This page is for self-learning, as 2026 onwards, I won’t be teaching beginner game programming. This is because:

• Typically, Aalto’s 1st year Game Design and Development M.A. & M.Sc. Students already know the basics—whether they start with a technical Bachelor’s degree or not.
• It’s easier than ever to self-learn using free and well-designed game engines such as Godot combined with AI help.

I recommend learning the basics using the Godot engine, as Godot’s GDScript programming language is much more beginner-friendly than Unity’s C# or Unreal’s C++.

GDScript’s syntax is very similar to Python ⇒ learning game dev using it synergizes with learning Python for AI & machine learning or Blender scripting for technical art.

Here’s my recommended learning path:

Interactive tutorial

Start with this interactive tutorial: https://gdquest.github.io/learn-gdscript/?ref=godot-docs

You don’t have to complete it all in one go, but try it out.

Btw, the tutorial is itself made in Godot and it’s open source. For those with at least some programming background, this could be a good starting point in making your own interactive tutorials or learning games: https://github.com/GDQuest/learn-gdscript?tab=readme-ov-file

Going deeper

After the interactive tutorial above, there’s two main options:

Free materials: If you prefer to work with free materials, it seems the official Godot docs are pretty well designed and you can follow them step-by-step:

https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/getting_started/introduction/index.html#

https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/getting_started/step_by_step/index.html

https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/getting_started/first_2d_game/index.html

https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/getting_started/first_3d_game/index.html

Continue on the materials above at least until you’ve completed the ”Your first 2D game” part.