Hey everybody,

I hope everyone can find time to make something this year. If you're completely new to game development here are some places you might could get started:

Game Engines

Game engines are platforms that give you a full toolbox to assemble your game. They may save you time writing some code, but often they will require some time to learn in the beginning. 

• The Unity game engine is powerful and has a LOT of online resources for learning. You can find those here.
• Python with pygame is a great place to begin if you're an absolute beginner and new to coding. I'd recommend this online book.
• Other options are the Unreal engine, Phaser.io with javascript, or pico-8 which is like a fantasy retro simulation

It doesn't really matter what tools you use, just start with the smallest idea you can and build from there.

Making art or finding resources online?

Here's some of the tools I've used.

• free 3d animation and modeling: Blender
• free digital painting: Krita
• not-free, but great for pixel art: aseprite
• online resources at OpenGameArt.org or even here on itch. Just make sure you read the license on everything to know if you need to credit the author.

Sound

I use the free program Audacityto record audio and sound effects.

Good luck :D