I know most of you will say do what you enjoy, the thing is im not sure what i enjoy.

Well, I suppose there’s one way to find out: give it a try!

Join us, and in 10 years you can look back on all the features your game engine implements, without having started work on the game play!

I kid. Ask yourself: what do you want out of this hobby game dev, and do you enjoy it. That’s really all that’s important.

If you do want to see if you like game dev, implement Tetris. All of Tetris though. You need a menu, pause, animations, etc. When you’re done you’ll have a better idea. Tetris is great because it’s not a huge project. You don’t need to wrestle with complex graphics pipelines, game design is mostly done, but you can take it in your own direction and add your own flourishes.

Learning to program I liked making top-down zombie shooters and platformers. It was a cool moment when I figured out a nice way to have smooth character positioning on a tile based map.

Gamedev is like the ultimate digital hobby if you do it yourself. You get to program, do art, sound, game design, etc.

The beauty of game dev, is that you can make the most cursed codebase, and as long as it works, the only person itll impact is yourself.

Also, startup costs are basically zero, there is no need for a top end PC, whatever you have now is probably good enough to start.

Yes but also no. For me it kind of killed other games because I suddenly started looking at stuff like assets and how much effort was put into them. Gamedevs can put so much detail into stuff the average user does not notice at all.

Well, of course it’s a good hobby. Does it work for you? I don’t know.

I’ve been building random stuff for years. It has never amounted to a finished project, but I still keep doing it just because it’s fun to make things do things on screen. I didn’t start out as the sharpest tool either, but I’ve been getting better.

If you really enjoy it, I think you’ll just keep coming back.

Creating something from nothing is always a good hobby. Whether it be a jigsaw puzzle or planning/designing a game that does not exist yet.

I found it fun to do amateur gamedev, for my own little enjoyment (e.g. making a super-basic FPS with a gun that shoots a thousand cubes like a shotgun, then making it shoot a thousands spheres that explode on impact like a grenade launcher). Lots of engines are accessible that you don’t need to learn much/any programming skill to make something fun. You can do plenty with free assets, I never paid for anything, but if you are willing and able to pay small amounts for premade assets, then it will be even faster and easier to make something more pretty.

I’ve also done level design (and LoC) for some open-source FOSS games. This is easier for some games than others, but it’s also rewarding. I was particularly known for making experimental or puzzle-like levels, so it was nice to get feedback from others and improve. I’ve mostly grown apart from games these days, but I don’t regret the time I enjoyed making them.

A hobby is “good” if you enjoy it. That’s all that matters with hobbies. Don’t look down on yourself for wanting to do something for fun. It doesn’t have to be “efficient” or turn into an income or anything else. Just try it and learn. Learn the skills, learn if you like it

If you have $12 to spend then I can recommend a tutorial series for you which you can buy on itch io. It’s in ‘c’ but you can easily transfer the skills to Python and everything is much nicer. I only recommend c for foundation skills. I respect the old skool methods - it may open your mind.

If you’re still young then I want to convince you that it’s worth your time. You don’t need to be very smart to make simple programs but you can save yourself time and frustration by avoiding stupid mistakes. I know a guy in Australia who can motivate you on this, I sometimes voice call him on Signal.

I no longer prioritise software any more because I’m focused on simply surviving. I’m too old to care any more lol. That said, I do have plans to film interviews with people who work in this field. I’m thinking about doing code review videos and discussions about how to be a good programmer, but not from a heavily commercial pperspective (I hate those endlessly positive videos on youtube who want you to think that anyone can succeed in the industry and become wealthy). I don’t know how viable the industry is any more and I just want to make hobby videos and encourage people to find a path that works for them. I think gamedev is one of the best paths for learning software, unless you want to make web apps instead.

It’s a hobby: it’s driven by your interests alone.

Game dev is much more about creativity than technical excellence, for the average hobbyist. So I’d say it’s actually a good hobby to get into if you’re “not the sharpest tool in the shed”. You could even go down a no-code approach like with RPG Maker, if you’re averse to coding.

permission to be rude, your question is meaningless.

it is a hobby, the single most important factor is if you want to do it.

everything else if secondary. go, try, enjoy it, learn, improve…

it’s it the most “efficient” use of your time? that question is irrelevant, it’s a hobby not a job.

Go make a game, make a shitty game because you have no experience, but make that game.

I recommend pico8, I think it’s the simplest engine that isn’t a kids learning platform. has a low skill floor, but (given what some people make, someone ported Doom to that 2d engine) unlimited skill ceiling.

Doing AAA games takes huge resources but you can do smaller games on a lot less. If you’re into programming you can develop games, and some simple hobbyist games like 2048 have been very popular.

Even if you dont like it, no harm in trying it. Worst case you find you dont wanna do it and move on to something else.

You can start with something like pico-8 or a free engine of which there are a ton: https://lexaloffle.itch.io/pico-8

Me personally, ive been trying Godot and its kinda hard to get into, but I may try something else like RPG maker or what not just to get my ideas on paper so to speak.