DANCINGENGIE'S LIST OF FREE-TO-USE GAME ASSETS AND TOOLS (that's a long title)

Last update: October 2023

This is a simple list of game design and development tools I personally use on a regular or semi-regular basis when working on games. It serves as a centralized (but in no way definitive!) resource for anyone who needs it.

Unless otherwise stated, all of the following are free, engine-agnostic, and suitable for any use:

Art

• Kenney (2D, 3D, and basically everything else)
• Game-Icons.net (2D, UI)
• iconmonstr (2D, UI)
• Artvee (2D, public domain classical art)
• itch.io asset section (2D & 3D, some paid)
• Qaternius (3D)
• poly.pizza (3D, based on Google Poly)
• Miziziziz's Retro 3D Graphics Collection (3D)
• SketchFab (3D, can search by license and price)
• ambientCG (High-def game-ready materials)
• texture.ninja (High-def textures)

Color Palettes

• Material Design Palette
• ColorDrop
• ColorClaim
• Colordot
• Coolors
• Palettable
• Randoma11y (focused on web design)

Audio

• Freesound.org (SFX and some music, can search by license)
• 99Sounds (SFX & ambience)
• ActionVFX Sound FX (SFX, mostly free)
• Triune Digital (SFX and music, focused on action/horror, $30 - $100)
• SONNISS GDC Sample Packs (SFX)
• FilmCow Royalty Free SFX Library (SFX)
• ZapSplat (SFX, requires proper attribution)
• Free To Use Sounds (Ambience, paid but has many free samples)
• VideoCopilot's MotionPulse (SFX toolkit, $200)
• Free Music Archive (Music, can search by license)
• Filmmusic.io (Music, requires proper attribution)

Software/Webapps

• Audacity - open-source audio editing software
• DaVinci Resolve - free, professional video editing software, no watermarks (~$300 to gain access to some advanced features)
• Sound Particles' Explorer - comb through your sound archives with smart search tools
• Shoebox - a tiny, if old, application that does a lot of small operations for you, inc. ripping textures off photographs
• Google Keep - simple, no BS notetaking webapp. Great as an "ideas notebook"
• HacknPlan - sprint management made with game development in mind
• Kenney Shape ($4) - makes simple 3D voxel models out of 2D pixel art

Game Design Articles

• Game Design Resources Master List - massive spreadsheet with excellent talks and blog posts about different game development, design, marketing, et al
• In Pursuit of Better Levels - an organized and visual aggregate of level design principles, with an emphasis on action shooters
• The 13 Basic Principles of Gameplay Design - basic principles to keep in mind when creating a game, system or level
• Game Design Document Template - needs some reorganization, but a good starting point for crafting a unified design doc for your team, or just to get ideas out of your head
• Make It Juicy - an interactive, practical demonstration of "juice"/"game feel" and how it drastically improves the gameplay experience

UI/UX Design Articles

• Good Design, Bad Design - YouTube series examining positive and less positive examples of UI and game design
• Game UI Database - large database of game UI references by catagory
• The Best Icon is a Text Label - great blog post about icon consistancy and why the phrase "they use our app so they know what everything does" isn't necessarily correct

Marketing

• How To Market a Game - I do have qualms about the deterministic writing style, and many posts are hit and miss. But the hits really do hit IMO. Treat it with a pinch of salt, but don't disregard it completely
• The Zero Dollar Marketing Plan (text version)
• Steam Review Explorer
• Game Data Crunch
• Altshift Steam Market Study Tool - powerful Google Sheets template that allows you to compare other Steam games in your genre and get valuable info like average/median sales and recurring Steam tags
• Easy Releasy - itch.io image template pack
• Pitch Decks - small but really helpful index of successful game pitch presentations

Misc

• Pinspiry - graphic design resources, great for cool fonts and assets to use in cover art
• Game Art Cheatsheet - a short list of common 3D engine bugs and how to fix them
• Tinytools Directory - a huge list of small tools, engines, and codebases for gamedevs
• Polyglot - list of common game and UI terms translated to over a dozen languages by humans. Good starting point for localization
• Derek Yu's "Finishing a Game" - advice on how to actually complete a game, especially if you plan to create a big commerical effort
• Seyed's Publisher Database - long, exhaustive list of indie game publishers, sorted by budget and prefered genres
• Raw Fury's Developer Resources - a sample pitch deck, boilerplate NDA and freelance contracts, and useful spreadsheets put forth by an actual publisher. A great starting point for gamedev bureaucracy, but remember to consult a lawyer before sending these off