On trend and on time: 5 skill-building resources for your next game

Between GDC last month and the recent release of the 2023 Unity Gaming Report, there are a handful of trends to watch as you plan your next project. Ready to discover a new skill, shortcut, or trick that can better the development process?

Keep reading for a roundup of five Unity Learn educational resources that map to three of the biggest trends we’ve spotted.

Two major trends in the 2023 Unity Gaming Report focus on the continued prevalence of mobile game development and the rise in mobile gaming. Take note of these resources to help speed along the development of your next mobile project.

This template accelerates the game development process and includes runner game mechanics, custom presets, and a level editor. It also gives you access to useful resources, such as a curated page on the Unity Asset Store and custom in-Editor tutorials.

Get the tutorial.

With this learning Pathway, create augmented reality (AR) applications that are compatible with iOS and Android devices. To build your skills, you’ll use visual scripting and Unity’s AR tools to develop a wide variety of engaging AR experiences. (Note that this Pathway assumes a basic knowledge of Unity.)

Start the Pathway.

Unsurprisingly, generative AI was a hot topic at GDC 2023. This course walks you through the beginning stages of bringing AI techniques into your game.

In this course, Dr. Penny de Byl reveals the most popular AI techniques for creating believable game characters. Following de Byl’s internationally acclaimed teaching style and knowledge from over 25 years researching and working with games, computer graphics, and AI, discover hands-on workshops that are designed to teach you fundamental AI techniques. Join in as NPCs are programmed to chase, hide, flee, patrol, shoot, race, crowd, plan, and much more.

Take the course.

Games are becoming more social than ever and the tools to make them more efficient. In addition to trends around mobile gaming, there is an increasing movement to support the management of players and player engagement as part of the game experience. We even launched two social solutions within Unity Gaming Services – Friends and Leaderboards. As we work to expand related resources, here are two projects that can get you started.

This project will introduce you to navigation meshes. Learn ways to use them in a game environment to move characters between goals, including how to develop AI algorithms that command characters to find the path between their current location and destination. It even features a tutorial for programming an NPC to follow a player’s character around on a NavMesh.

Start the project.

Where are users most engaged with your Unity game? With this introductory project, gain insight into how users interact with your game and find out how to drill down for more detailed information.

Start the project.

With this example, learn to create a simple toolbar window with buttons to instantiate primitive objects in the scene using UI Toolkit. For more advanced UI support, dive into the complete guide.

Get the tutorial.

Curious what other educational tools are available? Check out the full Unity Learn catalog.