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Ludo Atlas · Getting Started · Learning Paths

Getting Started. Three routes: hobby, indie, job hunting. Different goals, different commitments, different things to practice. Choose a route first, then advance stage by stage.

1. The Three Routes at a Glance

Route Goal Suggested time commitment Timeline Focus
Hobby Enjoy yourself; make small works 3-6 hours a week Open-ended Fun first, free choice of projects
Indie Make a game that sells 15-40 hours a week Starting at 1-3 years Completion, publishing, survival
Job hunting Get a job in the industry 2-4 hours a day + intensive periods 6-18 months Role fit, portfolio, interviews

2. General Principles

  1. Learn by doing: projects drive everything; tutorials are only reference books. Every stage must produce something that runs and that you can show to people.
  2. Escalating projects: start with a project you can finish in 2 weeks; after each one, move the difficulty up a level (see the project list in Your First Game).
  3. Time-box getting stuck: if one problem blocks you for more than 2 hours, change paths (search, ask, work around it); don't grind it out.
  4. Join feedback loops: game dev events, communities, friends playtesting. Learning without feedback stalls at feeling good about yourself.
  5. Make progress public: publish your devlogs; it is both output training and a source of opportunities.

3. Route 1: Hobby

Stage What to do Reference Acceptance
0-1 month Pick an engine, finish the official getting-started tutorial, make your first small game Engine Selection Guide · Your First Game Publish to itch.io (it can be just for friends)
1-6 months One small project per month; try 2-3 different genres Genre Handbooks 3-5 playable works accumulated
6 months+ Pick a project you like and make it presentable Game Design Handbook 1 work you are willing to show to strangers

4. Route 2: Indie

Stage What to do Reference Acceptance
Preparation (1-3 months) Finish 2-3 small projects; identify the limits of your ability and your style preferences Your First Game Can finish a small game independently and publish it
Skill building (3-12 months) Fill key gaps for your chosen genre (level design / balance / audio / publishing) Genre Handbooks · Art & Audio Handbook 1-2 complete works, including a store page and marketing materials
First commercial title (1-3 years) One-page kickoff → prototype → vertical slice → release Production Handbook · Multi-platform Launch Playbook Launched, with data collected (sales, wishlists, reviews)
Long term Postmortems, iteration, cash-flow control Indie Survival Can keep developing a second and third title

Risk warning: the indie route has a high failure rate; survival strategy (savings, part-time work, scope control) matters as much as development skill.

5. Route 3: Job Hunting

Stage What to do Reference Acceptance
Targeting (1 month) Decide on target roles (see Roles & Skills Map); collect 20 job descriptions (JDs) for those roles Roles & Skills Map A distilled list of the most frequently required skills
Skills (3-9 months) Targeted training against the list; keep fixed daily time for code / art / design The matching handbooks (Game Design Handbook, Programming Handbook, Art & Audio Handbook, etc.) 2-3 role-relevant works completed
Portfolio (1-2 months) Polish 3 works: one complete, one flashy, one role-matched Open Source Picks & Book Recommendations A portfolio page you can share
Applications & interviews Resume, test tasks, behavioral interviews, industry contacts To be added An offer, or clear feedback on the gaps

Common interview topics: for engineering roles, data structures and algorithms, engine mechanics and principles, and detailed postmortems of your projects; for design roles, case breakdowns and test-task work; for art roles, portfolio + test task. One bonus point shared by all roles: a project you finished and released on your own initiative.

6. Self-Check Checkpoints per Stage

  • Month 1: can I build a small feature on my own without copying a tutorial?
  • Month 3: has anyone (even a friend) played my work for more than 10 minutes?
  • Month 6: can I explain clearly why a game I have played is fun, and how it was made?
  • Month 12: do I have one public record of a year of continuous work (a log, a body of work, a skill tree)?

7. Using This Repository Alongside the Routes

  1. Read the five Getting Started pages (this section) through once, then settle on a route.
  2. While working, use the matching handbooks as reference books; do not read them cover to cover.
  3. Write a postmortem after each finished project, and revisit Pitfalls & Anti-patterns to check against the pitfalls you hit.
  4. Re-read this page once a quarter to recalibrate your direction.

Further Reading