Game Builder Garage is the ultimate experience if you want to create your own game. It offers all the right tools and functions to create something truly wonderful. If you’re willing to invest some of your time and aren’t bothered with a learning curve, this probably is one of the better options on the Nintendo Switch.
Learn to make your own game
The first main part of this game is its interactive lessons where you’ll learn how to create your very own game. Of course, this process has been streamlined to make it easy and accessible for even the younger gamers. We all know that developing your own game takes a lot of time and knowledge of actual coding, but Game Builder Garage goes for an easier approach, drastically lowering the learning curve. This is of crucial importance since, without this approach, it would be near impossible to create your very own game. Instead, the interactive lessons are divided over several separate levels where you’ll learn a certain technique. The goal after all lessons is the ability to create your very own game where the only limitation is your imagination.
The fun part about the Interactive Lessons is the fact that you’re working on one of the pre-made ideas to teach you how to implement and use all separate elements to eventually combine them into a mini-game. It’s all very guided without a lot of room to make errors, which is good for the motivation while playing. Thanks to this, the lessons really feel like the right fit for every audience. I tested this process in my classroom filled with ten-year-olds and they had no problem at all understanding and following the steps. An important help during these lessons is the cute nodes, all with their own personalities and abilities. Throughout the game you’re guided by Bob and the Nodon, all teaching you a separate element of game building. This progress looks and feels very similar to other coding applications such as Scratch JR.
Where the game separates itself from others in the genre is the fun and entertainment factor while ‘coding’ your next adventure. Thanks to the funny personalities of the Nodon, it’s always fun to learn but more importantly, the different elements are visually recognizable and easy to recognize. Thanks to this, you won’t be confusing the movement and action nodes for example. The Interactive Lessons cover all the basics but the more complex nodes are hidden behind some extra puzzles that appear once you complete all basic levels. It’s a bit of a weird choice to hides these functions but perhaps it’s for the better. If those nodes got introduced during the basic lessons too, it might become a bit too hard to keep track of everything you can do. To ease the learning process, Alice will test your knowledge in checkpoints. In these checkpoints, which appear after a completed lesson, you’re challenged to fix a broken mechanism by implementing everything you just learned. This constant repetition of tools and knowledge assures you won’t forget the things you learned a couple of lessons ago.
Program the projects of your dreams
The Interactive Lessons are the perfect way to start your adventures but the Free Programming mode is where the true creativity is. As the name of the mode suggests, you can go all out here, using over 80 different Nodon in countless variations, the possibilities are near endless. It’s amazing to see how many tools and how much freedom the player actually gets in order to achieve the perfect game. Now, since it still is a programming game for all ages, you should lower your standards a bit before you start exploring, since the Free Programming mode does come with some limitations.
First things first, there’s for example not an easy way to alter or edit objects in a 3D environment so placing your objects exactly where you want them to be can become rather tricky. Of course, it makes sense that Nintendo didn’t include this option since it would also mean the editor itself had to be at least twice as complex. Something worth pointing out however is that you’re also stuck with the standard shapes and objects the game makes available. Certainly, you can combine certain building blocks to come up with a crazy design of your own but perhaps a little more freedom in this department wouldn’t have hurt. That being said, the game is literally packed with fun objects to mess around with so there’s certainly more than enough room to really get creative. Just don’t expect the same kind of freedom as the PlayStation 4 game Dreams.
That being said, it’s nothing to really worry about since this is with ease the best and most accessible game in its genre currently on Nintendo Switch. It goes way beyond what Nintendo Labo VR offered and even allows you to hook up a USB mouse to create your games with more precision. On top of that comes the ability to play other people’s creations by sharing and entering the special game codes. This sounds like a lot of trouble but you can also easily share your self-made HUB linking to several games, giving players access to a lot more than just one level. It works pretty well and it’s amazing to see what gamers all over the world were able to create in such a short period of time.
Conclusion:
Game Builder Garage is a very entertaining project that offers tons of options to create your own game. Learning everything will take some time but in the end, it’s all worth it thanks to the freedom and tremendous amount of options. If you’re a fan of the Super Mario Maker franchise, this certainly is the next big thing!
