Game Development • GameMaker

12 Easy‑to‑Do GameMaker Lessons for High School Students

Each lesson is classroom‑friendly, beginner‑accessible, and supports either GML Visual (drag‑and‑drop) or GML Code.

How to Use This Set

Lessons

1) Hello Sprite!

UI & AssetsSprites

Goal: Learn the workspace by importing/drawing a sprite, creating an object, and placing it in a room.

  • Create a sprite (player icon); assign it to a new object; place in a room; run.
  • Skills: Sprites, objects, rooms, basic run loop.
  • Extension: Resize, recolor, or rotate the sprite.
  • Click here to see your instructions.

2) Let’s Move!

EventsInput

Goal: Move the player with arrow/WASD keys; keep within room bounds.

  • Add keyboard events (left/right/up/down) and adjust x/y or use motion actions.
  • Skills: Events, object variables, basic conditionals, room boundaries.
  • Extension: Diagonal movement or variable speed.

3) Collisions & Bounce

PhysicsCollisions

Goal: Detect collision with walls/obstacles and respond by stopping or bouncing.

  • Create a wall object; implement collision event on the player.
  • Skills: Collision events, solid objects, debugging stuck movement.
  • Extension: Add a reset or game‑over on collision.

4) Simple Platformer

GravityJump

Goal: Implement gravity, floor tiles, and a jump action.

  • Apply gravity in the Step event; allow jump if on ground.
  • Skills: Variables (vsp, gravity), Step event, ground checks.
  • Extension: Add collectible coins and a score.

5) Endless Runner

ProceduralObstacles

Goal: Create scrolling obstacles that the player avoids.

  • Spawn obstacles on a timer/alarm; move them across the screen; destroy off‑screen.
  • Skills: Randomness, alarms/timers, object cleanup.
  • Extension: Speed ramps or difficulty curve.

6) Catch the Falling Objects

UIScoring

Goal: Move a basket left/right to catch items and track score/lives.

  • Randomly create falling items; +points on catch, −lives on miss.
  • Skills: Draw event/UI layer, score/lives variables, conditional logic.
  • Extension: Add item types with different values.

7) Enemy AI & Health

AIHealth

Goal: Create patrolling/following enemies and a player health system.

  • Enemy movement pattern or seek player; on hit, reduce player health; game over at 0.
  • Skills: Alarms, basic AI states, health bar/lives.
  • Extension: Invincibility frames or knockback.

8) Weapon & Projectile

ProjectilesSpawning

Goal: Shoot bullets from the player and destroy enemies on impact.

  • Create bullet object on key press; set speed/direction; destroy on collision/off‑screen.
  • Skills: Instance creation, collisions, memory cleanup.
  • Extension: Different weapon types or reload mechanic.

9) Menus & Screens

UXStates

Goal: Build title, pause, and game‑over screens with buttons.

  • Title room with Start; in‑game pause toggle; game over with retry and score.
  • Skills: Room transitions, UI buttons, state control.
  • Extension: Settings (volume, skin selection).

10) Level Design & Progression

RoomsFlow

Goal: Create multiple rooms and progression triggers.

  • End‑zone or key collection to advance; harder setups per level.
  • Skills: Room management, persistent data, debugging transitions.
  • Extension: Level timer or stars‑based scoring.

11) Saving & High Scores

PersistenceData

Goal: Save and load a high score, show it on the title screen.

  • Write/read a saved value; update on game‑over; display in UI.
  • Skills: File I/O, persistent variables, simple data formats.
  • Extension: Save settings or unlocked levels.

12) Polish & Publish

PolishExport

Goal: Add audio, animations, particles, and export a shareable build.

  • Background music & SFX; sprite animations; particle effects for hits.
  • Skills: Asset integration, performance basics, exporting builds.
  • Extension: Create a class showcase page of downloadable games.

Teaching Tips