Free Game Dev Resources Masterlist

I’ve compiled a list of my favourite tools to help you on your creative journey. Whether it’s game dev, programming, art, or something in the middle, these resources are sure to keep you inspired, focused, and constantly learning.

All of these game dev resources are free to use unless otherwise specified.

Unity

Shaders

Ronja – Amazing shader tutorials
ShaderGraph – In-browser shadergraph file previews & library

Skeletal Animation

Brackeys – 2D Character rigging and animation
Sergio’s Tech – A low down on Unity’s 2D Animation Package
Juul1a – My very own tutorial on rigging and inverse kinematics

Game Environment

N3K EN – Scrolling and Background Parallax
BlackthornProd – Engaging game environments

Scripts

Brackeys – 2D Player controller
InScope Studios – 2D Player Jump (this whole tutorial series is excellent)
Brackeys and also Brackeys – 2D Shooting (Raycast and Projectile)
Easings – Code & visuals for a diverse set of object movement scripts

Game Design

Enemy Design – A nice lil infographic by me about creating enemies
Environment Design – A blog post about 2D level design
Humane by Design – Guidance for designing ethically humane digital products focused on user well-being.

Art

Tools

Photopea – Free, browser-based Photoshop clone. Has almost all of the features of Adobe Photoshop!
Vectornator Pro – Mac/iPad/iOS app for vector art
SpriteStack – In-browser studio for creating 3D pixel art models ($$ to export though)
Framer – Team-based prototyping tool
Grabient – Sexy gradients
Paletton – Colour palette generator
Quixel Mixer – Free 3D texturing tool
Magica Voxel – Free voxel editor

Drawing Tutorials

Etherington Brothers – Awesome visual art tutorials on basics of drawing. Check out their Twitter too.
DrawABox – I have not yet tried this but I’ve heard amazing reviews of this program. It starts with the very basics.

Game Assets

Kenney – “Asset Jesus” – Kenney makes amazing 2D assets and sound FX
OpenGameArt – lots of free sprite, audio and model downloadables here
Juul1a – Some free alchemy themed assets that I made (watercolour painted, 2D)

Marketing

Juul1a – The benefits of using Twitch as a game developer (video)
Game Dev & Twitch – More on how Twitch can help you as a developer (blog)
Juul1a – How to build a marketing campaign (blog)
Juul1a – Who wants to buy your game? (blog) and video format here.

Community

Game Dev Friends Club – My own discord server, full of kind devs and the #100DaysofGameDev challenge.
Game Developer’s Network – Discord server where I like to hang out and chat with other game developers.

Focus

MyNoise – Noise generator with 150+ soundscapes. My favourite is “Car Interior”

I’ll continuously be adding to this list as I discover more helpful tools. If you have any game dev resource recommendations, leave them in the comments for others to check out!

Julia