Start Gamedev

Start Gamedev is an archived, medium-sized file that contains all the needed elements for writing, compiling, and developing ready-to-use executable apps for smartphones. The tool is perfectly compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux. It can used to develop apps for both Android and iOS.

What are Lua and ZeroBrane?

Start Gamedev is a package that contains all the necessary instruments for anyone, no matter how little they know about game development and coding, to start doing simple, easy-to-build games. The zip container must be extracted and inspected. The developer has attached plenty of useful resources such as introductory guides (Introduction to LÖVE tutorial, Make a Game tutorial).
Inside these guides, you have pieces of Lua code and corresponding explanations for each instruction. You can simply copy-paste the code functions in the simplistic ZeroBrane Studio code editor, debugger and compiler. The Lua code used in these documents is attentively described, explained, and put in the right order for successive insertion.
The Lua programming language is easy, simple, minimalistic, and scriptic. Scriptic programming languages are super easy to understand because they have typed commands that resemble the normal written language (e.g. the 'end' command ends a function).

How to develop the games?

The actual game development is super nicely described and well-documented. The developer who made Start Gamedev included two video tutorials that explain in detail what needs to be done from the beginning, until the end. These tutorials are made separately: for building Android, respectively iOS applications.
The previously mentioned guides are also super helpful as they offer an in-depth game set up and function definition for Android applications. All you must do is write (or copy/paste) the simple commands, save the file, compile and build it, transfer the newly generated executable on your phone (with the APK format for Android apps or the IPA format for iPhones), and run it there.

Is it worth it?

The Start Gamedev package is an excellent start if you are a beginner and wish to get a boost in building phone applications. The utility is equally helpful for those who are new to Lua and the requirements for building games for Android/iOS. The app-building LÖVE framework and the Lua programming language are simplistic and minimalistic in nature, so using them will feel effortless, especially for those who already know a little bit of programming.