So you think you wanna be a programmer: game dev edition
Mulan Lau | Sep 21, 2025
If you haven’t already check out my article on what it takes to be a programmer without getting into the specific area (https://www.mulanlau.com/blog/so-you-think-you-wanna-be-a-programmer)
To recap:
Successful programmers have a few common traits. They are:
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Patient
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Persistent
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Enjoy problem-solving
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Logical thinkers
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Resilient
Being good at math is not a requirement to be a good programmer. Being the kind of person who continues to try and figure something out even when it’s hard and you want to throw your code across the room is a requirement. And it will happen multiple times both as you learn to code and as you improve your coding skills. Immense frustration as a programmer is inevitable. If that sounds awful then this might not be the right career for you.
Alright now let’s get into the game dev specific part.
Game development is still fairly large category though not nearly as big as programming as a whole. Game developers are coders who work on games. There are many different parts to game development and you could focus on a specific skill like being an expert at physics engines or VR integration. Or you could be more general and do a little bit of many things.
There are a few different game engines that many use both hobbyists and professionals in the industry. Two of the most popular are Unity and Unreal. This is a great place to start. And the amazing thing is both are free to download and use with tons of free tutorials, documentation, and help.
The best way to figure out if you will enjoy being a game developer is to try it. This helps you figure out if you like it, which program you prefer, which language you enjoy using, etc. So if you think you wanna be a game developer, start coding!
Here are a few free resources to help you get started:
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Unity–official Unity game engine site, free download, tutorials, and documentation - https://unity.com/
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Unreal–official Unreal game engine site, free download, tutorials, and documentation - https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US
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GameDesigning–game dev/design explanations & how to’s, software reviews, free courses for GameMaker and Unity - https://www.gamedesigning.org/
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Godot–official Godot game engine site, free download, community, and documentation - https://godotengine.org/
If you want a longer list of free programming resources, you can get the full Ultimate Free Coding Resources List here: https://www.mulanlau.com/free-coding-resources-list
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