Computer Science Careers: Game Development

By Robyn Lam

What is Game Development?

Game development is the process of using technical and non-technical knowledge and skills to turn game concepts and ideas into reality. Both technical skills–such as programming and problem solving–and non-technical skills–such as creativity and communication skills–are important to game development.

Why Should I Pursue Game Development?

There are many reasons why one should pursue a future in game development. Not only is game development constantly challenging, but it also comes with many benefits.

Pursue Passion

Pursuing game development allows everyone to pursue their passions. Whether you have a passion for designing and playing video games, or a desire to imagine and create whatever you want, game development allows you to pursue and practice your passions!

Develop Important Skills

Through game development, new techniques are constantly developed and improved. Important skills such as programming, teamwork, patience, resilience, and more are wonderful skills that a game developer learns throughout their career. These allow a person to work well with others outside of their workplace and help create a more peaceful life through their ability to work well with others and to constantly think of creative solutions.

Impressive on Resume and College Applications

Game development can start for any reason at any age! Becoming a game developer does not mean that you constantly have to develop games as a job. You can become a game developer at any age and it can be for fun. Building games is a great way to show your ability and desire to code, to display your bravery and amazing problem solving skills, and it can demonstrate your interests! Sharing your game on resumes and college applications will highlight your skills and you because not many people develop games as a student.

Languages Used

Many languages can be used to program games. In this blog, we have only listed a few as there is an endless list of languages that can be used to create games.

Javascript

For web-based and mobile games, Javascript is a great language to use! There are a lot of online resources for programmers to use and it is a relatively simple language that kids can easily learn. However, if you are looking to program more complicated games, it is better to not use Javascript as it is a slower language than others.

2048, Bejeweled, and Polycraft are examples of popular games that have been created using Javascript!

Pygame

Pygame is designed for writing video games using the Python programming language. It included computer graphics and sound libraries to make the games more interactive. Python is a friendly beginner language that is similar to English. It is easy to read and understand, making it perfect for anyone new to programming.

Some examples of popular games that have been created using Python are Snake, Tic-Tac-Toe, Flappy Bird, and more that can be found here: Pygame Games!

C#

C# is widely regarded as a top choice for game development. Due to it being a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language and the fact that it is a structured and easy to learn language, making it very popular. It also gives a better runtime performance than other languages.

Some examples of popular games that have been created using C# are Stardew Valley, Osiris: New Dawn, and Hearthstone!