Finding courses on Udemy is easy, find the right ones is not so easy. I knew that if I was going to really learn programming I was going to need structure. Mostly I come across new things via Humble Bundle. I purchased a Humble Bundle that came with some Zenva Academy courses, that’s how I first discovered Zenva. After installation I noticed that via the phone app I could get some additional Free courses as well. The site offers a lot and I wanted it all. But purchasing all these classes was going to get costly, enter the subscription plan!

My First Year

Seeing all the courses offered on Zenva, covering just about everything, was very appealing. The annual subscription plan seemed reasonably priced so I took the leap. Of course I knew exactly where I wanted to start, Intro to Game Development with Unity. This course could give me an overview of Unity and help me get a feel for what was in store. The course covered the basics: installation, UI, basic navigation, creating some simple models and an intro to coding. The course ended with building your first game, Balloon Popper.

I graduated from the class in April 2021, although Balloon Popper was anti climactic I was ready for the world of game development. I moved on to the Unity Game Development Mini-Degree and have since completed three projects. One of the projects I’ve completed is currently my in development game.

Year Two

I still have a lot to learn, and I’ll soon be entering my second year with Zenva. Because of the amount of courses available I highly recommend it as a learning resource. Most importantly it allows me to actually start building games. I’m using the base of the 3D platform course to start building my first game Extra Life. After completing the Arcade Racer course I’ve gone back and implemented new code into the 3D platform game. Using each new lesson as a building block helps since it gives me a chance to do actual non tutorial led coding.

Although Zenva Academy is not my only learning tool it’s one of the more valuable tools I’m using right now. I look forward to growing my toolset and my game library. The only downside is that I’ll lose access to this content once my subscription lapses, unlike the courses I’ve grabbed from GameDev.TV, but that’s a topic for another day!