Set up your 2D game world

Make a flying obstacle prefab

Random obstacle size, direction, and speed

Steer the player

Add a scoring system

Restart the game with a bang

 Optional bonus features

Build and publish to web

In this tutorial, you'll preview the finished version of Sprite Flight: a simple, 2D arcade game where you steer a triangular ship to dodge flying obstacles. Then, you'll create a new Unity project using Unity’s 2D template and set up the basic play area for your 2D game, complete with walls around the edges of the screen. 

Overview

Create a new 2D project

Set up your layout

Navigate around a new 2D scene

Add an Obstacle sprite

Change the size and background of the camera

Create the first screen border

Duplicate to make other screen borders

Lock the aspect ratio and adjust borders

Organize the Hierarchy window and Assets folder

Optional: More things to try

Next steps

Configure the scenes in the build

Switch to the Web platform

Build your project

Publish to Unity Play 

Test your game

Optional: More things to try 

Share your project [SUBMISSION STEP]

 Your next steps 

In this course, you’ll build a 2D game in Unity — starting from a completely blank project with no assets provided, you’ll create the entire game from start to finish. In the game, you fly a simple triangle-shaped ship using mouse clicks (or screen taps on mobile). Your goal: stay alive for as long as you can by dodging flying obstacles while your score increases over time.

Along the way, you’ll learn the fundamentals of working in 2D, from navigating the Scene view to coding simple gameplay interactions. You’ll also explore key Unity systems like a user interface (UI), particle effects, audio, and publishing. By the end, you’ll not only have a complete, playable game, but you’ll also have the skills to start building your own original 2D projects.

2D Beginner Game: Sprite Flight

1590a5f8-c591-531a-8406-ae06fbe1d273:kL3i86RLKUqjp47ECSAt7Y

Avoid Obstacles

hashrimp1998

The boarders got messed up and i'm not sure how to fix that, but I did all the challenges I could and i'm quite proud of the result!!

Sprite Flight

TheSpeckySegg

Save My Fish!

ree_yeah

https://play.unity.com/en/games/28672d8e-8c51-44c5-bb72-d413c5b350f0/sprite-flight

naguumo

Followed unitys tutorial to the best of my ability, am using these to help learn

Surge538

final project of this course. i tried to do as many tasks as i can, even bonuses. all were so informative and cool.

webGL link : https://play.unity.com/en/games/f50ab11a-ba4b-4347-9245-51e6c3a99658/dont-catch-my-butterfly

Movie_001.mp4

Don't Catch My Butterfly

SarokEhsan

Create and share a simple build of a Unity experience.

Publishing

NealEdu

Product Manager at Unity

Gaming

Add the required modules for a basic build to the current Unity install

Adjust Build Settings to create a basic build.

Share a build as a Unity Learn submission

Configure a basic build of a project

Publishing a Unity project lets you share your game on different platforms, like mobile and web. 

In this tutorial, you'll build your project for the Web platform so that anyone with the link can instantly and easily play your game. You’ll then publish your game to Unity Play, Unity’s free web hosting platform. 

A build packages your Unity project into a playable version that can run on a specific platform. To ensure that all necessary content is included, you must select the scenes that should be part of the final build. In this step, you'll add your Game scene to the Build Profile so Unity knows to include it when creating the final playable version.

From the main menu, select File > Build Profiles.

Alternatively, press Ctrl+Shift+B (macOS: Cmd+Shift+B).

In the Build Profiles window, under the Platforms section, select Scene List.

If there are any scenes already present in the Scene List section, select them and press the Delete key to remove them from the list.

With the Game scene open, select Add Open Scenes and your scene will now be listed in the Scene List. 

Your Game scene is now properly added to the build, ensuring it’s included when you generate a playable version. 

The Build Profiles window. The Scene List section is selected and highlighted in red, and the Add Open Scenes button is also highlighted in red.

Unity allows you to publish a single project to many different platforms, including mobile, console, desktop, web, and more. To publish your project to the web, you first need to switch to that platform.

If the Build Profiles window is not already open, re-open it (File > Build Profiles).

Select the Switch Platform button and wait for the process to complete.

Tip: If the Web platform appears grayed out, select Install with Unity Hub and install the WebGL Build Support module before switching platforms.

After this process is complete, your project assets and settings are configured for deployment to the Web platform.

The Build Profiles window. The Web section is selected and highlighted in red, and the Switch Platform button is also highlighted in red.

Now that you've switched platforms, you can create a build of your project. A build is a packaged, playable version of your game that you create when you want people to play it outside the Unity Editor.

In the Build Profiles window, select the Build button.

This will open a file explorer asking you where you want to save your build. 

Tip: To stay organized, make a new folder named “Web Builds” and open it.

If you’re using Windows, the build takes the name of the folder. 

On macOS, you’ll need to enter a name for your build, for example "[YourGameName] build 1.0". 

This first time your project builds can take up to ten minutes. Subsequent builds will not take as long.

When the process is complete, the folder containing your build will appear. Keep that folder open, as you’ll need it in the next step.

The Save Build window on macOS showing the name of the build and save location. 

With your build complete, you're ready to publish it to Unity Play, allowing you to play your project online and easily share it with others.

Locate the folder you just built (Windows: WebBuilds), (macOS: [YourGameName] build 1.0), then compress it into a zip folder. 

On Windows, right-click the folder and select Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder. 

On macOS, right-click and select Compress [Folder Name].

This will create a new .zip file that you can upload to Unity Play.

2.  Upload your build zip file to Unity Play:

Go to the Unity Play upload page (you’ll need to be signed in with your Unity account)

Drag and drop your zip file onto the upload area and wait for it to process. 

Edit the Title, Description, and Visibility of your project.

Your game is now live on Unity Play, making it accessible for others to play and test!

The Unity play upload screen. The web build zip folder is being dragged into the Upload section of the screen.

Now that your game is published, it’s time to try it out! This is your chance to see how well everything works, from controls to performance, and make any final tweaks before sharing it with others.

Play your game on Unity Play, making sure movement, actions, and UI elements work as expected.

If you spot anything you want to improve, make those changes and then re-follow the instructions above to rebuild and re-publish your game.

The Unity Play link remains the same, so you won’t need to resend to anyone you’ve shared it with after updating.

Congratulations — your game is now live!

Sprite Flight being played on Unity Play.

Try these optional activities to challenge yourself, build your skills, and improve your project.

Each challenge is tagged as Easy, Medium, or Expert difficulty so that you know what to expect. You can complete one, all, or none of them — it’s totally up to you. If you’re not interested in doing these challenges, mark this step as complete and proceed to the next one (step 7).

Customizing your splash screen makes your game feel more polished and unique. You can adjust the colors, logos, and animations to suit your preferences.

Open the Build Profiles window (File > Build Profiles) and select the Player Settings button.

Use the foldout (triangle) to expand the Splash Image section and explore settings such as the following:

Background Color: Adjust to match your game’s aesthetic.

Logos: Add or remove logos, change sequence, or adjust duration.

Animation:  Modify the way the splash screen elements move. 

When publishing to Unity Play, replacing the default Unity logo with a custom thumbnail or video gives your project a more professional look.

If you’re logged in with the same Unity account that you used to upload your game, you can select the More Options (• • •)  menu and select Edit Game Details to make modifications.

Upload a custom thumbnail or video to replace the default Unity logo.

Capture gameplay footage using one of these methods:

Windows: Use the Snipping Tool for screenshots or Xbox Game Bar (Win+G) for recordings.

macOS: Press Cmd+Shift+5 to record a selected area or use QuickTime Player.

For high-quality in-game footage, you can use the Unity Recorder package:

Install it from the Package Manager window.

If you feel proud of the game you made and you want to share it, you can share screenshots of the game or upload a link so other learners can experience what you’ve made. You can also check out other Unity learners’ submissions below. 

1.  If you uploaded your game to Unity Play, locate the Unity Play link for your published project.

2.  Add a submission title, description, and add your Unity Play link: 

If you have additional details to share about your process or the project that you have created, you can share them in the description.

Add the link to your game on Unity Play so others can experience it. 

Take some screenshots or a screen recording of your project and include those so others can get a quick preview of your project.

Congratulations! You’re officially finished with your 2D project.

What will you do next? Consider some of the options below:

The Unity Essentials Learning Pathway includes everything you need to create confidently with Unity, including the Unity interface, 3D worldbuilding, 2D workflows, Audio, and programming.

If you’re not already confident with your programming, it’s recommended that you start with the Create with Code course or the more comprehensive Junior Programmer Pathway, which will take your programming skills to the next level. 

You did a bit of design in this project, but there is an entire Creative Core Pathway that will take you through the fundamentals of materials, visual effects, lighting, post-processing, audio, user interface design, and more.

If you want to continue down the games path, Unity Learn has a wide range of games-based learning content, including the following:

An astronaut character holding spaceship in their hands. In the background, cube-like asteroids float around the void of space. 

Build and publish to web

1. Overview

2. Configure the scenes in the build

3. Switch to the Web platform

4. Build your project

5. Publish to Unity Play

6. Test your game

7. Optional: More things to try

8. Share your project [SUBMISSION STEP]

9. Your next steps

Your submission preview

Complete this Exercise