if itβs the learning step thatβs the block, it might help to pick something where you can start tinkering without really needing to learn anything first
for example, you can download game maker and open one of the examples and just play around and see what happens. learning will happen by accident
This popped up in my YouTube recommendations. tl;dr it teaches you to do things within strict limits, so you can learn without trying to do everything at once
However, I understand your original post was more about wanting to gamedev, but lacking the willpower/ability/spoons to get started, and I empathize with that.
I'm very bad at having enough mental energy to work on little games in my spare time, but recently I've been working on a pico-8 game, and I've found it very helpful how I can do a little feature in a short amount of time.
First off, it's important to choose your game engine. Choose Godot. Very easy for beginners. Under any circumstances, do not use Unity.
Then, there is this video that gives very nice starting points. I can personally endorse all tutorials this guy suggests watching.
Understandable, that's why smaller lessons instead of longer ones are important. Like, a 2 hour guide really isn't helpful, that's why the videos suggested are all very compact
Did you think of joining a gamejam on https://itch.io? My friend is hosting one for the year! https://itch.io/jam/make12-2025 that could help you get motivated :) we have a discord too!
Everything we do is bad for the planet. Ai could one day be used to fix climate change. Don't let the idiots that currently have a monopoly on it sour you against it.
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for example, you can download game maker and open one of the examples and just play around and see what happens. learning will happen by accident
However, I understand your original post was more about wanting to gamedev, but lacking the willpower/ability/spoons to get started, and I empathize with that.
Then, there is this video that gives very nice starting points. I can personally endorse all tutorials this guy suggests watching.
https://youtu.be/2ifq1k-B0oY?si=st5Icy-BXripImll
bodydoubling and some steam games such as virtual cottage help me tho. you can try them out