Game Maker Path

Complete a Game Jam

Required. Complete and submit a game during a public game jam (itch.io, Global Game Jam, Ludum Dare). The submitted game jam entry is the proof. Games that are not submitted do not count — scope management under time pressure is the skill being built.

Build a Creative Coding Project

Elective. Creative coding branch — generative art, music visualizer, or interactive experience built with code. Proof: published, working project at a public URL (GitHub Pages, Glitch, p5.js editor).

Release a Mobile Game (App Store / Play Store)

Elective. Mobile game milestone — a complete game published on the App Store or Google Play. The store listing URL is the proof.

Build and Sell a Complete Game

Elective. Commercial milestone — 10 or more real purchases on itch.io, Steam, or another storefront. Proof: screenshot of sales dashboard showing 10+ paid units.

The largest listing of active game jams — hundreds running at any time across every genre, engine, and theme. This is where you find your first required milestone. Filter by 'upcoming' and pick any jam with a 48h+ window.

The Game Developers Conference archives hundreds of free talks from professional game designers. The 'postmortems' (what went wrong and why) are the most useful for first-time game makers.

Free, open-source game engine used by professional indie studios. 2D and 3D. No royalties. The official documentation and community tutorials are comprehensive enough to ship your first game jam entry without buying any courses.