game development

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on game development:

Learn to design the next big App Store game

By

Learn to turn your MacBook into a game dev machine with this bundle.
This seven-course training bundle gives you everything you need to start making mobile games.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Have you ever wanted to build games like the ones you fell in love with when you first started playing? Learning to design your own titles might be more involved than playing them, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

It just means you should study with a resource like The Game Design & Development Bundle. This seven-course training can help you learn Unity, Maya and more game dev tools. And for a limited time, it’s on sale for $203 (regularly $1,519).

Unreal Engine’s free Core game creation tool comes to macOS and iOS

By

Core is a game-development tool previously limited to PCs.
Core is a game-development tool previously limited to PCs.
Photo: Manticore Games

Core is a free tool for creating games that runs on Unreal Engine, which is only available on PC. But as part of its one-year anniversary, developer Manticore Games said Friday that Core is coming to macOS and iOS in summer 2022.

When Mac, iPhone and iPad get Core, gamers will be able to cross-play between versions with Windows gamers, Manticore said. And developers can start playing with Core for iOS on Friday.

Power up your Mar10 Day by learning to make your own video games

By

Become the dev behind the next Mario 64 with this bundle.
The next great game is just waiting to be created.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Super Mario 64 is a classic that defined 3D platformers and 3D games as a whole. What better day to celebrate it than March 10? It’s Mario Day!

And what better thing to do on Mar10 Day than start down your own path to redefining gaming with the 2022 Complete Game Developer Bundle. This game dev bundle is on sale for only $29 (regularly $2,000). And that’s a deal you can say “wahoo” to.

Create your own mobile games with this complete app development kit

By

Get 80% off this complete app kit. which allows you to build mobile games as a total beginner.
Build mobile games easier than ever before with this complete app kit.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Got a wicked idea for a game you’d like to create? All you need to turn your dream game into reality is the tools to make it happen. The Complete AppGameKit Unlimited Bundle allows you to do exactly that, with no coding skills necessary. And it’s on sale for just $49.99 — a full 80% off the regular price of $254.

This bumper bundle includes all the software, assets and guides you need to develop both mobile and virtual reality games. With 11 different products included, that means this special price drop works out to less than $5 a product.

Make the games only you can dream up with this game development deal

By

Build your own games with GameGuru now $50.
With GameGuru, you can quickly start building your own games.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Game design is a huge and exciting industry, but it’s also hard to learn when you’re first getting started. Even making simple games and learning what’s fun and what isn’t is locked at the bottom of a steep learning curve.

Luckily for would-be game devs, The Complete GameGuru Unlimited Bundle helps you ride that learning curve. With it, you get an easy-to-use game design program and a ton of assets you can use to build your own games. And right now it’s on sale for just $49.99 (regularly $384).

Give the gift of knowledge with these heavily discounted e-learning bundles

By

Learn something cool during Black Friday with these bundles.
For $23 or less, you can learn crucial skills that will last a lifetime.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

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.

Learn to develop games while you play them with this PlayStation Plus bundle

By

PlayStation Plus
Want to make (and play) games? This educational bundle includes a year of PlayStation Plus.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

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.

Easily build your own games and apps, even with zero experience

By

This bundle is all you need to build your own apps and games this year
This bundle is all you need to build your own apps and games this year.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

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.

Stagehand flips the platform game formula on its head

By

stagehand-twitter
This ingenious "reverse platformer" is one heck of a game.
Photo: Stagehand

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.”

Pay what you want to go from game lover to game maker [Deals]

By

2346_PWYWGameDeveloperBundle_MF-Primary
These name-your-own price educational bundles will turn you into a game dev.
Image: Stone River eLearning

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.

Why this developer is giving up on pixel art in his games

By

Pixel art can be beautiful, but ultimately self-defeating for game devs.
Pixel art can be beautiful, but ultimately self-defeating for game devs.
Photo: Dinofarm Games

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.”

Get Wii-style bowling with an iPhone and Apple TV

By

Now all you need is a wrist strap. Photo: Anuj Tandon
Now all you need is a wrist strap for your iPhone. Photo: Anuj Tandon/Rolocule Games

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.”

You’ll love playing The Impossible Room but you will never beat it

By

The Impossible Room is so hard, no one has beaten it yet. Photo: Maruf Nebil
The Impossible Room is so hard, no one has beaten it yet. Photo: Maruf Nebil

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.

How Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff keeps the laughs coming

By

Photo:
Exclusive behind-the-scenes sketches show Quahog destroyed by Peter's fowl archnemesis. Photo: TinyCo/Fox

Hit TV show Family Guy followed a trajectory that’s very similar to Apple’s. The show appeared as a breath of fresh air early on, underwent a decline during which it almost vanished, then made a triumphant return.

In that way, Family Guy always seemed a perfect fit for iOS. Earlier this year, that pairing finally happened when developer TinyCo debuted Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, a mobile game that follows Peter Griffin and the rest of the Fox TV show’s colorful supporting cast as they rebuild the town of Quahog after it’s been destroyed.

Six months down the line — and with the game currently in the middle of a haunting, courtesy of its Halloween update — Cult of Mac spoke with the developers about Seth McFarlane, making games funny, and the perils of in-app purchases.

How Super Evil Megacorp became Apple’s favorite game makers

By

Vainglory take
Vainglory helped show off the graphical capabilities of the iPhone 6 to the fullest.

Of all the people to appear onstage at Tuesday’s Apple keynote, U.S. game developers Super Evil Megacorp were among the most memorable — thanks partly to co-founder Tommy Krul’s decision to wear a fetching infinity scarf.

What followed were Internet memes, parody Twitter accounts — and a whole lot of buzz for Vainglory, the team’s hyper-competitive multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game that was called into action to help show off the graphical prowess of the iPhone 6.

As an example of the ever-thinning gap between console and iOS games, Vainglory knocked the demo out of the park, leaving fans salivating at the prospect of next-gen gaming on Apple’s new handset.

It also left people wondering about the origins of the fantastically named Super Evil Megacorp.

Metal should get iOS gamers very excited about the future

By

Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web
Apple unveils Metal, a promising new tool for game developers, at WWDC 2014. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web

As a professional game developer, the big news coming out of Apple’s WWDC keynote wasn’t Swift or iCloud Drive — it was Metal.

In an onstage demo, Epic showed off the power of its Unreal engine after it had been modified to make use of this new Apple framework. Hundreds of fish reacted dynamically to a finger drawn on the screen. Leaves were shaken from a tree, and butterflies flew through the screen.

It was a very pretty demo. But what does it mean for the games you’ll be playing on your iOS device?

Clone Strike: Flappy Bird Knockoff Kills It In Kuwait [Interview]

By

Why yes, those *are* Gunnar gaming glasses; why do you ask?
Why yes, those *are* Gunnar gaming glasses; why do you ask?

Eli Hodapp is the Editor in Chief of popular iOS gaming site, TouchArcade. He’s just released his vanity project, Hodappy Bird, a humorous take on the Flappy Bird phenomenon. The game plays just like its inspiration, with a bird that looks a lot like Hodapp and a Chicago skyline background (Eli lives in the city). Hodapp gave developer Paul Pridham $50 as a joke to build the game, and Pridham made it in the course of a weekend.

It’s all in good fun, of course, but also perhaps a commentary on the recent explosion of Flappy Bird into the market. We wanted to know more, so we contacted him.

Eli took a few moments to chat with Cult of Mac via email today about his project.