You want to break into game development. How can you get the best training?

Tailor the approach ??- Everyone learns differently, think about what works for you. Do you prefer having a visual reference, a guide or someone walking you through? Pick an existing skill and develop it ??. You might enjoy coding, see how you can apply this to making your first game or asset. If you can draw or model you can learn how to transfer this to a digital space. Have fun! ??Every pursuit you do to improving yourself will help you reach your goals and learn more about how games are put together.

I have taken various online courses for game development and I've learned two things: 1. Accountability. Having "skin in the game" is best for me. If I sign up for a free course, I never finish. If I sign up for a $1000 course, I'll (more likely) finish. A high-priced course means I’ve done my due diligence, made a time commitment, etc. 2. Just-in-time learning. The best way for me to learn is to have a project that requires a given skillset. Learning to build something abstractly isn’t as motivating. I prefer learning something I will put into practice immediately, or even alongside my learning in parallel.

In my experience - Having joined a company as a game tester, I've had the invaluable opportunity to immerse myself in all facets of game development. This role has granted me direct access to diverse departments, including design, art, animation, coding, and more, allowing me to comprehensively understand the entire game development cycle. Throughout my tenure as a game tester, I've meticulously tested over 200 games spanning all major gaming platforms. This hands-on experience has equipped me with an in-depth understanding of user requirements specific to each platform. This extensive knowledge and exposure have become the foundation for my aspirations to establish my own gaming studio.

Beware of which tutorials and projects you select for your learning path, I see a lot of students who don't have a plan for their specific learning/portfolio outside of school. Random learning may result in poorer/slower learning, a subpar portfolio and even learning incorrectly that needs to be relearned later on. Look for targeted, quality training, and remember that a few good skills go further than many shallow ones. Spend time on a preproduction phase for your development learning before jumping into online tutorials. Also, try to "reverse engineer" great portfolios and deduct how they created their pierces. That way you often will find those few great skills that you need to get the best training.

I agree with what others have said: participate in a game jam! They're widely available and a great way to get involved. A notable one in the U.S. is Chillennium, organized by students at Texas A&M. It's an excellent experience that can also help with networking.

Boot camps are great if you can afford them. The same with workshops, etc. The key is to meet people and pros, but not in a way that is too business driven. You go to these places to learn, yes, but most importantly you want to be remembered as a person first, then a professional. Believe me it works.

Bootcamps and higher learning in general have a lot of benefits, they are specifically curated to deliver content targeted to give you a head-start. The guided experience, with tangible deliverables help to build skills, and often teach you how to operate as part of team. Some people do struggle with this type of learning, I’ve chased plenty of rabbits in my time, and ultimately I learned more than I would have done than if I had simply followed the materials provided. In my personal experience you don’t have the latitude to go off plan, you consume the material, and deliver against it, leaving little time for flair. You are being taught core principles, and the challenge is staying current in an industry that evolves almost daily.

The best option for you is the one that serves your ultimate career goal. Many positions that “require a degree” can be earned by presenting an equivalent level of experience. Some other roles may not be as negotiable on the degree aspect, but those are proving less and less common. First, let’s compare benefits: -Bootcamps provide industry or role-specific education and tend to have sturdier social networks in the industry. -Degrees can be more readily translated across industries which is useful for versatility in times of low employment. They also carry weight in some very senior roles. Now the negatives: -Some bootcamps are unreliable and not up-to-date despite the cost. -Degrees are time intensive and extremely costly.

In my opinion, this is the best way to get into game development. There is of course value in tutorials, reading, and taking courses. Still, at the end of the day, when you are interviewing, the person on the other side of the table wants to know if you've gone through all the challenges and learnings that come from taking a game from idea to finished product. It can be a small game, a game jam, or a part of a larger team or school project.

One of the great things about the games industry is that there's always something new to learn. Finding the self-learning method that is right for you is not just a way in but also a means to continue and grow. By all means read tutorials, documents and other people's projects but *do something* to make sure the knowledge has lodged into your brain.

I think this is the best way to get into game development. Yes, you can read. And you can attend courses and get a degree. But in the end, when it comes to stand out in a crowd of CVs, a solid portfolio with actual projects is the way to go, in my opinion. Set yourself a challenge. Investigate. Work. Adapt. Restructure. Rescope. DELIVER. Seeing a project through to the end allows you to work on so many different skills that it becomes a statement by itself. So, get your game jams going on, get your Mods published, get your ideas prototyped and delivered. Learn by reading and listening, yes. But mostly, learn by doing!

How to get the best training to break into video games? By making games! - Get your hands dirty by using free game engines like Unity or Unreal and try to make games by yourself. You will start to understand the technical aspect of making games. - Get into Game Jams and make games with a team in limited time. You will start to understand roles, project phases & quality vs time choices - Get your game published on mobile or PC! Even if it's a small ugly one. You will start to understand the reality of releasing a game from technical and business point of view.

There are so many facets to game development, I think it’s important to blend together multiple disciplines, while maintaining a specialism. This is not become a “jack of all trades”, it’s about being useful across a wide gamut of needs, while providing domain expertise in your chosen specialism. Breaking into the industry is challenging, but building a portfolio to demonstrate your ability is critical, that could be code examples, demo applications, sketchbooks, put yourself out there. Participate in Game Jams, or your own micro projects, build towards a vertical slice, essentially a working prototype you can showcase. That is probably the most important piece of advice, find local meet ups, start building a network in the industry.

I would recommend joining a community of game developers. There, you will find many people with valuable experience who are willing to help others. After that, look for meetups, game jams, or online courses recommended by the community. In those events, you'll encounter experienced developers who can guide you and provide the best advice to start learning and pave your way through the industry. Remember that, at some point, they were new to the industry too, and their advice will save you time and money. Finally, there are many great tutorials, MOOCs, and books that can give you a clear vision of the various roles the game development industry has to offer. So, try to explore as many different sources as you can and be passionate!

My single favorite Game Design book - whether for beginners or experienced developers - is "The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses" by Jesse Schelle. Highly recommended.

I recommend gathering a small team to work on a small project together. Make sure everyone shares the same goal, like using the project to break into the industry. Learning as a team is incredibly valuable. It teaches you about team dynamics and collaboration, which are essential skills in game development and useful in any workplace.

Try to find mentors who understand where you are and who can really help you. IGDA (igda.org) has been in my opinion a great open place to find some veterans looking to give back. In general I have experienced the gaming industry as one of the most open industries where a lot of information, insights and experiences are shared quite openly.

Replicating simple games is a great way to learn game development. After getting enough experiences on solving game development specific problems, one day you can play your own game born from your own lovely idea.