Interactive Fiction
If you love reading, stories, or just want to start making games and you aren't quite ready to take on making art and programming - then interactive fiction might be for you! For inspiration or to just enjoy a good story, check out some of these titles:
Choice of Games
Gamebooks
Choice of Games are all about the story. You won't find much in the way of art or graphics here, but that's not why you play and read interactive fiction anyways!
Want more of that game-feel with a little bit of art to fuel the imagination? Gamebooks were once very popular in the 80's and have since started to come back. They incorporate dice, inventory, and combat systems to help spice up the story!
Ready to make your own? Here are some links to get you started!
Twine
Inkle writer
choice script
Make your Own Card or Board Game!
You can create a prototype of your game by making a card or board version. This allows you to focus on your design skills instead of being bogged down by all the trouble-shooting and nitty-gritty details that are necessary in digital game development.
the game crafter
Get Your Game Printed!
When you have your board game designed and the art completed, you can get a professional copy printed to share with all your family and friends!
Creating a board game at home.
Watch this video to get an idea of how you can make board games just with what you have lying around the house! This is nice if you just want to test out an idea, but don't want something as final and nice as what The Game Crafter will create.
Learning to Program
A huge part of making games is writing the code that makes the game do what you want it to do. To do this you'll have to learn a computer language! It can be difficult, but rewarding work. But there is no reason that learning to program needs to be difficult, check out these great resources for getting started:
Learn to Mode Minecraft
Learn to Mod Minecraft
Love Minecraft? This program has a series of fun lessons to teach you how to program by playing and changing your favorite game!
Hour of Code
code.org
Don't have much time? Well with Code.org you only need an hour a day! They make it fun by having achievements and getting to work with some of your favorite characters - like Elsa from Frozen!
Mobile and Tablet
stencyl
Once you've gone through a few tutorials or lessons, you can use Styncil to continue making games using the drag-and-drop style from Learn-to-Mod or Code.org. You can even play your game on your smart phone or tablet!
