Game Dev Kickstart: 2D Game Development Using LibGDX & Java

Name: Game Dev Kickstart: 2D Game Development Using LibGDX & Java
Rating: 4.6 (44 reviews)

Create a fully functional multi-platform 2D video game for FREE using LibGDX and Java!

Highest Rated

Created byBrandon Grant

Last updated 3/2025

English

What you'll learn

Create stunning cross-platform 2D games with LibGDX and Java
Learn best practices for using LibGDX
Handle keyboard and touch input from the player
Create a games with multi-screen functionality
Create a fully functional game from the ground up
Render and animate game characters
Add sounds and music to a game

Course content

6 sections • 54 lectures • 9h 47m total length

Course Introduction1:53
Kickstart 2D game development with LibGDX and Java by building a stick figure showdown: set up the environment, implement drawing, animation, input, heads-up display, AI, menus, and Android support.

Create & Import the Project2:53
Import & Manage the Assets11:34
Import assets, set up an asset manager, and load textures, fonts, audio, and atlases in one assets class. Load completes before use, then dispose to prevent memory leaks.
Create the Game Screen8:02
Window Size, Cameras & World Units10:29
Viewports10:26
Create the Fighter Class16:48
Create a LibGDX fighter class using a 2-by-3 sprite sheet, implementing states such as block, idle, hurt, punch, kick, walk, and lose with texture regions and animations.
Draw & Animate the Fighters14:49
Update the Fighters' Facing5:30
Handle Keyboard Input13:13
Define the Ring Bounds7:34
Attacking & Blocking8:10
Getting Hit17:54
Generate the Fonts6:44
HUD (Heads-Up Display) 1: Wins/Loss Ratio and Difficulty Text11:46
HUD (Heads-Up Display) 2: Fighter Health Bars20:15
Set Up the Rounds15:14
Improve the Round Timer4:44
Handle Touch Input8:54
Teach touch and mouse input handling in a 2D LibGDX game: convert screen to world coordinates, skip round delays by touchdown, and use the spacebar to restart after game over.
Texture Filters6:33
Apply texture filters in libGDX to control scaling, using nearest for performance and linear for smoother edges with min and mag filters, either per texture or via the asset manager.
Texture Atlases & Packing Textures7:48
Learn to create and use texture atlases by packing multiple images into a single atlas with GDX Texture Packer, configuring padding, filters, and power-of-two options.
Game Over16:46
Pausing the Game12:41
Add Sounds & Music22:37
Load and manage audio assets in LibGDX with an AudioManager that handles music and sounds, loops music, and provides play, pause, resume, and toggle music for UI and game sounds.
Add Opponent AI31:38
Blood 1: Blood Splatters21:17
Develop blood splatter and blood pool effects by creating two Java classes, animating splatters from a texture atlas, and updating and rendering them on combat events.
Blood 2: Blood Pools16:10
Implement a blood pool system using a blood pool class with alpha fade, random textures from the blood atlas, and an array of 100 pools drawn beneath fighters.
Main Menu Screen 1: Set Up the Widgets18:49
Main Menu Screen 2: Draw the Widgets23:00
Set the fighter display name to the player's uppercase name and apply the player's color in the show method, then build the main menu UI with scene2D tables.
Clicking the Buttons10:44
Changing the Fighters16:42
Manage the Settings15:57
Settings Screen 1: Set Up the Widgets21:29
Settings Screen 2: Draw the Widgets21:55
Changing the Settings17:22
Create the Loading Screen11:21
Create a loading screen that loads assets with the asset manager, shows a progress bar, updates with assets loaded, waits briefly, and then switches to the main menu.
Conclusion0:37

Install the Android SDK2:57
Create & Import a New Project5:08
Running LibGDX on Android7:15
Transfer the Code3:15
Fix the Audio9:22
Change the Settings Screen3:53
Fighter Controls 1: Set Up & Draw the Sprites15:14
Fighter Controls 2: Attacking & Blocking6:54
Fighter Controls 3: Joystick Movement14:46
Master joystick-based movement by converting touch input to world coordinates, applying drag thresholds, and updating x and y directions and textures for the fighter.

Requirements

Access to a computer with Windows, Mac, or Linux
Basic knowledge of Java
(Optional) Access to an Android device

Description

Do you want to learn how to create amazing video games for FREE with LibGDX?

I'm Brandon and I'm going to help you master LibGDX by creating a complete and fully functional cross-platform 2D video game.

LibGDX is a free and open-source game development framework. Game development frameworks are collections of libraries and tools that provide building blocks that developers can use to create their own games, and are more lightweight and flexible than game engines, like Unity 3D, Unreal Engine, and Godot.

LibGDX also provides cross-platform deployment, meaning that a game created with LibGDX can be run on multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and web browsers.

(NOTE: Please be aware that you will need to know some Java in order to get the most out of this course. Taking a short 2-3 hour Java course on YouTube should be more than enough.)

The Game Dev Kickstart course is very comprehensive and is full of extremely valuable information for creating incredible 2D games using LibGDX. We'll begin by installing the JDK (Java Development Kit) and the IntelliJ IDEA IDE, which we'll be using to write the code for our game. After that, we'll jump right into learning all about LibGDX by creating a complete 2D fighting game called Stick Figure Showdown. Among the dozens of topics we will be covering throughout the course, we'll learn how to:

draw images to the screen and animate them
manage assets (images, audio, etc.) using an asset manager
work with cameras and viewports for full control over how our game appears on different screen resolutions
handle keyboard and touch input from the player
generate fonts using the Freetype extension
display a HUD (Heads-Up Display)
create and use texture atlases for enhanced performance
add text and clickable buttons to the screen
add sound and music to our game
add AI (Artificial Intelligence) for the opponent fighter
create and switch between various types of screens (main menu, settings, etc.)
use Scene2D for more efficient UI (User Interface) layout
allow the player to change and save various settings of the game (difficulty, fullscreen mode, etc.)
EXTRA: add Android functionality to our game!

You'll also get access to all of the resources and code for the projects in this course!

So what are you waiting for? Join now and let's start developing games today!

Who this course is for:

Beginner game developers
Anyone who wants to master LibGDX for 2D game development
Anyone who wants to learn how to create a complete 2D game

Game Dev Kickstart: 2D Game Development Using LibGDX & Java

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction1 lecture • 2min

The JDK & IntelliJ IDEA3 lectures • 12min

LibGDX4 lectures • 16min

Stick Figure Showdown36 lectures • 8hr 8min

EXTRA: Adding Android Functionality9 lectures • 1hr 9min

Bonus1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: