as well, and then it’ll get smaller as time goes by. Feel free to tweak this as you like.

Finally, set Rate over Time to 20 in the Emission tab:

If we change the background color of the camera to a solid black, we can better visualize our fire particle all set up:

Notice how it’s changing color and has the fading-out effect, just as wanted!

Conclusion

Well done on concluding this tutorial!

Here you learned how to create simple fire particles in Unity in a fast and easy way! This is your first step towards designing all other sorts of particles, whether you want portal effects, magic attacks, or more. Unity allows us to customize our particles quite a lot through its default Particle System, and the more you explore it the more organic your particles will look.

We encourage you to practice with the Particle System more and try coming up with unique designs on your own! You may also want to take a look at Unity’s VFX Graph at some point as well, which takes particles to a whole new level with more power and performance – and much of the same fundamentals at play.

Regardless, good luck with your games, and we hope they “feel” that much more exciting!

Want to learn more about particles in Unity? Try our complete Intro to Particle Systems for Games course.

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First you have to learn a game engine, then coding, and then a slew of other concepts just to build something that can handle basic input and output. It’s no wonder people often don’t know where to get started! Thankfully, though, online educational resources are available to help you on that journey – so you aren’t in it alone.

In this article, we’ll help you discover what we believe to be some of the best game development courses available so you can start your learning journey. We’ll try to spread things here out between a few different engines and tools, so don’t worry about being pigeonholed in one direction.

Without delay, let’s get started!

What is game development?

Before we go too far down the rabbit hole, we did want to take a moment to define game development. In this way, we can approach this list all from the same place and footing (and we aren’t stuck making too many assumptions about your own knowledge either).

In simple terms, game development is the process of developing a video game. A developer transforms games from concept to reality by coding visual elements and features, and testing the game until it’s ready to go to market. To be a successful game developer, individuals need to be patient, able to overcome problems, and have analytical thinking skills.

Because of the complex nature of game development, professionals are paid well – with the average developer earning $101,160 a year in the US. They code games in a variety of formats including PC and Mac, consoles, web browsers, and mobile games.

By learning game development skills you’ll not only be able to enter a rewarding, creative, and in-demand career, but you’ll also gain transferable skills that can be applied to other aspects of your work life, including problem-solving, design, and self-learning.

Learning coding also gives you many transferable skills and benefits, including skills in design, teamwork, and project management.

Even better, coding and game development skills can be learned from the comfort of your home. There are hundreds of professional courses online available to anyone with the desire and determination to learn coding skills. There’s no need to go to university – with online courses, like those provided by platforms like Zenva, you’ll be able to learn professional skills at your own pace and in your own time.

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What are the best online game development courses?

As stated, if you’re interested in learning game development online, then you’re in luck. There are thousands of courses available, each catering to people of a different age and skill level. If you’re unsure of which course is right for you then don’t worry – we’ve narrowed down what we think are the most comprehensive to start with. We encourage you to explore all of them – as what your game engine preference is might not be immediately obvious.

Unity Game Development Mini-Degree

Unity is one of the most popular game engines to date, powering 50 percent of all games in the world and used in over 190 countries. Luckily, it’s also one of the easier ways to learn the art of game development and design, while also being able to handle complicated 2D and 3D projects as well as mixed approaches. Both beginners and experienced developers are more than capable of harnessing the power of Unity to make games in a variety of different formats.

Zenva’s Unity Game Development Mini-Degree is a full curriculum designed for beginners or intermediate developers to master Unity from the ground up. Featuring real-world projects and tons of different Unity tools, learners can master everything from the fundamentals to building their own professional development portfolio.

We especially want to emphasize the project-based approach for this curriculum, as learners get the opportunity to build real-world projects such as FPS games, idle clicks, racing games, procedurally generated maps, 3D assets, animations, and more!

Overall, this curriculum gives learners all they will need to thrive in the video game industry.

Key topics covered:

• Coding basics
• UI systems
• Audio effects
• Cinematic cutscenes
• Special effects
• Procedural terrain
• Animation

Skill level: Beginner. This is a comprehensive course with over 20 modules. You’ll learn everything you need about Unity to be able to code your own games in the future.

Duration: 36h 23m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Unreal Game Development Mini-Degree

Unreal Engine is a real-time 3D creation platform for creating games with hyperrealistic visuals and animations. It’s used by indies and AAA studios for a variety of games, being just an all-around powerhouse. Using its unique Blueprints Visual Scripting system, Unreal also allows novice developers to build games, even if they’ve never coded before. It’s also royalty-free until you earn over a million dollars, so it’s safe for hobbyists on a budget as well.

Because Unreal Engine is royalty-free and only charges once a game earns over a million dollars, it’s one of the most popular engines for beginners operating in the game development industry.

Zenva’s Unreal Game Development Mini-Degree is a curriculum of courses centered around getting industry ready. Learners get to start with the simple basics of using Unreal Engine – and the tools it has to offer – and then go straight to practical application.

With the idea you’ll use the curriculum to build a portfolio, you’ll get to explore projects in a variety of popular genres. This includes things like FPS games, action RPGs, arcade-style games, walking simulators, and even strategy games.

This set is just amazingly comprehensive for getting started with the engine and learning tons of useful ways to build real-world games with Unreal!

Key topics covered:

• Unreal Engine’s various features
• Using the Blueprints Visual Scripting system
• Animation controls with state machines
• Materials and lighting
• Controlling gameplay flow
• Various game genre mechanics

Skill level: Beginner. This is a comprehensive course with 10 modules. You’ll learn everything you need about the Unreal Engine to be able to start your career in the video game industry.

Duration: 16h 52m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Godot 4 Game Development Mini-Degree

Godot is a cross-platform and open-source game engine designed making both 2D and 3D games. While it hasn’t been yet adopted in significant regard by AAA studios, it’s found a popular niche with indie developers. It features unique, flexible node-based systems that speed up the game creation process and uses GDScript, an easy-to-learn scripting language made specifically to make the most out of the Godot engine.

With Zenva’ Godot 4 Game Development Mini-Degree, you’ll get to jump in as a complete novice and end up with a few nifty projects for your portfolio. Along the way, you’ll of course learn a ton of important fundamentals that can be utilized in future projects, including some of the most popular game mechanics available!

Among the projects included in the courses, you’ll master making both 2D and 3D platformers, RTS games, turn-based battle systems for RPGs, and even the foundations for a survival game!

No matter your skill level, this curriculum will ensure you’re ready to make whatever you could want with Godot – and perhaps even make a career out of it!

Key topics covered:

• Using 2D and 3D assets
• GDScript – the language powering Godot
• Gameplay flow
• Player & enemy combat
• Item collection & UI systems
• Survival, RPG, strategy, & platformer mechanics

Skill level: Beginner. This course is suitable for learners with no prior coding experience.

Duration: 10h 59m

How to access: Access the curriculum here.

Learn Python by Building Five Games – Full Course

Python is one of the easiest programming languages to learn, and is used by developers and non-developers alike. It is used to develop hundreds of professional games, including the popular Disney’s ToonTown. While it is less widely used in gaming compared to the previously mentioned engines, it is fantastic for novice developers.

The Learn Python by Building Five Games YouTube course is provided by freeCodeCamp.org. Individuals can use this free course to learn Python at a beginner level by taking on five projects: Pong, Snake, Connect Four, Tetris, and an Online Multiplayer game.

If you learn best through practical learning, we would recommend this course.

However – be warned. FreeCodeCamp courses are designed for independent learning, and you’ll have no access to professional mentors (unlike premium services like Zenva). If you work better with structured learning and regular goals and trophies, this YouTube tutorial might not be for you.

Key topics covered:

• Learn how to build a Pong game
• Learn how to build a Snake game
• Learn how to build a Connect Four game
• Learn how to build a Tetris game
• Learn how to build an Online Multiplayer game

Skill level: Intermediate. Since this is a practical course, you’ll need some basic knowledge of Python.

Duration: 6h 43m

How to access: Access the course here.

Unit: Advanced JS: Natural Simulations

Khan Academy is a free, nonprofit platform offering comprehensive courses to students, all from the comfort of their homes. While other platforms specialize in coding, Khan Academy has a range of courses from math to economics. While this means there are slim pickings compared to platforms like Zenva, that doesn’t mean it has nothing to offer.

The Advanced JS Natural Simulations course hosted by Khan Academy teaches students how to combine JS, ProcessingJS, and math concepts in order to simulate nature in your games and programs. This course teaches students using the “Nature of Code ” book by Daniel Shiffman from natureofcode.com.

Students taking this course will learn everything from adding randomness to your game to vectors and forces. There’s not much practical learning on this course – instead it focuses on intricate game concepts and theory. Because of this, this course is better suited to older children or adults.

The Advanced JS course is designed for those that have prior knowledge of coding and game development. Similar to the entry above, there’s no mentoring available to students of Khan Academy, so if you’re unsure whether you have the knowledge base to complete the course, it may be best to look elsewhere. Other platforms like Zenva can offer far more beginner-friendly experiences (as well as help through course mentors).

Key topics covered:

• Intro to Natural Simulations
• Randomness
• Noise
• Vectors
• Forces
• Angular Movement
• Oscillations
• Particle Systems

Skill level: Advanced. This course is designed to be taken after the Intro to JS course, also hosted by Khan Academy.

Duration: Taken at your own pace.

How to access: Access the course here.

JavaScript Tutorial – Create a Card Game

While engines offer powerful, cross-platform abilities, sometimes it’s good to know just how to bring games to the web. After all, there’s something to be said for old classics where people made mini-games right on their own webpages. JavaScript is the main driving force for this sort of activity, and given its one of the core pillars of web development, it never hurts to learn JavaScript.

In JavaScript Tutorial – Create a Card Game, brought to you again by freeCodeCamp.org, you’ll learn to make a web-oriented game from scratch using just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You’ll explore important concepts such as dynamic data updates, animation effects, and so forth. You’ll also, of course, learn how to tap into the webpage aesthetics as well so your card game looks the best it can.

Summarized, this doesn’t sound like a lot – but trust us, there’s a lot that goes into this! Plus, regardless of your next steps after this, we’re sure your JavaScript skills will be improved so you can explore other frameworks, such as Phaser which is JavaScript-based.

Key topics covered:

• Live Server Extension
• Create Cards – HTML
• Create the Game Play Grid
• Create Cards Dynamically – JS Code
• Initialise Card Positions
• Load Game and Start Game
• Stack Cards
• Flip Cards
• Shuffle Cards
• Deal Cards
• Choose Card
• Styling and Layout
• Animation
• Responsive Layout
• Local Storage

Skill level: Beginner. No prior knowledge needed.

Duration: 1h 31m

How to access: Access the course here.

Best Game Development Courses Wrap Up

And there you have it – some of the best game development courses you can learn from. We had to keep this list super short, so don’t think that’s all there is out there. There are simply too many resources to name. Plus, the best resource often comes down to personal preferences such as 1) how much time you want to invest, 2) how much budget you have, and 3) your personal learning needs.

This said, we really encourage you to try out all the resources. Picking a good game engine for your projects can often mean just experimenting with everything the world has to offer. By trying things out, though, you can get a definitive feel for what you like and don’t like.

Ultimately, whether you go with a paid and full-supportive service like Zenva or something free, we’re confident anybody can learn game development given the time! Good luck, and we look forward to your journey ahead!

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