Nintendo will release Game Builder Garage, a new game that will let players make their own games, for Nintendo Switch on June 11, the company announced Wednesday. Like WarioWare DIY, Super Mario Maker, and Nintendo Labo before it, Nintendo’s next foray into do-it-yourself game development will give amateur game makers a colorful, easy-to-understand set of visual tools to program their own software.
Game Builder Garage will teach players how to create their own game through “fun, guided lessons that cover the basics of visual game programming,” Nintendo said in a news release — “no prior experience is necessary.” Players will interact with creatures called Nodon to build their games, examples of which can be seen in the trailer above.
From Nintendo:
Nodon are creatures with big personalities that are used to help build your games from the ground up. There are dozens of Nodon in Game Builder Garage, each with a unique function, and you can learn how to build games just by connecting them in various ways. For example, you can create and move a human-like character with an analog stick just by connecting Stick Nodon with Person Nodon! Thus, you will get to learn the basics of game programming in a fun and intuitive way. You’ll be able to create a wide variety of different types of video games too – from side-scrolling platformers, to kart racers, to space blasters!
Game Builder Garage will feature a Lesson Mode, where players can “learn the basic concept of visual programming in step-by-step, interactive lessons.” In Free Programming Mode, players will turn those lessons into real games, and they can quickly switch between programming and playing their creations. Players can also exchange and download Game Builder Garage creations “with friends and family over the internet or via a local wireless connection.”
Nintendo will release Game Builder Garage in June for $29.99. Check out some screenshots of games and development tools below.