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Make a platformer you'd actually play

A platformer is a game about getting from one place to another by running and jumping, over gaps, past hazards and up to a goal. Modder's AI platformer game maker builds the levels, the hazards and, most importantly, the jump, then plays every level to make sure it can be finished.

Updated Tested by the Modder team

Jumping games on Modder

Pulse Cube jumps to the beat; Road Hopper hops across traffic. Both live and die by the jump.

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On this page
  1. Building a platformer
  2. Side-on or 3D
  3. Good at, and limits
  4. Questions

By the numbers

A new game on Quick build
~7 min
A new game on Long build
~25 min
Games it builds, played in the browser
2D and 3D
Where the games play, no download
Phone and desktop
Players in one online room, bots in empty seats
Up to 10
Per game, up to 2 MB each
2,000 files

Build times are the builder's own estimates for a new game; the rest is from Modder's limits on .

Building a platformer

  1. Describe the jump and the danger

    Platformers are their jump. Say how it should feel (snappy, floaty, heavy) and what extra moves the player gets: a double jump, a wall jump, a dash. Then say what's dangerous and where the player is going. One clear goal per level is plenty.

  2. It builds levels it can finish

    The builder writes the controls and lays out levels from short and easy to harder, with checkpoints between. Then it plays them with real key presses to check every jump can be made. An impossible gap is the most common platformer bug, and it's caught before you see it.

  3. Tighten it up

    Play a level and say what felt wrong: the jump too floaty, the checkpoint too far back, the third level too hard. Ask for coyote time (a jump that still works a moment after you leave a ledge), a speedrun timer, a new hazard. Each change is a saved version.

Side-on or 3D

Side-on platformers are easier to read and easier to get right, so they're the place to start. 3D platformers, where you run around obstacles in a full world, are possible too, and work best as short obstacle courses (think obby) rather than big open levels.

Either way, a handful of tight levels beats twenty loose ones. Ask for five levels that each add one new idea, like a moving platform, then a falling one, then both, and you'll get a game that teaches itself.

What it does well, and what it doesn't

Good at

  • Snappy controls with extra moves: double jump, dash, wall jump.
  • Short levels that each add one idea, with checkpoints.
  • Rhythm and one-button platformers, and short 3D obstacle courses.

Current limits

  • Not a tile editor: levels are written by the builder, not painted by hand.
  • Long campaigns with dozens of levels come out repetitive; five to ten is realistic.
  • Character animation is simple compared with a hand-animated platformer.

Questions

Can I make a 3D platformer or an obby?

Yes. Ask for a 3D obstacle course and say the camera follows behind the player. Short courses work better than big open levels.

Can I design the levels myself?

Describe them in words ("level three has moving platforms over spikes") and the builder lays them out. Level files are editable in the Studio if you want to move things by hand.

Why do my jumps feel floaty?

Say so. The builder can raise gravity, shorten the jump, add a faster fall and coyote time, all in one change.

Can I play it with a controller?

Yes. The engine reads gamepads as well as the keyboard.

Making games on Modder

Play first, then make your own

Playing every game is free. Making games needs a plan or a one-off credit top-up.

See plans and creditsPlay games first

Make other kinds of games

Every kind of game

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