Ezan Charo 
We’ve all had that idea about a cool or special video game, so why not test it out? I myself am developing an RPG (role playing game) with some of my very talented friends. It’s a long and arduous process, but fret not! Here are some tips and tricks to help you develop your own game, whether it be with friends or by yourself.. Even if you don’t know how to code!
A free software tool I recommend you start with is Scratch. It’s very basic and elementary and seems kiddish, but helps you get the fundamentals of game design down. It includes free templates and assets and a great community for all your video game making inquiries.
Another software you should try is Unity. It’s free, and very well liked among the gaming community. It helps boost the popularity of indie titles and is made more for maps and landscapes and models (generally 3D stuff).
For creating video game music, an absolute must-try is Beepbox. It’s a website of the same name with so much music content – instruments, keys, rhythms, scales, and more all at your fingertips that you can get the gist of it really easily.
For designing 2D pixel art, I suggest starting working with Pixilart, a free website for designing, well pixel art! There you can make landscapes, special effects and animations, characters, sprites, and more to fill your world with a unique touch.
Other tools that can cost you a little bit are the RPG Maker softwares available on Steam, such as RPG Maker VX and RPG Maker VX Ace. They are costly but can help you script and create interesting game mechanics. It’s made more for 2D turn-based RPGs and not so much for 3D games.
Aseprite is a great application for creating more complex sprite and character designs in pixel art, as well as giving you more easily accessible animation tools. There are a ton of features to this that Pixilart lacks, so maybe give the free trial a chance.
What are your game ideas? Shoot me a message and let me know.
By Ezan Charo, Junior, ChiArts
Twitter: @digitalwarlock8
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