About GameMaker

 

GameMaker is a video game authoring program that allows users to rapidly prototype, design and program cross-platform video games. The program's development interface uses a drag-and-drop system, allowing users to intuitively create games by visually organizing icons on the screen. These icons represent actions that would occur in a game, such as movement, basic drawing, and simple control structures. The GameMaker platform has been used to construct both beginner-level and professional games, including the popular Gunpoint and Hotline Miami. Read more >>

A four-week workshop on game development provided beginner level Tumo students with an understanding of creating and programming video games. Using the GameMaker development program, students were able to conceptualize and produce their very own 2D platform games.

After participants were introduced to GameMaker's graphical tools, they used the software to develop a rudimentary video game prototype based on the platform game genre. The initial exercise gave students insight into programming game logic, level design, object motion, and collision detection.

In a second phase, students used these skills to craft their own individual video games. They brainstormed their overall theme and then proceeded to draw characters, design custom levels, set basic rules, and develop the game's controls.

Below are some of the basic platform games developed by participants in the workshop.