Game development can be quite tricky, especially if you’re just starting out without any clue on where to look for valuable information. There are so many game engines to choose from, a ton of libraries, dozens of frameworks, and all sorts of programming languages.
Instead of mindlessly sifting through pages of documentation, it would be way easier if a much more experience peer would give you pointers on what to learn. Online forums for game developers fulfill this exact role- you can get in touch with fellow developers, who will give you helpful tips and advice based on personal experience in the industry.
Senior programmers, artists, sound designers, enthusiasts, indies- you’ll find everyone in these forums.
By joining a game development community/forum, you stay updated on the latest trends and innovations. The learning curve never drops off when you’re a game developer, and everyone tries to get better each day. Through forums, you get in touch with like-minded individuals and professionals.
Thought leaders and innovators will inspire you to improve your game, and you get to showcase your abilities. Two heads are better than one, and on a game development forum, you’ll be able to find new friends/code buddies. Besides, forums are a great place to find solutions for known bugs. And maybe you’ll stumble across a bug you didn’t even know about.
You’ll learn best practices for coding on all levels along with helpful tips and tricks. Resources, research papers, sample code, templates- everything can be found on forums.
You can jumpstart the creative corner of your mind, by taking a look at game ideas and all sorts of art samples on these forums. And when you get stuck, you can always visit these communities which are filled with extremely helpful people.
Unfortunately, game development forums don’t stick around forever. It takes time and money to maintain a large website, and oftentimes the payout simply isn’t worth it. Without the backing of a large media group, a lot of these game development communities are eventually shut down.
We compiled a list of 20 game development forums/ communities which are still active to this day. These sites will provide you with valuable tips and educational material to propel you forward on your journey as a developer.
IndieDB
Are you an indie dev looking to get your game out there in front of the masses? Or perhaps you need some fresh ideas for your next project. Either way, IndieDB is the place to be if you’re interested in game development talk, latest industry news, and more.
This website is a giant community dedicated to helping independent game creators get their ideas off the planning phase, and into the computers of gamers. As an indie game dev, you can find jobs here. Or you can hire talented programmers for your game studio, there are plenty of freelancers roaming the site.
Concept artists, UI and UX gurus, AI programmers, you’ll get everyone and everything over here. Their forum has many helpful subsections- game concepts, recruitment, 3D modeling and animation, textures, sound design, level design, etc.
r/gamedev
Reddit is the world’s largest online forum and discussion website. It contains many “subreddits” that specialize in all sorts of topics- gaming, socioeconomics, math, science, cars, food, etc. One of those subreddits is r/gamedev, where developers and game design enthusiasts come to share ideas and valuable information.
You can get people to test out your game, and they’ll provide feedback. You can also recruit devs for your latest project, or find game development jobs. There are all sorts of posts on this subreddit, ranging from creative thinking to engine specific advice.
You’ll find everything here- dev logs, bug reports, marketing, career tips, industry insight, specific info on different genres of games, inspirational indie dev stories, etc.
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r/indiegaming
Similar to r/gamedev, except it’s dedicated to indie gaming. Here, you’ll find independent devs releasing early prototypes of their games along with links to really cool game development blogs/ resources.
There are over 170,000 members from different parts of the world in this subreddit, and it’s extremely active all year round. You can learn about handling game narration, UI tips, and take inspiration from some of the coolest game prototypes submitted by members.
Gamedev.net
If you haven’t already checked out gamedev.net, now’s a good time. They are a community platform for game developers and are fully independent, managed by passionate individuals from the gaming and tech industries. These guys have been around for around 2 decades, with one goal- to provide a free knowledge-sharing platform for anyone who’s interested in game development.
What can you find on this site? Well, pretty much all you need- articles and tutorials, news columns, event coverage, podcasts, etc. There’s a great forum too, which covers topics such as game programming, business, audio, visual arts, etc.
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Kongregate
Kongregate is a game developer, they make free games for both the mobile and PC.
But, the main draw of this site is its incredibly well-maintained community of developers and industry specialists. The forums for game creation cover three main topics- game programming, collaborations, and game design.
Apart from that, you’ll also find non-gaming forums for discussion about random stuff. Politics, world events, art, music, etc., so if you’re interested in any of these Kongregate has a great discussion board for you.
Dream In Code
One of the most well-regarded online communities for game developers. With over 664,000 registered members and gaining nearly 400 each day, this is an extremely active forum filled with people from all aspects of game development- programming, art, sound, animation, design, etc.
There are tutorials for everyone from beginners, to extremely advanced users. The members of this forum are divided into various categories based on their contributions to the community. People who’ve written a bunch of guides are given the “author” badge. If you display an exceptional level of expertise in any particular discipline, you’ll be awarded the “expert” badge.
By submitting code snippets and tutorials, you get the “contributor” badge. You can find a ton of useful links and information on “dream in code” – jobs, programming tips, game development knowledge, etc.
TIGForums
This is a subset of TIGSource, which is an independent community of game creators and players. On TIGForums, there are 4 main sections- Community, Developer, Jobs, and Player.
The community contains info on game jams, Devlogs, etc. Want the really important technical stuff? Head on to “Developer” for tips on playtesting, art, audio, design, etc. The jobs section is where studios post ads, and freelancers apply for game development positions.
In the Player section, people post news and chat about their favorite games.
Buildbox
A “No-code” focused game development platform targeted at entrepreneurs, designers, and pretty much anyone without any prior coding knowledge or game development experience. Buildbox lets you create visually immersive and highly intuitive 2D or 3D games without having to wrap your head around complex languages or confusing documentation.
Buildbox forum is a great place for game developers to hang out, and discuss various aspects of game development. You can get tips on how to use Buildbox, while also sharing creative ideas and game prototypes.
Their forum contains various subsections for topics like level design, assets, game showcases, etc.
Touch Arcade
TouchArcade is a site dedicated to iPhone and iPod touch games, it has got everything from news on the latest games to forum discussions on how to develop for iOS. Want to know more about an upcoming iOS game?
TouchArcade has you covered. How about some advice on soft launches? They have that too. Want links to 3D asset libraries and game templates? You’ll find it here. How about info on the latest discounts at the Unity Store? Or job applications?
You can even place requests for in-app advertising and review exchanges.
Game Dev Stack Exchange
Home to a variety of tech-related sites, Stackexchange is the world’s largest programming community. It gave birth to Stack Overflow, which is the most trusted online platform for developers to share their knowledge.
This isn’t a community geared specifically towards game development, but they do have a sub-community at gamedev.stackexchange.com which caters to game developers. Just visit the “tags” section, and you’ll be greeted with thousands of posts/ comments on various topics such as Java, Android, Unity, etc.
Want to get a bit more specific? There are discussions on collision-detection, game physics, 3D, textures, AI, and just about everything else you can think of.
Unity Forum
The community forum for one of the most popular game engines on the market- Unity. A quick way to find the latest news, documentation, support, and tutorials for Unity.
If you’re interested in specific topics pertaining to game creation such as scripting, UI, world-building, etc., all that stuff is covered too. You can also get information on their services like Unity Cloud Build, Unity Analytics, Unity IAP, and more.
Github Community Forum
A community of over 40 million people who like to share, distribute, learn, and develop software. Github is a Git repository hosting service with a web-based GUI which provides access control and collaboration features such as wikis for software projects.
It was founded as a code hosting platform to facilitate software version control and got purchased by Microsoft in 2018. The community is highly active to this day. And you’ll find a forum bustling with new content that is updated, moderated, and viewed daily.
Want programming help and discussions on languages/ APIs? It’s all here, along with very specific advice on project development from experienced industry professionals.
Develteam
A website geared towards Indie devs seeking to establish an online portfolio/ expand their game development knowledge. You can post your projects, ideas, code snippets, guides, etc. on Develteam for others to appreciate and review.
Chat with highly motivated and like-minded individuals on game development topics, and browse through a gigantic library of game development tools.
Are you looking for extremely specific help on a particular aspect of game development? You’ll find it here. You can team up with other game devs, share assets, post portfolios, and host your projects on Develteam for easy management. Invite your team members to Develteam, and assign roles to each one of them.
They can post to your feed, share media, and access chat rooms for individual projects.
Free Game Dev
An open-source game developer community which isn’t exactly very populated these days, but is still active. In the developer section of their forum, you’ll find game art, assets, legal advice, programming knowledge, etc.
You can also discuss various open-source games, and showcase personal projects. There are threads on APIs, game promotion, lists of online resources, game optimization, and much more.
Cocos Forums
The community forum for an extremely popular open-source framework- Cocos2d. It is the place to be if you want extremely specific knowledge on the Cocos2d platform, along with news on software patches/ bug fixes.
You can discuss 3rd party editors such as Spine, Dragon Bones, GAF, etc. or participate in developer interviews. Want to learn about Cocos Creator? There are hundreds of threads on that topic, along with plenty of examples on how to improve performance or fix glitches.
Unreal Engine Forum
Just as the name indicates, this is the official forum for Unreal Engine- a suite of game development tools created and marketed by Epic games. Unreal Engine is used to power some of the world’s most popular games- Fortnite, Tekken 7, Borderlands 3, etc.
If you want the latest info on the Unreal Engine, you should definitely check out their forums. Developers, gamers, and event managers frequent this place. Want to learn about Static Meshes or Game Physics? There are tons of resources on such topics in this forum.
You can also find discussions on scripting in Python or Blueprints, along with detailed info on the creation of engine plugins.
Python Forum
If you’re an aspiring game developer or programming enthusiast, you must know what Python is. In case you don’t, it’s an interpreted high-level general-purpose programming language with an emphasis on code readability.
Used for developing games, GUI applications, websites, etc., Python is one of the most popular languages today. And if you’re learning Python, their official forum is an indispensable resource that will help you significantly in grasping the basic concepts.
Want to run your code more smoothly? Or perhaps you need help with classes and dictionaries? You can even get help to debug your code, and request tips on specific stuff like creating levels. Or designing gravity within your game.
The Game Creators
This forum isn’t the most frequently visited game development community out there. But it is packed with extremely valuable resources which include threads on fairly obscure yet highly specific development related topics that you won’t find elsewhere.
They have tips on both 2D and 3D game creation, along with advice on how to develop sound FX in your games. One section of the forum is dedicated to DarkBasic development, while another focuses on FPS Creator Classic.
Java Gaming
For all things Java-related, this is your one-stop solution. Check out game showcases, demos, contests, discussions, shared code, and Java game APIs. Do you want to learn about networking and multiplayer design in Java games?
It’s well-covered in this forum, along with discussions on game mechanics and gameplay. There are threads for newbies and people looking for bug-fixes, along with debugging help and performance tuning.
NVIDIA Developer Forum
The official NVIDIA forum is a goldmine of sorts for anyone looking to seek knowledge on autonomous machines, deep learning, accelerated computing, etc.
They also have a very active community dedicated to game development. Especially if you’re interested in graphics programming and APIs like DirectX or OpenGL. Looking for PhysX knowledge? It’s all here.
Conclusion
What did you think of our top 20 game development forums? Did you visit these sites and gain any helpful resources for your next game? We constantly learn from each other as developers. So if you have any favorite game dev forums/ message boards that we missed out on, let us know about it in the comments below.
Thanks so much, you saved me a lot of time by making this list.
Glad I could help!
hey, Jacob, nice post. You really made a good analysis on each community. Thank you!
No problem! stay tuned!