5 Reasons Your Indie Platformer Game Sucks! (+Easy Fix!)

Here is why your indie platformer game stinks and how to make a good platformer instead!

It all comes down to making good 2D jump and run controls! In this short tutorial I show you 5 game design tricks that make your platformer feel a lot better!

Almost every successful platformer game out there uses these tricks, so every indie game developer should know about them. It'll make your game a lot better!

Whether you make your jump and run game in Unity or a different game engine like Game Maker, Godot or Construct 2 doesn't matter. You will still be able to apply this game design knowledge there.

This is not a coding tutorial. This is simply a short tutorial on how to make really good platformer controls that your players will love!

Making a great platformer is certainly difficult and there's a lot more to it than just the movement of the character. Level design is hugely important as well.

Nevertheless, the movement is still what makes or breaks your jump and run game in the grand scheme of things.

I've seen these gamedev mistakes so often by now. I had to make a video about it, so we'll hopefully have more quality indie platformers from now on!

What was your favorite takeaway from this little platformer design tutorial? Let me know in the comments! :)

Hope your game succeeds.

Music by GoodPixelSounds:

[JonasTyroller]

I want to apologize for the harsh and provocative wording in this video.
This is certainly not the only correct way to do things.
If you think this is useful, use it. If you don't, then don't. :)

[Alzter]

TL;DR:
Jump buffering
Coyote time
Horizontal acceleration damping
Variable jump height by holding jump
Make your game unique, give it a reason to exist

[OmiliMusic]

i like how you show how to implement these suggestions with code examples

[OverexitedPlayer]

"Why do we need another platformer?"
...because I want to make one. Sure, the world might not need another platformer, but why should that stop those who want to make platformer games? I get that message was to make your platformer unique, but it could've been said better. Great tips, though!

[randomuser-vsoe]

Best example that utilizes all of these points is super meat boy. The movement is so fluid you never feel like it is the game's design at fault when you die.

[NStripleseven]

Why do we need another platformer? Because I feel like making one, and I am part of the world.

[ZachToons]

One thing to add: *Edge Tolerance*

Allow the player to get on top of a ledge even if they collide with the side. You could push the player up a bit when they’re right next to the ledge, or you could let them grab onto the ledge, or perhaps even allow them to climb walls.

[hhcdghjjgsdrt]

The feeling " why I didn't think of this before " .... kills me?

[JordannPB]

Very good stuff, pinpointing exactly why my platformers always feel a little 'off'

[Bakers]

5a example: Mario 64 forgot to set a speed barrier for backwards movement when it added speed instead of setting speed, so that's where BLJing came from

[sosasees]

0:00 Introduction
0:25 Trick 1
1:10 Trick 2
2:22 Trick 3
4:04 Trick 4
5:13 Trick 5

[playerdude]

Came from a unity tutorial and my playercontroller felt so digusting after testing and testing.


Watched this video and ascended. Thank you sir.

[cutthecreeper]

I’m planning on making a platformer. The uniqueness will be less on the controls and more in the art style and story

[CartersLilChannel]

Him: why ur game is bad
Me: you told me how to make the game

[sfc]

These are some useful tips! There's a platformer in my mind that I want to make a reality one day, and one thing that's important to me is that the character's movement needs to be quick and responsive, so that it feels like you have complete control over them.
The only exception would be when you're running; I want it to be more difficult to stop yourself or change direction (especially while jumping) because I'd like the player to actually put some thought into when they need to run, rather than just running nonstop like in a Mario platformer where there's not much risk.

[vordrax]

Just found this while working on a game jam platformer, this is an incredibly useful and succinct video. Subscribed.

[bunnybreaker]

"Why are you making another platformer?"

My platformer is different because it's inspired by Mario Galaxy.

Oh wait.

[travisislit]

At 3:15 you show us an acceleration slider. Where would that variable be used? In the code you showed there doesn't seem to be an "acceleration" variable in any of the equations.

[ameteuraspirant]

for the final one I actually set the vertical speed to 10% and added on 20% of my jump strength variable. maybe too much math for a similar result but I like the feel better.

[serpaolo]

You forgot to include some of the Acceleration code in the script you provided.