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Just give it a try. Even if you decide that gamedev isn't for you, you'll learn something new about yourself and game development in general.

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

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.

Do it! The barrier to entry for gamedev is ridiculously low with something like Unity or Godot, and nowadays you can make a complete game with 100% open-source tools.

It's a hobby that allows for a LOT of different types of creative expression, does not require any monetary investment to get started in, or to pursue long term, and even has a small chance to MAKE you money, if it turns out you enjoy it enough to purse that end. It has the potential to make a GREAT hobby.

You'd be amazed at what you can make! :) I am not formally trained, and picked up a tonne from doing (and youtube) - smarts be darned, I have fun! :) If there's a game you'd like to make or look into how it's put together, I find it to be a fun hobby definitely.

it's a very cheap hobby, as the big three (Godot, Unity, and Unreal) all are free to use (the latter two have commercial costs, but godot is open-source), so I love it for that too! :) There's no equipment needed either, I even have godot installed on my phone because I can! :)

I'm a unity dev, so that's my wheelhouse. Unity offer handy lessons to help you pick up how things work, but both godot and unity are okay once you overcome "whoah lots of things! send help!". I've not used unreal, but I gather the building-block scripting "blueprints" is easy enough. :)

Whatever you choose to get up to, hope you have fun!

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 game development interests you, it's a great hobby. You don't need to be knowledgable, but it helps if you like logic puzzles, because programming is basically solving one logic puzzle after the other.

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.

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.

Grab godot, grab some tutorials, make something. It really is that simple. Just set your expectations. Your games will be closer to Pong for a while but there's nothing wrong with that.

If you don't know what you enjoy the only way to find out is to try things, and it's never been easier to try making a game. If you have zero programming experience whatsoever I'd say start here: https://gdquest.github.io/learn-gdscript/

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.

Hobby? Absolutely!

Just don't expect any money out of it. At all. If you DO get money out of it, consider yourself very lucky. Do it for fun first and foremost.

How can we tell you what you will enjoy?

As for game developers I'm not too experienced with it but my understanding is there's tools available that lower the barrier to entry. Even years ago I was able to publish a few mods for Morrowind as a teenager with no background in computers. I'd think the biggest barrier would be producing the graphics these days.

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.

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!

Why not?

You say you're not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I think gamedev is a good way to learn a variety of skills. And doing it as a hobby takes a lot of pressure off and allows you to take things at your own pace.

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.

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.

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.

Try it and find out. Hobbies are about doing something you enjoy, not being good at something. No one can tell you if you like something (as much as that bothers marketers).

If you already have a computer there is literally $0 startup cost.

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.

I used to love making text adventure with AGT the Adventure Game Toolkit. I’ve wanted for some time already to learn to make stuff with still images and click zones which is essentially the evolution of the text adventure. The audience for this stuff is tiny, but I’d still love to get back into making text adventure. If there’s an easy to learn equivalent of AGT that can be made either web-hosted or somehow platform-independent I’d love to do that. AGT was a real breeze to learn and it’s a terrific creative outlet.

Anything more sophisticated is out of my league as I’m not a pro coder; my development experience is limited to an array of projects in VB6, the biggest of which was a companion software for Team Fortress Classic to customize scripts and per-class macros. It was called TFCompanion. Got 1,000 downloads roughly. But I digress.

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

Or are there better hobbies out there for newcomers to the hobby space? I know most of you will say do what you enjoy, the thing is im not sure what i enjoy.

well, only one way to find out! grab yourself a copy of godot engine and give making a little game a shot
there are a lot of tutorials on youtube and elsewhere that will help you get your feet wet

The cost of entry is zero. (Assuming you have a computer.)

And if it doesn’t work out but you enjoy the building/coding you can look into building desktop or mobile apps for problems you might want to solve or have on hand for yourself.

Try it, if you are having fun that's pretty much all that matters.

Also, don't expect to have the production value of a AAAAA $800,000,000 development team, even if you do use AI. There's only so much one developer can do, no matter how sharp they are. There were tons of awesome single developer and very small team games that came out of the 1980s - so, if you can get happy with 8 bit style you might just surprise yourself.

I mean yeah, its a good creative outlet.

Its relatively simple to get started, just download godot or unreal engine and try a template, and just start messing with it. You'll know quickly if its your jam or not.

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.