School may let out for the holidays, but that doesn’t mean the learning is done! You — and the people you love — can use that downtime to learn something as fun as it is useful. This Black Friday weekend, Cult of Mac’s e-learning sale offers mind-expanding educational bundles for every student, young or old.

Check out these deals on everything from game design to NFTs and cryptocurrencies! Some of these bundles retail for thousands of dollars. But you can get any of these e-learning bundles for less than $23 with code BFSAVE70 as our Black Friday Sale continues.

It’s incredible when you get to make a career out of something that you love, especially if that passion is an artistic or creative one. If the thing you love is video games, there’s actually a great way to get an exceptional, creative career from playing all day long.

The Unity Game Developer Bundle featuring PlayStation Plus includes 10 different courses that show you how to develop your own games — all while you enjoy a one-year subscription to PlayStation Plus.

Want to build your own app or game in 2021, even if you’ve never tried before? These top-rated creator kits are the easiest way to do it. And even better, right now The Complete AppGameKit Game Creator Bundle is on sale for just $29.99, an amazing 84% off the regular price.

Google’s latest desktop app makes it easier than ever to build 3D games on your Mac. The aptly-named Game Builder doesn’t require you to write a single line of code — and it’s completely free to use.

Software development is still one of the most valuable skills you can learn. Coding skills are portable, potentially highly lucrative, and flexible. But if you’re not already a skilled coder, where to begin?

To achieve maximum success, iOS game developers need an idea that’s both reassuringly familiar and strikingly new. That’s exactly what Stagehand delivers: The new platform game employs a clever twist on the popular endless-runner genre, with a sprinkle of ’90s classic Lemmings thrown in for good measure.

“Stagehand is a game that looks like a side-scrolling platformer, but instead of controlling the character, you move the stage,” developer Matt Comi told Cult of Mac. “We call it a ‘reverse platformer.’ The protagonist, Frank, runs and jumps all by himself. It’s the player’s job to make sure he doesn’t run into walls.”

Sure, playing games is a blast, but making games is where the real fun (and, let’s face it, money) is at. Turn this popular pastime into a passion and a profession, or just a creative outlet, with this bundle of lessons from Stone River eLearning.

Whether you’re a skilled coder or a total n00b, with dozens of courses covering the game-design gamut you’ll be able to get into the game in no time, and all for whatever price you’re comfortable paying.

Blake Reynolds, lead artist at Dinofarm Games (Auro, 100 Rogues), has come to the conclusion that “pixel art” is over. He’s decided to hang up his digital pencil tool and create art for games that current audiences can understand.

“Auro,” he writes, “is likely to be the last Dinofarm Games title to feature pixel art.”

To get the fun of virtual bowling without a Wii, look no further than Bowling Central, a magical iOS app that lets you swing your iPhone around to send a virtual bowling ball slamming into all the pins at the end of the lane.

The game is powered by Rolocule Games’ motion-tracking technology, called “rolomotion,” which lets you swing your iPhone like a Wii remote. The gaming company’s two founders wanted to create a Wii Bowl-style experience, only with an Apple TV and an iPhone, and they won a 2014 Edison Award for their solution.

“We worked really hard to get the motion gaming controls right,” Rolocule’s Anuj Tandon told Cult of Mac in an email, “and getting the perfect controls took time. Not only … can you give accurate direction to the ball, but by twisting the wrist, the ball can be given a spin, just like real bowling.”

Though he’s toyed with escape games for years, Turkish developer Maruf Nebil didn’t get hooked on the genre until 100 Floors hit the App Store in 2012. When The Room Two upped the ante with gorgeous 3-D environments a year later, Nebil set himself a devilish task: To create an unbeatable game that was also undeniably beautiful.

“I decided to make my game the hardest of all of them,” the 25-year-old developer said, with perhaps an evil laugh. “It’s like all 100 floors in a single room.”

While some games in this genre are about as fun and fulfilling as one of those “spot the hidden object” puzzles from a Highlights magazine, others prove truly challenging.

Some might say this type of game is purely for masochists, but others get lost in the obtuse challenge of finding hidden objects and solving maddening puzzles, all while trapped within a virtual room.