Nintendo's upcoming title, Game Builder Garage, will allow people to learn how to make games directly from the minds of Nintendo. Releasing in June 2021, it features a series of guided lessons and various segments that players can break down and assemble into their own game creations. Although the software features extensive creation opportunities, the primary focus is education - Game Builder Garage is looking to make programming foolproof.
Nintendo has allowed for more and more player creativity as of late, with the release of Nintendo Labo combining VR capabilities with DIY cardboard crafts to give players a hands-on sense of customization. Super Mario Maker 2 allows fans to create their own platformer levels, and various Super Smash Bros. games throughout the history of the franchise have allowed for similar creative opportunities. Game Builder Garage goes further than any of these previous releases, however, and will allow players to create fully-functional games. In fact, it aims to actively teach them how to do so, walking them through several game development projects and teaching them essential programming tools.
Visualization is an important element of Game Builder Garage, which features two different layouts - a visual screen and a programming screen, which allows players to see what impact their changes have on the state of the game. The personification of coding tools and even the presence of a virtual guide, Bob, helps to turn learning programming into an interactive and hands-on experience. Game Builder Garage seems to be trying to create an overall friendly programming environment, giving players an engaging way to learn the mechanics they need to modify, create and share their own game creations later on down the line.
How Game Builder Garage Is Unique
Game Builder Garage introduces aspiring programmers to creatures called Nodons, which live inside the Nintendo Switch. Nodons are what make games work - each represents a different function of code. Counter Nodons can run timers, Button Nodons keep track of the Nintendo Switch's buttons, and Object Nodons create elements seen inside the game world. Each Nodon has a distinct personality and appearance, which helps make them easily identifiable - and helps with remembering what they do. As Nodons are introduced, more and more functions are available, and soon creators have the ability to utilize new combinations to make brand new games from scratch.
However, the design of Game Builder Garage's tools isn't the only thing that makes it so easy to use. Seven games are available to build, and each one follows a step by step guide that works through the process of every element in the game. What's unique about Game Builder Garage's approach, though, is that it shows players how to make mistakes - and then how to solve those problems. Iteration is part of the programming process, and the ability for Nintendo Switch users to share and download games either locally or online also makes it easy for creators to receive feedback on their projects. Game Builder Garage's deliberately friendly approach to game development aims to make programming easy to learn for just about everyone.