Game Dev Unlocked CORE
The complete school on making, marketing, and launching your game! Learn from a dev who sold 500,000 copies of his games.
WHAT'S INCLUDED IN GDU?
140+ high-quality video lessons and tutorials (25+ hours)
Every facet of game development is covered! It doesn't matter if you've never made a game before, or you've released several: everything is here to take your indie game launch to the next level. You get lifetime access to invaluable data analyses, in-depth workbooks, and jam-packed videos that are designed to save you time in your game dev journey.
NEW! 2024 Update with my new game
I put my new theories into practice for the announcement of my new game, We Harvest Shadows, and it's been a resounding success. Check out the new lessons where I explain everything I did and learn the best ways to market your game in 2024.
Peer mentoring on the GDU Discord server
Current students agree this is the best part of GDU! Receive access to exclusive mentoring and feedback by other game devs on our high-quality, moderated private Discord server. Share and receive valuable tips and resources to make your game the best it can be!
Learn C# and make a 2D platformer from scratch
In this new 7+ hour section, we learn C# programming to take your developer skillset to the next level! The tutorials are simple and intuitive, so even a complete coding noob can pick it up fast.
Learn Unreal Engine 5 and create a beautiful FPS puzzle game
Not only is the Unity game engine covered, but so is the powerful Unreal Engine. In these brand new tutorials, we focus on using its free asset libraries, the gorgeous global lighting feature Lumen, and much more to bring a fascinating first-person puzzle game to life.
Adobe Creative Cloud student discount
For an upgrade fee, you can subscribe to the Adobe suite for 60% off their monthly fee. That saves you $400 a year!
Huge Q&A Video Archive
I've spent years answering every game dev question you could ever think of, and this is the only place to watch the entire archive. Dozens of hours of up-to-date answers to help you find success with your indie game journey.

"A little over a year ago I was going through a rough time just with the stress of my job which I did not enjoy and being a new dad. Around that same time though is when I reached out to David. I had just seen how he had released a video game all on his own: The First Tree. I didn't even know that people could make a game all on their own. I asked him how he did it and it completely changed my life. Now after a little over a year of hard work in my my free time I have finally finished my first short original game. I owe a ton of gratitude towards David."
- Kirt O., creator of World's Worst Handyman

"Whether you're experienced with making games or completely new to it, David does a fantastic job with walking you through the process and mindset needed to create the games you've always dreamed of, even if you don't have the spare change to. I personally feel like I've grown as a solo game dev by following David's videos and learning from his own experiences. [...] Along with the additional discounts provided in the course to be used in Unity I'd say that it is worth every penny."
- Kyle S.
Your Instructor
My name is David, and make indie games full-time! Which blows my mind, since I'm horrible at coding and I'm self-taught with art/design. A few years ago a friend showed me Unity, and I got so excited to tell stories through the medium of video games. I worked hard, released a game on Steam, and used that experience to help me land my dream job: Unity technical artist at The VOID, where I worked on VR experiences like Ghostbusters Dimension, Avengers: Damage Control, and Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire. In 2017, I released my second game The First Tree on Steam, used the money to port to consoles, and sold 500,000 units across all platforms. It received positive reviews from publications like PC Gamer, IGN, and Kotaku. Now I'm sharing with the world how I made the indie dream work in such a tumultuous time!
Course Curriculum
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StartIMPORTANT: A note from the instructor
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StartJoin the official GDU Discord Server
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StartPlay my games for free
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StartOptional: Get Student Discounts on Adobe Suite and more (3:02)
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StartMy Story: How My First Indie Game Changed My Life (8:50)
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StartWhat is Game Dev Unlocked? (4:38)
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StartCase Study: Why did the idea of The First Tree resonate with people? (2:58)
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StartFind Inspiration (4:37)
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StartStart Small (3:49)
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StartThe Key to Capturing the Audience's Attention (5:05)
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StartStanding Out Via Art (6:05)
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StartData Analysis: Which Steam tags are most successful?
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StartWorkbook: Your Game Idea
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StartCase Study: How was one person able to create The First Tree in 18 months? (4:44)
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StartThe Asset Store: Pros and Cons (7:24)
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StartChoosing a Framework (6:37)
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StartModifying Art Assets and Making Them Yours, Part 1 (8:32)
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StartModifying Art Assets and Making Them Yours, Part 2 (6:29)
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StartBranding and Design Crash Course (7:20)
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StartSound Design and Music (6:29)
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StartHiring Help (5:33)
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StartCase Study: How did I stay motivated to finish The First Tree? (4:50)
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StartMake A Schedule (5:30)
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StartCut Your Game Idea In Half (3:45)
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StartGet Over Yourself and Finish Something (6:09)
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StartOther Tips for Staying Motivated (5:37)
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StartCase Study: How did The First Tree attract an audience? (5:49)
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StartPre-Marketing Setup: The Website (5:33)
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StartPre-Marketing Setup: The Teaser Trailer (7:17)
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StartPre-Marketing Setup: The Steam Store Page (6:20)
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StartMaking GIFs (6:43)
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StartPosting on Social Media, Part 1 (5:03)
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StartPosting on Social Media, Part 2 (7:26)
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StartReddit (8:29)
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StartOther Ways To Market (8:20)
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StartCase Study: Why did The First Tree have a successful launch? (6:05)
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StartYou Don’t Need a Publisher (7:22)
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StartPrice and Release Date (5:56)
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StartLocalization (4:14)
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StartExtra Ways to Increase Your Game’s Reach (6:10)
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StartThe Launch Blitz (5:34)
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StartWorkbook: The Launch Blitz Checklist
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StartWhat Happens Next? (5:45)
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StartConsole Porting and Publishing (4:49)
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StartGetting Started with Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PS4 (4:20)
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StartAppendix: Other files you may need
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StartQ&A Live Stream Archive
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Start01 The Most Important Marketing Principle Ever (23:59)
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StartIntro to my new game - We Harvest Shadows (23:35)
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Start02 Why WHS Earned 150,000 Wishlists (47:27)
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Start03 Publishers in 2024 (27:24)
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StartPitch deck template
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StartFAQ on Making Games in 2024
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Start4 Essential Tips for Starting TikTok (by Kyle Banks, developer of Farewell North)
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StartLive Q&A about my new game's announcement and success (80:17)
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StartIntroduction (2:15)
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Start1 Getting Started (Don't Skip) (2:27)
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Start2 Download Unity (5:02)
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Start3 Install Photoshop (1:06)
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Start4 The Editor (11:29)
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Start5 Professional Layout (3:17)
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Start6 Tools (7:22)
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Start7 Visual Studio (3:24)
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Start8 Creating Your First Script (3:06)
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Start9 Moving a Box (12:57)
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Start10 Variables (9:28)
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Start11 Input (7:16)
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Start12 Conditions (8:30)
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Start13 Functions (Part 1) (17:04)
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Start14 Functions (Part 2) (4:07)
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Start15 Quick Review (10:22)
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Start1 Install Packages (5:17)
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Start2 Physics (4:50)
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Start3 The Ground (9:26)
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Start4 The Player (Part 1) (8:10)
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Start5 The Player (Part 2) (3:42)
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Start6 The Player (Part 3) (16:17)
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Start7 The Camera (16:28)
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Start8 Layering (20:35)
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Start9 Cleaning Up Player Movement (8:15)
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Start10 Floating Platforms (4:40)
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Start11 Collectables (41:50)
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Start12 UI (Part 1) (19:47)
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Start13 Quick Tip - Referencing Components (12:26)
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Start14 UI (Part 2) (10:51)
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Start15 UI (Part 3) (28:08)
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Start16 Inventory (53:58)
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Start17 Gates (12:54)
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Start18 Singletons (8:35)
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Start19 Enemies (52:26)
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Start22 Quick Tip - Naming (2:44)
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Start23 Attacking (29:31)
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Start24 Dying (4:20)
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Start25 Finalize Your Scene (11:44)
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Start26 Loading Scenes (32:15)
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Start27 The Game Manager (14:42)
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Start28 Preparing for Art (1:24)
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Start29 Project Clean Up (15:16)
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StartExclusive 50% off coupon for Full Time Game Dev!

"David does a great job of explaining things and it really kickstarted my game development projects. The marketing and motivational sections in particular are essential for me because they weren't things I typically thought about. By going through this course I was able to push myself to learn about game development and make 3 small games on my own."
- Kenneth D.

"I’ve done a lot of Udemy courses before but it was always too focused on programming rather than finishing a game and putting it out for everyone to play it. I saw this course and made the jump to spend a little more money than I usually do on these types of things. And it has paid off! I’ve learned so much by just watching the "talking" videos alone [...] this course basically tells you how to finish a game by yourself without doing too much which has already been done by others. To sum it all up, it is a great in-depth course with teaching you how to create a game, finish a game and putting it out there (marketing included)."
- Davy N.

"David's advice on marketing helped me to create a viral Reddit post for my game Lucen that earned over 110,000 upvotes, over 3 million views, and hit #1 on /r/all. [...] I wholeheartedly recommend this course. David is providing an incredible service by sharing the knowledge and wisdom he has accrued throughout his experience as a successful indie dev, and it's not one to miss!"
- Kristian K., creator of Lucen