So, you’ve decided you want to make a game. It’s an exciting thought, turning a spark of an idea into something you can actually play. You might have heard that Unity is a great place to start, and you’re right. It’s a powerful engine used by professionals and hobbyists alike, but its friendly approach makes it surprisingly accessible for beginners. This guide is designed to walk you through the very first steps, from opening Unity for the first time to having a simple, functional game you can share with friends.
The goal here isn’t to create the next award-winning masterpiece on your first try. Instead, we’re going to focus on a classic starter project: a simple 2D rolling ball game. By building this, you’ll learn fundamental concepts that apply to almost every game you might want to make in the future. Think of it as learning your first chords on a guitar before you try to play a full song.
Getting Set Up with Unity
Your first task is to download and install Unity. Head to the official Unity website and download Unity Hub. Think of the Hub as your mission control center; it’s where you manage different versions of the Unity Editor and all your projects. Once installed, you’ll use the Hub to install a version of the Unity Editor. For a beginner, we recommend selecting the latest stable Long-Term Support (LTS) version, as these are the most reliable. During installation, you’ll be prompted to add modules. For our 2D game, the core editor is all you need to start.
With the editor installed, create a new project. Select the “2D Core” template and give your project a name, like “MyFirstRollingBall”. This template sets up Unity with settings optimized for 2D development, which gives us a perfect starting point.
A Quick Tour of the Unity Interface
When your project first opens, the interface can seem a bit overwhelming with all its windows and tabs. Don’t worry; you’ll quickly get used to the most important ones. The main areas you’ll be working with are:
- The Scene View: This is your interactive sandbox where you’ll build your levels and place objects.
- The Game View: This shows you what your game will actually look like to a player. You can press the Play button at the top to test your game.
- The Hierarchy: This window lists every single object currently in your scene. It’s like a table of contents for your game world.
- The Project Window: This is your project’s file browser, where all your scripts, images, sounds, and other assets are stored.
- The Inspector: This is arguably the most important window. When you select any object in the Hierarchy or Scene view, the Inspector shows you all its properties and components, allowing you to edit them.
Take a moment to click around and get a feel for these windows. They are your new workshop.
Building Your First Playable Scene
Let’s start creating our game world. We need a ball for the player to control and a flat surface for it to roll on. In the Hierarchy window, right-click and go to 2D Object > Sprites > Square. This creates a simple white square. Rename this object in the Hierarchy to “Ground”. In the Inspector, find the Transform component and change the Scale to something like (10, 1, 1). This will stretch it out into a long platform.
Now, let’s make our player. Right-click in the Hierarchy again and create another Square sprite. Rename this one “Player”. To make it look more like a ball, we need to change its shape. In the Inspector, click the “Add Component” button, search for “Circle Collider 2D“, and add it. This component will give the object a circular physical shape, even if it still looks like a square. Next, let’s give it some color. Find a simple image of a ball online, or create a colored circle in a program like Paint, and save it to your computer. Then, drag that image file from your computer into the Project window in Unity. Finally, drag that image from the Project window onto your “Player” object in the Hierarchy. The square should now look like a ball!
Making Things Move with Scripts
Right now, your ball just sits there. To make it move, we need to write a script. Don’t panic if you’ve never coded before; we’ll keep it very simple. In the Project window, right-click, select Create > C# Script, and name it “PlayerController”. Double-click the script to open it in your code editor.
You’ll see some default code. We’re going to replace it with a simple script that lets us roll the ball using the arrow keys. Replace the entire contents of the script with the following code:
using UnityEngine;
public class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour
{
public float speed = 5f;
private Rigidbody2D rb;
void Start()
{
rb = GetComponent();
}
void Update()
{
float moveHorizontal = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal");
float moveVertical = Input.GetAxis("Vertical");
Vector2 movement = new Vector2(moveHorizontal, moveVertical);
rb.AddForce(movement * speed);
}
}
Save the script and go back to Unity. Now, drag your “PlayerController” script from the Project window and drop it onto the “Player” object in the Hierarchy. You’ll see it appear as a component in the Inspector. Notice that we used a Rigidbody2D in the script, which handles physics. We need to add that component to our Player. With the Player selected, click “Add Component” in the Inspector and search for “Rigidbody2D” to add it.
Now, press the Play button. You should be able to use your arrow keys or WASD to roll the ball around on the platform! You’ve just brought your game to life.
Adding the Final Touches and Building Your Game
To turn this into a simple objective, let’s create a goal. Create another sprite (a circle or a star, perhaps) and name it “Goal”. Place it somewhere on the platform. We need a way to know when the ball touches it. Create another new C# Script called “Goal” and use this code:
using UnityEngine;
public class Goal : MonoBehaviour
{
void OnTriggerEnter2D(Collider2D other)
{
if (other.gameObject.name == "Player")
{
Debug.Log("You Win!");
}
}
}
Attach this script to your Goal object. For this to work, the Goal needs a “Trigger” collider. In the Inspector, on the Goal’s Collider component, check the box that says “Is Trigger”. Now, when you roll the ball into the goal, the words “You Win!” will appear in the console at the bottom of the Unity editor. It’s a small victory, but a significant one!
Finally, to share your creation, go to File > Build Settings. You can choose to build it for Windows, Mac, or even as a WebGL game that can be played in a browser. Click “Build” and save the file. You now have a standalone version of your very first game.
Your Journey Has Just Begun
Congratulations! You’ve just navigated the core workflow of Unity: creating objects, modifying their components, writing scripts to define behavior, and testing your work. You built a playable game from scratch. The concepts you used—GameObjects, Components, Transforms, Rigidbodies, and basic scripting—are the foundation of every Unity project, no matter how complex.
The best way to learn from here is to experiment. What happens if you make the ball heavier? What if you create an obstacle course? Each small change and experiment will teach you something new. There’s a vast community and a wealth of free tutorials available online to help you with your next steps. Keep building, keep playing, and most importantly, have fun with it.