GB Studio 101: Retro Game Design Made Easy

Overview

GB Studio is a free and easy to use game engine for creating Game Boy and Game Boy Color software. Games made in the engine can be exported for web, mobile, or even an actual Game Boy!

In this workshop, you’ll learn the basics of GB Studio, including how to navigate its drag-and-drop interface and how to create scenes using visual scripting. We’ll also discuss the creative constraints imposed by the Game Boy’s own hardware limitations in the context of how these boundaries can support rapid prototyping and scoping for game jams.

GB Studio is great for:

• Beginners looking for a free, simple game making tool
• Game makers interested in the relationship between hardware constraints and software design
• Folks interested in making top-down adventures, platform games, and retro shooters
• Game Boy fans who want to play their games on an actual Game Boy

No programming knowledge is required. If you want to learn how to design pixel art assets to use in GB Studio, join the companion workshop: Pixel Art Fundamentals: Game Boy Edition

GB Studio can be downloaded for free at GBStudio.dev

Presenter Info

Alex Custodio (they/them) is an author, artist, and researcher. As a PhD candidate at Concordia University, they study videogame histories and fan practices with a particular focus on the Game Boy. Outside of academia, they make pixel art and work on videogame themed cross-stitch projects.