Game Dev Cookbook

Replicate mechanics and moments from dozens of classic games with the new, FREE digital book from Wireframe magazine.

In the Game Dev Cookbook you’ll find a curated selection of features from our magazine’s Toolbox section. Using the listings and instructions contained within, you’ll be able to get sprites moving around the screen, create simple physics simulations for everything from spaceships to ricocheting balls to swinging ropes over deadly pits.

Re-create the pioneering boss battle from Phoenix, Boulderdash’s falling rocks, Super Sprint’s top-down racing, and so much more in Python and Pygame Zero. And, thanks to the power of the internet, you’ll find all the code listings and associated assets on our Github – each mini tutorial contains a link to everything you’ll need.

• Recreate Super Mario's running and jumping action
• Conduct a Lemmings style army of path-following critters
• Get four players simultaneously dungeon crawling 
• Make a top-down racer with AI-controller rival cars
• Code a match-three puzzler in the style of Columns

Once you’re feeling a bit more confident, you could even combine the projects published here to create something entirely new: how about a 2D platformer where you have to jump over pits while shooting away at the waves of enemies spiralling down from above? Or a driving game where you have to knock balls into goals for extra points? Start digging into the wealth of mechanics and snippets in this book, and you may just come up with the next indie hit.

Get your digital book as a free download, right here.

The projects in the Game Dev Cookbook are only a sample of what you’ll find in the Wireframe archives. If you subscribe to the magazine, you’ll find a new entry in the Source Code series every single month.

Learn more about the bookazine at wfmag.cc