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GameMaker Quickstart

This page walks you through building a GameMaker app for Devvit. Once complete, you'll see your GameMaker game running directly within a Reddit post.

If you are already familiar with Devvit and want to jump straight to exporting, see the Build and Deploy GameMaker Games to Devvit section.

Try it out​

The template creates a simple GameMaker game and demonstrates data exchange between Reddit and GameMaker.

What you'll need​

  • Node.js (version 22.2.0+)
  • GameMaker 2024.1400.3 or later (this version adds direct exporting to Reddit)

Environment setup​

  1. Install Node.js and npm (instructions)
  2. Go to developers.reddit.com/new and select the GameMaker template
  3. Complete the setup wizard (you'll need to create a Reddit account and connect it to Reddit Developers)
  4. Follow the instructions in your terminal

On success, you should see something like this:

Your Devvit authentication token has been saved to /Users/user.name/.devvit/token
Fetching and extracting the template...
Cutting the template to the target directory...
 🔧 Installing dependencies...
 🚀🚀🚀 Devvit app successfully initialized!
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ • `cd my-app` to open your project directory       │
│ • `npm run dev` to develop in your test community  │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Running your app​

To run your app, navigate to your project directory with cd my-app and run npm run dev. You should see logs that conclude with:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ✓ Playtest ready                                                            │
│ ➜ URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/my-app_dev/?playtest=my-app                 │
│ ➜ Version: v0.0.0.1                                                         │
│ ➜ Open the URL above and refresh to see your latest changes.                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Follow this link to see your app.

Build and Deploy GameMaker Games to Devvit​

For step-by-step export instructions, see the GameMaker Reddit Template documentation.

Communicate between GameMaker and Reddit​

GameMaker games communicate with Reddit through HTTP requests. The provided template includes working examples of this data exchange:

  • GameMaker client code: reddit_demo_server_api.gml — Shows how to send requests from GameMaker to retrieve user data, save scores, and interact with Reddit features.
  • Devvit server code: src/server/index.ts — Handles incoming requests from GameMaker, accesses Reddit APIs, and stores data in Redis.